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 is “Jimmy Mack” by Martha and the Vandellas. Released as a single in February of 1967, this Motown classic peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 but went all the way to #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart. “Jimmy Mack” was written by the team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, AKA…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Any Major Dude Will Tell You” by Steely Dan. This one’s off their 1974 album, Pretzel Logic. It was released as the B-side of their “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” single, in April of 1974. “Any Major Dude Will Tell You” is (fairly) optimistic and comforting, for a Dan song, with the protagonist…
Today’s classic song of the day is a vocal gem from the Association. The song is “Windy” and, when released in May of 1967, it went to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. (It was also a number-one hit in Canada.) “Windy” was written by Ruthann Friedman, a San Francisco-based songwriter. Here’s what she…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Kiss You All Over” by Exile. Released in May of 1978, this one went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also a top ten hit in Australia (#1), Austria, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand (#1), Norway, South Africa (#1), Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and West…
Today’s classic song of the day is a one-hit wonder from a group called the Rose Garden. The song is “Next Plane to London” and, when released in October of 1967, it peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. I always thought that the Rose Garden was a British group, probably because of the word “London” in this song’s…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Mamma Mia” by ABBA. Released in September of 1975, “Mamma Mia” was a worldwide hit—except, for some reason, here in the U.S. It hit the top ten in Australia (#1), Austria, Belgium, Ireland (#1), Italy, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland (#1), the UK (#1), West Germany (#1). and Yugoslavia. For whatever reason,…
Wrapping up our week of movie music, today’s classic movie song of the day comes from the original 1964 version of The Pink Panther. No, we’re not talking about that recognizable do do-do, do-do do-do do-do instrumental theme song, but rather a song with lyrics that’s performed in its entirety within the movie. The song is “It Had Better Be…
Today’s classic movie song of the day is a beautiful instrumental from Mark Knopfler, formerly of Dire Straits. The tune is “Going Home (Theme from Local Hero),” and it’s the music you hear at the end of the 1983 Scottish film, Local Hero. This is music that always settles my soul; it is gentle and calming, perhaps Knopfler’s best work…
This week we’re featuring songs used in movies, and today’s classic movie song of the day is “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon & Garfunkel. This one was heavily featured in the legendary film The Graduate—even though Paul Simon hadn’t finished writing it when the movie was being made! That’s right, “Mrs. Robinson” wasn’t yet finished when director Mike Nichols decided to…
This is movie music week at the ol’ Classic Song of the Day blog, and today’s classic movie song of the day is “Up Where We Belong” from the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman. Recorded as a duet by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, this tune was a huge hit worldwide. It went all the way to #1…