Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from yesterday and today
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from yesterday and today
This week we’re featuring particularly sad songs, and today’s classic sad song of the day is “Hasten Down the Wind” by Warren Zevon, later covered by Linda Ronstadt. It’s hard to believe this song is close to fifty years old or that Warren’s been gone twenty years now. “Hasten Down the Wind” tells the story, in the third person, of…
This week we’re going to examine some slower, sadder songs and we’re starting with Tom Waits’ “Time.” As you’ll see, it has particular relevance to this date in history. Tom Waits wrote and recorded “Time” in 1985. It appeared on his eighth album, Rain Dogs. The song is about… well, who ever knows what a Tom Waits song is about?…
This is the last day of Motown week here at the classic song of the day blog, and our final classic Motown song of the day is “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” a song great enough to be a hit for two different Motown artists within the span of three years. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” was first released by…
Today’s classic Motown song of the day comes from one of Motown’s top composers and performers. It’s “The Tears of a Clown” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. This one was initially released on the Miracles’ 1967 album, Make It Happen, but not released as a single. Motown released it as a single in England in 1970, where it rose…
Today’s classic Motown song of the day is my favorite Motown tune, period, and I know it’s probably one of yours, too. I’m talking about “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” sung by the inimitable Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops. Released in April of 1965, this tune topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and Billboard’s…
Today’s classic Motown song of the day is perhaps the most well-known and most fondly remembered of them all, “My Girl” by the Temptations. Released on Motown’s Gordy label in late December of 1964, it rose all the way to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles charts. “My Girl” was arguably the biggest…
Today’s classic Motown song of the day comes from the label’s most successful act, the Supremes. “You Can’t Hurry Love” was released in July of 1966 and went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for two weeks. It was their seventh #1 hit to that point, with more to come. “You Can’t Hurry…
Today’s classic Motown song of the day is “Heat Wave,” which was a hit twice—for Martha and the Vandellas in 1963 and a little over a decade later for Linda Ronstadt. We’ll focus on the original version first, since this is Motown week at the Classic Song of the Day blog. Martha and the Vandellas recorded “Heat Wave” on June…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Please Mr. Postman” by the Marvelettes. It was one of the first big Motown hits, released in August of 1961 on the Tamla label. It went all the way to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard’s Hot R&B Sides charts. If you’ve been following this blog you might have noticed…