The Pittsburgh 60s doo-wop group THE MARCELS had a huge hit with
their cover of a 1934 song, called BLUE MOON, written by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart. A notable songwriting duo
at the time.
Blue Moon topped the UK Single Charts on 4 May 1961, today 65 years ago.
It also went to #1 in the USA. Way before The Marcels’ version other artists
had performed the standard, with among others Elvis Presley in 1954, but The Marcels‘ rendition was the most succesful.
“bomp-baba-bomp
bomp-baba-bomp
bomp-baba-bomp
Blue Moon”
The late great country star JOHNNY CASH released his
classic I WALK THE LINE on 1 May 1956, 68 years ago
today.
It was his first No.1 on the US Billboard country charts. It remained on the charts for over 43 weeks. Inspired by the backward playback of guitar runs on his tape recorder, the man in black used the technique to produce the unique chord progression of the song. It also includes Cash’s distinctive “boom-chicka-boom” sound, created by putting a dollar bill in the neck of his guitar.
The song was the English-language version of the 1965 Italian song Lo Che Non Vivo (Senza Te) (“I, Who Can’t Live (Without You)”), written
by Pino Donaggio and Vito Pallavicini. The English lyrics were written
for Dusty Springfield by Vicki Wickham and Simon Napier-Bell.
Her friend Elton John helped induct her into the Hall of Fame declaring, “I’m biased but I just think she was the greatest white singer there ever has
been. Every song she sang, she claimed as her own”
British pop legends THE TROGGS released their giant hit
single WILD THING on 22 april 1966, today 60 years ago.
The song was written by American songsmith Chip Taylor and
originally recorded, without success, by US band The Wild Ones.
#1 in the US and Australia, #2 in the UK.
The single was available in the USA on two competing labels ‘Atco Records‘
and ‘Fontana Records‘. Both pressings were taken from the identical master
recording therefore Billboard combined the sales for both releases, making
it the only single to simultaneously reach number one for two companies.
“Wild thing, you make my heart sing
You make everything groovy, wild thing
Wild thing, I think I love you
But I wanna know for sure
Come on and hold me tight
I love you”
It featured on their 4th LP, Hard Promises.
The song reached #19 in the US.
Petty said at the time that the song’s title was inspired by a quote fromJanis Joplin,
who once said of touring, “I love being onstage and everything else is just waiting.”
Heavy Irish rock heroesTHIN LIZZYreleased their best selling and most
famous single THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN (more than 590 million
streams on Spotify) today 50 years ago, on 17 April 1976
There are many unconfirmed theories regarding the inspiration behind the lyrics.
One of them is that it is about a group of Manchester criminals collectively known
as the Quality Street Gang.
Sultry stunner BROWN SUGAR was the opener of their masterstroke
LP Sticky Fingers. The single hit the top spot in the US, and peaked
at #2 in the UK.
16 April 1976 – 50 Years Ago
Heartfelt ballad FOOL TO CRY was the lead single of their reggae-flavored
LP Black And Blue. Guitarist Mick Taylor had just left the band and was
replaced by Ronnie Wood.
The song reached No. 6 in the UK and No. 10 in the US.
Welsh luminaries MANIC STREET PREACHERS (1986 – present / 15 studio albums, so far) released their immortal classic single A DESIGN OF LIFE on 15 April 1996, today 30 years ago.
The opening line of the song, ‘Libraries gave us power’, was inspired by the famous aphorism Knowledge Is Power engraved in stone above the top floor central window
of the library in Pillgwenlly, Newport, 15 miles from the band’s hometown of Blackwood.
The words are attributed to Sir Francis Bacon,English
philosopher and statesman from the 16th century.
The next line, ‘then work came and made us free‘, refers to the German slogan Arbeit Macht Frei that featured above the gates of Nazi concentration camps and which had been used previously by the band in their song “The Intense Humming of Evil” on the album The Holy Bible.
The song featured on their 4th longplayer, Everything Must Go, the first
without Richey Edwards, who disappeared in 1995 and was declared dead
in 2008.
It peaked at #2, in both the UK and Scotland.
“Libraries gave us power
Then work came and made us free
What price now
For a shallow piece of dignity
I wish I had a bottle
Right here in my dirty face
To wear the scars
To show from where I came
We don’t talk about love We only wanna get drunk And we are not allowed to spend As we are told that this is the end”
The song was inspired by old school hip hop acts from New York City, like
the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Rap was still a
new and emerging music genre at the time, and the band, especially Mick
Jones, was very impressed with it, so much so that Jones took to carrying a
boombox around and got the nickname “Whack Attack“.
It peaked at #34 in the UK Charts.
“You lot! What?
Don’t stop, give it all you got
You lot! What?
Don’t stop, yeah!
