So pull up a beanbag chair, turn on your lava lamp and take a trip back to a groovier time!
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April 2016 April 30: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking #6 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American rock and roll-based band Kenny Rogers and The First Edition with "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" (1969)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by American country music singer and songwriter Mel Tillis about a paralyzed veteran of a "crazy Asian war" (which given the time of its release and widely assumed but never explicitly stated to be the Vietnam War) who either lies helplessly in bed or sits helplessly in his wheelchair as his wife gets ready to go out for the evening without him; he believes she is going in search of a lover, and as he hears the door slam behind her, he pleads for her to reconsider. Tillis drew inspiration for the song from a couple who lived near his family in Florida; the man was wounded in Germany in World War II and sent to recuperate in England. There he married a nurse who took care of him at the hospital and the two moved to Florida shortly afterward, but he had periodic return trips to the hospital as problems with his wounds kept flaring up. Apparently his wife saw another man as the veteran lay in the hospital and the man killed her in a murder-suicide. In the song, the man says he would kill her if he could move to get his gun. Originally recorded in 1967 by American country music artist, the late Johnny Darrell (1940 - 1997), Kenny Rogers and The First Edition recorded their version of the song, with Rogers singing the lead, in a single take.
April 29: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues with a series called "Fast-Forward Fridays" with the grooviest hits of that decade known as the 1990s; reaching #1 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart here is American rock band The Wallflowers with "One Headlight" (1997)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by The Wallflowers' lead singer Jakob Dylan, the lyrics tell a fragmentary story about a former friend and her death, and the singer's emotions in the aftermath. The use of strong words and images and the incomplete story have resulted in many different interpretations of the song, which include suicide, drug abuse, death of a lover, death of one's mother, having breast cancer and/or depression. Dylan has said that the song is about "the death of ideas" and that the many metaphors and images in the lyrics were not meant to be taken literally. Dylan explains that he and the band had very little support when they were putting together the record, hence the shout-out "c'mon try a little." The last two lines of the chorus "we can drive it home / with one headlight" are a reference to how the band were able to get through with their ideas despite being hindered (i.e. with one headlight) by the lack of support.
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by the late Sonny Bono (1935 - 1998) who, at the time was a songwriter and record producer for Phil Spector, wrote the lyrics to and composed the music of the song for himself and his then-roommate, Cher, late at night in their basement. Contrary to popular belief, Sonny & Cher were not married at the time of the son's release however they wed in 1969. Session drummer Hal Blaine played drums for the song with other members of The Wrecking Crew, the de facto house band for Spector and sometimes credited as the Phil Spector Wall of Sound Orchestra, supplying instrumental support. "I Got You Babe" became the duo's biggest single, their signature song, and a defining recording of the early hippie countercultural movement. In 2011, the song was named as one of the greatest duets of all times by both Billboard and Rolling Stone magazine.
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Recorded for American television on October 19, 1973 at the Marquee Club in London, producer Burt Sugarman had approached Bowie about appearing on his late-night NBC program The Midnight Special; Bowie agreed to appear on the show after being granted complete artistic control for a one-hour special. Faithfull was invited to appear on the show as one of the back-up acts, along with The Troggs and the “flamenco rock” group Carmen. At the very end of the evening, Bowie and Faithfull appeared onstage together; he in a red PVC outfit with black ostrich plumes which he called it his “Angel of Death” costume and she in a nun’s habit that was, by more than one account, open in the back. Bowie’s duet with Faithfull turned out to be the very last appearance of Ziggy Stardust, his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego.
April 26: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues with a series called "Totally Tubular Tuesdays" with the grooviest hits of that decade known as the 1980s; peaking at #28 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart (#1 on UK Singles chart) here is British reggae/pop band UB40 and American musician Chrissie Hynde with "I Got You Babe" (1985)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by the late Sonny Bono (1935 - 1998), this version was released twenty years after it was first recorded by Bono and his then roommate Cherilyn Sarkisian as the folk rock duo Sonny & Cher in August 1965. The cover version appeared on UB40's studio album Baggariddim as well as it also appeared on the Pretenders' (the English-American rock band fronted by Hynde) 1987 compilation album The Singles.
