1972 Archives – How Good It Is

Today’s episode is about a song that was written just up the hill from where I was born and in the same town where my wife and and I were wed. So it most definitely “strikes close to home.” Neil Young had emerged from the great north woods of Canada into the public limelight in … Continue reading "182–Old Man" The post 182–Old Man appeared first on How Good It Is .

I don’t often play favorites on this show; in fact there have been a couple of songs I genuinely disliked, but I covered them anyway because the story behind them was kind of interesting. And I think you’d be hard-pressed to identify those songs, because I do try to be even-handed. However. I am going … Continue reading "169: Tiny Dancer" The post 169: Tiny Dancer appeared first...

One  of my favorite titles for an album comes from The Animals. They did a bunch of albums up to 1969, then for a year or two there were a couple of compilation albums after they broke up.  But in 1977 the Animals reunited and released a new album, titled Before We Were So Rudely … Continue reading "167: Without You" The post 167: Without You appeared first on How Good It Is .

If you want to get technical about it, Looking Glass was NOT a one-hit wonder. “Brandy” was, to be sure, their biggest hit and the song that most people identify with the band. But “Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne,” the opening track from their second album, spent only one week less on the Billboard Hot 100 chart … Continue reading "155: Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)" The p...

Last week’s show was short, time-wise, and I promised I’d make up for it. And make up, I did, because this is one of my longer non-interview shows, clocking in at 20:30. If you listen to this show during your morning commute, you may have to circle the block a few times before going in … Continue reading "Episode 108–Books on Vinyl" The post Episode 108–Books on Vinyl...

Roberta Flack was one of those artists that the label couldn’t quite pigeonhole, which meant that they couldn’t find a way to make her accessible to listeners. As a result, her first two albums got some positive press, but the sales weren’t especially great. It wasn’t until after her second album came out that a … Continue reading "Episode 102–The First Time Eve...

Apologies for the delay; once again I’ve been at a podcasting conference and I got in from Boston a little later than I expected to. This one was geared entirely toward educational podcasts (and yes, I do consider this show educational, though it’s probably more in the “edutainment” corner), and I picked up a lot … Continue reading "Episode 92–Dancing in the Moo...

What do you think? You like that picture? I PAID for that stock photo, like some kind of honest guy. Despite this being perhaps The Hollies’ biggest hit in the US, it still managed not to make it to the Number One position on the Billboard Hot 100. It was kept out of that position … Continue reading "Episode 90–Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress)" The post Episode 90–Long Co...

Click here for a transcript of today’s show.  Shel Silverstein was a humorist, a poet, a cartoonist, and a musician who had a strong, if not especially obvious, influence on pop music through the late 1960s, up into the 1980s. Most people know him for his poetry books largely aimed at a children’s audience, but … Continue reading "57–Shel Silverstein, Part I" The post 57&#8...