George Harrison had a number one hit with Got My Mind Set on You in January of 1988. It was his last number one hit and the only one he didn’t write himself. The song was written by Rudy Clark and first recorded by James Ray in 1962. Harrison first heard it in 1963 while … Read more
Kate Bush’s extraordinary ‘comeback’ is all over the internet. Her 1985 song Running Up That Hill, from the album Hounds Of Love is enjoying new sales and is a big streaming hit, due to its use in Season 4 of Stranger Things. It already reached no. 1 in the UK after its peak at no. … Read more
Song: Sanford and Son Theme (The Streetbeater) (1972/1973) Artist: Quincy Jones Album: You’ve Got It Bad Girl Label: A&M Composer: Quincy Jones Sanford and Son is one of the greatest American television shows of all time. I’m still amazed that Redd Fox was only 49 years old when the show started. He so successfully portrayed … Read more
The controversy surrounding the supposed lawsuit between the band Radiohead and Lana Dal Rey over their 1992 hit song Creep goes to show us that you just can’t write something brand new. No matter how much anyone tries to deny it, every song you hear is a variation of other songs and themes. It’s all … Read more
When Tainted Love was first released in 1964 as the B-side of a record called ‘My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home.’ It was a total commercial failure. No, you are not experiencing a senior moment. Soft Cell’s Tainted Love, released in 1981, was a cover of a song recorded by Gloria Jones and produced and written by Ed … Read more
The Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody is a soaring, or as Billboard put it in 2007, towering song. Few know that it was not an original. In fact, the song was over ten years old when The Righteous Brothers recorded it. It was originally written by written by Alex North and Hy Zaret, penned for the 1955 prison … Read more
Song: Eat It (1984) Artist: Weird Al Yankovich Label: Scotti Brothers Writers: Michael Jackson, Al Yankovic Just as Michael Jackson’s album Thriller and the mega-hit Beat It was reaching its height, propelled by MTV and the 1984 Grammy Award for Record of the Year as well as a vocal performance Grammy for Jackson, Weird Al … Read more