Mr. Acker Blik--Stranger on the Shore (1962)

      The late 50's brought a renaissance of traditional jazz to almost all of Europe. Bernard Bilk, known to his fans as Mr. Acker Blik was one who rode the crest of that wave. His velvety smooth clarinet sound, and his stage look, (Bowler hat, goatee and striped waistcoat) hit No. 1 in the US with "Stranger on the Shore", his first charting song in 1962. There were several other hits before the British Invasion came and overtook the charts. He started on the cabaret circuit during that time and at the age of 82, is still...

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Zager and Evans--In the Year 2525 (1969)

     In the almost 8 full months I've been writing this blog we have covered a lot of different songs and a lot of different types of music. Of course music, along with every art form is a very subjective thing. What is one person's favorite song, will be someone else's pile of poo. Which brings me to this song.       The danger for any "message" song is that people will tire of the message before it has a chance to actually reach it's audience. Many folk singers have turned messages and/or protest...

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Sunday Morning Vault: George Baker Selection--Paloma Blanca

     Holland born George Baker (actual Name: Johannes Bouwens) who was lead singer of the George Baker Selection saw first chart action in 1970 with, "Little Green Bag" which reached #21 on the charts. Those who don't remember when it came out, might remember the song from the movie, "Reservoir Dogs" in 1992.      They had a minor hit later that year then fell silent (at least in the US), until 1975 when this little tidbit was released. Paloma Blanca is translated "White Dove". (it does not however explain...

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The Captain & Tennille--Love Will Keep Us Together (1975)

     In 1971, Toni Tennille was looking for a keyboardist. The play she had co-written was being set up for performance at the South Coast Repertory. Dragon was on break from his gig with the Beach Boys as a part of the touring band and was hired. He was impressed with her voice and recommended her as a backup singer on the next BB's tour. When the tour was over, they began writing and performing together. A recording they made of, "The Way I Want To Touch You" garnered them a contract with A&M records.      ...

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Looking Glass--Brandy (Your a Fine Girl) 1972

     A college band was born out of Rutgers University in 1969. After graduation, the band fell apart, but two of it's members, Elliot Lurie (lead guitar, vocals) and Larry Gonsky recruited Pieter Sweval (bass) and Jeff Grob (drums) to form Looking Glass.      The band's sound was one of straight ahead rock and roll, but as one can hear, the songs that reached the chart (Brandy, and Jimmy Loves Mary Ann from 1973) were more AM pop. This didn't sit well with Lurie who left the band in 74 and after a failed...

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KISS--Rock and Roll All Nite (1975)

     KISS was in danger of losing it all....      It was 1975 and all of the work that Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss had put into the group was in danger of being for naught. Their 5th single, "Rock and Roll All Nite" had a short life on the charts. The album that it was taken from, "Dressed to Kill" had done much better than it's two predecessors, but their label, Casablanca Records was in danger of going bankrupt.      Simmons and Stanley had been frustrated...

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Stevie Wonder--Fingertips Pt. 2 (1963)

     He really was a product of the 60's and 70's, but Stevie Wonder has continued to record and tour long after his major popularity has waned.       Born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1950, Stevland Judkins was born blind due to being 6 weeks premature. At the age of four his parents divorced, which prompted a move to Detroit and led to him being discovered by Ronnie White of the Mircales (actually it was his brother who kept nagging Ronnie to go to a friends house to check Stevie out). By this time he...

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Rick Springfield--Speak to the Sky (1973)

     Many only know him as an actor from the late 70's soap opera General Hospital, others as a successful singer in the early/mid 80's. Springfield's first hit however was in the early 70's....       He was born Richard Lewis Springthorpe in a western suburb of Sydney, Australia in 1949. From the age of 13 he was playing in bands and his addition to the group Rockhouse prompted the name change to Springfield. For the three years between 69 and 71, Rick was with the group Zoot which not only gave him...

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Bay City Rollers--Saturday Night (1975)

     The Saxons formed in 1966 with bassist Alan Longmuir, his brother Derek who played drums and lead singer Gordon Clark. They didn't fancy the name and chose another by throwing a dart a US map which landed on Bay City, Michigan. They did the pub circuit without much luck on the charts until releasing, "Keep On Dancing" in 1971 which reached #9 on the UK charts. In 73, they recorded their first version of "Saturday Night" which didn't make the charts, and with no more success to speak of, Clark left and was replaced with...

