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 long-forgotten classic song of the day is “How Do You Do” by Mouth and MacNeal. This precious little track was released in 1971 in Europe and a year later in the U.S., where it hit #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. It did even better elsewhere, hitting #1 in Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland. (It peaked one…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” by the Springfields. Released in late summer of 1962, this harmony-laden track peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Springfields were a folk trio from the UK consisting of Tim Feild, Dion O’Brien, and Mary Catherine O’Brien. The O’Brien siblings changed their names to Tom Springfield…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Hello It’s Me” by Todd Rundgren. This precious piece of melodic power pop was released as a single in August of 1973 and it hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Todd’s only Top Ten hit. “Hello It’s Me” goes beyond typical power pop to include a bevy of extended chords,…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Sitting” by Cat Stevens. Released in September of 1972, the song went to #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Sitting” is a song about the inner struggles and existential questions that all of us ask at one time or another in our lives, but particularly as we’re approaching adulthood. The song’s Zen-like lyrics…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Anticipation” by Carly Simon. Released in November of 1971, it peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart early the next year. “Anticipation” is kind of a sideways, not very dreamy eyed love song. Ms. Simon supposedly wrote it while waiting for a very late Cat…
We finish our look at some of my favorite tracks from the mid-70s with “Time Passages” by Al Stewart. This was the first track on side one of the Time Passages album, Mr. Stewart’s follow-up to his career-defining Year of the Cat album. The “Time Passages” single, released in September of 1978, hit #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and…
Continuing our look at some of my favorite classic rock tracks from the mid-70s, today’s classic song of the day is “Deacon Blues” by Steely Dan. It’s one of the, if not the most popular Dan tunes of all time, a staple of classic rock radio and yacht rock playlists. Everybody knows it, even those that don’t know the Dan.…
As we continue to focus on favorite songs from the mid-70s, today’s classic song of the day is Joni Mitchell’s “Coyote.” This was the lead track from her 1976 album Hejira; it was released as a single in February of 1977 and, while it didn’t chart in the U.S., did reach #79 on Canada’s RPM Top Singles chart. “Coyote” was…
Revisiting some of my favorite tunes from the mid-70s, today’s classic songs of the day are both from George Benson’s genre-bending Breezin’ album: “This Masquerade” and the album’s title track, “Breezin’.” Both songs blended jazz and pop in a way that was unique for the time but led to the establishment of what some now call smooth jazz. George Benson…