Rave On ! - Buddy Holly (1958)

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.

Hello, Goodbye - Beatles (1967)

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 - Taylor Dayne (1990)

Welcome the original Fergie.

"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 - Orgy (1999)

"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 ?

New Order version - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftJZomwDhxQ

Pleasant Valley Sunday - The Monkees (1967)

"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.

Oh, Pretty Woman - Van Halen (1982 )

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.

Sheena is a Punk Rocker - Ramones (1977)

Man, doesn't Joey Ramone look like Howard Stern?

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.

What Am I Gonna Do With You - Barry White (1975)

For the life of me I can't make out what the singer is saying in the first :20 seconds...but it's sure damn catchy.

Many remember Barrence Eugene Carter's (Barry White) 1974 classic "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe" from his titled LP "Can Get Enough" but few recall this featured song as also being a major chart climber off the same album; peaking at #8 on Billboards Top 200 and #1 on their R&B charts was "What Am I Gonna Do With You".

White's recordings featured a distinctive sound that combined orchestral instrumentation with a steady drumbeat and as many as five electric guitars. His arrangements were influential on the emerging sound of disco music in the early 1970s.

God Only Knows - The Beach Boys (1966)

Note the irony that this, one of the all-time great love songs, opens with the line 'I may not always love you' (although the line is turned on its head by the subsequent lines).

From the Beach Boys' masterpiece lp "Pet Sounds", this song broke new ground in many ways. It was one of the first pop songs to use the word 'God' in its title. The song was also far more technically sophisticated than anything the Beach Boys, or arguably any pop group, had ever attempted before - particularly the complicated melodic structure and vocal harmonies. As producer Brian Wilson also used many unusual instruments, including the harpsichord and French horns that are heard in the song's famous introduction.

Brian Wilson described that the song "was a vision of being blind but in being blind, you can see more. You close your eyes; you're able to see a place or something that's happening." According to Brian, "the idea summarized everything I was trying to express in a single song."

The song appears on several movie releases, most notably the 1997 film "Boogie Nights.

The song is 25th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Somebody's Baby - Jackson Browne (1982)

Next up is a personal favorite of mine ...Jackson Browne's "Somebody's Baby". This catchy number was not released on any of Browne's albums prior, but on the soundtrack to the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The film also featured the song at several key moments, mostly concerning the Jennifer Jason Leigh character's misadventures with sex in a Little League dugout. Isn't it amazing on the things just a few notes of a song can make one reminisce.

At first I was going to feature this song with a backdrop of a standard fanmade Jackson Browne video displaying his many LP covers, but after sampling it again while absorbing the beauty of a Jenni Kohoutova makes the experience that much richer. I believe I made the proper choice....ENJOY!

More to come next week...

All the Way to Heaven - Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew (1986)

In 1986, Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew released their debut full-length album, Oh, My God!. It included such notable tracks as "Play This Only at Night" and this catchy number "All the Way to Heaven", and was critically hailed by Billboard and other similar media for incorporating elements of reggae and gospel music.

However, criticism was drawn amongst the rap community when this Doug E. Fresh video depicted his red Bally's shooting down a pair of black Adidas sneakers. If one recalls, Adidas was an iconic image of Run-DMC as Fresh labeled them in song (@ 0:28 sec.) "...a new corporation around the block, that didn't want the Get Fresh Crew to rock". Thankfully ...no casualties.

Rap in it's infancy stages, the video has plenty of entertaining elements, the beat-box master himself, scratching lp's, a pounding bass track, dancing girls (the one in white reminds me of my wife's business attire when she first started her job @ 2:28 sec) . But I can't understand why feature talk-show host Joe Franklin, one does wonder.

It's the authors opinion that rap music has started on the right track, with a bright future but somewhere along the line ...that train has derailed.

Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield (1968)

"Son of a Preacher Man" is a song, recorded by Dusty Springfield in 1968 and featured on the album, Dusty in Memphis. This song is about a young girl who sneaks away with her famly preacher's son every time they come to visit. Billy Ray, AKA The 'Son of a Preacher Man' woos her and teaches her about love. He is the only boy she has ever loved.

