Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
The Four Tops were my favorite Motown group and today’s classic song of the day was one of their best. The song is “Standing in the Shadows of Love” and, when it was released in late November, 1966, and peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on Billboard’s R&B chart early in 1967. “Standing in the Shadows…
The singer known as Meat Loaf brings us today’s classic song of the day, “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night).” I know this song is pure trash but it’s great trash and I love it. “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth” was the first single from Meat Loaf’s iconic Bat Out…
Here’s a song that does a great job capturing the Laurel Canyon folk-rock vibe of the mid-60s. The song is “Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)” by the Mamas & the Papas, and it’s today’s classic song of the day. “Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)” was written by Papa John Phillips shortly after he and…
One of the neat things about Fleetwood Mac is that, during their most popular period, they had three strong singers and songwriters in Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Christine McVie. While Stevie Nicks and her songs seemed to get the most attention, Christine McVie’s contributions are not to be slighted. Case is point is today’s classic song of the day,…
The Supremes’ single, “The Happening,” is today’s classic song of the day, and its one of their more unique offerings, for a number of reasons. First off, “The Happening” is actually the theme song for a movie called, unsurprisingly, The Happening. That movie, released in 1967, was a supposed comedy about four hippies who kidnap a retired Mafia mob boss.…
Today’s classic song of the day is an overlooked ’70s soul track from an overlooked soul singer. The track is “It Ain’t Easy” and the singer is Claudia Lennear. Claudia Lennear was a background singer, one of the ladies featured in the 20 Feet From Stardom documentary. She made her bones as an Ikette with Ike & Tina Turner, and…
“Knock on Wood” is today’s classic song of the day and it was a hit in two different decades by two very different artists. “Knock on Wood” was a soul tune written by singer Eddie Floyd and guitarist Steve Cropper, both stalwarts of Memphis’ Stax Records. They wrote it in 1966 at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King…
Family acts were a big thing for a time—think the Cowsills, the Jackson 5, and the Five Stairsteps, let alone the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, and Sly and the Family Stone. Well, today’s classic song of the day is by yet another family act, the group of singing Mormon brothers called the Osmonds. The song is “One Bad Apple”…
It’s a hot summer Sunday here in the states, which means lots of folks on the coasts are heading to the beach. With that in mind, today’s perfect summer-themed classic song of the day is “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini,” by Brian Hyland. Released in June of 1960, this novelty single went all the way to #1 on…
Today is the Fourth of July, Independence Day here in these only somewhat United States, so today’s classic song of the day is the appropriately themed “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” by the great Bruce Springsteen. This song, while never released as a single here in the U.S., was one of the most popular tracks on Bruce’s second album,…