Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart were songwriters-for-hire back in the ’60s, penning hits for Jay and the Americans (“Come a Little Bit Closer”) and the Monkees (“Last Train to Clarksville,” “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone,” “Valeri,” and “(Theme From) The Monkees”). They also recorded a few tunes on their own, including 1968’s “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight” and today’s classic…
Continuing with our avian theme for one more day (yesterday’s song was Paul McCartney’s “Bluebird,” with the Beatles’ “Blackbird” the day before that), today’s classic song of the day is “Mrs. Bluebird” by a group called Eternity’s Children. This one’s a little more obscure than either of Paul McCartney’s bird tunes—and it’s likely that many of you haven’t heard it…
Today’s classic song of the day is a really obscure one. The song is “Here’s to You” by Hamilton Camp, and it was released as a single in June of 1968. You probably know Hamilton Camp not as a musician but as a character actor, typically in comedy roles, during the late 1960s through the turn of the century. He…
Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman, and the Turtles bring us today’s classic song of the day, “She’d Rather Be With Me.” Released in April of 1967, this sweet little pop tune went all the way to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Cash Box Top 100. It was a #1 hit in Canada and South Africa. “She’d…
The Lovin’ Spoonful bring us today’s classic song of the day, “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice.” Released as a single in November of 1965, this nice little slice of folk-rock peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #11 on the Cash Box Top 100. The Spoonful’s bassist, Steve Boone, wrote this one along with the group’s…
Remember Rupert Holmes, the guy who did “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)?” Well, he’s the brain trust behind today’s classic song of the day, a little-remembered tune titled “Jennifer Tomkins.” Credited to a non-existent studio group called the Street People, this single hit the Billboard charts in January of 1970 and peaked at #36. Rupert Holmes wrote “Jennifer Tomkins” along…
I’m happy to present today’s classic song of the day, “Happy.” No, not the 2013 tune by Pharrell Williams, from the Despicable Me soundtrack. This “Happy” was a single back in 1967 that was a minor hit for two different groups at more or less the same time. Radio play and record sales were much different back in the ’60s.…
When you were younger, did you ever have to choose between two equally appealing girls? (Or, if you’re a girl, two equally attractive guys?) I never had the good fortune to be in that situation, but apparently John Sebastian was, and he wrote today’s classic song of the day about it. As the lyrics so neatly put it: Sometimes there’s…
For some reason, I always thought that today’s classic song of the day was a Partridge Family song. I mean, it has that same sort of Baroque pop sound, the title is as vacuous as anything churned out by the P. Family’s hired songwriters, and the lead vocal sounds vaguely teen idolish. Really. The problem is, “Sit Down I Think…