"Son of a Preacher Man" was originally offered to Aretha Franklin, who turned it down. It was only upon hearing Springfield's version that Franklin reconsidered and recorded the song herself. By that time, however, Springfield's version had already become a hit; thus, Franklin's version, included on her 1970 album, This Girl's In Love With You, charted only as a tag-along b-side of the single, "Call Me" .

"Son of a Preacher Man" was to be the last major chart hit for Dusty for almost 20 years until she teamed up with Pet Shop Boys for the single "What Have I Done to Deserve This?"

One has to admit, Dusty does a great job of performing this song live, as shown above.

Just Like Heaven - The Cure (1987)

"Just like Heaven" is a song by the British New Wave The Cure. The lyrics were written by the band's frontman Robert Smith who was later quoted,

"The song is about hyperventilating—kissing and fainting to the floor." The lyrics were inspired by a trip with his then-girlfriend (and later wife) Mary Poole to Beachy Head in southern England. Smith said the opening line of the song ("Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick") refers to his childhood memories of mastering magic tricks, but added "on another level, it's about a seduction trick, from much later in my life".

"Just like Heaven" was the third single released from the band's 1987 album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. The song became The Cure's first American hit, it has been highly praised by critics and covered by other artists as well; vocalist Smith has said he considers "Just like Heaven" to be the band's strongest song.

Dreamlover - Mariah Carey (1993)

"Dreamlover" is a song written (more like plagiarize) and produced by American singer Mariah Carey, Dave Hall and Walter Afanasieff, and is built around a sample of The Emotions' "Blind Alley". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exO0VaLWw0o

It was released as the first single from LP "Music Box" in 1993 and marked the start of a trend of Carey's to use samples of other talents recordings as backbones for lead singles for her studio albums.

"Dreamlover" became Carey's seventh number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 and was easily her biggest hit in the U.S. at the time.

I Wanna Kiss You all Over - Exile (1978)

Exile are an American band who originally began as a pop rock group, hitting the peak of their success in this market in the late 1970's with the rock pop ballad hit "Kiss You All Over" in 1978. Soon thereafter, they reinvented themselves as a country music band and have since had a string of number one country singles to their credit.

Great song, strange video; and whats up with the props? They look as if they were borrowed from the movie set of "THE BLOB".

Check out the opening vocalist Les Taylor trying to romance the performance within the first minute..SICKENING!

Hey scary dude @ 1:52sec, can you please try to limit the acid ?

"High on You" - Survivor (1985)

Just checking for a pulse.

Anybody else reckongize this singers voice ? YOU GOT IT ! It's David Bickler, you may be more famiular with his "Real Men Of Genius" advertising campaign for Bud Light.

"Time To Say Goodbye (Con te partirò)" - Sarah Brightman with Andrea Bocelli (1997)

"Con te partirò" (literally meaning "With you I will leave") is an Italian pop-operatic song first sung by Andrea Bocelli and is considered his signature piece of work.
The song achieved widespread success with this featured second version sung partly in English, pairing Bocelli with soprano Sarah Brightman, released as "Time to Say Goodbye".
Since its release, the song has spawned numerous other versions and been performed by numerous other singers. Notable alternate versions include "Por ti volaré", a Spanish version with significantly modified lyrics, and "I Will Go with You", a dance remix performed by Donna Summer.

'(Don't Fear) the Reaper" - Blue Öyster Cult (1976)

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a song by rock band Blue Öyster Cult from their 1976 album, Agents of Fortune ; was written and sung by the band's lead guitarist, Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser.

The "reaper" is a reference to the Grim Reaper, a traditional personification of death in European-based folklore. Lyrics such as "Romeo and Juliet are together in eternity" have led many listeners to interpret the song to be about a murder-suicide pact, but Dharma says the song is about eternal love and death and not to be afraid of it. Video clips are featured are from SUPERNATURAL.

BONUS FEATURE: I have a fever, and the only prescription is this SNL classic ...

