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Publication date  /  2015  /  June   -   38 articles

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  • My Cup Runneth Over

    - 01 Jun 2015
    Mary Martin and Robert Preston starred in the 1966 David Merrick Broadway production "I Do! I Do!" and there was the introduction of "My Cup Runneth Over" (Harvey Schmidt - Tom Jones). Robert Preston won a 1967 Tony for Best Performance by a Leading

  • Both Sides Now

    - 02 Jun 2015
    "Both Sides, Now" is a song by Joni Mitchell. Her recording first appeared on the album Clouds, released in 1969. She re-recorded the song in a more lush and orchestrated version for the album Both Sides Now released in 2000 and we'll hear that version.

  • Among My Souvenirs

    - 02 Jun 2015
    The original title of "Among My Souvenirs" (Leslie - Wright) was "Souvenirs" as recorded first in 1927 by the Kit-Cat Band who were in reality Al Starita's Orchestra with Ted Heath on trombone and vocalist Eddie Collis. In 1959, Connie Francis

  • Secret Agent Man

    - 03 Jun 2015
    The British television series "Danger Man" was broadcast in the U.S. as "Secret Agent Man". The American theme was co-composer by P.F. Sloan (Philip Gary Schlein), featured here with his take on the tune, "Secret Agent Man" (P.F. Sloan - Steve Barri).

  • Daydream

    - 03 Jun 2015
    The Lovin' Spoonful (John Sebastian, Zal Yanovsky, Steve Boone and Joe Butler) recorded some truly wonderful material, not the least of which is "Daydream" (John Sebastian). Here is the demo followed by the hit issue. The 1966 single reached the top

  • Concrete and Clay

    - 03 Jun 2015
    "Concrete and Clay" (Tommy Moeller - Brian Parker) was composed by members of Unit Four Plus Two (Tommy Moeller, Brian Parker, David Meikle and Peter Moules). This vocal group was joined by the "Plus Two" of Russ Ballard on guitar and Bob Henrit on

  • For My Good Fortune

    - 04 Jun 2015
    Columbia Records issued Mahalia Jackson "For My Good Fortune" (Bobby Stevens - Otis Blackwell) as a single in 1958. The "Queen of Gospel" started her singing at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in New Orleans and issued the debut album "The World's Greatest

  • Make Your Own Kind of Music

    - 04 Jun 2015
    The Will-O-Bees (Janet Blossom, Steven Porter and Robert Merchanthouse) were first to record "Make Your Kind of Music" (Barry Mann - Cynthia Weil) in 1968. From the album "Bubblegum, Lemonade, and ... Something for Mama" Ellen Naomi Cohen aka Mama Cass

  • Walk Hand In Hand

    - 05 Jun 2015
    Oshawa's Johnny Cowell published "Walk Hand in Hand" in 1956. The biggest-selling version recorded was sung by Mr. Cyd Charisse, Alvin Morris aka Tony Martin, reaching #2 in the UK and #10 on the United States Billboard chart in 1956. A later recording

  • Emotion

    - 05 Jun 2015
    We start with the Bee Gees version that was not released until well after the Samantha Sang hit. It's from their album "1979 Tour" and on the 2001 greatest hits album. Fellow Australian singer Samantha Sang sang her only hit that peaked in the top five

  • Stoney End

    - 06 Jun 2015
    In 1967 the incredibly talented Laura Nyro (Nigro) released her debut album “More Than A New Discovery” and among those tracks were “Wedding Bell Blues”, “And When I Die” and “Stoney End”. In 1969 the album was re-released as “Laura Nyro” then released

  • Chirpy, Chirpy, Cheep, Cheep

    - 06 Jun 2015
    In 1971 Lally Stott wrote "Chirpy, Chirpy, Cheep, Cheep" and had a top twenty hit with it in France while it was a minor hit in other countries. Scottish group Middle of The Road (Sally Carr, Ken Andrew, Ian McCredie and brother Eric McCredie) topped

  • Hot Diggity

    - 06 Jun 2015
    "Hot Diggity" is based on Frenchman Alex-Emmanuel Chabrier's 1883 composition "España". M. Chabrier was friends with painters Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Édouard Manet. Perry (Pierino) Como's "Hot Diggity" (Al Hoffman - Dick Manning) topped the chart

  • Fancy Pants

    - 07 Jun 2015
    Nashville A Team member and one of the performers responsible for the Nashville Sound, the self-taught pianist, studio musician and performer Floyd Cramer composed and recorded "Fancy Pants". Al Hirt's "Fancy Pants" is a track from his 1965 album "That

  • How Long

    - 08 Jun 2015
    Written in 1971 "How Long" by J. D. (John David) Souther came out on his debut album "John David Souther" the next year. Yes this is the same "Souther" from the celebrated Souther Hillman Furay Band. Along with "How Long" J.D. co-wrote "Best of My Love",

  • Yes, I'm Ready

    - 08 Jun 2015
    Barbara Mason recorded and hit with "Yes, I'm Ready" (Barbara Mason) and reached Billboard's Top Ten in the summer of 1965. It came from the "Yes, I'm Ready" album. Teri DeSario with K.C. (Harry Casey) hit the top ten with their "Yes, I'm Ready" issue

  • I Rise, I Fall

    - 08 Jun 2015
    Rick Nelson's "I Rise, I Fall" (Paul Hampton) is from the 1963 album "Rick Sings For You". Between the Imperial and Decca labels Rick had fourteen singles released that year although "I Rise, I Fall" was not issued as a single. An entertainer who

  • Just Like Me

    - 09 Jun 2015
    "Just Like Me" (Rick Dey) was issued by the Wilde Knights" (Rich Brown, Rick Dey, Dean Adair, Roger Huycke) in 1965. The Wilde Knights issued only a couple of singles. They had played under the names of The Furys and Pipers IV from 1962-63. Stars of

  • Pretty Blue Eyes

    - 10 Jun 2015
    Once a member of The Three Chuckles when they had a top twenty hit with "Runaround", Teddy (Alessandro) Randazzo wrote and recorded "Pretty Blue Eyes" (Randazzo - Bobby Weinstein). Emmy winner Steve Lawrence (Sidney Liebowitz) peaked in the top ten

  • The Battle of New Orleans

    - 11 Jun 2015
    Based on the fiddle tune "The Eighth of January", the date the battle was fought, high school principal and history buff Jimmie Driftwood (Morris) wrote "The Battle of New Orleans" and recorded it in 1958 for his album "Newly Discovered Early American

  • I Want a New Drug/Ghostbusters

    - 11 Jun 2015
    Singer/composer and actor Hughie Lewis (Hugh Anthony Cregg III) and his group the News released the well received album "Sports" in 1984 and the second single from that album was "I Want a New Drug" (Hayes - Lewis). The song peaked at number six on

  • Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)

    - 11 Jun 2015
    In 1967 Bob Dylan recorded the demo of "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)" but actual commercial copies of that session didn't show up until the 1975 "Basement Tapes" album. Dylan's version here was issued on the 1970 LP "Self Portrait". Manfred

  • When You Say Nothing At All

    - 12 Jun 2015
    The late Keith Whitley recorded the album "Don't Close Your Eyes" complete with the track "When You Say Nothing At All" (Paul Overstreet - Don Schlitz) in 1988 and the original topped the country chart. Alison Krauss and Union Station (Dan Tyminski, Ron

  • The Gypsy Rover (The Whistling Gypsy)

    - 12 Jun 2015
    "The Whistling Gypsy" aka "The Gypsy Rover" was supposedly composed by Dublin songwriter Leo Maguire around 1950 although it can be disputed that this was a traditional song called "The Raggle Taggle Gypsy". The Clancy Brothers serve their version here.

  • I'm Confessin'

    - 13 Jun 2015
    Thomas "Fats" Waller recorded "Lookin' For Another Sweetie (Confessin')" (Chris Smith - Sterling Grant) in 1929. Two years later Al Neiburg rewrote the lyric and suddenly the music was composed by Doc Dougherty and Ellis Reynolds. Australia's yodelling

  • Up, Up and Away

    - 13 Jun 2015
    "Up, Up and Away" (Jimmy Webb) was recorded in 1967 on the album "Happy Is The Sunshine Company". A version as Linda Kaye Henning (Betty Jo on Petticoat Junction) and The Sunshine Company was shelved until 2011 when the cd "The Girls From Petticoat

  • Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup

    - 14 Jun 2015
    Hildegarde (Hildegarde Loretta Sell) with Patrick et son Orchestre and "Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup" (Anna Sosenko) featuring a solo by the incredible Django Reinhardt. The 1935 recording was made in Paris and featured here in it's entirety simply for

  • Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream

    - 14 Jun 2015
    CBC radio host Ed McCurdy composed the anti-war classic " Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream". It's has been recorded in seventy-six languages. In November 1989, as Tom Brokaw stood on top of the Berlin Wall, he directed his NBC-TV cameras towards the

  • You Can't Hurry Love

    - 14 Jun 2015
    The chart topping "You Can't Hurry Love" (Holland–Dozier–Holland) by The Supremes (Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson) was released in 1966 and produced by the talented composers. It's from the number one Billboard chart LP "Supremes A Go-Go"

  • I Can Make It With You

    - 15 Jun 2015
    The talented Jackie DeShannon recorded "I Can Make It With You" (Chip Taylor) shortly before the Pozo-Seco Singers and took the tune into the top sixty. The Pozo-Seco Singers (Don Williams, Susan Taylor and Lofton Kline) version of "I Can Make It With

  • Ruby Ann

    - 15 Jun 2015
    Off the top is the NASCAR driver and Grammy winner Marty Robbins (Robinson) demo of "Ruby Ann" (L. Emerson - R. Bellamy - R. Bellamy) followed by the hit version. The song topped the country chart in 1962 before crossing over to the pop top twenty and

  • Second Avenue

    - 16 Jun 2015
    Self-taught musician, composer and session guitarist, Tim Moore's first solo album was "Second Avenue" in 1974 which obviously featured the single. When it was released his record company closed up shop and despite getting charted the single didn't climb

  • True Love Never Runs Smooth

    - 17 Jun 2015
    Don (Roland Trone) and Juan (Claude Johnson) had a top ten hit with "What's Your Name" in 1962 composed by "Juan". In early 1963 at the insistence of the producer Harry Balk they were the first to record "True Love Never Runs Smooth" (Bacharach - David).

  • Some Days Are Diamonds

    - 17 Jun 2015
    Dick Feller wrote and recorded "Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stone)" in 1976. John Denver (Deutschendorf) composed the great majority of his material but "Some Days Are Diamonds" is an exception. Recorded for the album of the same name. in 1981

  • Bonanza

    - 17 Jun 2015
    The long running Western series "Bonanza" theme (Jay Livingston - Ray Evans) was orchestrated by David Rose and arranged by Billy May. One would think either of those noted gentlemen would be the first to create the tune on vinyl. That honour actually

  • Walkin' My Baby Back Home

    - 18 Jun 2015
    The Broadway Syncopators featuring the vocals of Irving Kaufman were first to record "Walkin' My Baby Back Home" (Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk) on the Madison label in 1930, the same year it was written. In 1951 Nat "King" Cole released "Walkin' My Baby

  • Soldier Boy

    - 19 Jun 2015
    The Four Fellows (Larry Banks, David Jones, Jimmy McGowan and Teddy Williams) recorded "Soldier Boy" (David Jones) and reached the top five on Billboard's R&B chart in 1955. The Shirelles' (Shirley Owens, Doris Coley, Addie Harris and Beverly Lee)

  • Percolator (Twist)

    - 19 Jun 2015
    Maxwell House Coffee had a television commercial in the early sixties and it featured the sound of a coffee percolator. Both the commercial and the hit were "good to the last drop". Louis Bideu (Lewis Joseph Bedinsky) was known as Louis Bideu and as