On November 17, 1962, 61 years ago, The Four Seasons, featuring Frankie Vallie, started a 5 week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” the group’s second No. 1 of the year. Their other No. 1 that year was “Sherry”, with “Walk Like A Man” and “Ain’t That A Shame” topping the charts the very next year. I remember Billy Joel at a concert I attended stating his confusion listening to Frankie, wondering should he “walk like a man” but “sing like a girl”? He felt that in the 50s the media machine tightly controlled a safe, sterile pop presentation of music to youth, with ..read more

The following is a compilation of a 20 day Facebook daily challenge thrown down at me by my good friend Jim during the first months of the COVID pandemic.  I had anticipated his request and had given the challenge great thought.  To clarify, my interpretation of the challenge was to daily post an album that has had impact in my life.  They are not necessarily my most favorite albums of my most favorite artists, though many may be that.  There are many albums I absolutely love and think are among the best albums recorded that are not included in my 20.  And there are n ..read more

AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Songs – The 100 Greatest American Movie Music The American Film Institute recently released their list of 100 greatest songs in movies (check out their web link:https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-songs/?fbclid=IwAR32Nm2idohe_clwZbkczGY3HRpNAX2B3wtFjjzWJ81Sq5rPQGOoGQPtyZc (I can’t imbed the link in the blog, but you can copy and paste to view) That inspired me at the suggestion of a friend to make a Spotify playlist of the same. Some analysis of the list led to some interesting observations: Artists having the most songs on the list include (with # songs):    ..read more

June is national accordion awareness month. So before the month’s end, following my past reviews singling out instruments from harmonica, flute, base, piano, and keyboard, I thought I’d give accordion it’s due. The accordion, also called the “concertina,” is primarily used to accompany traditional polka music but has been featured in many classical and modern musical works, from jazz and zydeco to folk, gospel, blues, and even rock and pop. The oldest name for the accordion is derived from the Greek word ‘harmonikos’, which means ‘harmonic’ or ‘musical’. The handaoline, believed to be the ear ..read more

June 22, 1963, little Stevie Wonder first entered the US singles chart. His song, also featuring a young Marvin Gaye on drums, was not only the first live non-studio musical recording to reach No.1 , it also made him the youngest solo performer to ever reach No.1, actually only 12 years old when the song was recorded. His song provides the theme for today’s blog and playlist, songs that feature the harmonica. Harmonica, also known as the French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used prominently in folk music, jazz, country, classical music, and rock.  The most common t ..read more

September 25th was declared at National One Hit Wonder Day by music journalist Steve Rosen to commemorate songs that are often artist’s only claim to fame.  One hit wonders are songs that achieved great notoriety and fame, typically top 40 hit songs, by artists that never achieved future songs of such significant popularity.   Sometimes they are the one shining moment of artists who otherwise fade into obscurity.  Songs that come to mind are “Precious And Few” by Climax, “Seasons In The Sun” by Terry Jacks, “Romeo’s Tune” by Steve Fobert, “Maniac” by Michael Sembello, or ..read more