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Dave's Song of the Day
The Spirit of Radio – Rush
Friday song of the day: Today’s song was inspired by a Toronto radio station.
Rush was already an established band in 1980 when they released their seventh studio album, Permanent Waves. The album included a song inspired by the Toronto radio station CFNY-FM, which used the motto “The Spirit of Radio” as a marketing slogan. The song was titled The Spirit of Radio after the CFNY motto and celebrated the variety of music offered by radio and its importance in forming a love of music in the audience.
The Spirit of Radio was the first single off the album. Released in March 1980, the record rose to #22 in Canada and peaked at #51 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Coincidentally*, Rush released a conceptual video of The Spirit of Radio just this morning, June 12th, 2020. ( See Rush's New Animated Video for 'The Spirit of Radio' ) The video celebrates the song 40 years after its 1980 release, and also serves as a tribute to Rush drummer Neil Peart, who died of cancer in January of this year.
* Coincidentally, since I pick the song of the day at least a day before because each posting contains a line from the lyrics of tomorrow’s song. Yesterday when I selected The Spirit of Radio for today, I had no idea that Rush would be releasing the video this morning.
1980 audio
View: https://youtu.be/wPBinohXHLc
12 June 2020 animated video
View: https://youtu.be/g_QtO0Rhp0w
Tomorrow: You know she’s waiting, just anticipating
The Spirit of Radio – Rush
Friday song of the day: Today’s song was inspired by a Toronto radio station.
Rush was already an established band in 1980 when they released their seventh studio album, Permanent Waves. The album included a song inspired by the Toronto radio station CFNY-FM, which used the motto “The Spirit of Radio” as a marketing slogan. The song was titled The Spirit of Radio after the CFNY motto and celebrated the variety of music offered by radio and its importance in forming a love of music in the audience.
The Spirit of Radio was the first single off the album. Released in March 1980, the record rose to #22 in Canada and peaked at #51 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Coincidentally*, Rush released a conceptual video of The Spirit of Radio just this morning, June 12th, 2020. ( See Rush's New Animated Video for 'The Spirit of Radio' ) The video celebrates the song 40 years after its 1980 release, and also serves as a tribute to Rush drummer Neil Peart, who died of cancer in January of this year.
* Coincidentally, since I pick the song of the day at least a day before because each posting contains a line from the lyrics of tomorrow’s song. Yesterday when I selected The Spirit of Radio for today, I had no idea that Rush would be releasing the video this morning.
1980 audio
View: https://youtu.be/wPBinohXHLc
12 June 2020 animated video
View: https://youtu.be/g_QtO0Rhp0w
Tomorrow: You know she’s waiting, just anticipating
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Recently came across an album I never knew existed: Willie Nelson's "Countryman" from 2005. It is great Summer music - with a lot of the songs uniquely between country and reggae. Great music to have in the background while having some cocktails outside! Also, the longest song on the album is only 3:42, so it is easy to listen all the way through.
"The Harder They Come"
View: https://youtu.be/y8rsSzsY29o
Full Album
View: https://youtu.be/G4UOSIm1vNs
"The Harder They Come"
View: https://youtu.be/y8rsSzsY29o
Full Album
View: https://youtu.be/G4UOSIm1vNs
It's not even fair how good this dude is at guitar
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNHUX_0BFkU
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNHUX_0BFkU
Dave's Song of the Day
Try a Little Tenderness – Otis Redding
Saturday song of the day: This 1930s song was reworked to become a soul classic in the 1960s.
I’ve been busy today, so just a minimal mention of this classic to get it in before midnight. Try a Little Tenderness was written in the early 1930s and was recorded at the time by several different artists, including Bing Crosby. Then in 1966 Otis Redding recorded it in a soul arrangement that starts slowly but then builds into something powerful. The Redding version reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has since been recognized as one of the greatest recordings of the era.
View: https://youtu.be/CjO7qdADCyQ
Tomorrow: Like disco lemonade
Try a Little Tenderness – Otis Redding
Saturday song of the day: This 1930s song was reworked to become a soul classic in the 1960s.
I’ve been busy today, so just a minimal mention of this classic to get it in before midnight. Try a Little Tenderness was written in the early 1930s and was recorded at the time by several different artists, including Bing Crosby. Then in 1966 Otis Redding recorded it in a soul arrangement that starts slowly but then builds into something powerful. The Redding version reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has since been recognized as one of the greatest recordings of the era.
View: https://youtu.be/CjO7qdADCyQ
Tomorrow: Like disco lemonade
Dave's Song of the Day
Sex and Candy – Marcy Playground
Sunday song of the day: Today’s song gets its title from what a random woman told the writer a room smelled like when she walked in on him and his girlfriend.
Coming in the later stages of the alternative rock boom, 1997’s Marcy Playground was the debut album by the band of the same name. The third single from the album was Sex and Candy, a rather vague song that could be a love song or could mean nothing. Marcy Playground songwriter and singer John Wozniak has said that it is an unconventional love song, but he has also said that even though he wrote the song he does not know what it means.
Sex and Candy was a hit, placing at #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, a position it held for a then-record 15 weeks. On the larger Hot 100 chart, it peaked at #8. While Marcy Playground recorded three more studio albums, the most recent released in 2009, they never again had a song even place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
View: https://youtu.be/-KT-r2vHeMM
Tomorrow: That’s nobody’s business but the Turks
Sex and Candy – Marcy Playground
Sunday song of the day: Today’s song gets its title from what a random woman told the writer a room smelled like when she walked in on him and his girlfriend.