"Crazy for You" - Madonna (1985)

One of my favorite ballads, "Crazy for You" by Madonna was written for the 1985 film Vision Quest. Originally penned for a more notable talent, the movies production team felt a currently hot singer might lend to better box office receipts.

Madonna, at the time was charting with songs "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl" but she has yet to win over the older audience thus making this project especially important for her. She hoped "Crazy for You" would be her ticket to Adult Contemporary radio as she wanted the world to know she could do other types of music.

"Crazy for You" took down the mighty "We Are the World" from Billboards top spot (4 weeks) which lets you know how hot the song and how hot the artist were.

"Groove Is in the Heart" - Deee-Lite (1990)

Talk about sensory overload...

Deee-Lite was a House and Club/Dance group formed in New York City. Their best known single is "Groove Is in the Heart", from their 1990 debut album, World Clique was an immediate smash in nightclubs "Groove Is in the Heart" crossed over to pop radio and after going to number one on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart, it eventually hit number four on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song was accompanied by this psychedelic music video, with Deee-Lite, Rapper Q-Tip, Maceo Parker, and Bootsy Collins superimposed over a cartoonish background of various shifting shapes and colors.

Strangely I really dig the lead singer, Lady Miss Kier's moves (especially during the rap segment) and her band mates unorthodox dancing. The dude with the pony tail falls way short of being an accomplished dancer, but his maneuvers are something you just can't takes your eyes off of. FREAKY!

"Ask The Lonley" - The Four Tops (1965)

When you feel that you

Can make it all alone

Remember no one is big enough

To go at it alone

Just ask the lonely

They know the hurt & pain

Of losing a love you can never regain ...

Among a number of groups who helped define the Motown Sound of the 1960s, the Four Tops were notable for having Levi Stubbs, a baritone, as their lead singer when most groups of the time were fronted by a tenor.

Though "Ask The Lonely" wasn't as successful as later Four Tops radio standards, the arrangements of background harmonies , strings and percussion lend to craft a very powerful yet sad ballad. The final notes from Stubbs show just how distinctive the man's voice is .....a Motown classic no less.

"Bad Day" - Daniel Powter (2005)

Bad Day is a pop song written by Canadian singer Daniel Powter, and Billboard named it the No. 1 Hot 100 song of 2006

Originally I wanted to place Powter's official video as found on the Internet, but I discovered something much better. The creative genius who crafted this video piece should receive awards and accolades.

What a find; especially to me...a New York Giants fan. Memories that will last a lifetime.

Dear friends, please watch this extraoridinary slideshow.

"We're Not Gonna Take It" - Twisted Sister (1984)

What a great opening drum riff..."We're Not Gonna Take It" is a 1984 hit song by the band Twisted Sister from their album Stay Hungry. The song was written by vocalist Dee Snider. As influences for the song, he cites the glam rock band Slade, the punk band Sex Pistols, and the Christmas carol, "O Come, All Ye Faithful".

Mark Metcalf, the actor portraying the abusive father in the video, had previously played Neidermayer, the ROTC student commander in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978).

So much for special effects - check out the bedspread and pillow on the right @ 0:06 sec. I guess some lazy ass had to have a seat during takes, the Wayne Gretzky poster lends to my appreication as well.

Has this ever happened to you ? (@1:43 sec.)...I think I would've been done at this point, but not Neidermayer, he goes in for more. I mean, really dude...you fell off the goddamn roof .

"You Little Trustmaker" - The Tymes (1973)

Doo, Bee, Doo, Bee, Doo, Bee...... Formed in Philadelphia,, in 1956 as the Latineers, and after a four year stint on Philadelphia's club circuit, they recruited a new lead vocalist, George Williams in 1960, and changed their name to The Tymes.

The Tymes had hits such as "So Much In Love", a US chart topperr in 1963, "You Little Trust Maker" and "Ms Grace". The last of these became the group's biggest UK hit, reaching Number One in the UK Singles Chartt in 19755, but barely dented the American chartt after the success of "So Much In Love".

