Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Roger Miller was a popular country artist who made several crossovers onto the mainstream pop charts in the mid-sixties. His first big crossover hit, “Dang Me,” is today’s classic song of the day. Roger Miller said he wrote “Dang Me” in four minutes in a motel room in Phoenix, Arizona. His friend Johnny Cash contradicts that story, saying he was…
Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland (AKA Holland-Dozier-Holland, AKA H-D-H) were a songwriting/production team responsible for dozens of huge hits for Motown artists in the ’60s. They left Motown in 1968 after a long-simmering dispute over profit-sharing and royalties. They subsequently moved across town to form their own record labels, Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records, and nurture a…
Steve Cropper was one of the best guitarists many people never heard of. He wasn’t a flashy guitar god like Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix; he was a solid player who could seamlessly switch from rhythm to lead and back again. His rhythm playing was highly precise and often syncopated, with the space between notes often more important than the…
From the collective pens of the legendary Motown songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland comes today’s classic song of the day, “Something About You.” This 1965 single by the Four Tops went to #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on Billboard’s R&B chart. Holland-Dozier-Holland, also known as H-D-H, was Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian’s brother Eddie Holland. They were…
Yesterday’s classic song of the day was Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” and today’s classic song of the day is by her ex-husband, singer-songwriter James Taylor. The song is “Your Smiling Face” which, when released in September of 1977, went to #20 on the Billboard Hot 100, #12 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #6 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary…
Carly Simon’s biggest hit is today’s classic song of the day. Ms. Simon released “You’re So Vain” in November of 1972. Early in 1973, the song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. It was also a top ten hit in Australia (#1), Belgium, Canada (#1), Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand (#1), South Africa,…
Today’s classic song of the day is an obscure soul banger that never gained a foothold on the pop charts but later got rediscovered by England’s Northern Soul scene. The song is “The Right Track” and it was recorded by soul singer Billy Butler. “The Right Track” was written by blues guitarist Johnny Jones and released, in 1966, on Chicago’s…
Sixty-two years ago today, on November 29, 1963, Parlophone Records released the single “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to record-buying audiences in the UK. The record had more than a million copies advance ordered and debuted on the British charts at number-two. (Number-one that week was another Beatles tune, “She Loves You.”) It took just two weeks for “I…
Back in the 1970s punk scene, Patti Smith was a big deal; her 1975 debut album Horses established her cred and put her on every punkster’s radar. She hit the mainstream three years later when she recorded “Because the Night,” a song she co-wrote with Bruce Springsteen. Released in March of 1978, “Because the Night” hit #13 on the Billboard…
It’s Thanksgiving Day here in these somewhat United States, so let’s be thankful for today’s classic song of the day, Andrew Gold’s “Thank You for Being a Friend.” According to Mr. Gold, this one was “just this little throwaway thing” that took him only about an hour to write. I guess it doesn’t take that long when you’re as talented…