The 2017 inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame were announced not too long ago and the list is quite impressive. Honored are Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., Peter Cetera, Robert Lamm and James Pankow of Chicago, and Jay-Z, the first rapper to be included in this impressive Hall. This Hall was […]
The 5th Dimension was a soulful group from the 60s and 70s that dominated the music world with energy, love, and great music. Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis, Jr., Ron Townson, Florence LaRue, and LaMonte McLemore began as the Versatiles in 1965, but changed their name, signing with recording star and record executive Johnny Rivers. Here’s […]
Doo-Wop was all the rage in the 50s and early 60s for a few simple reasons; making the song was fairly inexpensive as groups sang on city street corners honing their craft, so there was very little cost for studio time. Secondly, the style of music allowed male singes with high voices to play the […]
We live in interesting times. In the good old days, if you wanted to see a band live in concert you would buy a ticket to the show as stand the entire night screaming your head off. Now, we have Skype, text, video meetings, virtual experiences and more. In that vein of futuristic thought we […]
MLB Spring training is almost over, which means the baseball season is about to start. How about those great baseball songs? Although considered to be a country song, “Cheap Seats” by the group Alabama is a great song about life in the minor leagues, mentioning the ‘in-between innings’ promotions and memorable food. Minor league baseball […]
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker have been ‘Steely Dan’ for over 30 years, and boy they’ve seen their share of ups and downs. The two met in 1968 at Bard College, located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. They joined the pop group Jay and the American’s for a tour, then struck out on their own and […]
Jimi Hendrix was one in a million in the word of rock and roll, leaving this warm earth at the age of 27, well before his time. If you were to look at any ‘top guitarists’ of all-time list, Jimi will undoubtedly be in every top five. In honor of life and talents, there’s a […]
Charles Edward Anderson Berry, or Chuck Berry, died over the weekend at the age of 90. We thought we’d spend one more day illuminating the contributions made by Chuck over the course of his 70-year career. How good of a songwriter was Chuck Berry? He wrote “No Particular Place to Go,” “You Never Can Tell,” […]
How much money did you make last year? Michael Jackson made over $100 million. Well, to be specific his estate made over $100 million dollars, primarily in music licensing fees and memorabilia. News last week revealed that Michael’s “Sycamore Valley Ranch” home is up for sale for a discounted price of $76 million dollars. That […]
John, Paul, George and Ringo changed the world forever on the stage of the Ed Sullivan program in February of 1964. Mitch Miller, Doris Day, Totie Fields and Lorene Greene disappeared from the music charts weeks after that nationally television performance. Here are a few fun facts about the Fab Four.. The Quarryman made a […]