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Sunday Morning Vault: Jackie DeShannon--What the World Needs Now Is Love (1965)

     Jackie DeShannon is one of the most underrated songwriters of the 60's, although this song, was written by Bacharach and David. It was originally pitched to Dionne Warwick who eventually recorded it, but initially passed on it. DeShannon had one other hit, (Put a little love in your heart) but who's career was defined by not only the music she wrote in the 60's, but in the re-recording of a lot of her material by artists in the 80's and early 90's.   &nb...

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Led Zeppelin--Rock and Roll (1972)

     Some birthdays make me feel different that others and the fact that Robert Plant turns 63 today revives many memories of my youth, and makes it all too real that I celebrate my birthday in less than two weeks as well. He is still popular today, not only for his past, but for a very successful present as well where top albums and Grammy awards are the norm. But for a generation he will be as close to a golden god as rock and roll ever truly got. I'm still always amused at the eye fluttering and audible groaning from female...

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Morris Albert--Feelings (1975)

     Those born after 1980 never noticed it much as popular music has become more fragmented, but there was a time that the top 40 was a true hodgepodge of music. Rock, pop, country, jazz, easy listening, and others that defy description found it's way to the Billboard charts. There are probably a myriad of reasons why this is, but unfortunately there isn't near the diversity on radio there used to be.       For better or worse, songs like this one will never be heard again on top 40 radio. For one...

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Paper Lace--The Night Chicago Died (1974)

     Paper Lace began in 1967 in Nottingham, England as the group Music Box, then in 1969 changed it when Phil Wright joined as drummer and lead singer. They spent the next 5 years paying their dues on the pub circuit with the occasional television appearance. In 1974 the group had an chance to be on the show "Opportunity Knocks" and did so well that songwriters Mitch Murry and Peter Callender approached them with the song, "Billy Don't Be A Hero". The song went to number 1 on the British charts in the spring of 1974, but failed...

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Jewel Akens--The Birds and the Bees (1965)

     In 1964, Jewell Akens was the lead singer of a group called The Turnarounds and had just been signed by Era Records out of Hollywood. That year produced one single that saw no chart action. The owner of the label, Herb Newman, brought a song to them by a young songwriter by the name of Barry Stewart. (it was the pseudonym of Newman's teenaged son).      Looking over the song, it was very sing-songy....almost like a nursery rhyme. Akens really liked the song, however the rest of the group did not. Long...

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The Ad-Libs: He Ain't No Angel (1965)

     John T. Taylor had been playing saxophone with different big bands since the 30's. He decided by 1960 that it was time to retire from the road and to teach. During that time, he heard a group calling themselves the Creators. He began writing for them, but the couple of singles flopped on the charts.        In 1964 there was a reshuffling of the ranks, and a name change to the Ad-Libs. Hugh Harris, Danny Austin, Dave Watt, Norman Donegan, and female lead, Mary Ann Thomas made up the classic...

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Sunday Morning Vault: Barbara Acklin--Just Ain't No Love (1969)

      Barbara Acklin was like many in the 60's who tried to make it in the music business, she got a job with a record company. In this case it was Brunswick, where she was a receptionist for producer Carl Davis. She kept asking him for a chance to record something, and his response was to just keep writing. Well, she did that and one day she cornered Wilson Pickett and convinced him to a song she had co-written called, Whispers (Gettin Louder). Pickett liked enough to pass it on to Davis as a song to record. It was and...

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AC/DC--Highway to Hell (1979)

     Highway to Hell was the first song to break through in a major way to American audiences, but had spent the previous four years being one of Australia's premiere rock bands....         The Young family relocated to Sydney in 1963 from Scotland, and it wasn't long before older brother George found himself in the group, "The Easybeats". Not only were they one of the biggest acts of the 60's in their country, but the song, "Friday on my Mind" was the first Australian song to reach the pop charts...

