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 is the Friday after Thanksgiving here in the United States, what we call Black Friday. That’s because it’s the day that shoppers go crazy snatching up ridiculous deals on all sorts of merchandise, racking up sales so big that merchants who might have been in the red all year long make enough money to finally go into the black.…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Bad Sneakers” by Steely Dan, the second track on side one of Steely Dan’s 1975 album, Katy Lied. It was released as the second single from the album (the first was “Black Lightning,” which peaked at #37 on the charts), even though it only hit #103 on the Billboard Hot 100—which, if you…
Today’s classic song of the day is one of my favorite Steely Dan tunes, “Kid Charlemagne.” This one was the lead track (side one, track one) of the Dan’s 1976 album, The Royal Scam. Released as a single, “Kid Charlemagne” only reached #82 on the Billboard Hot 100. As a classic album track, it’s had a lasting influence that exceeds…
Continuing our look at some of my favorite classic rock tracks from the mid-70s, today’s classic song of the day is “Deacon Blues” by Steely Dan. It’s one of the, if not the most popular Dan tunes of all time, a staple of classic rock radio and yacht rock playlists. Everybody knows it, even those that don’t know the Dan.…
Today’s classic song of the day just happens to be Steely Dan’s biggest Top Forty hit, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” This single was released in April of 1974 and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Cash Box Top 100. “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” was written, like almost all Steely Dan songs, by…
Today’s classic Yacht Rock song of the day is “FM (No Static at All)” by those Yacht Rock stalwarts known as Steely Dan. Now, the Dan weren’t known as Yacht Rock at the time (no one was; the genre wouldn’t be identified and named for more than two decades), and they’re certainly not at all like the vapid soft rock…
Here’s a bonus classic song of the day for you, Steely Dan’s “lost” track from the Gaucho album, “The Second Arrangement.” There’s a long story behind this one, and it’s worth telling. First, though, the song. This is a terrific Dan song. It was written and recorded in 1979, after the success of their legendary Aja album, as the first…
Today’s classic feel good get-up-and-dance song of the day is “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” by Leo Sayer—which has an interesting connection to Steely Dan’s classic album, Aja. Mr. Sayer released “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” in October of 1976. It was an instant radio hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 in Canada, and #2…
In honor of Jim Gordon’s passing, our classic song of the day is “Layla,” by Derek and the Dominos. Released in September of 1970, it rose to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 early in 1971 and became an instant rock classic. The song “Layla” was the next-to-last track (third of four tracks on the second side of the double-album’s…