Month October 2024

“Don’t Wake Me Up in the Morning, Michael” (The Peppermint Rainbow)

Don't Wake Me Up in the Morning Michael, Peppermint Rainbow

Take it from a guy named Michael, songs with my name in the title are often worth a listen. So now we move from yesterday’s “Message to Michael” to another song with my name in the title, a nice little slice of sunshine pop called “Don’t Wake Me Up in the Morning, Michael,” by a quintet going by the name…

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“Message to Michael” (Dionne Warwick)/”Message to Martha” (Jerry Butler/Lou Johnson)

Message to Michael, Dionne Warwick

Today’s classic song of the day is “Message to Michael,” written by the legendary team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. That’s actually not the original title of the song, however, which I shall shortly explain. Bacharach and David wrote “Message to Martha,” as the song was originally titled, in 1962. The song was about a Kentucky gentleman telling a…

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“I Second That Emotion” (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles)

The Big Chill

All this week we’ve been highlighting songs that were featured on the soundtrack to The Big Chill, that 1983 movie that followed a group of Baby Boomer friends adjusting to the death of one of their own and their sacrifices in adapting to lives as adults. Our final song from The Big Chill this week is “I Second That Emotion,”…

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“(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (Aretha Franklin/Carole King)

A Natural Woman, Aretha Franklin

Today’s classic song featured in the movie The Big Chill of the day is “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” as recorded by Aretha Franklin. It’s one of the best songs of the 20th century—and it was written in a single evening. The story goes that lyricist Gerry Goffin was coming out of the Oyster House bar on…

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“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (The Rolling Stones)

You Can't Always Get What You Want, The Rolling Stones

This week we’re focusing on music featured in the 1983 movie, The Big Chill. That film did a lot for reviving some of the best music of the 1960s and early 1970s, including today’s classic song of the day, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Rolling Stones. The Stones originally released “You Can’t Always Get What You…

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