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 soul song of the day is “It’s a Shame” by the Spinners. It was their last recording for Motown’s V.I.P. subsidiary and their only Motown hit before they moved over to Atlantic Records and had a bevy of hits there, including “I’ll Be Around,” “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love?,” “One of a Kind (Love Affair),” “Mighty…
Today’s classic song of the day is one most of you might not know, but it’s a good one. The song is “Popsicle Toes” by Michael Franks, off his album The Art of Tea. “Popsicle Toes” was released in August of 1976 and got all the way to #43 on the Billboard Hot 100, which was somewhat of an accomplishment…
Today’s classic guilty pleasure song of the day is “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes. This frothy ode to infidelity was released in September of 1979 and hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of December 22, making it the final number-one song of the ’70s. “Escape” is probably the most appealing song about adultery this…
Our final classic sad song of the day during this week of incredibly sad songs is “Where’ve You Been” by Kathy Mattea. It was released in November of 1989 and rose to #10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart early in 1990. Like yesterday’s classic song of the day, John Prine’s “Hello in There,” “Where’ve You Been”…
Today’s classic sad song of the day is a real tear jerker, one of the first important songs from fabled songwriter John Prine. “Hello in There” was track number three on side one of his first solo album, the self-titled 1971 album, John Prine. That album included several songs that both established Mr. Prine’s career and became instant classics that…
Today’s classic sad song of the day is “San Francisco Mabel Joy,” by Mickey Newbury. Like “Tecumseh Valley,” yesterday’s classic song of the day, “San Francisco Mabel Joy” is a folk song that tells a story—a sad story, indeed. “San Francisco Mabel Joy” really isn’t about the character in the title, although she’s in the song. No, this one is…
Today’s classic sad song of the day is “Tecumseh Valley,” a real tear-jerker written by Townes Van Zandt and best remembered as performed by Nanci Griffith. Townes wrote this one in 1968 and first released it on his For the Sake of the Song album. It was always a staple of his live sets but didn’t get widespread airplay at…
Today’s classic sad song of the day is “Long Long Time,” one of Linda Ronstadt’s first solo hits. The single was released in June of 1970 and rose to #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #20 on the Easy Listening chart. Mr. Ronstadt’s performance was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Female Vocal Performance. (She lost to Dionne…
This week we’re featuring particularly sad songs, and today’s classic sad song of the day is “Hasten Down the Wind” by Warren Zevon, later covered by Linda Ronstadt. It’s hard to believe this song is close to fifty years old or that Warren’s been gone twenty years now. “Hasten Down the Wind” tells the story, in the third person, of…
This week we’re going to examine some slower, sadder songs and we’re starting with Tom Waits’ “Time.” As you’ll see, it has particular relevance to this date in history. Tom Waits wrote and recorded “Time” in 1985. It appeared on his eighth album, Rain Dogs. The song is about… well, who ever knows what a Tom Waits song is about?…