Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller helped create the type of rock and pop music that has ruled the airwaves for the past 70 years. Either as songwriters or producers (and often both), they infused black rhythm and blues with lush orchestration, radio-friendly production, and a general polish that music pre-Leiber and Stoller didn’t possess. Today’s classic song of the day,…
Today’s classic song of the day is one of the very best songs of the 1960s (or any decade), “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King. Mr. King wrote it, with a little assist from legendary producers/songwriters Mike Leiber and Jerry Stoller, inspired by/based on the turn-of-the-previous-century gospel hymn of the same name by Charles Albert Tindley. It’s a song…
Today’s classic Girl Group songs of the day are “People Say” and “Chapel of Love,” both by the Dixie Cups. We’ll start with “People Say,” which was released on Red Bird Records in July of 1964. This one peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the R&B Singles chart. Billboard magazine placed “People Say” at #53…
Continuing our overview of the career of songwriter Cynthia Weil, today’s classic song of the day is “Only in America” by Jay and the Americans. This one has a controversial history. “Only In America,” written in 1963, was the second collaboration between the teams of Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil and Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller. That’s a good thing; their previous collaboration, “On…
Honoring the late Cynthia Weil, today’s classic song of the day is “On Broadway,” which was a hit for both the Drifters in 1963 and George Benson a decade and a half later. This was a unique collaboration between two legendary songwriting teams, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Here’s how it went down—all at…