by Kevin Burton Elton John turns 76 today. So when I was nine years old listening to Crocodile Rock, he was all of 26. He wasn’t called Sir Elton back then, not hardly. He was a sight to behold. His wild costumes and antics on stage. His huge international hit songs, these …
Category Archives: rock and Roll
Raised On Radio: Petty’s “Last DJ” Banned
by Kevin Burton National DJ Day on Jan. 20 sent me rocking down memory lane, recalling a time when deft tuning of a transistor radio could take you to another world. The heyday of radio, as we talk about it now in the past tense, was a whole other American era, an entirely …
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The Case For George Harrison, Best Beatle
by Kevin Burton I asked a co-worker, a big Beatles fan who has played guitar since high school, for his opinion on The Big Question: Who was the most essential Beatle? I suppose I was spoiling for a McCartney/Lennon fight. That discussion goes to Paul McCartney and John Lennon and stops there, right? …
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Quibbles And Bits: Chiefs An Evil Empire?
by Kevin Burton Today, some updates, passing asides and leftovers from previous posts. When I cook these up together, I call them quibbles and bits. Come and get it!: From my two posts about favorite duets: I can not overstate how much I love much of the work of Paul McCartney. …
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Looking For A Spark In A Springsteen Song
by Kevin Burton My favorite Bruce Springsteen song was born of irritation and is marinated in frustration. I seem to have slipped into it comfortably, as one might slip into a t-shirt and jeans. Here is how the song came to be, according to SongFacts: “Springsteen wrote it after his manager, …
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Love Is Growing New And She’s Still The One
by Kevin Burton Found a lyric last week that is so cool, I want to use it to tell my happy Valentine’s Day story. This is what happens when my usual Tuneful Tuesday post coincides with Valentine’s Day. The song “Still The One” went to number five for Orleans in 1976. It’s …
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Legendary Composer Bacharach Dead At 94
by Kevin Burton You know Burt Bacharach, even when it’s not Burt Bacharach. Bacharach died Wednesday at home in Los Angeles of natural causes, according to his publicist, Tina Brausam. The Kansas City-born composer had an unmistakable sound, especially in his work with longtime writing partner, lyricist Hal David. The New …
Another Set Of Musical Valentines
by Kevin Burton Yesterday I plucked ten of my favorites from a Billboard list of the 40 biggest duets ever. Today I’ll list ten of my favorites that didn’t make their last. Pulling from that list was easy. Now I’m picking from every other duet ever released. Chances are quite high that I …
(Mostly) Sweet Duets For Valentine’s Day
by Kevin Burton Love is in the air, not to mention on all the store shelves. I’m sure you’ve noticed. Gentlemen, you’re on this, right? One week from today, Valentine’s Day. OK, to get you in the mood, we’ll have not one, but two posts this week dealing with duets. For Valentine’s …
Buddy Holly’s Visual And Musical Acuity
by Kevin Burton I have never seen a picture of Buddy Holly without his thick glasses, but I never have pondered whether he was legally blind until now. He probably was not, by the way, though he had poor vision. More about that in a bit. This comes up today on the …
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