Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from yesterday and today
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from yesterday and today
Today’s classic song of the day is the classic protest song “Eve of Destruction,” by Barry McGuire. The song, released in July of 1965, shot all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit the top ten in countries around the world. “Eve of Destruction” was written by prolific songwriter P.F. Sloan, and produced by Sloan and…
Your totally forgotten Girl Group song of the day is “The Sh-Down Down Song (You Better Leave Him Alone),” credited to “The Ginger-Snaps featuring Dandee Dawson.” The song was written and produced by the very prolific songwriting team of P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri for Dunhill Records. It was released in 1965 and went absolutely nowhere, which is a shame…
Your classic song that sounds an awful lot like another classic song of the day is “Let’s Live for Today” by the Grass Roots. It was released in May of 1967 and hit #8 on the Billboard Hot 100—and it bears a striking resemblance to the Drifters’ 1961 hit, “I Count the Tears.” The music for “Let’s Live for Today”…
Today’s classic song of the day had popular recordings by three very different artists in three very different styles. We’re talking about “Don’t Be Misunderstood,” first recorded by Nina Simone in a simmering soul version, then by the Animals in a bluesy rock version, then by Santa Esmeralda in a fiery Latin disco version. It says something that the song…
Your influential but overlooked song from an influential but overlooked album of the day is “Alone Again Or” by the band Love, from their album Forever Changes. It’s one of those songs you know when you hear it, but probably wouldn’t think of otherwise. It was released as a single in January of 1968 but only bubbled under the Billboard…
Your Baroquely eccentric classic song of the day is “Morning Girl” by the Neon Philharmonic. The group Neon Philharmonic was really a guy named Tupper Saussey, who did the composing and arranging, and vocalist Don Gant. Despite Gant’s vocals, this is most definitely a Tupper Saussey production, and it’s every bit as eccentric as he was. “Morning Girl” was released…
Our final angelic—actually, heavenly—song of the day is “Heaven on the 7th Floor” by Paul Nicholas. It’s about a guy who gets stuck in an elevator in-between floors with a beautiful girl and, well, he’s in heaven. “Heaven on the 7th Floor” was released in August of 1977 and rose to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s a nice…
Your angelic song of the day is straight from the disco era, “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel” from Tavares. This was a huge hit in the summer of 1976, right when I was getting ready to head off to my freshman year in college, hitting #15 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the Hot Soul Singles chart, and…
Your angelic song of the day is “Angel of the Morning” by the extremely angelic Merrilee Rush. The track was released in February of 1968 and peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 a few months later. It may the best-known song with the word “angel” in the title. “Angel of the Morning” was written by Chips Moman, famed…
Your angelic song of the day is John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery.” He wrote it back in 1970 and it first appeared on his self-titled 1971 debut album. It was immediately hailed as a major work and has since been covered by dozens of artists, from Gretchen Wilson and Emmylou Harris to John Denver and Carly Simon (in a contemporaneously…
Your song with the word “angel” in the title song of the day is “Angel Eyes” from Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. Little Steven, of course, is Steve Van Zandt. also known as Miami Steve, also known as Bruce Springsteen’s right-hand-man in the E Street Band. The Disciples of Soul is the band he put together for his…
Today’s song with the word angel in the title song of the day is Elvis Costello’s classic “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes.” This tune was a standout track on Mr. Costello’s 1977 debut album, My Aim is True, of which all the songs are terrific. My Aim is True is one of the best debut albums in modern…