Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic
As I was finalizing my recent Bill Doggett piece, I was trying to confirm the “four million” sales figure that is so often attributed (Wikipedia) to his 1956 smash hit, “Honky Tonk” – an extraordinary number for an instrumental, especially in the mid-50s. Ultimately, I was impelled to wield the
Thanks to Harry Hawks‘ biographical portrait of master percussionist (& sometime vocalist) Uzziah ‘Sticky‘ Thompson for Reggae Collector’s Artists Hall of Fame, we learn that (1) ‘Sticky’ gets a shout-out in the intro to Baba Brooks’ “Girls Town Ska” from 1965 [Q: “Hey Sticks, where you going tonight?” A: “I’m
In the early part of this century, reissue label, Hip-O, put out a comprehensive series of James Brown single releases that were issued from 1956-1981. Historians & researchers will no doubt be studying these liner notes in decades to come as they try to organize and make sense of the
Someone posted a short list of “clavinet-fueled songs” that, of course, included “Up on Cripple Creek” by The Band. One commenter quibbled that the song should have been #1 on the list, “not only because it is better but because it was first” – but was it? The Clavinet is
Now that I no longer live in the Ohio Valley but the Sligo Creek Valley watershed (which drains into the Anacostia, a tributary of the Potomac), I thought it would be interesting to search 45Cat’s singles database for any songs with the word “Sligo” in the title. Surprise! That elite
I am riveted with Peter Guralnick’s biographical account – Dream Boogie – of the visionary musical entrepreneur, Sam Cooke, who also happened to be gifted vocalist. My attention was particularly piqued by Sam’s fraught – and ultimately unsuccessful – attempt to release the song “Yeah Man” as a single. Rare
Three years ago, someone paid $99 for this great single by Larry (Marshall) & Alvin (Leslie) that was recorded in 1970 at Clement “Coxsone” Dodd‘s legendary Jamaica Recording Studio — synonymous with Studio One, Dodd’s primary record label. “Press Along Nyah“ Larry & Alvin (1970) The Jamaica Observer‘s April 12,
In 1969 Columbia Special Products teamed up with The United Nations in order to help save the world’s refugee population using the proceeds from sales of star-studded hits collection, World Star Festival. Interestingly, this musical arts venture in humanitarianism predates by nearly two years George Harrison’s groundbreaking benefit concert for
Early Yes guitarist, Peter Banks, and vocalist, Colin Carter, formed prog-rock ensemble Flash in Summer 1971, signing with Sovereign, an EMI/Capitol subsidiary label, and recording their first album in November (with early Yes member, Tony Kaye on keyboards). By 1972 the group had a Billboard Top 40 hit right out
In the liner notes to Baba Boom! — Trojan’s compilation of Jamaica Independence Festival songs from 1966-1975 — one piece of text really jumped out at me: 1974’s ‘Play De Music‘ by Tinga Stewart – a monster hit and the very last one of the archetypal Festival Songs, celebrating the
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