William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: Wipe Out ; Year: 1963; Genre: Surf Rock Really enjoyed listening to The Surfaris' songs the other day, which makes incredible driving music by the way. Wipe Out has to be one of the earliest pieces of popular music to bring the drums out front; and of course, prompt bystanders to "air drum." It is also one of those hit songs that were "quickly composed and recorded on the spot." They had already recorded Surfer Joe , but also needed a b-side. Wipe Out was born out of Ron Wilson improving with speeding up a high school drumming cadence whilst the rest of the band did a 12-bar blues over the top. Suffice it to say that the b-side overshadowed the a-side is a big understatement.   Hear Wipe Out on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Banchee - Train of Life     My song pick 2 years ago today: Icehouse - Uniform     My song pick 3 years ago today: Steely Dan - Gaucho   My song pick 4 years ago today: Doc Oliver - Soul Pop...

From: Opportunity/Lost Love (single); Year: 1967; Genre: Soul/Rock I absolutely love discovering bands such as Mandala . You know, bands that really didn't break in or get big, but contained members who would go on to bigger careers; more or less the reverse of a " supergroup ." Whilst they had a couple of minor hits, it really didn't work out and Mandala morphed into a band Bush , (not to be confused with the British band who later used the same name), but did not last very long either. Members would go on to play with acts such as The James Gang, Alice Cooper, Lou Reed and The Guess Who. Anyway, this rock/soul track is basically their main hit song that charted in their native Canada.    Hear Opportunity on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Sam Cooke - Summertime     My song pick 2 years ago today: Cab Calloway & His Orchestra - Geechy Joe     My song pick 3 years ago today: Stevie Wonder - Maybe Your Baby   ...

From: Year ; Year: 1993; Genre: Folk Rock It just now hit me that I needed to choose another one of Maddy Prior's songs. Her Year album has always been a personal favourite, mostly due to her emotive vocal performance throughout the record. There's a spectacularly beautiful forlorn, far off and beckoning quality here that is truly unique.   Hear Somewhere Along the Road on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Focus - Why Dream?     My song pick 2 years ago today: The Beatles - We Can Work It Out   My song pick 3 years ago today: The Band - The Weight   My song pick 4 years ago today: The Four Tops - Reflections   My song pick 5 years ago today: Rare Earth - Hum Along and Dance   My song pick 6 years ago today: Rammstein - Radio   My song pick 7 years ago today: Matthews' Southern Comfort - Tell Me Why My song pick 8 years ago today: Sam & Dave - Hold On, I'm Coming My song pick 9 years ago today: Glen Camp...

From: So Long, Bannatyne ; Year: 1971; Genre: Blues Rock Over the years I have really been warming up to the post-Randy Bachman era of The Guess Who, especially the two just after he left. I really think that adding a second guitarist/songwriter in Greg Leskiw and Kurt Winter really added a new dimension to the group, which progressed their sound forward for a time.   Hear Grey Day on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild     My song pick 2 years ago today: Ohio Players - Runnin' from the Devil   My song pick 3 years ago today: ZZ Top - Tube Snake Boogie   My song pick 4 years ago today: Olivia Newton-John - Physical   My song pick 5 years ago today: The Undisputed Truth - Smiling Faces Sometimes   My song pick 6 years ago today: Bad Company - Burnin' Sky   My song pick 7 years ago today: Rush - Scars My song pick 8 years ago today: Megadeth - The Threat is Real My song pick 9 years...

From: Luna Sea ; Year: 1977; Genre: Soft Rock/Country Rock Felt like some late 1970s rock/power pop/soft rock today; do not know why. Firefall is one of the bands that tics all of the above criteria, so I'm picking another one of their tracks. So Long is one of those nice tracks that has a good beat, good vocals, and an amazing twin guitar lead; all positives in my book.     Hear So Long on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Curtis Mayfield - Superfly     My song pick 2 years ago today: The Winery Dogs - Xanadu     My song pick 3 years ago today: Bob Welch - I'll Dance Alone   My song pick 4 years ago today: Headstones - S.O.S.   My song pick 5 years ago today: Maxine Nightingale - Right Back Where We Started From   My song pick 6 years ago today: Primus - Last Salmon Man (Fisherman's Chronicles, Part IV)   My song pick 7 years ago today: Paul Simon - 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover My song pick 8 y...

From: Movements 2 ; Year: 2006 (1978); Genre: Funk/Soul Here is another deep cut from Tobias Kirmayer's awesome compilation series of funk and soul music. Even though The Arabian Funk was from the late 1970s it has aspects, sounds, beats and rhythm that was more mainstream a half a decade or more later; kind of a little ahead of its time.   Hear The Arabian Funk on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Bloodrock - Melvin Laid An Egg     My song pick 2 years ago today: The Moody Blues - My Song     My song pick 3 years ago today: Wolfmother - Remove Your Mask   My song pick 4 years ago today: UB40 - Dance With The Devil   My song pick 5 years ago today: Van Halen - 5150   My song pick 6 years ago today: Funkadelic - If You Got Funk, You Got Style   My song pick 7 years ago today: Billy Squier - Lonely Is The Night My song pick 8 years ago today: Hawkwind - The Secret Agent My song pick 9 years ago today: Th...