April 25: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking #42 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart (#10 on UK Singles chart) here is American rock band Heart with "Dreamboat Annie" (1976)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by sisters Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson, "Dreamboat Annie" is markedly softer in sound than the other singles Heart had released previously, the song was also Heart's first entry onto the U.S. Adult Contemporary singles chart. "Dreamboat Annie" is the title track from their debut album of the same name and was released as its third single in 1976. The song had originally appeared as the B-side to Heart's debut single "Crazy on You" earlier that year. At the time of the album's release, Heart's record label bought a full-page ad in Rolling Stone mocked up like a National Enquirer front page. The ad used a photo similar to the one on the Dreamboat Annie album cover, showing Ann and Nancy back to back with bare shoulders. The caption under the photo read "It Was Only Our First Time". The band had not been consulted and was furious with the double meaning of the caption. Not long after the ad appeared, a radio promoter asked Ann about her lover; he was referring to Nancy, thus implying that the sisters were incestuous lesbian lovers. The encounter infuriated Ann who went back to her hotel and penned the words to what became Heart's signature song, "Barracuda" (1977).
April 24: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking #4 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American singer, actress and TV-show host Dionne Warwick with "I Say a Little Prayer" (1967)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by American composer, songwriter and record producer, Burt Bacharach, and American lyricist, Hal David, for Warwick the lyrics were intended to convey a woman's concern for her man who's serving in the Vietnam War. Although Bacharach's recordings with Warwick typically took no more than three takes (often only taking one), Bacharach did ten takes on "I Say a Little Prayer" and still disliked the completed track feeling it rushed. The song was intended B-side of the newly recorded track "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls". However, the brisk sound of "I Say a Little Prayer" which Bacharach disliked proved to be the comeback sound for Warwick as "I Say a Little Prayer" became the original favored side. "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls" would become a hit subsequent to the success of "I Say a Little Prayer" reaching #2 in February 1968.
April 23: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; reaching #1 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart (#10 on UK Singles chart) here is English pianist, singer-songwriter and composer Elton John with "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (1975)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written primarily by the late John Lennon (1940 - 1980) and credited to Lennon–McCartney, John's version of the Beatles' 1967 psychedelic-themed "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" gave him the distinction of being the second of only two artists to have a Beatles' cover reach #1; the late Joe Cocker (1944 - 2014) was the first to do so when his cover of "With a Little Help From My Friends" reached #1 on the UK singles chart in 1968. John's version featured backing vocals and guitar by Lennon under the pseudonym Dr. Winston O'Boogie (Winston being Lennon's middle name). In introducing "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", John has said he believes it to be "one of the best songs ever written."
April 22: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues with a series called "Fast-Forward Fridays" with the grooviest hits of that decade known as the 1990s; reaching #1 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor, the late Prince (1958 - 2016) and The New Power Generation with "Cream" (1991)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by Prince, who has stated that he wrote the song while standing in front of a mirror, the song hit #1 for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in November, 1991, keeping "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" by Canadian singer-songwriter and musician Bryan Adams from reaching the top spot. The song featured Prince's new backing band The New Power Generation, which he debuted in 1991. "Cream" gave Prince his fifth US #1 single.
April 21: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; reaching #1 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American pop/rock singer, pianist, composer and record producer Neil Sedaka with "Bad Blood" (1975)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by Sedaka and Phil Cody, the song held the top position on the Billboard chart for three weeks. Elton John provided uncredited backing vocals for the song, and was the most successful individual commercial release in Sedaka's career. "Bad Blood" was replaced at the #1 spot by John's single, "Island Girl".
