Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Today’s classic song of the day may be the best song ever written. (Or maybe the second-best; I vacillate between this one and Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman,” which I’ll feature next week.) The song is “God Only Knows,” written by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Tony Asher. It was recorded by the Beach Boys and featured as the first track…
Today’s classic song of the day is my favorite Beatles track and maybe their best track, which is saying a lot given how many great songs this group produced. The song is “A Day in the Life;” never released as a single, it was the concluding track on side two of 1967’s landmark Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.…
This week’s final classic early ’70s song of the day is “Oh Babe, What Would You Say?” by Hurricane Smith. This one-hit wonder was released in July of 1972 and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, and #1 on the Cash Box Top 100. It also hit #4 on the UK chart.…
Today’s classic early ’70s song of the day is “Gypsy Woman.” It was originally a hit for the Impressions in 1961 and an even bigger hit for Brian Hyland in 1970. Curtis Mayfield wrote “Gypsy Woman” when he was barely a teenager and his group the Impressions released it as a single in October of 1961. The Impressions’ version of…
Today’s classic early ’70s one-hit wonder song of the day is “Go Back” by Crabby Appleton. This single, released in April of 1970, peaked at #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. Critics have described “Go Back” as proto power pop with a psychedelic twinge. Okay, that’s not wrong. The song was written by the band’s singer, Michael Fennelly. It was…
Top forty radio in the early 1970s was host to a slew of one-hit wonders. Case in point, today’s classic early ’70s song of the day, “Sweet Mary” by a group called Wadsworth Mansion. The single, released in October of 1970, peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Cash Box Top 100. The song was…
Today’s classic early ’70s song of the day is “Yellow River” by Christie. This one was released in April of 1970 and peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It did considerably better in the group’s native England, where it went all the way to #1 on the UK Singles Chart. Christie was the name of the group fronted…
Today’s early ’70s song of the day is “Montego Bay” by Bobby Bloom. Released as a single in September of 1970, this one peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on the Cash Box Top 100. Bobby Bloom wrote “Montego Bay” with ace songwriter Jeff Barry. Mr. Barry is famous as half of a songwriting duo with…
From last week’s look at the early ’80s we jump back a decade to the early ’70s, and today’s classic early ’70s song of the day is “No Matter What” by Badfinger. This single was released in October of 1970 and hit #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. It did even better in the band’s native England, peaking at #5…
This week’s final classic early ’80s song of the day is “Tempted” by Squeeze. Released in July of 1981, this one was a bigger hit in the UK than the U.S., hitting #41 on the Brit charts and #49 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Tempted” was written by head Squeezers Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook. Difford described how the song…