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

From: End of the World ; Year: 1968; Genre: Psychedelic Rock From time to time I go back to Aphrodite's Child and their gorgeous music; I'm glad I did last night once more. Rain and Tears , which was their first big hit and was particularly popular in Italy and across northern Europe; I do not know how it did on this side of "The Pond," but if it didn't we really missed out. Evangelos Papathanassiou (aka Vangelis) and Boris Bergman wrote this piece around the overly used motif of Johann Pachelbel's famous Canon in D, P.37 . Immediately you will recognize the melody, but once they start to introduce and reintroduce their themes and vocals, their musical masterwork embellishes around the skeletal motif into something really amazing and beautiful. I cannot help but keep on resetting the needle over again and again.   Hear Rain and Tears on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Pearl Jam - Why Go     My song pick 2 years ago today: James Brown -...

From: East Side Story ; Year: 1981; Genre: New Wave Yet another song that I was sure I already had chosen.... Truthfully, I have known this song very well for a long time, but never looked in to who it was exactly that recorded it. Actually, the English new wave band Squeeze was and is quite popular, just more so in Britain of course, but had a few other hits over here.   Hear Tempted on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Larry Graham & Graham Central Station - Easy Rider     My song pick 2 years ago today: Modest Petrovitch Mussorgsky - Misunderstood One     My song pick 3 years ago today: Rush - Face Up   My song pick 4 years ago today: Jigsaw - Baby Don't Do It   My song pick 5 years ago today: Clifford Brown and Max Roach - Sandu   My song pick 6 years ago today: Rush - Between Sun & Moon   My song pick 7 years ago today: Styx - Superstars My song pick 8 years ago today: Kajagoogoo - Too Shy ...

From: Movements Vol.10 ; Year: 2020 (1976); Genre: Funk/Rock I could not remember if I had chosen a song from Volume 10 of the Movements compilation album series, but even if I already have, this is another great song from it. I have to say, ever since I discovered Tobias Kirmayer's compilations it has been a deep and seemingly endless well of some amazing music that I normally would not have been introduced to! This one is/was the final song on the album that was written and recorded by a funk rock band from Atlanta, Georgia by the name of Starfoxx. They apparently scored a couple of hits in the mid-late 1970s. Honestly, I have never heard of them prior, but, as I've said: better late than never; and glad I did.   Hear Oh Linda on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: The Rolling Stones - Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)     My song pick 2 years ago today: Eric Clapton featuring Tina Turner - Tearing Us Apart   My song pick 3 years a...

From: Four Foot Shack ; Year: 2014; Genre: Folk/Country Got this album the other day and have been bemused and entertained to say the least. Duo De Twang is a weird side-project by Primus frontman and soundtrack maker extraordinare Les Claypool and his longtime friend and guitarist for the band M.I.R.V.: Bryan Kehoe. Everything they do is stripped-back and folk/country covers and original material. Anyway, this has to be one of the most unique covers of the Alice in Chains classic grunge standard, and they do it as weirdly as you would expect.   Hear Man in the Box on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Queen - Don't Try Suicide     My song pick 2 years ago today: Robin Trower - The Fool and Me     My song pick 3 years ago today: Jerry Reed - When You're Hot, You're Hot   My song pick 4 years ago today: Billy Joel - Turn Around   My song pick 5 years ago today: The Jimmy Castor Bunch - Bertha Butt Encounters Vadar ...

From: Recycler ; Year: 1990; Genre: Blues Rock Yesterday I saw that ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard passed away. Recently I saw that they had to cancel some shows and I wondered if someone was not doing well; sadly, my suspicions ended up being correct. I knew that I should choose another one from the group today. Whilst they are not one of my top favourites, I have always liked their music and enjoy it every time I hear it. Their adherence to the southern blues that you can really dance to and is quite technical to boot really made ZZ Top a relevant act for so many decades to this day.   Hear My Head's in Mississippi on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Blue Öyster Cult - Late Night Street Fight     My song pick 2 years ago today: Hawklords (Hawkwind) - The Age of the Micro Man     My song pick 3 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Sossity; You're a Woman   My song pick 4 years ago today: Roger - Do It Roger   My song pick 5 ...

From: Bounce ; Year: 2002; Genre: Rock Difficult to believe that it was 25 years ago that Bounce was released, which was the last full album by Bon Jovi that I still like to this day. Also, being that it was released a couple of months after my wife and I married, and her being a big Bon Jovi fan made it quite memorable.     Hear Undivided on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: The Jimi Hendrix Experience - The Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Dice     My song pick 2 years ago today: Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs - May I     My song pick 3 years ago today: Alley Pat - Pat's Rubber Band   My song pick 4 years ago today: The Doors - Love Street   My song pick 5 years ago today: Benny Carter - Cotton Tail   My song pick 6 years ago today: Mr. Big - Defying Gravity   My song pick 7 years ago today: Rush - Double Agent My song pick 8 years ago today: Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs - Sugar Shack ...

From: Hot A' Mighty! ; Year: 1973; Genre: Country/Rock Mr. Reed will always be an artist that really is difficult to pigeon-hole into a single genre, which is true of the majority of "pickers." Basically pickers were wot people referred to your more "down home" guitar/stringed virtuosos that came out of the folky styles of music like folk, blues, country, and early rock 'n roll. Jerry Reed is probably best-known for fusing country with funk and rock, which he perfected. Anyway, this one, whilst primarily is country, you can hear and feel him taking pieces from across the musical spectrum to masterfully assemble this one. Lyrically/vocally he does his normal great delivery is such an upbeat and happy way.   Hear You Took All the Ramblin' Out of Me on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Pink Floyd - Echoes     My song pick 2 years ago today: Journey - Faithfully     My song pick 3 years ago today: Elton John - The Bitch Is Back   My...

