When we still did “record hops”, certain songs always filled the dance floor. Johnny Rivers’ “Swayin’ to the Music ” was one of em.
The syncopated bass line in “The Beat Goes On” was totally Carol Kaye’s invention. And it helped make Sonny & Cher rock stars.
They knocked the Beatles out No.1, smoked dope in the White House, and after 5 decades, The Turtles are still “Happy Together”.
The Beach Boys’ “Dance, Dance, Dance” is Brian Wilson when the stories the songs told were about the joys and tribulations of growing up.
The story of the unlikely success of Chris Rea’s “Fool If You Think It’s Over” is the stuff of a novel about trial and redemption.
The very title of Seals and Crofts “Summer Breeze” branded it, over time, as a Summer Song, even though it’s prime happened in September.
When I was a senior in high school, we had a teacher who gave us a lesson in finding happiness that still resonates today.
Pound for pound, nothing in the Motown cannon will ever top 1969’s Temptations unforgettable “I Can’t Get Next to You”.
When Atlantic records needed a single from the “Fragile” LP, they didn’t tell the band they were cutting the 8:29 album version to 3:27. Yes first heard it on the radio when traveling between gigs and they weren’t happy about it… until it became a smash hit.
“I Shot the Sheriff” was the hit single from Eric Clapton’s “461 Ocean Blvd” LP. But, for me, “Let It Grow” is the cut that never grows old.