by Kevin Burton On opening day 1979 the great Tom Seaver of the Cincinnati Reds didn’t have it. His early exit led to the major league debut of Frank Pastore. Pastore was born on this day in 1957. He had an early exit from life, at age 55, and he sort of predicted it on …
Category Archives: 1970s
Did Gilbert O’Sullivan Launch Disco Era?
by Kevin Burton There have been many theories to explain the rise and fall of disco music. Here’s a new one for its rise: Disco music exploded in the mid-70s as a direct result of “Alone Again Naturally” by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan. OK, so I can’t prove I’m right, but you …
K&J Points: Our Mercurial, Floating Currency
by Kevin Burton I was born in the heyday of S&H Green Stamps. By God’s grace I have lasted into the era of bitcoin. I learned barter by baseball cards before I ever heard the word barter. I used to get fistfuls of Pesos for teaching Mexican nationals how to speak idiomatic American …
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The Bell Tolls For Olivia And For Me
by Kevin Burton There is a picture of Olivia Newton-John that haunts me. The picture is of her at the end of “Grease,” her character Sandy riding in the car with Danny, John Travolta’s character. She turns around and waves at the camera as they ride off into the high school and movie …
Baseball And Radio, A Perfect Pairing
by Kevin Burton The greatest marriage of all time marks its 101st anniversary today. May death never part the two. The two I speak of, baseball and radio. Baseball on the radio has been a comfort to millions of Americans all their lives. Baseball was the national pastime, radio a sort of national …
Drift Away: The Healing Power Of Music
by Kevin Burton Let me be clear: the beat, the rock and roll beat, does not free one’s soul. But in the secular sense it sure frees something. And that’s the heart of the great 1973 song “Drift Away.” Lawrence Darrow Brown was born in Simonton, Texas on this day in 1940. …
Mining For Radio Gold In Canada
by Kevin Burton The things we don’t say, can’t say, the things we won’t see and refuse to feel, these are the ghosts that inhabit a great 1971 song. I speak of “If You Could Read My Mind” by Gordon Lightfoot. The orchestration is good but it never gets in the way of …
Songs And Seasons In The Canadian Sun
by Kevin Burton Friday was Canada Day, which got me thinking about my favorite songs by Canadian musicians. The discussion started Saturday on Page 7 (“A Salute To Canada’s Greatest Hits,” July 2.) I have learned a few things just looking into it. For instance, Rush, a group I never listened to …
A Salute To Canada’s Greatest Hits
by Kevin Burton What in the world was “The Safety Dance” all about anyway? That’s just one avenue I walked down during my look into the best Canadian music in honor of Canada Day, which was yesterday, July 1. I set out to create a top ten list of favorite songs by …
Hearing My Story In The Rock And Roll
by Kevin Burton The stories, the images, the sound and fury of rock and roll, truly resonate when they hit close to home. By now we have enough rocking sounds to fill the seven seas. The messages are all over the map. The sheer variety is breathtaking. Not every song will get in …
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