1964 Archives – How Good It Is

How many times now have I gone into the backstory with a song and learned that the person who wrote it says something akin to, “Yeah, I knocked that one off in about fifteen minutes.” Oftentimes they also think that the song isn’t going to amount to very much, which I find kind of funny. … Continue reading "170: I Fought the Law" The post 170: I Fought the Law appeared firs...

Tommy James and the Shondells started out as Tom and the Tornadoes in 1959, when Tom was 12 years old. A few years later they changed their name in honor of guitarist Troy Shondell, and they cut their second record in a local radio station after under-age Tom saw a band playing the song “Hanky … Continue reading "122–Hanky Panky" The post 122–Hanky Panky appeared first on H...

In 1964 the Shangri-Las got on a sudden hot streak with their sultry recording of “Remember (Walking in the Sand)”, written by George “Shadow” Morton. Morton had bluffed his way into the Brill Building by telling Lieber and Stoller that he was a songwriter (he wasn’t), and when he was asked what kind of songs … Continue reading "114–Leader of the Pack" The...

Holy Moly! The show is back! For those of you who don’t follow the show on Facebook or Twitter, I’ll be posting the pictures here in another couple of days, outlining the New Studio Project. My return to the Podcast Zone was delayed a little bit by a faulty cable I needed to replace, plus … Continue reading "Episode 91–Under the Covers, Part 5" The post Episode 91–Und...

By nearly all accounts, the Supremes were starting to look like a failure. Between 1961 and 1963, they had recorded six singles, five of them for Motown, and none of them reached the Billboard Top 40 chart. There was a glimmer of light when the song “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes” reached … Continue reading "Episode 43–Where Did Our Love Go" The post Ep...

Before they were famous, lots of artists sang backup for other artists. But once in awhile, they’ll lend their talent to someone else because it’s fun, or because they owe someone a favor or maybe just because they were asked to. This week, we’re going to listen in on a bunch of songs that have … Continue reading "Episode 14: Six Feet From Stardom" The post Episode 14: Six...