Coming in the later stages of the alternative rock boom, 1997’s Marcy Playground was the debut album by the band of the same name. The third single from the album was Sex and Candy, a rather vague song that could be a love song or could mean nothing. Marcy Playground songwriter and singer John Wozniak has said that it is an unconventional love song, but he has also said that even though he wrote the song he does not know what it means.
Sex and Candy was a hit, placing at #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, a position it held for a then-record 15 weeks. On the larger Hot 100 chart, it peaked at #8. While Marcy Playground recorded three more studio albums, the most recent released in 2009, they never again had a song even place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
View: https://youtu.be/-KT-r2vHeMM
Tomorrow: That’s nobody’s business but the Turks
Dave's Song of the Day
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) – The Four Lads
Monday song of the day: Today’s song is a novelty about changing the name of a city.
Songwriters Jimmy Kennedy and Nat Simon wrote a lighthearted tune in the early 1950s based on the city that was once known as Constantinople now being named Istanbul. Within Turkey, Istanbul had been preferred for quite a long time, but other countries did not follow suit until the late 1920s. The United States began officially referring to the city as Istanbul in 1930.
The song Istanbul (Not Constantinople) was first recorded by Canadian vocal group The Four Lads in 1953. Their version was a hit, peaking at #10 on the Billboard singles chart. It was the group’s first gold record and first of several Top 10 songs.
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) is better known today from a faster-paced 1990 cover by They Might Be Giants. Their version did not chart in the United States, but it has received continued airplay and remains a popular novelty song.
The Four Lads, 1953
View: https://youtu.be/Uqnb_nU7RBE
They Might Be Giants, 1990
View: https://youtu.be/Z0JhC3LO0-8
Tomorrow: Lookin’ for some happiness
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) – The Four Lads
Monday song of the day: Today’s song is a novelty about changing the name of a city.
Songwriters Jimmy Kennedy and Nat Simon wrote a lighthearted tune in the early 1950s based on the city that was once known as Constantinople now being named Istanbul. Within Turkey, Istanbul had been preferred for quite a long time, but other countries did not follow suit until the late 1920s. The United States began officially referring to the city as Istanbul in 1930.
The song Istanbul (Not Constantinople) was first recorded by Canadian vocal group The Four Lads in 1953. Their version was a hit, peaking at #10 on the Billboard singles chart. It was the group’s first gold record and first of several Top 10 songs.
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) is better known today from a faster-paced 1990 cover by They Might Be Giants. Their version did not chart in the United States, but it has received continued airplay and remains a popular novelty song.
The Four Lads, 1953
View: https://youtu.be/Uqnb_nU7RBE
They Might Be Giants, 1990
View: https://youtu.be/Z0JhC3LO0-8
Tomorrow: Lookin’ for some happiness
Old 97s with Waylon Jennings singing...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqdTW8bQLqs&list=OLAK5uy_kM5hSfa_nurDb_uokGrf837H5NoM1Z1_g&index=2
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqdTW8bQLqs&list=OLAK5uy_kM5hSfa_nurDb_uokGrf837H5NoM1Z1_g&index=2
Dave's Song of the Day
Little Green Bag – George Baker Selection
Tuesday song of the day: Today’s song was mistakenly given the wrong title by the record publisher.
The Dutch group George Baker Selection recorded the song Little Greenback, which referred to money using the U.S. slang “greenback” for dollars. However, when the record was released in October 1969, the record’s publisher, Negram, used the title Little Green Bag, with someone at the label apparently thinking it referred to a bag of marijuana. It became a hit in Europe, reaching #9 in the Netherlands and #3 in Belgium. Because it was selling well, the decision was made to just stick with the erroneous title.
Thus, the US release of the single was also called Little Green Bag, as was the 1970 Little Green Bag album released to capitalize on the hit single. In the United States the song was also a hit, peaking at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song enjoyed a second wave of sales in 1992 when it was featured on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino’s film Reservoir Dogs. That year it reached #1 in Japan and was used there in a whiskey commercial.
View: https://youtu.be/y_kL4fbjvIw
Tomorrow: Give me music make me jump and prance
Little Green Bag – George Baker Selection
Tuesday song of the day: Today’s song was mistakenly given the wrong title by the record publisher.
The Dutch group George Baker Selection recorded the song Little Greenback, which referred to money using the U.S. slang “greenback” for dollars. However, when the record was released in October 1969, the record’s publisher, Negram, used the title Little Green Bag, with someone at the label apparently thinking it referred to a bag of marijuana. It became a hit in Europe, reaching #9 in the Netherlands and #3 in Belgium. Because it was selling well, the decision was made to just stick with the erroneous title.
Thus, the US release of the single was also called Little Green Bag, as was the 1970 Little Green Bag album released to capitalize on the hit single. In the United States the song was also a hit, peaking at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song enjoyed a second wave of sales in 1992 when it was featured on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino’s film Reservoir Dogs. That year it reached #1 in Japan and was used there in a whiskey commercial.
View: https://youtu.be/y_kL4fbjvIw
Tomorrow: Give me music make me jump and prance
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d5y4mzteI8
I'm sure I've posted that song before on here, but I just heard a hilarious interview with Peter Beckett (head singer of Player) that I thought would be funny to share. It went to #1 on the billboard charts after a while. Eventually Player went on to open for Hall & Oats. Peter Beckett was backstage with Daryl Hall and they were talking, and Hall asked him if he knew what Hall & Oats #1 requested song was at concerts. Beckett had no idea. Hall told him it was "Baby Come Back" since apparently it was similar to the Hall & Oats style, and people just assumed it was their song. LOL
I already spoiled the funny part for you, but here is the interview if anyone cares:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSeRTUpdw0E