April 20: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking #3 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart (#2 on UK Singles chart) here is British soul band Hot Chocolate with "You Sexy Thing" (1975)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by Hot Chocolate's lead singer Errol Brown, "You Sexy Thing" became the group's best-known song. In the UK the song was poised for the #1 spot, but was beaten to it by Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." The song went on to gain lasting notability by being featured in many hit films, such as 1997's The Full Monty which attributed it to be the only song to enter the UK Top Ten in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
April 19: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues with a series called "Totally Tubular Tuesdays" with the grooviest hits of that decade known as the 1980s; peaking at #2 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart (#1 on UK Singles chart) here is English singer and songwriter, the late John Lennon (1940 - 1980) with "Woman" (1981)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by Lennon, "Woman" was the first Lennon single issued after his death (December 8, 1980) and is an ode to his wife Yoko Ono and to all women. The track begins with Lennon whispering, "For the other half of the sky ...", a paraphrase of a Chinese proverb, once used by Chinese Communist revolutionary Mao Zedong (1945 - 1976). In 1965, Lennon's then-songwriting partner and fellow Beatle band mate, Paul McCartney, had written a different song entitled "Woman" for British pop duo Peter & Gordon using a pseudonym. Thus, both Lennon and McCartney have individual credit for writing different charting songs with the same title. "Woman" is dedicated to a very dear friend who passed away on this day in 1997.
April 18: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking #2 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American singer-songwriter, actor, activist and humanitarian, the late John Denver (1943 - 1997) with "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (1971)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by Denver along with Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert (Danoff and Nivert made up half of the Starland Vocal Band, known for the 1976 hit, "Afternoon Delight"), the song drew inspiration from a roadtrip taken by Danoff and Nivert where, to pass the time, Danoff had made up a ballad about the little winding roads they were taking. Later, he changed the story to fit that of an artist friend, who used to write to him about the splendors of the West Virginia countryside. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" received an enthusiastic response from West Virginians. The song is the theme song of West Virginia University and has been performed at every home football pre-game show since 1972. Since March 2014 it became the official state anthem of West Virginia.
April 13: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking #25 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer Billy Joel with "Piano Man" (1973)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: "Piano Man" is a fictionalized retelling of Joel's experience as a piano-lounge singer, performing under the name Bill Martin, for six months in 1972 at the now defunct Executive Room bar in Los Angeles. Joel has stated that all of the characters depicted in the song were based on real people. "John at the bar" was really the bartender who worked during Joel's shift at the piano bar. "Paul is a real estate novelist" refers to a real estate agent named Paul who would sit at the bar each night working on what he believed would be the next great American novel. "The waitress is practicing politics" refers to Joel's first wife Elizabeth Weber, with whom he moved to Los Angeles from New York in 1972 and who worked at The Executive Room as a waitress while Joel played the piano. A video promo for this song was shot in 1977 depicting Joel as a bar act (Bill Martin) performing the song, and shows a typical American bar as a setting. A new video was shot in 1985, with new extras, and was more or less the same as the original. "Piano Man" was Joel's first major hit and is regarded as his signature song.
April 12: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues with a series called "Totally Tubular Tuesdays" with the grooviest hits of that decade known as the 1980s; peaking at #7 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is English-born American singer, rapper and actor Young M.C. with "Bust a Move" (1989)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: The song is built on a sample of "Found a Child" (1970) by American horn rock group Ballin' Jack. The drums, produced by a Linn drum, are sampled from the song “Radio-Activity” by RoyalCash. The breakdown segment contains a combination of beats sampled from the songs "Scorpio" (1971) by Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Band, and "Daytime Hustler" (1972) by Bette Midler. "Bust a Move" also featured guest vocals by Crystal Blake and bass guitar by Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, both of whom also appeared in the video.
April 11: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking #13 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist Patti Smith (credited as The Patti Smith Group) with "Because the Night" (1978)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Co-written by Smith and Bruce Springsteen, the song was originally recorded by Springsteen during sessions for his Darkness on the Edge of Town album. He was not satisfied with it and later declared he already knew he wasn't going to finish it since it was just another love song so it was given to Smith who was working on the album Easter in the studio next door. Smith recast it, only retaining the chorus "Because the night belongs to lovers", and it was included on Easter, becoming the first single released from that album. It remains one of the best known songs of Smith's catalog.
