Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Your classic song that you didn’t know Dusty Springfield sang vocals on of the day is “Ballad of a Well-Known Gun” by Elton John. This is an album track (side one, track one), not a single, from Elton’s 1971 album, Tumbleweed Connection. The album peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 album chart and #2 on the UK Albums chart.…
Your classic song written about a legendary painter of the day is “Vincent” by Don McLean. In case you’ve never heard it, the song is about the artist Vincent Van Gogh, and if you’ve never heard of him, that’s your loss. The song “Vincent” is a moving tribute to that troubled painter that captures the essence of Van Gogh’s work…
Your classic song about a songwriter but not written by that songwriter is “P.F. Sloan,” about the songwriter of the same name. The song itself was written by Sloan’s friend, fellow songwriter Jimmy Webb, and performed (in its best-known version) by the Association. Jimmy first released the song on his 1970 solo album, Words and Music; the Association then released…
Today’s classic song of the day had popular recordings by three very different artists in three very different styles. We’re talking about “Don’t Be Misunderstood,” first recorded by Nina Simone in a simmering soul version, then by the Animals in a bluesy rock version, then by Santa Esmeralda in a fiery Latin disco version. It says something that the song…
Your influential but overlooked song from an influential but overlooked album of the day is “Alone Again Or” by the band Love, from their album Forever Changes. It’s one of those songs you know when you hear it, but probably wouldn’t think of otherwise. It was released as a single in January of 1968 but only bubbled under the Billboard…
Our final angelic—actually, heavenly—song of the day is “Heaven on the 7th Floor” by Paul Nicholas. It’s about a guy who gets stuck in an elevator in-between floors with a beautiful girl and, well, he’s in heaven. “Heaven on the 7th Floor” was released in August of 1977 and rose to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s a nice…
Your angelic song of the day is straight from the disco era, “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel” from Tavares. This was a huge hit in the summer of 1976, right when I was getting ready to head off to my freshman year in college, hitting #15 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the Hot Soul Singles chart, and…
Your angelic song of the day is John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery.” He wrote it back in 1970 and it first appeared on his self-titled 1971 debut album. It was immediately hailed as a major work and has since been covered by dozens of artists, from Gretchen Wilson and Emmylou Harris to John Denver and Carly Simon (in a contemporaneously…
Today’s song with the word angel in the title song of the day is Elvis Costello’s classic “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes.” This tune was a standout track on Mr. Costello’s 1977 debut album, My Aim is True, of which all the songs are terrific. My Aim is True is one of the best debut albums in modern…