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Buck Owens--I Got A Tiger By The Tail (1965)

      Buck Owens is known in the last couple of generations as one of the hosts of "Hee Haw" the long running comedy and music show. During the 60's, one could suggest that he was one of the biggest hit makers in the business. Between 1959 and 1968 he had 28 straight county top 20's with 14 of those consecutive #1's. It was no wonder between his success as a performer and his ability to connect with an audience (see video above) that he was chosen to host "Hee Haw" along with Roy Clark. The hits continued (partially because of...

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Ace--How Long (1975)

     There are many one-hit wonders over the years, but not many of those have become classics of their era. Ace and "How Long" is one of those. The laid back, car radio-ready vibe still is as distinctive now as it was then. Paul Carrack had already given notice in the group, Warm Dust, that his talent stood out. When he formed Ace with his former band mate Tex Comer, the pub band sound was established early and the debut album, "Five A Side" reached the top 20 albums, with the Carrack penned, "How Long" reaching #3.      ...

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Joe Tex--I Gotcha (1972)

    In 1972, it looked as if the career of Joe Tex was beginning to wind down. His last big hit was five years before, and his unique style of spoken morality songs and humorous R&B was out of vogue. He had teamed with Nashville producer Buddy Killen in 1965 and found a formula that put him all over the charts from 65-67.      Tex had a song he had written for King Floyd in the late 60's called, "I Gotcha", but Floyd never recorded it. Instead, Joe recorded it himself, but shelved it for a couple of years....

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Sunday Morning Vault: The Adant Garde--Naturally Stoned (1968)

     One of the things that I get a kick out of is to be able to introduce you to music that was done by people you know from other areas of pop culture.       Chuck Woolery is a long time game show host who’s career has now spanned a couple of generations. He was the original host of the Wheel of Fortune from 1975-81, the original Love Connection from 1983-94, Scrabble from 84-90, and for almost the last ten years hosted shows on the Game Show Network. What many don’t know is that he began his entertainment...

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Chubby Checker--The Twist (1960)

    Ernest Evans has lamented that his career has been focused on just one song, but probably no one artist in the rock and roll era has been linked to a song like he has...      As a teenager, The Twist was the only song that I associated with Chubby Checker. In fact, it's the only song linked to him in 2010. There have been times that he has complained about that, which is a valued argument. From 1960 to 1965 Checker had 21 hits on the top 40 (if you count The Twist's second #1 showing in January 1962). So...

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The Songs of Jimmy Webb...

     The late 60's belonged to Jimmy Webb.        His first big break was when Johnny Rivers signed him to a publishing deal and recorded his song, "By the time I get to Phoenix" in 1966. The next year Rivers was producing an album for a new group called The Fifth Dimension and turned to Webb for some songs. One of them became a breakthrough hit for the group and was the first real success for Jimmy. Later that year, Glen Campbell covered "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and was a hit for Campbell...

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Maureen McGovern--The Morning After (1973)

      In the late 60's/early 70's, Maureen McGovern was working as a secretary and performing in a folk band called, "Sweet Rain". She had always wanted to be a singer, but up to that point had gone nowhere fast. In 1972 a demo she had recorded ended up catching the ear of Russ Regan who at that time was the head of 20th Century records. Having never actually met her at that time, he called and asked if she would be interested in recording a song from a film that was to be released in December of that year called, "The...

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Tony Bennett--I Left My Heart In San Fransicso (1962)

     In every area of life there are those who defy the odds that other succumb to. Tony Bennett turns 85 today and shows no signs of slowing down. I don't think it would be overstating the fact that his career has been more successful the last 10 years than at any point in his life.      He came up in the early 50's as a crooner who's success began to wane during the British Invasion. As opposed to Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin however, his career trajectory took a quicker dive, and by the end of the 70's...

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The Grateful Dead--Truckin (1971)

     The legend of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead has grown to the point where it almost overshadows their musicianship. All we hear about anymore are the endless tours, the drug abuse, and the deadheads. Unfortunately, this media whitewashing has obscured a dammed good band. Interestingly, they weren't really rock and roll, (at least not on vinyl), nor were they country, but there were elements of rock, country, folk, bluegrass, and reggae in a mix that was truly their own. As good as their musical output was however, it...

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