You Little Trustmaker" (1974) - U.S. Number 12 (Billboard Top 100)

"You Never Can Tell" - Chuck Berry (1964)

The song describes a fictional wedding between a young couple and the events afterwards, specifically; living in a furnished apartment, buying a family car and taking their honeymoon to New Orleans. The chorus of the song is the five time repeated "'C'est la vie', say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell".

Pulp Fiction: The song became briefly popular for a time after the release of the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction. The music was played for a contest at the fictional restaurant Jack Rabbit Slim's in which John Travolta as Vincent Vega and Uma Thurman as Mia Wallace danced for the contest's main prize, as featured above.

Bob Seger recorded this number for his Greatest Hits album, under the title "C'est la Vie."

"With or Without You" - U2 (1987)

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY ... I can't think of a more fitting day to celebrate Ireland's biggest music import....the legendary U2 and their masterpiece.

"With or Without You" is the lead single from U2's 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. It has since become highly-acclaimed as one of the band's most popular songs. Released as a single in March 1987, it became the group's first American #1 hit, spending three weeks at the top of Billboards Hot 100 chart.

The guitar riff at the end of the song is a simple set of notes the Edge came up with to give the sad song a "happy ending".

Among many uses in pop culutre, the most notable ones's are...

• It was featured on the hit TV show Friends as the relationship song for Ross and Rachel and was played when Ross sends in a request to local radio station for Rachel to hear.
• The song was played in a segment of the Tommy Lee Jones movie, Blown Away , during a bomb building scene.
• The song was used in an episode of Cold Case.

As far as the music critics were concerned, U2 has finally written their "Hey Jude" and it was delievered in the form of "With or Without You"

WEEKEND EDITION - Sanford & Son (theme)

One of the most recognized television theme songs, produced by the great Quincy Jones. The original title of this funky number is "The Streetbeater" claimed by NBC for an upcoming sitcom of fall 1974.

Sanford and Son starred Redd Foxx as widower Fred G. Sanford, a 65-year-old junk dealer in the Watts neighborhood of southern Los Angeles and Demond Wilson as his son, Lamont. Lamont is seen driving a 1951 Ford truck on his was back to his family's salvage company that also served as their home.

"Only If" - Enya (1997)

Enya (born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin) AKA 'The Invisible Star' is Ireland's best-selling solo artist and is officially the country's second biggest musical export (second only to U2) Some may be more familiar with her 1988 song titled "Orinoco Flow" (Sail Away) , but it's this powerful arrangement of strings and percussion that really grabbed my attention.

In 1997, Enya released her greatest hits collection, "Paint The Sky With Stars: The Best of Enya", which featured two new songs: "Paint the Sky With Stars" and "Only If..."; "Only If..." later became a single and it's video is featured here today.

Also try Orinoco Flow - http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=a88-Tyl1gkI

"Mandolay" - La Flavour (1979)

There's a Spanish disco in a town not far from France...Known throughout the continent where people love to dance... There's a dark-skinned lady there ...whose legs have brought her fame...She dances in the center ring,... and the people call her name...

MANDOLAY, disco music made from actual musical instruments...how refreshing; it gives it more credibility. Only small remark ...I hear a tambourine in the song yet fail to see one being played in the feature; I suspect lip-syncing.

How many times have we all heard this disco classic from this Massillon, Ohio band La Flavour ? Whether it be at a wedding or a nightclub, Mandolay is a standard still used today by many a DJ's repertoire.

It's too bad that those shinny headbands went out of style, what an underrated look. :-)

BTW - I'm curious, what did the MC say @ 1:54 ?

"Juke Box Baby" - Perry Como (1958)

A superb Juke Box Jiver! Perry Como could sing anything and make it sound first class! Perry was so versatile. He recognized this trend in the market and happily fulfilled requests by recording and performing Rock 'n' Roll styled numbers like this gem.

Performed on the CBS television program "The Perry Como Show" in 1958, "Juke Box Baby" had a reprise in the late John Candy's 1989 film "Uncle Buck" where Candy and his pals bowled while dancing to this selection.

