5 years ago / 645 visits
The Nu Shooz (lead vocalist Valerie Day, Danny Schauffler, John Smith and Rick Waritz) 1984 LP "Tha's Right" contained the original "I Can't Wait" (J. Smith). Issued as a single it was a big hit in the group's Portland, Oregon hometown but nowhere else. Originally this was a twelve member group that…
5 years ago / 235 visits
Margie Singleton (Ebey) wrote "Lie To Me" and brought in to Brook Benton. When she was thirteen Margie married future producer and label owner Shelby Singleton. In 1965 she married songwriter Leon Ashley. Brook Benton (Benjamin Peay) had success with "Lie To Me" (Margie Singleton - Brook Benton) in…
5 years ago / 189 visits
The 1962 Motion picture "Walk On The Wild Side" featured the title tune sung by Brook Benton (Benjamin Peay). "Walk On The Wild Side" (Mack David - Elmer Bernstein) earned an Academy Award nomination. The single peaked at number forty-three and is on the album "Golden Hits Volume Two". Jazz organis…
5 years ago / 116 visits
Grammy winner Josh Kear sings "Need You Now" (Josh Kear - Hillary Scott - Charles Kelley - Dave Haywood) in an impressive performance at the 2011 ASCAP Pop Music Awards held in Los Angeles. Josh has written for a diverse line up of recording artists from Boyzone, Susan Boyle, Carrie Underwood, The B…
5 years ago / 122 visits
The debut LP for Salt-n-Pepa "Hot, Cool And Vicious" did not contain "Push It" (Herby Azor) when first issued in 1986. Originally the tune was on the B side of "Tramp" in 1987. Salt was Cheryl James and Sandra Denton was Pepa and they were aided by Deidra Roper aka DJ Spinderella. San Francisco pro…
5 years ago / 135 visits
One of the first recordings of the standard "That's My Weakness Now" (Bud Green - Sam Sept) came from Billy Jones and Ernest Hare in 1928. This was the first hit for the writing team that also gave us "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone". Billy Jones and Ernest Hare earned over one thousand do…
5 years ago / 110 visits
Bob Dylan (Zimmerman) wrote "My Back Pages" and included it on the 1964 issue of "Another Side Of Bob Dylan". The album opened with "All I Really Want To Do" and featured "It Ain't Me Babe" as the final track. The title doesn't show up in the song but may refer to Bob's archive of music. Again The…
5 years ago / 131 visits
With the success of his song "I'm Your Puppet" for James and Bobby Purify in 1966, he and Spooner Oldham wrote, Dan Penn was convinced he could make a living out of songwriting. He was right. The next year they wrote "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" for Aretha Franklin and he produced The Box Tops hit…
5 years ago / 136 visits
Grammy winner Chris DeStefano is a typical Nashville Singer, songwriter, producer and multi instrumentalist playing mandolin, bass, banjo, drums, violin, percussion, guitar, pedal steel and piano. The man has written many Country chart toppers that crossed over to the pop charts. This includes "Good…
5 years ago / 128 visits
Scotland's James "Midge" Ure had musical success with Thin Lizzy and Ultravox but what may have been his most well known contribution to the ear happened when he was approached by Bob Geldoff to write the music for "Do They Know It's Christmas" to aid the fight against famine in Ethiopia. This is Mi…
5 years ago / 130 visits
"Mattinata" (Ruggero Leoncavallo) was written in 1904 and sung by Enrico Caruso with the composer accompanying him on piano. The English translation of the title is simply "Morning". The composer was already well known for his 1892 opera "Pagliacci". Winner of the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts, Vic…
5 years ago / 124 visits
The man who gave us "Sweet Georgia Brown" Maceo Pinkard, his wife Edna Alexander and Sidney D. Mitchell wrote "Sugar" aka "That Sugar Baby Of Mine" and had it recorded successfully by Ethel Waters in 1946. Ethel was the first African-American to have her own television show and the first to be nomin…
5 years ago / 132 visits
From the Lenny Kravitz 2012 double CD set "Mama Said: 21st Anniversary Deluxe Edition" this is the home demo recording of " It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" (Lenny Kravitz). At this time Lenny and then wife Lisa Bonet were struggling with their marriage. The title is a quote from Yogi Berra. In 1991 L…
5 years ago / 127 visits
Jack Norworth wrote the lyrics to "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" while Albert Von Tilzer wrote the music in 1908. Neither of these gentlemen witnessed a game until decades later. Columbia records session singer Harvey Hindermeyer (Hindermyer) recorded the first version the year it was written. The…
5 years ago / 137 visits