Bob Smith writes … The band began as a trio back in 1969 and took their name from a railroad company that had a line running through their home town of Flint, Michigan. The band saw tremendous popularity in the early 1970’s quickly becoming a well recognized band. By 1971 the band was selling out […]
Music Q&A
Found 54 results
Hi Howard. I know you are into this type of 60’s music and so what can you tell me about The Blues Magoos please? What should I avoid of theirs? Thanks Laurence Rode. Hmm, well ….. the short answer is ‘not much’. But yes, I am into this genre and many similar ones too. I […]
“Slash, 45, was born Saul Hudson in London and raised in England and Los Angeles. He was an original member of the rock band Guns N’ Roses which formed in 1985 and sold 100m albums worldwide. Slash – considered one of the greatest rock guitar players of all time – left Guns N’ Roses […]
Previously published: Martin Chilton writes: Randy Newman is touring the UK this month and has a new album out next year. In additional extracts from a recent interview with the 71-year-old Oscar-winning songwriter, Martin Chilton presents 10 answers to questions about music. Please click HERE to continue
Born in London, Yusuf Islam, 66, began his career as Cat Stevens and became a star in the 1970s with songs such as Morning Has Broken and Moonshadow. In 1977, he converted to Islam and left the music business to concentrate on his family and charity work. He began recording again in 2006; his latest […]
Al I. Husain writes ….. This is an interesting question as my interpretation of the answer is people who intentionally left and/or voluntarily left rather being dismissed or succumbing to illness or death, which is also leaving I suppose, but not necessarily by someone’s own volition. I’m also trying to apply some measures around the […]
http://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2015/07/06/this-is-what-the-oldest-playable-harpsichord-sounds-like
RJ Holland writes … I stopped listening to the radio many years ago for two reasons. First reason, they keep rehashing the same songs over and over. Why is that? I thought, wow, these guys must be making tremendous royalties because these same songs are played day in and day out all year long. What […]
The thread starts: I am sitting here listening to a Doris Day LP from the ’50s. The original copy I had was from my Dad’s collection and I thought that it was pretty astounding. It is mono, but has the greatest sense of presence and weight. LPs from today all sound anemic in comparison. My […]
Hello all. Over the years, I’ve managed to scratch a few cd’s, due to transferring between players, cars, lying around as lots get played on drinking nights etc etc..There are quite a few that are going to be hard or impossible to replace, so I’d like to ask opinions on effective methods / widgets for […]
James O’Connor writes … There was this guy, Jim Croce, and some of you may be old enough to remember him. For only about two years in the 1970’s his name popped up all the time, even being discussed as a replacement for Johnny Carson, should that be necessary (it wasn’t, but that’s a different […]
Henry Hrebien writes … The Strawberry Alarm Clock………think about it. The…… Strawberry…… Alarm…… Clock. Now, what a bizarre name for a band. It seems kind of pseudo psychedelic as if the person who dreamed up this name never took acid but came up with a title after surmising what a psychedelic experience must be like […]
Michael Bachman No he did not. John was wrongly quite dismissive of George Martin’s contributions towards the end of the ‘60s, contrary to his original appreciation of him. John was always a one or two take musician, unlike Paul who strived for perfection, unfortunately on some really poor songs he should never have recorded, or […]
From classic-rock squabbles to hip-hop diss tracks and social media wars, here are the ridiculous, rancorous conflicts that have held us rapt. https://getpocket.com/explore/item/music-s-30-fiercest-feuds-and-beefs?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB
Robin Meadows · Michael Lee-Kapsalis, MM Music & Vocal Performance, Indiana University (2001) There was friction between everyone when they wrote and recorded Under Pressure together. The song was written not just by Freddie and David but by Queen and David. In fact, it was John Deacon who came up with the bass line. However, […]
Sylvie Malaborsa writes … John Lennon’s father, Alfred was a merchant marine, who spent long periods of time away from his family. Upon his return in 1944 after a long absence when John was four years old, his wife Julia, who had an adventure with a Welsh soldier, was pregnant. After their separation, he had […]
Alex Johnston, BA Hons in music theory, technology of music and musicology. Fanny – Fanny (1970) I’m not making this up: it was the debut album by an all-female rock band, consisting of sisters June and Jean Millington (guitar and bass), Nickey Barclay (keyboards) and Alice de Buhr (drums). Fanny were a great band, the […]
Amy Christa Erano wries … Southern white men in general (“Southern Man”) and white Alabamans in particular (“Alabama”). Those two songs painted a very negative picture of Southern white men, and while the South certainly has a history of racism as well as slavery, Ronnie Van Zant was a Southern white man (from Florida, not […]
MICHAEL BURDEN has fond memories of the 1960s and this song Towards the end of the decade there was one famous (or infamous) song that was banned, and that was “Je t’aime… moi non plus” (French for “I love you… me neither”) by Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. The story of this song began in […]
Bob Smith says … What a cool band name. Three Dog Night whose name hopefully needs no explanation to most of you, formed in 1967 with the primary lineup being Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. Jimmy Greenspoon, Joe Schermie, Michael Allsup and Floyd Sneed soon rounded out the group and they were set. […]
Daniel Elder writes … I know a lot of people will say John Deacon of Queen, which I hugely agree with. But I would say that Cliff Williams of AC/DC is the most underrated. A lot of people just discard Cliff because his bass lines, they are really simple, generally play the root of the […]
Jay Horrocks writes … There is a song from the 90s which is extremely popular. It spent 11 weeks at the top of the US Hot 100 Airplay chart, it was a number 1 hit across most of Europe, having most of its success in Scandinavia and Belgium. In fact according to its Wikipedia entry […]
Larry Starstruck writes … I am going to name some that I don’t feel are as well known as they should be. I will cross genres on this one. Roy Buchanan: This was truly one of the most underrated blues guitarist. He will always be a personal favorite of mine. 2. Al DiMeola: This guy […]
Billy Beattie writes … Gosh that’s too hard to answer. So many Prog songs I love equally that I would have to give you 25 at least, and I’m libel to change my Mind, so in no specific order we have…. Comfortably numb Pink Floyd .such an epic song everything about it is great, it’s […]