Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
“Pancho and Lefty” is today’s classic song of the day. Written by singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, it’s a story song about a Mexican bandit named Pancho and his pal Lefty, who eventually betrays him to the Federales. Some people think that “Pancho and Lefty” is about real Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. Mr. Van Zandt said that wasn’t the case, but…
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…
Anni-Frid Lynstad, better known as Frida, was one quarter of the Swedish monster group ABBA. (She was the redheaded one—or was it brunette? I never could tell…) Right before ABBA broke up in 1982, Frida recorded a solo album (her third) and released today’s classic song of the day as a single. That song is “I Know There’s Something Going…
Folksinger/songwriter Kate Wolf was born on this date in 1942, and today’s classic song of the day is one of her finest tunes. The song is “Across the Great Divide,” and it’s an introspective tune about the passage of time and having the emotional resilience to keep moving forward. You can hear it in the lyrics: I’ve been walkin’ in…
“Hurt So Bad” is today’s classic song of the day and it was a hit for two different artists in two different decades. The song was written by the team of Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Weinstein, and Bobby Hart. Teddy was a songwriter and producer responsible for tunes like “Goin’ Out of My Head,” “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle,” and “Pretty…
It’s New Year’s Day, so it’s appropriate that today’s classic song of the day is ABBA’s “Happy New Year.” Included on the group’s 1980 Super Trouper album, it wasn’t released as a single at the time. It became one of the group’s signature songs, however, and got re-released multiple times over the years, typically at the end of each year.…
Today’s classic song of the day was a hit for four different artists in three different decades. The song is “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me” and it was written by the legendary team of Burt Bacharach (music) and Hal David (words). It was first recorded, as a demo, by Dionne Warwick in 1963 but not released as a…
Regular followers of this blog know that I’m a big fan of power pop, and one of the foremost practitioners of that genre is Eric Carmen, both with the Raspberries and as a solo act. That brings us to today’s classic song of the day, one his best songs, “Make Me Lose Control.” Eric Carmen released “Make Me Lose Control”…
Here’s another obscure one for you. The song is “You Saved My Soul” and it was written and recorded by Burton Cummings, who you probably remember from his years with the Canadian band the Guess Who. This particular track was released as a single in August of 1981 and got as high as #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and…