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 mid-80s song of the day is “Luka” by Suzanne Vega. “Luka” was the second single from Ms. Vega’s 1987 album, Solitude Standing, and became her biggest hit. It peaked at #3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, and #4 on the Cash Box Top 100. “Luka” is a serious song about a serious subject,…
Today’s classic mid-80s song of the day is by another Brit singer, John Waite. This track, released in June of 1984, peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Top 100 and was a top ten international hit in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the UK. The single was nominated for a Best Male Pop Performance Grammy…
This week we’re fast forwarding to the mid-1980s and some of my favorite tunes from that period. With that in mind, today’s classic mid-80s song of the day is “Every Time You Go Away” by British singer Paul Young. This was Mr. Young’s biggest hit, climbing all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard Adult Contemporary, and…
Our final classic rain-themed song of the day this week is one of my personal favorites, “Baby the Rain Must Fall” by Glenn Yarbrough. Released in January of 1965, this track went to #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. “Baby the Rain Must Fall” was written by legendary composer Elmer Bernstein (with lyricist…
We’ve been doing a few days of rain-themed songs, so let’s keep it going with today’s classic rain song of the day, “I Wish It Would Rain” by the tempting Temptations. Motown released this one on the Gordy Records label in late December of 1967 and it peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February and March of…
Yesterday, in “Little Green Apples,” we learned that it never rains in Indianapolis in the summertime. In today’s classic song of the day, we also discover that it never rains in southern California. The song, “It Never Rains in Southern California,” was released by Albert Hammond in 1972 and went to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Little Green Apples,” a mainstream hit for O.C. Smith and a country hit for Roger Miller. Miller recorded it first, in January of 1968, and his version hit #6 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, #5 on the Adult Contemporary Chart, and #39 on the Hot 100. O.C. Smith’s version, originally an…
Continuing on from “Dancing in the Moonlight” and “Moonlight Feels Right,” today’s classic moon-themed song of the day is “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon” by Jonathan King. This track made it all the way to #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September of 1965. “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon” is ostensibly a song about loneliness, set to a melancholy…
Building off yesterday’s “Dancing in the Moonlight,” today’s classic moonlight-themed song of the day is “Moonlight Feels Right” by a band called Starbuck. No, they are not affiliated by the coffee chain, although if they formed a few years later no doubt they would have been sued for appropriating part of the name. “Moonlight Feels Right” was released in December…
Last week was all dance songs here at the Classic Song of the Day blog, so let’s carry it forward another day with “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest, an otherwise unremarkable French-American band. Sherman Kelly wrote it back in 1969, recorded it in 1970 with his band Boffalongo, then his brother Wells Kelly rerecorded it with his band…