From: Loggins and Messina ; Year: 1972; Genre: Rock 'n Roll Last few days this one has been jumping around in my mind, so as usual I decided on picking it. There is a certain timeless quality to this track, mostly due it them leaning heavy into the blues aspects of rock 'n roll as well as having simple-but-effective lyrics and a singalong chorus.   Watch a live performance on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Hawkwind - You Know You're Only Dreaming     My song pick 2 years ago today: Marcus Miller - Teen Town     My song pick 3 years ago today: Primus - Jilly's On Smack   My song pick 4 years ago today: Michael Masser - You Don't Ever Have to Be Alone   My song pick 5 years ago today: John Coltrane - Moment's Notice   My song pick 6 years ago today: James & Bobby Purify - I'm Your Puppet   My song pick 7 years ago today: The (Detroit) Spinners - Four Hands In The Fire My song pick 8 years ago today: P...

From: Circling from Above ; Year: 2025; Genre: Progressive Rock Had this, the most recent album from Styx, on my mind for the last bit; certainly you know the rest.... Anyway, Forgive is one that Tommy Shaw and Lawrence Gowan share the lead vocals and perform some amazing harmonies; you can definitely hear some Beatles influence in those harmonies amongst others. The guitar work is, of course, amazing as always and lends itself to the original Styx sound we so love.   Watch the music video on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Bootsy's New Rubber Band - Funk Me Dirty     My song pick 2 years ago today: B.T. Express - Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)   My song pick 3 years ago today: The Allman Brothers Band - Pegasus   My song pick 4 years ago today: Vixen - Cryin'   My song pick 5 years ago today: Weather Report - Surucucú   My song pick 6 years ago today: Steeleye Span - Summer Lady   My song pick 7 years ago toda...

From: Your Wish is my Command ; Year: 1981; Genre: Funk/Soul Cannot help but have a huge grin across my face when boogieing down to Lakeside; just excellent sounds.     Hear Magic Moments on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: The Turtles - It Ain't Me Babe   My song pick 2 years ago today: Automat - The Genus     My song pick 3 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Mrs. Tibbets   My song pick 4 years ago today: Savatage - Awaken   My song pick 5 years ago today: Rush - Cut to the Chase   My song pick 6 years ago today: Funkadelic - Tales of Kidd Funkadelic (Opusdelite Years)   My song pick 7 years ago today: The Moody Blues - No More Lies My song pick 8 years ago today: 3 Inches of Blood - Wykydtron My song pick 9 years ago today: Deep Purple - Call of the Wild My song pick 10 years ago today: The Lively Ones - Surf Rider My song pick 11 years ago today: The Rhythm Machine - You Got Action, You Got Me ...

From: Yeah! ; Year: 1973; Genre: Hard Rock Most younger individuals probably remember the Motley Crüe cover of this song, but, while they did do a great job of it, I'll always prefer the original. Although, having the awesome character actor  Michael Berryman play the principle in the music video is about as epic as you can get.    Watch a live performance from Midnight Special on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: UB40 - Groovin'     My song pick 2 years ago today: Ronnie Milsap - Let's Take the Long Way Around the World     My song pick 3 years ago today: The Temptations - Smiling Faces Sometimes   My song pick 4 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Occasional Demons   My song pick 5 years ago today: The Dramatics - Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get   My song pick 6 years ago today: Porcupine Tree - Radioactive Toy   My song pick 7 years ago today: Dick Dale and The Del-Tones - Miserlou My song pick 8 year...

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...

From: His Band and the Street Choir ; Year: 1970; Genre: R&B/Jazz Rock Had this track on my mind today, which is one I like; really like his music. I should have chosen more of Van Morrison's songs by now, but have been turned off by way he has treat people who cover his material and the heavy-handedness therein. Anyway, the jazzy lines played in unison by most of the instruments has always been the major draw for me personally; that and the overall horn section that is. From wot I understand though, it was written as a tribute to Fats Domino , who was one of his big influences.   Hear Domino on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Johnny Rivers - (I Washed My Hands In) Muddy Water     My song pick 2 years ago today: Billy Joel - Sleeping With the Television On     My song pick 3 years ago today: Supertramp - Don't Leave Me Now   My song pick 4 years ago today: 3rd Secret - Somewhere in Time   My song pick 5 years a...

From: Things are Great ; Year: 2022; Genre: Indie Rock Just one of those days where my mind is being sluggish and not really wanting to think about things... Band of Horses are always good for such.     Hear Warning Signs on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Bread - Truckin'     My song pick 2 years ago today: Queen - Mustapha     My song pick 3 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Everything In Our Lives   My song pick 4 years ago today: Lakeside - Party Patrol   My song pick 5 years ago today: Nocturnal Rites - Never Trust   My song pick 6 years ago today: Quiet Riot - Metal Health (Bang Your Head)   My song pick 7 years ago today: Traffic - Smiling Phases My song pick 8 years ago today: Van der Graaf Generator - The Emperor In His War Room My song pick 9 years ago today: Blue Öyster Cult - Feel the Thunder My song pick 10 years ago today: The Temptations - War My song pick 11 years ago today:...