Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Anybody remember this one? Today’s classic song of the day is “Run Joey Run” by a guy named David Geddes. Released in July of 1975, this little teenage tragedy track went all the way to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Cash Box Top 100. “Run Joey Run” was written by Paul Vance and Jack Perricone.…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Billy Don’t Be a Hero.” It was a hit first for the group Paper Lace in the UK, then by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods in the U.S. “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” was written and produced by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander. These Brits were responsible, either together or separately, for hits…
Keeping with our color-in-the-title theme, today’ classic colorful song of the day is “Midnight Blue” by Melissa Manchester. Released as a single in April of 1975, this track went to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, #7 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. It was Ms. Manchester’s first big hit and the second-biggest…
Today’s classic color-coordinated song of the day is “Jackie Blue” by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. The song was released as a single in February of 1975 and shot to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Cash Box Top 100. “Jackie Blue” was written by Steve Cash and Larry Lee, the group’s lead singer and drummer, respectively.…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Bluer Than Blue” by singer Michael Johnson. (Not Michael Jackson.) The song was the singer’s first big hit; he subsequently scored another Top Twenty hit the following year with “This Night Won’t Last Forever.” “Bluer Than Blue” was written by country songwriter Randy Goodrum. You probably don’t know his name, but he was…
Today’s classic song of the day bridges two decades. “Little Green Bag” by the George Baker Selection was released in October of 1969 but didn’t really hit the U.S. charts until early spring 1970. It peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #16 on the Cash Box Top 100 in April of 1970, so I’m going to call…
Today’s classic mid-60s song of the day is “I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love” by Brit songbird Petula Clark. This single, released in June of 1966, went to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, #6 on the UK Singles chart, and #1 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. “I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love,” like many of Pet Clark’s big hits,…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Knowing When to Leave,” from the Broadway musical, Promises, Promises. Like all the rest of the tunes from the play, this one was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. (Burt did the music, as usual, and Hal did the words.) Promises, Promises is a musical adaptation of director Billy Wilder’s 1960 film,…
Today’s classic song of the day is that disco classic, Thelma Houston’s “Don’t Leave Me This Way.” If you were anywhere near a radio or dance floor during the spring of 1977, you heard a lot of this one. “Don’t Leave Me This Way” was written by Philly Soul legends Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, along with frequent collaborator Cary…
This week’s last socially relevant song of the day is “Too Many Martyrs (The Ballad of Medgar Evers)” by the late, great folksinger, Phil Ochs. It’s a tribute to and a lament for the life and death of Medgar Evers. Medgar Evers was a Civil Rights activist in Mississippi during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Evers was an Army…