Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
I’ve always thought of today’s classic song of the day as an instrumental, but it really isn’t. “Shotgun” by Junior Walker & the All Stars actually has lyrics, and they’re sung by Junior Walker himself. There’s a story behind that. “Shotgun” wasn’t actually recorded by Junior Walker’s real band. Berry Gordy (who co-produced the track with Lawrence Horn) thought the…
Here’s another Motown classic from Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops. Today’s classic song of the day is “Shake Me, Wake Me (When It’s Over); it was released in February of 1966 and went to #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on Billboard’s R&B chart. Like many of the Four Tops’ songs, “Shake Me, Wake Me (When It’s…
It was the third of SeptemberThat day I’ll always remember‘Cause that was the day that my daddy diedI never got a chance to see himNever heard nothin’ but bad things about himMomma I’m depending on you to tell me the truthMomma just hung her head and said, son Papa was a rolling stoneWherever he laid his hat was his homeAnd…
Today’s classic song of the day is one of the more unusual tunes from a Motown artist. The song is “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game” and it was recorded by the Marvelettes. Released in late December of 1966, it peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on Billboard’s R&B Singles chart early in 1967. “The…
The Jackson 5’s “Mama’s Pearl” is today’s classic song of the day. Released in January of 1971, it peaked at #2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles charts. (It was kept out of the #1 position on the Hot 100 by the Osmonds’ “One Bad Apple,” back when that white bread family group was…
Today’s classic song of the day is another standout track from Stevie Wonder’s 1976 masterpiece, Songs in the Key of Life. “Isn’t She Lovely” was the first track on the first side of the second disc; while it wasn’t released as a single, FM radio DJs picked up on it and drove it to #23 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.…
This week we’ve been featuring tunes that were hits multiple times for multiple artists. This brings us to our final classic multiple-artist hit of the day, “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).” This one was a hit for both Marvin Gaye and Junior Walker in the ’60s and for James Taylor in the ’70s. “How Sweet It…
Today’s classic song that was a hit for multiple artists of the day is that smooth soul classic, “Ooo Baby Baby.” It was first a hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles then, about a dozen years later, for singer Linda Ronstadt. Smokey Robinson and fellow Miracle Pete Moore wrote “Ooo Baby Baby” back in 1965. The Miracles recorded it…
This week we’re looking at songs that were hits for two or more different artists. Our first dual-artist classic song of the day is “Baby I Need Your Loving,” a huge hit for both the Four Tops and Johnny Rivers. “Baby I Need Your Loving” was written and produced by the Motown team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie…