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Publication date  /  2016  /  December   -   31 articles

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  • The Girl Is Mine

    - 01 Dec 2016
    The first single from the 1982 "Thriller" album was the Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine" (Jackson) which featured many members of "Toto". This may come as a surprise to many that this was the first single considering the strength

  • Ebony And Ivory

    - 02 Dec 2016
    Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder issued the 1982 chart topping single "Ebony And Ivory" from Paul's album "Tug Of War". Wikipedia "The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say "black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to

  • Silly Love Songs

    - 03 Dec 2016
    The 1976 album "Wings At the Speed Of Sound" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and contains the Billboard number one single "Silly Love Songs" (McCartney). Wings consisted of Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English. The hit

  • Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey

    - 04 Dec 2016
    According to those in the know Paul and Linda McCartney wrote and produced the Grammy winning "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" on the album "Ram". This was based on one of Paul's uncles and U.S. Navy Admiral 'Bull' Halsey. The single topped the charts in

  • Tuxedo Junction

    - 05 Dec 2016
    Recorded by The Erskine Hawkins Orchestra in 1939 "Tuxedo Junction" (Hawkins - Johnson - Dash) peaked at number seven. Originally an instrumental dance number, lyrics were added by Buddy Feyne (Feinstein) who also wrote the lyric for "Jersey Bounce".

  • Last Dance

    - 06 Dec 2016
    Recorded in 1978 by Paul Jabara for the album "Keeping Time" was the track "Last Dance". David Foster is one of those on keyboard. The producers suggested the song start slowly and change to a faster tempo David thought "the stupidest idea I've ever heard

  • Run To Him

    - 07 Dec 2016
    After writing for and producing The Monkees, composer Jack Keller moved from California to Nashville and when he did Jack was featured on The Channel 4 Magazine. It was here that he performed a medley of his hits including "Run To Him" (Gerry Goffin -

  • It's A Sin To Tell A Lie

    - 08 Dec 2016
    New York City's Freddy Ellis and his Orchestra were first to record "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie" (Billy Mayhew) in 1936. This is edited to include the vocal of Seymour Richards. Somethin' Smith and the Redheads (Red Robinson, Saul Striks and Major Short)

  • Will You Be Staying After Sunday

    - 09 Dec 2016
    Here is the demo for "Will You Be Staying After Sunday" (Kashka - Hirschhorn). The authors apparently got unexpected studio time while the artist has been speculated to be Lenny Supra or even David Cassidy! The Peppermint Rainbow (sisters Bonnie and Pam

  • Guitar Man

    - 10 Dec 2016
    Grammy winner, singer, songwriter, guitar player and actor Jerry Reed (Hubbard) wrote and recorded "Guitar Man" in 1967. The single reached into the middle of the Country chart and is on the album "The Unbelievable Guitar And Voice Of Jerry Reed". Jerry,

  • Peg O' My Heart

    - 11 Dec 2016
    Charles Harrison's original recording of "Peg O' My Heart" (Alfred Bryan - Fred Fisher) peaked at number one in 1913. The song was featured in the "Ziegfield Follies of 1913". Charles Harrison also recorded under the names Billy Burton, Norman Terrell,

  • Over The Mountain (Across The Sea)

    - 12 Dec 2016
    "Over the Mountain; Across the Sea" (Rex Garvin) was issued in 1957 by Johnnie (Richardson) and Joe (Rivers). The single reached number eight on the Billboard pop and number three R&B charts. Bobby Vinton with the Jordanaires covered "Over the

  • My Heart Belongs To Only You

    - 13 Dec 2016
    "My Heart Belongs To Only You" (F. Daniels - D. Daniels) was recorded initially by the classically trained Bette McLaurin and The Striders in 1952. Bobby Vinton's cover of "My Heart Belongs To Only You" had the most successful version even though it was

  • The Days Of Sand And Shovels

    - 14 Dec 2016
    Waylon Jennings topped the Country chart in Canada, top twenty on Billboard Country chart with "The Days Of Sand And Shovels" (Doyle Marsh - George "Bud" Reneau) in 1969. The song is from the album "The Best Of Waylon Jennings". Later that year Bobby

  • Holding Back The Years

    - 15 Dec 2016
    The Frantic Elevators (Mick Hucknall, Kevin Williams, Neil Smith and Brian Turner) formed in the seventies and "Holding Back The Years (No Waiting)" was released in the early eighties as their final single. Simply Red (Mick Hucknall, Sylvan Richardson,

  • Singin' In The Rain

    - 16 Dec 2016
    "Singin' In the Rain" (Freed - Brown) was initially recorded by The Rounders (Dudley Chambers, Armand L'Ecuyer, William Cowles, Paul Reese, Norman Bennett and Richard Hartt) for one of the first sound films "Hollywood Revue of 1929". The movie featured

  • He Knows I Love Him Too Much

    - 17 Dec 2016
    Former lead member and organizer of The Chantels, Arlene Smith recorded the Phil Spector produced "He Knows I Love Him Too Much" (Goffin - King) in 1961. While they were all under the age of ten, The Paris Sisters (Priscilla, Albeth and Sherrell) were

  • She's Not There

    - 18 Dec 2016
    The Zombies (Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Paul Atkinson, Chris White and Hugh Grundy) debut single was "She's Not There" in 1964. The single topped the American charts and is on the U.K. album "Begin Here" and the U.S. release "The Zombies". The Santana

  • I Got Rhythm

    - 19 Dec 2016
    George and Ira Gershwin composed "I Got Rhythm" in 1930 for the musical "Girl Crazy". Ethel Merman sang the song in the original Broadway production which starred Ginger Rogers and the Red Nichols Band that included Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Jimmy

  • Don't Do Me Like That

    - 20 Dec 2016
    Mudcrutch (Tom Petty, Danny Roberts, Benmont Tench, Randy Marsh and Mike Campbell) recorded "Don't Do Me Like That" (Tom Petty) in the mid-seventies but the song was not released at the time. Tom Petty first top ten hit was "Don't Do Me Like That".

  • Where Is Your Heart (It's April Again)

    - 21 Dec 2016
    The 1952 motion picture "Moulin Rouge" has Zsa Zsa Gabor lip syncing to Muriel Smith's voice singing "It's April Again" (Auric - Larue). Muriel Smith also dubbed for Juanita Hall in the film "South Pacific". The Toronto born Percy Faith and his

  • Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

    - 22 Dec 2016
    Bob Dylan wrote "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" in 1962 for the 1963 album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" which opened with "Blowin' in the Wind" and included "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall". Peter (Yarrow), Paul (Stookey) and Mary (Travers) were actually

  • I've Got You Under My Skin

    - 23 Dec 2016
    Virginia Bruce (Briggs) introduced "I've Got You Under My Skin" (Cole Porter) in the 1936 motion picture "Born To Dance" starring Eleanor Powell and James Stewart. Frank Sinatra used "I've Got You Under My Skin" as his signature song for years. This was

  • Amen

    - 24 Dec 2016
    The Wings Over Jordan Choir recorded the traditional spiritual "Amen" (Hogan - Davis) in the late forties/early fifties. The Peabody Award winning choir started in the thirties and were the first independently produced national radio program created by

  • Pretty Paper

    - 25 Dec 2016
    While signed with the label in 1963 Willie Nelson pitched his song "Pretty Paper" to Monument Records owner Fred Foster who was so impressed that he called Roy Orbison while Roy was on tour in the U.K. Willie recorded his version in 1964. Even though he

  • I Found Someone

    - 26 Dec 2016
    Co-writer Mark Mangold and keyboardist for the group Touch (Glen Kithcart, Craig Brooks and Mark Mangold, ) recorded "I Found Someone" with Touch. Michael Bolton's composer version of "I Found Someone" was issued on his "Greatest Hits (1985 -1995)"

  • Baby Let's Play House

    - 27 Dec 2016
    "Baby Let's Play House" (Gunter) was released by Nashville blues musician Arthur Gunter in 1954. From Wikipedia: "Elvis got that number and made it famous. But I didn't get a chance to shake his hand," Gunter would later say. His first royalty check,

  • Action

    - 28 Dec 2016
    Paul Revere and the Raiders (Paul Revere aka Paul Dick, Mark Lindsay, Mike Smith, Drake Levin and Mike Holliday) first recorded "Action" as the theme to Dick Clark's television show "Where The Action Is". The group was scheduled on the show so often they

  • I Believe In You And Me

    - 29 Dec 2016
    "I Believe In You And Me" (Sandy Linzer - David Wolfert) was first issued by The Four Tops (Levi Stubbs, Abdul Fakir, Renaldo Benson and Lawrence Payton) in 1983. Levi Stubbs owns this song. The single charted on the R&B list at number forty and is on

  • Worried Guy

    - 30 Dec 2016
    Underrated Paul Evans composed "Worried Guy" (Paul Evans - Jack Reardon) during that time he was having success as a song writer, jingle singer and a recording artist. Lyrist Jack Reardon co-wrote many tunes with Paul Evans and is also known for Tony

  • Hit Me With Your Best Shot

    - 31 Dec 2016
    In 1983 Canadian singer and songwriter Eddie Schwartz released his composer's version of the hit "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" from the album "Private Life (Best Shots)". Wikipedia: "Eddie Schwartz, writer of the song, said that he came up with the title