Rock History
Needles And Pins
The Searcher’s big 1964 hit, Needles And Pins, went to #1 in the U.K. and #18 in the USA. It was penned by future Phil Spector and Neil Young collaborator Jack Nietzsche and future star and U.S. Congressman Sonny Bono… check it out!
How Do You Do It?
Gerry and The Pacemakers hailed from Liverpool and were managed by Brian Epstein. But that wasn’t the only two things they had in common with The Beatles. Both groups took a crack at “How Do You Do It?” in the early sixties. The Beatles passed on releasing this song to the public though and this [...]
My Journey in Music
Music was ever-present throughout my life. Mom always had albums around. Spanky & Our Gang, Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons and many Frank Sinatra records graced our turntable. And what a turntable it was! We had a huge piece of furniture, 5 or 6 feet across (oak, I think… it was heavy!) that included [...]
Concert Review – Brian Wilson (4/8/00)
Here is my review of the Brian Wilson comeback concert – Live at the Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood CA (4/8/00). Recordings were culled from this date and from the night before for a CD release. 9:00pm- The Roxy only holds 400-500 people so you can imagine my excitement at seeing BW in this setting. Stars [...]
Rest In Peace, Gerry Rafferty
The music world lost Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty today. He battled liver failure over recent years, allegedly brought on by years of alcohol abuse. Rafferty was 63. He rose to acclaim in the mid-70′s as a member of Stealers Wheel, which included keyboardist Joe Egan. They bagged a Top 10 hit in the USA with [...]
Unplanned occurrences and subsequent thoughts
Yes it really has been seven years since ABKCO released the remastered Rolling Stones catalog. And it has been over two years since I last consumed a hot, heaping portion of Mick and company. Not sure what got the Stones’ Jones awakened in me but I just finished hosting my own, private, week-long Stones-a-thon. What a [...]
Rock And Roll Comedy
Wow, this was a really funny commentary on aging rockers! I’m sure many of us can relate… well, hopefully not
November 1, 1969 – Elvis Presley
“Suspicious Minds“ topped the USA charts on this day in 1969 and was a key cog in the Elvis revival of that year. It was the King’s 18th and final #1 hit in the USA – although (hunka hunka) “Burning Love” came mightly close, peaking at #2 in August 1972. After many years of bad [...]
Happy Birthday, John.
Today would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday. It’s hard to believe so much time has gone by. What would John’s message to the world be if he were still with us? “Give Peace A Chance”, “All You Need is Love”, “Power to the People” were all anthems of hope and peace back in the [...]
September 16, 1972 – Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night’s “Black and White” went to #1 on September 16, 1972, bypassing the one-hit wonder “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass. “Black And White” was originally a folk song, written in 1954 as a celebration of the Supreme Court’s ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. It was originally [...]