Category Archives: music
Prince
Good musicians seem to be dropping like flies this year – Prince is now the most recent to have passed on. I was never a huge fan of his music, but his songs were a huge part of popular culture … Continue reading
Everybody’s doing a brand new dance now
For some reason, I feel compelled to look up all of the versions of “The Loco-Motion” I could find. First, there’s the original, by Little Eva in 1962: Little Eva, born Eva Narcissus Boyd, was the babysitter for songwriters Gerry … Continue reading
Your Hit Parade, February 8, 1936
Since I seem obsessed lately by the idea of looking up old charts, here’s the Your Hit Parade singles chart for February 8, 1936, courtesy of this site, which looks like a wonderful resource (pay no attention to the old-school … Continue reading
Billboard Top 10, February 5, 1966
Okay, I can’t resist doing another of these. This is what music was like half a century ago, kids. #1: My Love – Petula Clark Petula Clark was constantly on the charts in the 1960s, scoring a total of 13 … Continue reading
Early 1970s Songs #3: “How Do You Do?” by Mouth and MacNeal
The pop charts were different in the early 1970s. All sorts of unusual and interesting songs got airplay. Here’s something from Holland in 1972: The guy lying down on the bar is what makes this video interesting for me. Na … Continue reading
Billboard Top 10, January 31, 1976
Okay, since I’ve done 2016, 1996, and 1986, I think I’ll do 1976 too. Warning: while some of these songs are okay, all of these songs are why punk rock needed to be invented. #1: Love Rollercoaster – Ohio Players … Continue reading
Billboard Top 10, February 1, 1986
Since I’ve done the Billboard Top 10 from 20 years ago, why not do 30 years ago? Welcome to 1986, the time of big hair and Fairlight synthesizers. Let’s do this. #1: That’s What Friends Are For – Dionne I … Continue reading
Billboard Top 10, January 27, 1996
After writing up my ill-informed opinions on today’s top chart songs, I thought: why not listen to the top ten from twenty years ago? So I did. #1: One Sweet Day – Boys II Men & Mariah Carey As usual, I … Continue reading
Billboard Top 10, January 30, 2016
I’m not really up on popular music these days. This is partly because I don’t like listening to the radio – too many commercials and annoying announcers. It’s partly because I can’t listen to streaming radio at work – not … Continue reading
Houses of the Rising Sun
“The House Of The Rising Sun” is a traditional English folk ballad that may date as far back as the 16th century. It became famous when The Animals recorded it in 1964: I love this video, partly because it is … Continue reading
