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 is one of Phil Spector’s last Wall of Sound productions, “Black Pearl” by Sonny Charles and the Checkmates. Released in April of 1969, the song hit #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, #10 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #8 on Billboard’s R&B chart. “Black Pearl” was written by Toni Wine and Irwin…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town.” It was a hit first on the country charts by Johnny Darrell and then later on the pop charts by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” was written by country legend Mel Tillis. It’s about a paralyzed war veteran…
Today’s classic movie song of the day is “Moon River” from director Blake Edwards’ 1961 movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The song was written by Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (words). It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. In the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s,…
Today’s classic song from a movie of the day is “The Look of Love,” as performed by Dusty Springfield in the 1967 James Bond spoof, Casino Royale. Released as a single in July of 1967, the song peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song (it lost to “Talk to…
This week we’re focusing on songs from movies, cinematic treasures that crossed over into pop music success. Our first classic movie theme song of the day this week is the iconic theme from the movie Goldfinger, as sung by Dame Shirley Bassey. “Goldfinger” was composed by John Barry, who did the entire soundtrack. Lyrics were by Leslie Bricusse and, believe…
Our final classic night song of the day this week is “A Hard Day’s Night” by the Beatles. The title song from their 1964 film, A Hard Day’s Night, this single was released in July of that year and shot to #1 all around the world—Australia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, the UK, and,…
Today’s classic song of the day with the word night in the title is “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” It was a defining song for The Band and a major hit for Joan Baez. The Band’s Robbie Robertson wrote “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” purportedly with more than a little help from the band’s drummer, Levon…
This is a very special classic song of the day extra, in honor of songwriter Richard Sherman, who passed away yesterday. He was 95 years old. Together with his older brother Robert, they composed a legion of songs for Walt Disney films, theme parks, and artists The list is too long to in full, but here are some of the…
Today’s classic song of the day is “B-A-B-Y,” a moderate hit for both Carla Thomas and, a decade later, Rachel Sweet. “B-A-B-Y” was written by the stellar Stax Records songwriting team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter. Ms. Thomas released her version, on the Stax label, in July of 1966; it went all the way to #14 on the Billboard…