RCA Victor at the time was trying to cater to a more youthful audience and this Como effort was a direct response to Eddie Fishers hit "Dungaree Doll". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6f6I4XaSCw

Also notice that Perry refers to two other hits of his in the lyrics (from the same era) - 'Ko-Ko-Mo (I Love You So)' and 'Tina Marie'!

"Read My Mind" - The Killers (2006)

"Read My Mind" is a song by Las Vegas-based rock band The Killers, charted No. 1 for three weeks on Billboards U.S Hot Dance Club Play list. It's my opinion that this song has 80's New Wave influences all over it. After repeated times listening to "Read My Mind"t, it grew on me.... GOOD SONG.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe (of Pet Shop Boys) saw The Killers in concert at Brixton Academy at the end of 2006, where the idea of a remix for "Read My Mind" was discussed between the two parties. The resulting remix, "Pet Shop Boys Stars Are Blazing Mix"

The song is featured on the original soundtrack of the NBC television series "Friday Night Lights" and TV show ER used the song in a recent episode as a dance song playing in the background at a party.

The video was shot in Tokyo and features a cute green looking I-don't-know something @0:41 seconds and a Japanese Elvis ....OH BOY!

Only negative ... I'm really not down with the lead singers bow tie, I don't think the world is quite ready for the reintroduction of the bow tie just yet.

"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" - Elton John & Kiki Dee (1976)

"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" was a duet by Elton John and Kiki Dee; topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for four weeks in 1976. It was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms "Ann Orson" and "Carte Blanche" (a pun on the expression "carte blanche"). DGBMH was also John's first No.1 single in the UK, topping the chart for six weeks in summer of 76. He would not enjoy a solo British chart-topper until 1990.

The song’s promotional film has been cited among the cheapest music videos ever produced. The video’s director was found in the midst of filming a Rod Stewart television special. He was pulled aside, located an unused soundstage, hastily dressed it to give the appearance of a recording studio, setup three cameras and had the two singers pretend to record their vocals. Shot in a single take while being told to ‘improvise’, Elton John and Kiki Dee often missed their cues and John’s attempt to lead Dee in a very haphazard dance sequence often caught his companion off guard.

In 1985, John and Dee performed the track to the crowd at Wembley Stadium during John's set at Live Aid, afterward Dee stayed on for the rest of John's segment singing backup.

"The Wild Boys" - Duran Duran (1984)

When this Duran Duran song was first released in 1984, it was the opening drum beat that infectiously caught my ear. Recognized as a "boy band", the five members of Duran Duran thought otherwise on the premise that they played and wrote their own music. Produced by Nile Rodgers, the song was the only studio track on the live album Arena.

Singer Simon Le Bon, strapped to the spinning windmill which dunked his head beneath the water with each revolution (@ 0:27 sec), supposedly found himself in real difficulty when the windmill stopped with his head underwater. He was given a tube to breathe through and the issue was promptly fixed, but the British tabloids had a field day exaggerating Le Bon's "near death experience".

"Mony Mony" - Tommy James & The Shondells (1968)

"Mony Mony" was a 1968 single released by Tommy James & The Shondells that again became a huge hit for Billy Idol in 1987. The hook in the song is said to have been inspired by James' view of a Mutual of New York's MONY sign on the New York City skyline from his Manhattan apartment.

Although it has no outwardly obscene lyrics, "Mony Mony" is often banned from teen-age dances due to the chant that became notorious alongside Billy Idol's version. Crowds would chant, "Hey mother fucker, get laid, get fucked" between the songs'verses.

"Human" - The Pretenders (1999)

Legend has it that Divinyls recorded "Human on the Inside" (1996) while trying to mimic the music and style of RnR Hall of Fame inductees , The Pretenders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNCoZD-3344

In 1999 Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde loved the song so much she wanted to do a version of her own for her bands upcoming LP titled Viva el Amor. It's really high praise when the person your emulating, returns the honor by emulating your efforts.

