Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Fleetwood Mac’s “Sara” is today’s classic song of the day. Written by Stevie Nicks and included on the Mac’s 1979 double-album Tusk, “Sara” went to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980, after being released as a single in December of 1979. Stevie Nicks’ songwriting style, such as it is, is somewhat simple. She typically takes one of two…
Today’s classic song of the day is one of the most popular tunes by Tom Petty and his band the Heartbreakers. The song is “American Girl” and, while it was never a hit (it was released as a single in February of 1977 but it failed to make the Billboard Hot 100), it has rightfully earned its place on everybody’s…
Today’s classic song of the day was written by Bruce Springsteen but made into a huge hit by the Pointer Sisters. The song is “Fire” and it was released as a single by the Pointer Sisters in October of 1978. (March of 1979 in the UK.) It went all the way to #2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and…
Today’s classic song of the day is a neat little piece of Chicago soul by singer Tyrone Davis. The song is “Turning Point” and it was released as a single in early 1976. It didn’t crack the Billboard Hot 100 but went all the way to #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart. Tyrone Davis had a string of hits in the…
I’m a huge Al Stewart fan. His 1976 album Year of the Cat is in my personal top five favorite albums of all time and the title song from that album is simply one of the best-written and best-produced tracks of the modern era. No surprise then, that today’s classic song of the day is another one from that album,…
The singer known as Meat Loaf delivers today’s delicious classic song of the day. The song is “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and, when it was released as a single in March of 1978, it went to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the Cash Box Top 100. It’s a completely over-the-top power ballad—which, frankly, is…
I always liked Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1970 album, Cosmo’s Factory (named after a Berkeley, California, rehearsal space that drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford dubbed “The Factory”), which contained a bevy of standout tracks, including “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” Travelin’ Band,” “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” “Run Through the Jungle,” and an extended, very swampy cover of “I Heard It Through the…
Mellow soft rock was a thing back in the mid-70s, and a couple of guys named England Dan & John Ford Coley were two of its prime practitioners. Case in point is today’s classic song of the day, “Nights Are Forever Without You.” Released in October of 1976, when I was a freshman in college at good ol’ Indiana University…
Paul Simon was Paul Simon’s first post-Simon and Garfunkel solo album, and it and Here Comes Rhymin’ Simon are not only his two best (sorry, Graceland lovers) but also two of the overall best albums of the 1970s, period. The album was released in January of 1972 and immediately found a place on my GE portable turntable. It got very…