Radio Rewind is a time machine of sorts; travel back with us as we blow the dust off the old record jackets and remember the forgotten hits and good times past. Be sure to check out my Blog Archive, where you'll find all the songs and commentary featured in weeks past.
Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holley was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll. The change of spelling of "Holley" to "Holly" came about because of an error in a contract he was asked to sign, erroneously listing him as Buddy Holly. That spelling was then adopted for his professional career.
Although his success lasted only a year and a half before his death in an airplane crash on February 3, 1959. Holly is described by critics as "the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll." His works and innovations were copied by his contemporaries and later musicians, notably The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and exerted a profound influence on popular music.
Though the songwriting credit is Lennon/McCartney, it was written only by Paul McCartney.
Alistair Taylor, who worked for the Beatles once asked Paul McCartney how he wrote his songs, and McCartney took him into his dining room to give him a demonstration on his harmonium. Paul asked Taylor to shout the opposite of whatever he sang as he played the instrument. In any case, McCartney soon had completed a demo of his newest single — originally titled "Hello Hello".
John Lennon wasn't fond of this song, which he called "three minutes of contradictions and meaningless juxtapositions." His distaste for the song grew further when it pushed Lennon's work "I Am the Walrus" to the B-side of the single, when Lennon had anticipated "I Am the Walrus" being the A-side. Paul McCartney and famed producer George Martin believed that "Hello Goodbye" was the more commercial tune (their judgement was vindicated when the song hit Billboard Number 1, and was particularly popular in the American charts).
This dispute nurtured a series of debates over single releases between Lennon and McCartney which prompted Lennon to say after the Beatles' breakup, "I got sick and tired of being Paul's backup band". Lennon felt that some of his best and most innovative pieces were wrongly placed as B-sides to Paul's "nursery rhymes" John regarded as un-worthy.
The final lines of the song, where the entire band sings "Hela, hey-ba hello-a" came spontaneously in the studio.
"I'll Be Your Shelter" is a song performed by Leslie Wunderman - AKA Taylor Dayne; released as the third single from her second album, Can't Fight Fate. The song was a departure from her dance roots, displaying more of a mid-tempo pop/rock quality, yet maintaining the intense vocals for which she had become known. Written by Diane Warren, she originally penned the song for Tina Turner, but when Turner passed on it, the song was offered to Dayne instead. One can easily notice how Tina would've been perfect fit for such a song.
"Blue Monday" is a dance pop song originally recorded and released as a single in 1983 by British band New Order. Some years later American Synth rock band Orgy featured a hard cover of this song on their 1998 debut album "Candyass"; and is considered Orgy's breakthrough hit.
Featured on the 1999 soundtrack to the Jennifer Love Hewitt's vomit sandwich titled "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer"; is this one of those rare examples where the covered version of a song is arguably better that it's original ?
"Pleasant Valley Sunday" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, most famous for this version recorded by The Monkees. Inspiration for the title was a street named Pleasant Valley Way, in West Orange, New Jersey. The road follows a valley through several communities among the Watchung Mountains. The lyrics were a social commentary on status symbols, creature comforts, life in suburbia, and "keeping up with the Joneses".
The single peaked at Number Three in the U.S. Billboard charts and was featured in the second season of their television series. The song also appeared on the fourth Monkees album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. in November 1967.
Did anybody else think back in 1982 that this song was a Van Halen original, because I did ? Then again I was only 12 years old. This Roy Orbison classic was covered by Van Halen for their 1982 album Diver Down. But the parallels in design to both songs are few.
The music video had the band costumed as various warriors trying to rescue a captive woman who turns out to be a tranny. Michael Anthony (Samurai), Alex Van Halen (Tarzan), Eddie Van Halen (Western Gunslinger), and David Lee Roth (Napoleon) starred in the very first banned video by MTV due to it's opening sequence, where the bounded woman is fondled against her will by a pair of midgets.
The Ramones were an American rock band often regarded as the first punk rock group. Formed in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, in 1974, all members of the band used stage names with their surnames as "Ramone", though none of them are actually related
"Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" first appeared on their third LP, Rocket to Russia, in 1977, and was also included on later pressings of the group's second album, Leave Home.
The song was written by lead singer Joey Ramone (Jeffry Ross Hyman), and is one of their more popular and enduring songs, showing the band's surf rock influences, and was one of the first songs to use the word "punk" in the title.
The song is ranked #457 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Radio Rewind is a time machine of sorts; travel back with us as we blow the dust off the old record jackets and remember the forgotten hits and good times past. Be sure to check out my Blog Archive, where you'll find all the songs and commentary featured in weeks past.
As site "Spinmaster", allow me to welcome you to Radio Rewind. Here we will celebrate the forgotten hits of yesteryear, all genres included. Please feel free to blog your comments, tell us why you like or dislike the daily selection.
