Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Continuing to honor the memory and the songwriting of the late Cynthia Weil, it’s time to turn our attention to former Mama, Cass Elliot, and the three hits she had with Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil tunes. We’re talking about, in chronological order, “It’s Getting Better,” “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” and “New World Coming.” The first of these tunes, “It’s…
Honoring the late Cynthia Weil, today’s classic song of the day is “On Broadway,” which was a hit for both the Drifters in 1963 and George Benson a decade and a half later. This was a unique collaboration between two legendary songwriting teams, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Here’s how it went down—all at…
Your totally forgotten ’70s song of the day is “Games” by a group called Redeye. It was released in late 1970 and peaked at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100. I’m guessing that if you’re of a certain age you’ll remember this song if you hear it. It played the other day on a rerun of Casey Kasem’s American Top…
Today’s oddly original classic late-70s song of the day is “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” by Joe Jackson. In my memory this is an early ’80s tune, but it was originally released in October of 1978. That initial release didn’t take so the label re-released it in July of 1979, when it went all the way to #21…
For our final day of horn rock week, I’m pulling out another Blood, Sweat & Tears tune, because I really like BS&T. This one is the combo of “Snow Queen” and “Maiden Voyage,” the closing tracks from their 1972 album New Blood. You didn’t hear it on the radio but it really encapsulates all that I like about this period…
We’re coming close to the end of horn rock (jazz rock) week and for today’s classic horn rock song of the day we move north of the border for the Canadian band Lighthouse and their big hit, “One Fine Morning.” Released in 1971, this tune peaked at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 but hit #2 on the Canada RPM…
It’s still horn rock week and we’re past the big names, BS&T and Chicago and the like. Looking now at more obscure bands, today’s classic horn rock song of the day is “Vehicle” by the little remembered group, the Ides of March. The song was actually released in March of 1970 and went all the way to #2 on the…
It’s day number four of horn rock week, and now we’re up to Chase, the band formed by former big band trumpeter Bill Chase. The song (their only hit single) is “Get It On,” and it peaked at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971. Bill Chase had been a trumpet player with the Maynard Ferguson, Stan Kenton, and…
It’s day number three of horn rock week and today’s classic jazz rock song of the day is “Beginnings” by Chicago, arguably the most popular of the horn rock bands of the late 1960s/early 1970s. This one is from their very first self-titled album when the band still called themselves Chicago Transit Authority. “Beginnings” was first released as a single…