1970s Songs That Were Banned From Radio

by Kevin Burton    If one of your favorite new songs got banned from commercial radio today, you might not even know it. That, of course, would tamp down the outrage a bit.    But back in the day radio was king, and airplay, or lack thereof, had big sales implications.    What follows is …

Lessons In Perseverance From Famous Athletes

by Dictionary Scoop    Throughout history, sports legends have given us more than just great games to watch. These were people at the top of their game who pushed themselves to the limit. And still, along the way, they picked up knowledge that is relevant to all of us.  Here are ten quotes that stand …

Dave Mason And A Place That’s Far Away

by Kevin Burton    There was just one song that brought Dave Mason into my top-40-based musical awareness in the 70s, but that was enough to keep him there.    Mason died April 19, and tributes began to pour in from people who knew him as I didn’t,  as a co-founder of the British rock …

Seals and Crofts Music Sticks To Your Ribs

by Kevin Burton    I like barbecue sauce. I love cayenne pepper and other hot spices. But I don’t have to have it on everything, all the time.    And so it is with screaming guitars and scene-stealing guitar solos. They are cool sometimes, but I can live without them.    So it was that …

December 1963, Oh What A Song, For The Guy

by Kevin Burton    Here’s what we know about the female character from “December 1963 (Oh What a Night,” the Four Seasons’ fifth and last number one hit:    She had the ability to walk. She walked into a room. That’s all we get.    No eyes of blue, no golden hair, no perfume in …

Neil Sedaka And How I Loved His Second Act

by Kevin Burton    I love laughter, I love rain, and I love me some Neil Sedaka.    So the news that Sedaka died Feb. 27 at age 86, stung.    I never knew the man of course. Never got within 100 miles of him as far as I know. Yet he was a friend …

Pumping Life Into Super Sunday Won’t be Easy

by Kevin Burton    I’m trying to care. Honest to God, I’m trying.    I am a football fan. And I am going to watch the Super Bowl.    Somebody asked me the other day, “you going for Seattle or New England?” “I don’t care,” I said.    And that is mostly true. I would …

The Weather Outside Was Cold, Not Frightful

by Kevin Burton    Those color-coded national weather maps always showed the true snow calamity hitting other regions. We in Central Kansas were to be spared.    But there were breathless local forecasts calling for eight inches of snow on Saturday. My “rule of half” said we would get about four.    Sure enough, by …

Ain’t She A Beautiful Sight? ‘Convoy’ Turns 50

by Kevin Burton    With its march to number one, inexorable as the steamrolling force of the trucks it portrayed, “Convoy” by C.W. McCall ruled the radio road 50 years ago today.    Ruled both lanes, the pop lane and the country lane – double number one.    But make no mistake, Convoy is a …

Bombshells And Chill Pills, Slang In Our Times

by Kevin Burton    The 70s was the grooviest decade there ever could be.  I mean it was far out! I know because I was hip to the trip back then.    But to-ge-ther as we were, we didn’t invent slang. That has been spoken forever, and continues to this day.    Here’s a Dictionary …