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stories behind the music: Number One With A Bullet -- 50 Years Ago This Week! - 06/19/11 11:24 PM
I used to write posts about music, from Top 40, to country to soul. I spent years in the radio industry so I enjoyed researching and writing these pieces. It was like re-living history. Due to personal commitments, and an increasing workload, I backed-off on that for about a year.
Despite still being very busy at work, I need a distraction, so I have the hankering to write a few similar posts once again. These posts will appear about once a week, maybe more or less, and they will be in the context of "on this day in history". The posts will highlight a … (13 comments)
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stories behind the music: Stand By Me -- Bellingham, June 25, 2011 - 06/18/11 01:17 PM
A legendary soul and R&B performer is coming to Whatcom County next weekend, Saturday, June 25. Ben E. King was an original lead singer with the Drifters. He was the featured vocalist on This Magic Moment, There Goes My Baby, Save the Last Dance For Me, Spanish Harlem and other classic hits from the early years of rock n' roll.
But his pinnacle moment has to be his huge solo hit -- Stand By Me. This song has gone on to become one of the most respected rock and R&B songs ever recorded. Even the early Beatles were playing with this … (7 comments)
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stories behind the music: Stories Behind the Music -- Elvis Was #1 Fifty Years Ago Today - 09/05/10 10:18 PM
How time flies. Isn't that true? I was sitting here today, my mind wandering, and I decided that I would like to see what was the #1 song in the nation exactly 50 years ago today.
The answer: "It's Now or Never" by nobody other than the King himself, Elvis Presley. It ended up being the biggest selling of all of Presley's hits. "It's Now or Never" topped the American charts for five weeks and the UK charts for eight weeks. Sales topped 20 million units.
This video, despite being a composite or out-of-sync, does have shots of Elvis, years later … (7 comments)
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stories behind the music: That Kinky Summer Forty-Four Years Ago - 07/28/10 04:00 PM
I was meeting a friend for coffee downtown today -- something I do not do enough of anymore. But, in going to town, I followed the familiar path that I used to tread as a kid living at my folk's house. If you know Bellingham, they lived in the Cornwall Park neighborhood. In those days, Cornwall Avenue was the main drag into town and it took you directly to the central business district. By the way, Cornwall still takes you to the same place, except much of the business district is now out at the mall.
From my folk's house, Bellingham High … (14 comments)
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stories behind the music: The Day the Music Died -- 51 Years Ago Today - 02/03/10 01:46 PM
I have not written a music related blog post in some time. I have been too busy or otherwise preoccupied. I had an enquiry asking if I would write a post about the tragic events that transpired on this date 51 years ago.
This day is referred to in popular lore and music as "The Day the Music Died." Three young, shining talents in the field of rock n' roll, which was emerging as a major force in those early years of the genre, perished in an airplane crash in the early morning hours of February 3, 1959.
The performers were part of a … (13 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick Music Trivia Quiz -- The Most Successful Tooter Ever? - 10/13/09 03:40 PM
Here comes another twin-pick music trivia quiz. If you don't know how this contest works, it is quite simple. You receive clues as to the identity of the mystery artist. From those clues, you make a choice, take a guess, from the names below.
Simply use your mouse to click on the choices. If you get the answer right, you will be taken back in time to a video of a performance by the mystery artist. If, on the other hand, you are wrong, you will be ridiculed by my obnoxious cyber assistants. Have no fear, if they get under your skin, you are … (8 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick Music Trivia Quiz - 10/05/09 11:12 PM
It has been awhile since I have written a Twin-Pick Music Trivia Quiz. They were popular here in the rain, but I have been busy lately and putting these together consumes more time than the average post.
