Friday, February 18, 2011

SUNNY AFTERNOON (The Kinks)

From Wikipedia:
Sunny Afternoon" is a song by The Kinks, written by chief songwriter Ray Davies.[1] The track later featured on the Face to Face album as well as being the title track for their 1967 compilation album. Its strong Music Hall flavour and lyrical focus was part of a stylistic departure for the band (begun with 1965's "A Well Respected Man"), who had risen to fame in 1964-65 with a series of hard-driving, power-chord rock hits. Released as a single in 3 June 1966, it went to number 1 on the UK charts on 7 July 1966, remaining there for two weeks. The track also went to number 1 in Ireland on 18 July 1966. In America, it peaked at number fourteen. "Sunny Afternoon" was placed at #200 on Pitchfork Media's list of The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s.

PAPERBACK WRITER (The Beatles)

From Wikipedia:
"Paperback Writer" is a 1966 song recorded and released by The Beatles. Written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon/McCartney, the song was released as the A-side of their eleventh single. The single went to the number one spot in the United States, United Kingdom, West Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Norway. Written in the form of a letter from an aspiring author to a publisher, "Paperback Writer" was the first UK Beatles single that was not a love song (though "Nowhere Man", which was a single in the US, was their first album song released with that distinction). On the US Billboard Hot 100, the song was at number one for two non-consecutive weeks, being interrupted by Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night". "Paperback Writer" was the last new song by the Beatles to be featured on their 1966 tour.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

SUNSHINE SUPERMAN (Donovan)

From Wikipedia:
Donovan (Donovan Philips Leitch, born 10 May 1946, in Maryhill, Glasgow), is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music. He currently lives with his family in County Cork in Ireland. Donovan came to fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with a series of live performances on the pop TV series, Ready Steady Go!, and his popularity spread to the US and other countries. After signing with the British label Pye Records in 1965, he recorded a handful of singles and two albums in the folk music vein. After extricating himself from his original management contract, he began a long and successful collaboration with leading independent record producer Mickie Most, scoring a string of hits in the UK, the US, Australia and other countries. His successful records in the 1960s included the UK hits "Catch the Wind" and "Colours" in 1965, while "Sunshine Superman" topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart the following year, and reached number two in Britain. Donovan was the first artist to be signed to CBS/Epic Records by then-new Administrative Vice President Clive Davis, who later became head of the CBS Record empire.

YOU ARE MY WORLD (Cilla Black)

From Wikipedia:
Priscilla White was born in Liverpool, England to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother. Determined to become an entertainer, she got a part-time job as a cloakroom attendant at Liverpool's Cavern Club, best known for its association with The Beatles. Impromptu performances impressed The Beatles and others. She became a guest singer with the Merseybeat bands Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes and, later, with The Big Three. She was also, meantime, a waitress at the Zodiac coffee lounge, where she was to meet her future husband Bobby Willis. She was featured in an article in the first edition of the local music newspaper Mersey Beat; the paper's publisher, Bill Harry, mistakenly referred to her as Cilla Black, rather than White, and she decided she liked the name, and took it as a stage name. Her second UK #1 success, "You're My World", was an English-language rendition of the Italian popular song "Il Mio Mondo". She also enjoyed chart success with the song in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and Canada. Both songs sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs.

Friday, February 11, 2011

19th NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (The Rolling Stones)

From Wikipedia:
"19th Nervous Breakdown" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones. The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards during their 1965 tour of the United States. The song was recorded during the Aftermath sessions between 3 and 8 December 1965 at RCA Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, at the conclusion of their fourth North American tour. The song talks of a difficult, spoiled girl who cannot appreciate life. Mick Jagger says he came up with the title first, and then wrote the lyrics around the title. It was released as a single on 4 February 1966 and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and in the United Kingdom Record Retailer chart. However, it hit #1 in the NME chart and the BBC's Pick of the Pops chart, both of which were more widely recognised in Britain at the time. The hypnotic riff Brian Jones is playing during the verses pays a tribute to Bo Diddley's song "Diddley Daddy", Diddley being a major influence on the Rolling Stones' style. The song is also well-known for Bill Wyman's so-called "dive-bombing" bass line at the end of the song.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

WILD THING (The Troggs)

From Wikipedia:
The Troggs are an English rock band from the 1960s that had a number of hits in Britain and the USA. Their most famous songs include, "Wild Thing", "Love Is All Around" and "With a Girl Like You". The Troggs Billboard Hot 100 chart topper "Wild Thing" is ranked #257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and was an influence on garage rock and punk rock. Fronted by Reg Presley, The Troggs were from the town of Andover in southern England, and were originally called The Troglodytes.