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Hey oldies fans! Did you ever wonder what a record would sound like if you took Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'" and included a couple of bars stolen from Fantastic Johnny C's "Boogaloo Down Broadway?" If that combination sounds plausible to you then you've probably heard "Sally Had A Party" by Flavor, a one-hit wonder who hailed from the Washington D.C. area. Information on how well the single performed is spotty. It did well on a top 50 survey from radio station KLMS in Lincoln, Nebraska where it placed at # 10 for the week of July 20, 1968. It was also in regular rotation on my local top 40 station, WFIL, Famous 56 , in Philadelphia that summer so "Sally Had a Party" was much bigger in certain markets than it was nationally. According to Joel Whitburn's Record Research it debuted on the Hot 100 on August 3, 1968, climbing no higher than #95 in a five-week run. As the song's title suggests "Sally...

Maybe Miss America is the third album by power pop devotee Rob Martinez. It's a solid effort that is great for cruising in your convertible with the top down and the volume turned up high on a sunny, summer afternoon. The CD was produced by Adam Marsland who has worked with other pop oriented rockers including former Beach Boy David Marks. Marsland gave the eleven song set a loud wall of sound without losing sight of the melody or the pop atmosphere these songs were meant to have. Maybe Miss America is definitely a throwback record. It's a hybrid of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and post- Pet Sounds Beach Boys, meaning it's psychedelic pop-rock that keeps the listener tuned in from start to finish. "Summer of Love," one of the album's highlights, has both of these ingredients. The rocker composed or co-wrote all of the songs on the disc and everyone of them, especially "Sacrifice," "Free," and the title track will mak...

Instead of writing a full post today I'm featuring a music related, Netflix comedy bit that is too good to pass up. Dana Carvey has always been one of my favorite Saturday Night Live comedians. I never tire of the Church Lady or his portrayal of Garth in the popular Wayne's World movie and skits. Here Carvey impersonates both Paul McCartney and John Lennon. While watching this hysterical bit it helps to remember that Lennon knew nothing about the technology we use today. He left us in December 1980, before the CD became the first major product of the digital age just a couple of years later. You'll laugh hard as Sir Paul clues his late songwriting partner in on our current celebrities, the Internet, the devices its invention has spawned, and how the last two affected our lives.

I live in Montgomery County, PA, the third largest of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. Only neighboring Philadelphia city and county and Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, are larger. As of this morning, more than half of the Corona cases in the state are in Montgomery. Governor Tom Wolf has placed the county under a state of emergency, closing most schools, churches, many businesses, day care centers, gyms, YMCAs etc. So, because there is really no place to go I thought I'd give you all a 19-song Coronavirus playlist to occupy your time and entertain yourself in case you're trapped at home. Several videos from the list are posted below. I know that Kate Smith is on the political correctness enemies list these days but she recorded the most famous version of the song so many Americans love. Don't Stand So Close To Me - The Police Fever - Peggy Lee Misery - The Beatles I Can't Get Next To You - The Temptations Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Duke Ellingto...

Cover of the USA 7" release "It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)" is one of the longer song titles in rock 'n roll and one of the more oddball releases from R.E.M. (probably only superseded by "Leave" from New Adventures In Hi-Fi ). The members of the Rock & Roll Hall-of-Fame took this quirky little single off of their 1987 album, Document . No song with a message should ever have this cool of a groove. Its super-speedy tempo and melody ingratiate themselves into your brain so completely that you must end up moving at least one part of your body whenever you hear it. Released when the Athens, Georgia quartet was at the peak of their powers the song has definite political and social overtones. But, as was usually the case with the famous group, its stream of consciousness lyrics are cryptic to the point where listeners end up scratching their heads trying to understand whatever Michael Stipe and friends have come up wit...

If you were a Motown fan back in the day (and who wasn't) you need to grab this Temptations anthology now. The Best of the Temptations is an excellent double CD set with all of the much-loved singing group's hits plus a few B-sides, album tracks, and detailed liner notes. It also includes a handful of their 1980s work for people who want an entire career retrospective. For most listeners it's all The Temptations they'll ever need because like most of the original, enduring Motown acts the famous vocal quintet concentrated on singles over LPs because that's the way Berry Gordy liked it. The Best of the Temptations consists of 46 chronologically placed songs that begins with their first hit "The Way You Do The Things You Do" released in January 1964, about a month after The Beatles' first stateside smash, "I Want To Hold Your Hand," began its historic climb up the charts. The second disc ends with "Lady Soul" from 1986. You get ...

Jazz pianist Benny Green assembled a trio for These Are Soulful Days , an end of the century release with a lineup identical to Nat King Cole's great trio of the 1940's. In both groups the leader played piano while accompanied only by electric guitar and bass. Neither outfit employed a drummer, but let it be known that the similarities end there. Green's group is strictly instrumental and plays hard bop from the late 50's and 60's while Cole's played light swing, had a more pop feel, and relied heavily on his magnificent vocals. (I always preferred Nat King Cole's singing to Frank Sinatra's, but that is getting off the subject). The lack of a drummer does not stop the versatile Green and his sidemen from generating a great groove. The listener doesn't even notice these recordings lack drums, and it is the belief here that their presence would not have added anything to the sessions. All eight tunes are melodic and varied enough to keep the set fr...