We will try another one. This question will take you back. Let's think about the early girl singers, of the late 1950's and the early 1960's. This young lady was the first female singer to have two consecutive singles go to #1 on the charts and, until Diana Ross went solo, this girl was the most successful female singer of the era. She, to this day, … (13 comments)
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stories behind the music: Perfect Soundtrack For Hot Days Of Summer - 08/01/09 10:21 AM
When we get into the hot days of summer, I always think back on the soundtrack of my life. For some reason, maybe it was just the worry-free cruising around Bellingham in the summer as a youth, the music of summer seems more memorable than tunes from other times of the year.
Those big hits of summer tend to stick with you. You hear them blaring from radios at the beach, at the drive-in, wherever you go.
There are many summer songs but one of my favorites first hit the big time just in front of summer, April 1966. It was … (13 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick Music Trivia Quiz -- A Life At Number Two - 07/17/09 02:18 PM
Some performers who today are household names have gone through their careers without EVER having had a #1 hit. When you see the names of the artists on that list, and you know the names of some of the one-hit-wonders who have had a big #1 hit, it is really quite startling.
It is time for another Twin-Pick. This is the music trivia quiz that makes you think and helps you tickle your memory gland. You know how it works. You try to answer the question by clicking on the choices below. My able cyber assistants try to offend you every … (7 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin Pick (Music Trivia Quiz) -- Pete Seeger and a #1 Pop Hit - 07/12/09 06:28 PM
I think that most of us, who remember Pete Seeger, think of him as a folk singer -- one of the best known of all the folk singers. He is in a category with Woody Guthrie and wrote and arranged some of the classic protest songs of a generation.
Seeger was also with a popular folk group known as The Weavers.
They were most famous for a song called "Goodnight Irene." However, one song that Seeger arranged, for the western audience, was a tune that had been recorded ten years previously by Mariam Makeba. The song had been in Zulu.
Move … (11 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick Music Trivia Contest -- Oddball Out! - 07/11/09 11:49 AM
In a recent blog posts, I wrote about Leiber and Stoller. This pair of great early rock and roll songwriters referred to themselves as two Jewish boys who liked to listen to, and write music for, R&B and soul artists. They got together at age 16, and wrote some of the best songs of the rock era.
The Leiber and Stoller songs were fun, like the various songs they wrote for the Coasters -- Yakety Yak, Along Came Jones, and Charlie Brown, for example, or how about Jailhouse Rock, Kansas City, Stand by Me, Love Potion #9 and so many more clever … (8 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick (Music Trivia Quiz) -- The Carpenter's Made Gold - 07/09/09 09:17 PM
Michael Thornton, a Tennessee home inspector who participates here at Twin-Pick, the music trivia contest, made a suggestion a few weeks back. He wanted to test his memory on the music of Richard and Karen Carpenter. You know -- The Carpenters!
The brother and sister act had phenomenal success in the 1970's. The act was on the A&M label and their first hit was suggested to them by Herb Alpert an owner of A&M and the leader of the Tijuana Brass. Alpert had been offered this song, the suggestion was that he should sing it himself, and the lyrics were not manly … (12 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick Music Trivia Quiz -- Herman and Charles Buell - 07/08/09 11:53 PM
My friend Charles Buell claims that everything he needs to know he learned 40 years ago while listening to Herman's Hermits.
Herman and the boys were quite the band all right. Essentially, the Hermits consisted of singer, Peter Noone and a revolving cast. For the most part, the group the Hermits, that a person saw on television and in live performances, was NOT the same cast of musicians who played on the studio recordings. Those performers, on the records, were established studio musicians with stronger musical credentials than the Hermits.
Herman and his Hermits were part of the British Invasion and, … (13 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick Music Trivia Quiz -- Blue-eyed and Righteous Too - 07/07/09 11:56 PM
I think that when you look back on the boys who were considered to be the masters of blue-eyed soul, one duo outshines all others. Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield were the Righteous Brothers. The boys were given the name by African-American GI's who heard the singing and said; "you are some righteous brothers."
Many of the songs by the Righteous Brothers are classics of oldies radio. They had two songs that hit #1 and several others made the top ten.
