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 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 is “Get Ready,” a hit for two different Motown groups. It was initially a hit for the Temptations in 1966, then it was a hit again in 1970 by Rare Earth. “Get Ready” was written by premiere Motown songsmith Smokey Robinson. He envisioned it as an up-tempo dance number and had the Temptations in…
Yesterday’s classic song of the day was all about being “stone in love,” so it makes sense for today’s classic song of the day to be “Stoned Love.” This was a track by the post-Diana Ross Supremes, with Jean Terrell singing lead. “Stoned Love” was released on the Motown label in October of 1970. It peaked at #7 on the…
Today’s classic Motown song of the day is “Since I Lost My Baby” by the Temptin’ Temptations. The tune was written by Smokey Robinson and fellow Miracle Peter Moore; Smokey also produced. The single, released in June of 1965, peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on Billboard’s R&B Singles chart. At the time, Smokey said “Since…
Today’s socially conscious track by a legendary soul singer is “Living for the City” by Stevie Wonder. Released as a single in November of 1973, it went all the way to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart. “Living for the City” was the third track on side one of Stevie’s 1973 album,…
Today’s socially relevant classic song of the day by an R&B legend is “Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)” by Marvin Gaye. Released in June of 1971, it hit #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 (for two weeks) on Billboard’s R&B Singles chart. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. “Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)”…
Today’s classic song of the day is one of the first socially conscious tunes of the late ’60s by a major R&B artist. The song is “Love Child” and it was recorded and released by Diana Ross & the Supremes in September of 1968. The single was a global smash, hitting #1 in Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and, in…
Continuing with our socially conscious late ’60s/early ’70s songs by major R&B artists, today’s protest song of the day is “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today)” by the Temptations. This powerful track was recorded on April 12 and 14 in 1970 and released as a single less than a month later, on May 7. It hit #3…
This week we’re featuring socially conscious songs from the turbulent late ’60s/early ’70s from Motown and other R&B artists. We start with one of the most memorable protest songs of that or any era, “War” by Motown artist Edwin Starr. “War,” an obvious anti-Vietnam War protest song (“War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin’!”) was written by legendary Motown…