Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Back in 1976, even though the Beatles had been disbanded for a half-dozen years or so, there was a continuing hope among fans that the Fab Four would reunite at some point in the future. That’s when radio programmers became aware of a band called Klaatu that arrived on the scene with an album that sounded kind-of sort-of like something…
For today’s classic song of the day, let’s get in the Wayback Machine and travel all the way back to the year 1967. Doesn’t matter what time it is, just turn on your handy AM radio and you’re likely to hear the latest tune from Herman’s Hermits, a catchy little ditty called “There’s a Kind of Hush.” Released as a…
Today’s classic soft rock song of the day is “For All We Know,” made famous by the Carpenters. This single, released in January of 1971, reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #6 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. “For All We Know” was written by Fred Karlin (music) and the team of…
Today’s classic song of the day is another one co-written by Paul Williams, this time with frequent collaborator Roger Nichols. (Paul did the words, Roger did the music.) The song is “We’ve Only Just Begun” and it was a huge hit for the Carpenters. Paul and Roger wrote “We’ve Only Just Begun” as a commercial jingle for California’s Crocker National…
Today’s classic song of the day with a phone number in the title is “Beechwood 4-5789.” Back in the days when there were fewer people, fewer phones, and therefore fewer phone numbers, local exchanges were known by their letters rather than their numbers. Take the first two letters of the word and that’s your exchange prefix—which you could translate into…
Today’s classic song of the day for a Monday morning is “Rainy Days and Mondays” by the Carpenters. This soft ballad was released as a single in April of 1971 and rose all the way to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Adult Listening chart. “Rainy Days and Mondays” was written by the team of Paul…
Today’s classic song where the cover performed better than the original of the day is “Superstar.” It was first recorded by Delaney and Bonnie (didn’t go anywhere), then Rita Coolidge (as part of Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour), then Bette Midler (which got more attention), then the Carpenters (a big hit). “Superstar” tells the story of a groupie…
Today’s classic song with Hal Blaine on drums of the day is “(They Long to Be) Close to You” by the Carpenters. This monster track was released in May of 1970 and shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Cash Box Top 100, Billboard Adult Contemporary, and Canadian RPM charts. It won the group a Grammy Award for Best…
In honor of lyricist Toni Stern’s passing, today’s classic songs of the day are “Sweet Seasons” and “It’s Going to Take Some Time.” Ms. Stern wrote the lyrics for both of these tunes and her friend Carole King composed the music. Toni and Carole wrote “Sweet Seasons” for Ms. King’s 1971 album Music, the follow-up to her groundbreaking 1971 album,…