Yes, it is time for another edition of Twin-Pick, the music trivia quiz where you put your memory against … (10 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick Music Trivia Quiz -- Change of Pace, Jazz is the Word - 07/07/09 09:03 AM
In the modern era, the first jazz album to ever reach #1 on the record charts was quite the innovative album. Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd, a jazz guitarist who was just home from a South American tour, recorded this album together. Getz played tenor sax and Byrd played his guitar. Jazz Samba was the name of the album and it hit #1 in March 1963. The album also exposed the USA to a new and popular style of music -- Brazilian rhythms.
In the long run, despite this being a pinnacle in Getz career, it would be a recording a year later … (9 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick Music Trivia Quiz -- Searchin' For The Searchers - 07/06/09 09:18 AM
I wonder how many of you remember the Searchers. When I was in grade school the British Invasion began. The three bands that I remember the best were the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five and the Searchers. The Searchers began as a skiffle group. Skiffle was an early form of rock that was popular that side of the Atlantic. The band was good and had any number of songs that would become rock classics. Obviously, in the long run, the Beatles knocked all the other bands off the stage, but the Searchers had their share of success.
Yes, it is … (9 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick (Music Trivia Quiz) -- The Beat Went On - 07/05/09 09:39 AM
One of the regular Twin-Pick music trivia contestants, Barbara Duncan, had a good suggestion. She said I should come up with a Twin-Pick on Sonny and Cher.
Wow, that is an act that goes back. They had their first hit before I was paying any attention to pop music. And, while Sonny was elected to congress but is now gone, the result of a skiing accident in 1998, Cher survived the hippy days and she is still a top draw.
Most people, who heard them, know that Sonny really could not sing. But, he could write songs. Heck, he wrote Needles and … (16 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick (Music Trivia Quiz) -- Those Jersey Boys - 07/03/09 02:15 PM
The Four Seasons were huge hitmakers before the Beatles. I liked them, they really are roots artists of pop music. Today there is a show on Broadway, and a touring show, about these Jersey Boys. The guys started out, back in the 1950's, singing backup for Bobby Darin, Freddy Cannon and others.
Their name came from a bowling alley, they liked the name, and the best known member of the group was Frankie Valli with his high falsetto -- who could forget it? Their first hit as a group came in 1962, their last hit was in 1976.
Everybody remembers so many of … (7 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick Music Trivia Quiz -- Leiber and Stoller's Most Recorded Hit - 07/01/09 09:47 AM
In a recent blog post, I wrote about Leiber and Stoller. This pair of songwriters, who got together when they were only 16 years of age, wrote some of the most important songs of the early rock years.
The Leiber and Stoller songs include Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, Kansas City, Love Potion #9 and so many more. The boys, in the beginning, were writing for R&B performers and that audience. In the end, they became two of the greatest songwriters of the rock era.
Leiber and Stoller's all-time biggest hit was Hound Dog as recorded by Elvis. While that was their single biggest … (16 comments)
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stories behind the music: Twin-Pick (Music Trivia Quiz) -- Proponents of Blue-eyed Soul - 06/30/09 11:00 AM
During the 1960's an interesting phenomenon occurred. Caucasian bands and performers were sounding like African-American soul artists. In some cases, these white performers -- at least for the first releases -- were flying under the radar. They did not immediately correct any wrong impressions about race, since the misconception that they were African-American was helping them chart well on both the R&B charts and the Hot 100. Back then we called it Blue-eyed Soul.
There was one artist who had such an authentic R&B sound that soul icon, Otis Redding, did not believe that the singer was white. Otis insisted on meeting this performer … (13 comments)
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Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, Wa. Home Inspector
Bellingham,
WA
More about me…
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc
Address: Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, Sumas, Nooksack, Lake Whatcom, Lake Samish, Anacortes, Mount Vernon, Whatcom County, Bellingham, WA, 98225
Office Phone: (360) 676-6908
Cell Phone: (360) 319-0038
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