April 10: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking #8 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American progressive rock group Styx with "Come Sail Away" (1977)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by Styx member Dennis DeYoung (vocals and keyboards), "Come Sail Away" combines a plaintive, ballad-like opening section (including piano and synthesizer interludes) with a bombastic, guitar-heavy second half. DeYoung has revealed that he was depressed when he wrote the track after Styx's fifth and sixth albums, Equinox and Crystal Ball, sold fewer units than expected after the success of the single "Lady" (1975). "Come Sail Away" is one of the biggest hits of Styx's career.
April 9: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking #10 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American folk rock duo Brewer & Shipley with "One Toke Over the Line" (1971)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by singer-songwriters Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley the song garnered notice from then Vice President, the late Spiro Agnew (under President Richard Nixon) for what he saw as its subversiveness. Ironically, the song was performed (by Gail Farrell and Dick Dale) on The Lawrence Welk Show, a television program known for its conservative, family-oriented format, which billed it a "modern spiritual." At the conclusion of the performance of the song, Welk remarked, without any hint of irony, "There you've heard a modern spiritual by Gail and Dale."
April 8: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues with a series called "Fast-Forward Fridays" with the grooviest hits of that decade known as the 1990s; peaking at #23 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American swing and jump blues band The Brian Setzer Orchestra with "Jump, Jive an' Wail" (1998)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Originally performed by American singer, actor, songwriter and trumpeter, the late Louis Prima (1910 - 1978), the song had a resurgence in popularity during the Swing revival in the late 1990s; first due to a television commercial for The Gap featuring the original Prima recording and khaki-clad dancers doing the Lindy Hop and then with Setzer's cover 1998. The song remains one of Prima's signature songs.
April 7: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; reaching #1 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American rock and roll group Tommy James and the Shondells with "Crimson and Clover" (1968)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by the duo of band leader Tommy James and drummer Peter Lucia Jr., it was intended as a change in direction of the group's sound and composition. Following the release of "Mony Mony" (1966), James wanted to change direction of the group's sound, and began producing his own material. The title, "Crimson and Clover", was decided before a song had been written for it. The combination of unknown meaning came to James as he was waking up, comprising his favorite color – crimson – and his favorite flower – clover. A song to fit the phrase was written by James and bassist Mike Vale, but was scrapped however his collaboration with Lucia was more successful. The song was recorded in late 1968 in about 5 hours and is one of the earliest songs recorded on 16-track equipment. James played most of the instruments, while Vale played bass and Lucia played drums. The song contains a tremolo effect on the guitar, set so that it vibrated in time with the song's rhythm. Near the end of the recording, the band had an idea of utilizing the tremolo effect with vocals. To achieve this, the voice microphone was plugged into an Ampeg guitar amplifier with tremolo turned on, and the output from the amplifier was recorded while James sang "Crimson and clover, over and over".
April 6: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; reaching #1 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart (#5 on UK Singles chart) here is English rock band The Rolling Stones with "Angie" (1973)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Angie" is an acoustic-guitar-driven ballad which tells of the end of a romance. The song's distinctive piano accompaniment was played by Nicky Hopkins, a Rolling Stones recording-session regular while the strings on the piece were arranged by Nicky Harrison. An unusual feature of the original recording is that Jagger's vocal guide track (made before the final vocals were performed) is faintly audible throughout the song (an effect sometimes called a "ghost vocal"). Inspiration for the song has drawn many speculations including David Bowie's first wife Angela, the actress Angie Dickinson, Keith Richards' newborn daughter Dandelion Angela and others although Richards has said that he had chosen the name at random when writing the song. Two music videos were shot to promote the song.