FYI, this singer is the same person (Chrissie Hynde) who appeared on the TV sitcom Friends' playing guitar along side Phoebe in the famed "Smelly-Cat" episode.

I think it's pretty cool how her hair turns to gray and back various times during the video...showing us all that she is indeed human.

"Come On, Let's Go" - Ritchie Valens (1958)

a coin toss cost this man his life...

Born Ricardo Steven Valenzuela, AKA Ritchie Valens was a pioneer of rock n' roll and a forefather to the Chicano rock movement. His most familiar song, "La Bamba," a timeless classic was spurned when Valens thought better to infuse the Latin classic with a modern rock n' roll tempo.

Lesser know hits like "Donna" and this featured number "Come On, Let's Go" offer a sheen of constant professionalism..... oh hell who am I bullshitting ? I just think its a great song.

Sadly, Ritchie Valens' music career lasted just a short eight months. After performing his final performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear lake, Iowa; Valens along with fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson , succumbed in a single-engine plane crash on February 3, 1959, on what has later become known as The Day the Music Died.

The charted four passenger aircraft was too small for five musicians to travel. so a coin toss was decided between Valens and Tommy Allsup for the final seat....Allsup currently lives in Azle, Texas.

The featured video contains clips from the 1987 biopic titled "La Bamba" introducing Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens.

Trommeltanz - (AKA Din Daa Daa) - George Kranz (1984)

This one-man act George Kranz is a German dance music singer and percussionist; check him out as he masterfully bangs on the drums. The neighbors must of loved it when this guy moved off the block.

This classic dance song hit No. 1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1984 and then returned to the chart in a new version in 1991, peaking at No. 8.

Though I remember this number vividly, it's finally nice to put a face to the song.

"In The City" - Joe Walsh (1979)

Warriors... come out to play-ay!

This great and powerful song titled "In The City" was recorded by Eagles front man Joe Walsh, written exclusively for the 1979 movie The Warriors soundtrack.

The song is accompanied with a fan-made video depicting clips from the above mentioned film, shot mostly on scene at Brooklyn's famed Coney Island, and for the record I still think Swan is the MAN!

The rival gangs...
1:18 - The Boppers (if they can't fight, I bet they can dance)
1:23 - The High Hats (not very tough looking if I may say)
1:26 - Savage Huns (dressed in used Vietcong outfits.....very cost effective I bet).
1:28 - Jones Street Boys (looks more like a gymnastic outfit)
1:34 - The Rouges (featuring Luther in his old Cadillac hearse clinging beer bottles)
1:36 - The Panzers (notice the camo's)
1:38 - The Punks (skaters... I hope they can play hockey)
1:43 - The Lizzies (lesbian tendencies perhaps)
1:47 - The Orphans (the worst, bottom of the barrel gang ever in NYC)
1:51 - The Gramercy Riffs (dressed in Karate gi's, and armed with hockey sticks)
3:30 - The Furies (who in their right mind would be scene in public wielding a baseball bat, wearing filhty uniforms and face paint...Don't these kids have mothers)?

and finally

0:56 - Holy Passion of Christ Batman!...Does getting stabbed in the arm really hurt that much? OUCH!

"When Will I See You Again" - The Three Degrees (1974)

"When Will I See You Again" by The Three Degrees was one of the most successful recordings in the "Philly Soul" sound. Performed live on the Christmas 1974 edition of "Top of the Pops" UK television show, just sit back and listen to this trio blow you away. Listen to how close this live version is to the actual studio take.

In 2004, this song was referenced in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume 2 when Bill (David Carradine) claims it's his favorite soul song of the 70s.

"Kicks" by Paul Revere & The Raiders (1966)

Why I like this song ? It's probably the catchy bass lines and cheesy Revolutionary War outfits worn by the band "Paul Revere & The Raiders", plus the dancing girls with the lousy choreography somehow entertain me too. Please don't tell me that the girl shown at :58 seconds is Goldie Hawn...it's clearly not her.

Well what do you think ?
Can anybody tell me what they think the "Kicks" are all about?