by Kevin Burton I missed it, completely. It was totally over my head. I guess it’s just somebody’s else’s fight. “We Built This City” by Starship was number one on the US Hot 100 40 years ago this month. It’s catchy. I liked it then, still do. I loved the era when …
Tag Archives: top 40
My Ohio Roots And “Hang On Sloopy”
by Kevin Burton The shirt I had just bought said “Sweet Home Kansas’ or “Down Home in Kansas,” something like that, and it was supposed to make a statement. With decidedly mixed emotions I had just taken a job in Kansas and left my homeland, Ohio, behind. The shirt was one way of …
Happy 80th Birthday To The Great Bob Seger
by Kevin Burton Bob Seger’s highest charting song is not the song closest to his heart, nor, I’m guessing, is it foremost in the esteem of his true-blue fans. The beloved singer-songwriter from Ann Arbor, Michigan turns 80 today. So I looked up his chart history to see if he had ever had …
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“Killing Me Softly” Singer Roberta Flack Dies
by Kevin Burton Roberta Flack had an ear for music as good as her legendary voice, and she knew she was on to something. The vocalist-composer-arranger was on a cross-country flight when she first heard “Killing Me Softly With His Song” over headphones on the plane’s sound system. Flack would re-shape the song …
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Billy Preston Almost Joined The Beatles
by Kevin Burton In the late 60s and 70s when DJs would spin “Get Back” by The Beatles, they didn’t say anything about Billy Preston, not that I ever heard anyway. But Preston was working closely with the Beatles on the album “Let It Be.” He was a big part of what they …
“My Sharona” Exploded, The Knack Fizzled
by Kevin Burton This song was headed for the top. No two ways about it. It was d-d-destiny, to borrow a stuttered word from the lyrics. The first time The Knack played “My Sharona” at MCA Whitney Recording Studios, producer Mike Chapman told the band it was going to be a number …
Imperfect Tens: Hits Dionne Warwick Hated
by Kevin Burton The artist hated them, I loved them and so did millions of others. From the 60s genius of legendary songwriting team Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and the 80s (post-70s really) brilliance of the Bee Gees, came two smash hits for Dionne Warwick. Both songs went to number 10 …
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50 Years Ago, Terry Jacks’ “Season In The Sun”
by Kevin Burton When you move into a house, you see it and feel it in a way all your own. You inhabit that space with your special vitality. The way others see that space, if they see it at all, may be interesting, but it lays no lasting hold on you. …
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Carolina And The Mind Of James Taylor
by Kevin Burton You can take the boy from Carolina but you will never extract Carolina from James Taylor. That’s how it works. Our inner compass points toward home. When we can’t be there physically, our minds take us there. Sometimes it’s better that way. Just as Penny Lane is in the …
Tell A Stranger About Philadelphia Freedom
by Kevin Burton Trying to wrestle down he lighter-than-air 70s anthem “Philadelphia Freedom” by Elton John is like trying to tell a stranger ‘bout rock and roll. You kind of can’t. You can parse the words if you like, look into its origins, the elements that went into it. But in the end …
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