Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Today’s classic song of the day was a hit for two different R&B artists. The song is “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied)” and it was written by Betty Nelson, the wife of Ben E. King, and Ahmet Ertegun. (Probably all by Betty; it wasn’t unusual for the producer to take co-songwriting credit back in those days.) The first recording…
“Lay Lady Lay” was Bob Dylan’s fourth and final top ten single, and it’s today’s classic song of the day. Released in July of 1969, “Lay Lady Lay” peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, #8 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #19 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. Bob Dylan included “Lay Lady Lay” on his country-flavored 1969…
Today’s classic song of the day is one of many top ten hits by the Supremes. The song, released as a single in April of 1966, is “Love is Like an Itching in My Heart” and it peaked at #9 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, and #7 on Billboard’s R&B chart. Supreme Mary Wilson…
Today’s classic song of the day was written way back in 1955, was a minor hit for three different artists in the ’50s, then became a major smash for the Righteous Brothers in 1965. The song is “Unchained Melody,” and it’s one of my all-time favorites. The music for “Unchained Melody” was written by film composer Alex North, with lyrics…
Three years ago today, on February 18, 2023, I launched the Classic Song of the Day blog. I started with a long post about the composer Burt Bacharach, who had recently passed away. The same day I posted my very first classic song of the day, a song written by Mr. Bacharach and his partner Hal David, “I’ll Never Fall…
Today’s completely forgotten classic song of the day is “I Could Be So Good to You” by the equally forgotten band, Don and the Goodtimes. This track is virtually unplayed on oldies stations today, probably because it only reached #56 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released in 1967. It had more success regionally, especially in the Northwest,…
Today’s classic song of the day is “The Snake” by soul singer Al Wilson. This hot little number was released in August of 1968, a time of strife and violence, and it went all the way to #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #32 on Billboard’s R&B chart. It has since faded somewhat into obscurity—except in England, where it…
Paul Revere & the Raiders were a pretty big deal in the back half of the ’60s and even into the front half of the ’70s. Case in point is today’s classic song of the day, “Hungry.” Released as a single in June of 1966, “Hungry” went all the way to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #10 on…
For today’s classic song of the day we turn to the Beatles and their song, “You’re Going to Lose That Girl.” Featured on the soundtrack to the movie Help!, this track was one of the best of the group’s songs of that period. “You’re Going to Lose That Girl” was written by the team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney,…