“Don’t ask me how I got this way / Oh, that’s asking too much” cries Whitney Rose amidst the whirlwind chorus as she rattles off the title line ‘I’m In A Rut’ an appropriately repetitive 28 total times. Only her delivery is so rapid-fire, gaps collapsed between the few words and syllables.. … More Whitney Rose “In A Rut” (2020)
One of the best-known songs on what remains the longest charting album in rock music history features none of the band’s four members, has no words, and spotlights only a session singer who initially turned down the gig to attend a Chuck Berry concert.. … More Pink Floyd “Great Gig In The Sky” (1973)
..The Godfathers, an ‘80’s English new wave band, seemed to have it boiled down to a pretty tight outline. There it is, on their biggest U.S. hit, a philosophy in four words.. … More The Godfathers “Birth, School, Work, Death” (1988)
There are records, there are nights, and there are memories. Indelible, irreplaceable, lifetime memories. This one included me and my friends Zing and Stenley in our frat house (and later, critically, Stenley’s roommate Yak), and it featured one album: The Best of The Guess Who.. … More The Guess Who “No Time” (1969)
..The King Of The Blues, Mr. B.B. King, resplendent in a glittery tux jacket and wincing in apparent pain at the impossibly high note he’s managed to hit on his renowned Gibson guitar “Lucille”.. … More B.B. King “I’m Moving On” (1991)
..I’d like to revisit the topic here to award an equally important title for the longest single fake ending duration – call it the qualitative title – to Creedence Clearwater Revival. In their 1970 hit ‘Molina,’ the band held their false finish for a full, time-stopping.. … More Creedence Clearwater Revival “Molina” (1970)
Who’s the most successful duo of the rock era? I think most people’s first reaction would rightfully be Simon & Garfunkel, while some would choose The Everly Brothers. Upset picks could go to Sam & Dave, The Carpenters, or Jan & Dean. They’d all be wrong.. … More Hall & Oates “Back Together Again” (1976)
Over the years, rockers seem to have exhibited some curious ideas about sisters, but in particular little sisters. The thought occurred to me recently when hearing Elton John’s much-forgotten rave-up ‘Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock and Roll)’ – not explicitly about a “little” sister, but with the lyric.. … More Rolling Stones “Dance Little Sister” (1974)
..Rather than try to record what he’d conceived of as his far-reaching “super-incubated encyclopedia of everything,” he returned, instead, to one of his earliest listening roots: pop/rock music, songs formulated and stylized to leave a first impression of “nice” rather than “challenging.” … More Maxshh “Song For Dad” (2020)
Of all the iconic performances that took place at Woodstock during its era-defining “3 Days of Peace & Music,” 32 acts in total, perhaps none was as singularly identifiable with the event, as historically significant for truly capturing the zeitgeist of the counter-culture moment, as Richie Havens’ classic rendition of his song ‘Freedom.’ Guess how … More Richie Havens “Freedom” (1969)
