by Kevin Burton We talk Neil Diamond for the second time this week today, but first, a short digression back to my college days. My college friend Matt once commented that “the only things Kevin Burton and I agree on are Billy Joel and freedom of the press.” We favored both, for the …
Category Archives: music
Brother Neil’s Travelling Controversy
by Kevin Burton Hard feelings and Neil Diamond songs usually don’t go together as far as I know. But we have two examples of such today. Diamond is the latest artist to be featured in our 2022 look at songs that peaked at number 22 on the American chart. The songs “Brother …
Simon At His Best On “Me And Julio”
by Kevin Burton The lyrics say crime and punishment, the delivery, whimsy and jest. The package came from Paul Simon, and he was hot in the early 70s. So I am amazed to learn that this song qualifies for inclusion in our 2022 series on songs that peaked at number 22 on the …
Music For The Master, A True Joyful Noise
by Kevin Burton “It’s not just a song, it’s music for the Master.” I used to hear that just about every weekday on Christian radio when I lived in Ohio. The guy who did the afternoon shift on WFCJ radio called his show Music for the Master. I can still hear his distinctive …
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Eddie Money’s Definition Of Paradise
by Kevin Burton A song that Cash Box called “an excellent punchy rocker” has become a necessary part of our shared musical vocabulary. The signature song of the late Eddie Money, “Two Tickets To Paradise,” peaked at number 22 on the American chart. So it has a place in our 2022 series. …
70s Elvis And The Fiction Of “My Way”
by Kevin Burton In a 50th year retrospective, The Guardian called the song “My Way” a monument. True enough in the musical sense, but I say it’s a sad one. This look at My Way is part of our 2022 series on songs that peaked at number 22 on the American chart. You …
Taylor’s “Shower The People” Says It All
by Kevin Burton In the great human family James Taylor got the voice. The rest of us are just making do. That’s a favorite old saying of mine. It may be difficult to stick to it, given the thousands of talented singers we’ve heard over the years. But every time I listen to …
My Cat Can’t Save Time In A Bottle
by Kevin Burton I have a correction today. Got one of my facts wrong. The older of the two cats we got in December is 13, not 11 as I previously reported. Page 7 regrets the error. So does Gabbie for that matter. The confusion came because the lady at the cat …
The Rubberband Man Is Out Of Sight
by Kevin Burton A song that producer Thom Bell wrote for his overweight son is by far my favorite Spinners tune and has always been a guilty pleasure. Now I’m trying to get to the bottom of it. The song is “The Rubberband Man.” Bell wrote the song to help improve his …
Steely Dan’s Link To WKRP In Cincinnati
by Kevin Burton It was 1978 when FM radio overtook AM. But the song that marked the occasion was sort of a medium-sized hit. We’re talking “FM” by Steely Dan. So what’s your definition of a hit song? Is it based on how much it sells? How high it gets on …
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