April 5: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues with a series called "Totally Tubular Tuesdays" with the grooviest hits of that decade known as the 1980s; peaking at #5 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American singer-songwriter Pat Benatar with "We Belong" (1984)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by songwriting team David Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro, "We Belong" was made popular by Benatar and released as the lead single from her sixth studio album, Tropico (1984). It matched the success of "Love Is a Battlefield" (also peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1983) which is known as Benatar's signature song and it earned Benatar a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
April 4: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking at #16 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American singer-songwriter and guitarist, the late Richie Havens (1941 - 2013) with "Here Comes the Sun" (1971)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by English guitarist, singer and songwriter, the late George Harrison (1943 - 2001), was first released on the Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road and is one of Harrison's best-known compositions from the Beatles era. The song was written at the country house of his friend Eric Clapton, where Harrison had chosen to play truant for the day, to avoid attending a meeting at the Beatles' Apple Corps organization. The lyrics reflect the composer's relief at both the arrival of spring and the temporary respite he was experiencing from the band's business affairs.
April 3: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking at #22 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is American singer-songwriter and musician Neil Diamond with "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" (1969)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Written by Diamond, the song tells the story of Brother Love, an evangelist who travels from town to town preaching. In the middle of the song, Diamond gives a sermon in typical evangelical style. Some evangelical groups in the American South encouraged the boycotting of this song and of Diamond as they thought that this song denigrated and insulted evangelists and the evangelical movement. When Diamond explained in an interview that it was, contrary to their understanding of it, a celebration of Gospel music and the evangelical style of preaching and worship, the controversy subsided.
April 2: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues a series featuring randomly chosen hits from yesteryear; peaking at #2 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart (#1 on UK Singles chart) here is Welsh folk singer Mary Hopkin with "Those Were the Days" (1968)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: On most recordings of the song, American musician and playwright Eugene Raskin is credited as the sole writer even though he wrote only the later English lyric (which is not an English translation of the Russian lyric based on the Russian romance song "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" composed by Boris Fomin with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevsky) and not the music. In the early 1960s Raskin, with his wife Francesca, played folk music around Greenwich Village in New York. Raskin, who had grown up hearing the song, wrote with his wife a new English lyric to the old Russian music and then copyrighted both music and lyric in his own name. Hopkin's recording was produced by Paul McCartney with an arrangement by Richard Hewson. Hopkin was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label.
April 1: Today's "Way Back Play Back" continues with a series called
"Fast-Forward Fridays" with the grooviest hits of that decade known as
the 1990s; peaking at #29 on U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart here is
American rock band R.E.M. with "Everybody Hurts" (1993)
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Much of the song was written by drummer Bill Berry, although as R.E.M. shares songwriting credits among its members, it is unknown how much he actually wrote. Ironically, Berry did not drum on the song; a Univox drum machine took his place. Berry was responsible for the sampling of the drum pattern on the track. The string arrangement was written by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. In the video for the song, directed by Jake Scott and filmed along the double deck portions of I-10 near the I-35 Interchange in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, the band is stuck in a traffic jam. It shows the people in other cars and subtitles of their thoughts appear on screen. At the end, all the people leave their cars and walk instead; then they vanish. The video was heavily inspired by the traffic jam in the opening dream sequence of Fellini's 8½, a 1963 Italian comedy-drama.
Johnny K's Fun Facts: Much of the song was written by drummer Bill Berry, although as R.E.M. shares songwriting credits among its members, it is unknown how much he actually wrote. Ironically, Berry did not drum on the song; a Univox drum machine took his place. Berry was responsible for the sampling of the drum pattern on the track. The string arrangement was written by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. In the video for the song, directed by Jake Scott and filmed along the double deck portions of I-10 near the I-35 Interchange in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, the band is stuck in a traffic jam. It shows the people in other cars and subtitles of their thoughts appear on screen. At the end, all the people leave their cars and walk instead; then they vanish. The video was heavily inspired by the traffic jam in the opening dream sequence of Fellini's 8½, a 1963 Italian comedy-drama.
