Content tagged 'Pop'

48 years ago today, the second Miami Pop Festival of 1968 kicked off…and, oddly enough, it had no connection to the first Miami Pop Festival of 1968, aside from the fact that they both took place at the same venue: Gulfstream Park, a horse racing track in Hallandale, Florida, just around the corner from Miami. The first festival, which took place in May, was produced by Michael Lang, who would go onto far greater fame as the co-creator of Woodstock. Although the bill for the festival was impressive, with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, Blue Cheer, The Mothers of

35 years ago this month, Peter Cetera released his self-titled solo debut, little realizing that the next time he left Chicago behind to step out on his own, he’d be doing it for the long haul. Co-produced by Cetera and Jim Boyer, PETER CETERA was and remains a somewhat startling change of pace for Cetera, musically speaking, because – believe it or not – it’s a pretty rockin’ album. In fact, it’s pretty easy to argue that it’s more forceful than the material Chicago was putting out at the time, but looking back at the period in a 1995 interview with the L.A. Times , Cetera indicated that ther

27 years ago today, Phil Collins found himself atop the Billboard Hot 100 for the seventh time in his career with a song about the plight of the homeless. Co-produced by Collins and Hugh Padgham and written by Collins himself, “Another Day in Paradise” was the first single from his fourth album, …BUT SERIOUSLY. Given the success of its predecessor, NO JACKET REQUIRED, all ears were on Collins, with fans psyched to hear what great new material he had up his sleeve and critics ready to pounce on anything that might possibly be perceived as subpar. In fact, the track was almost startling in regar

35 years ago this month, Randy Newman released his score to Milos Forman’s adaption of E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, properly kicking off what has gone on to become a lucrative career for Newman in the motion picture industry. By using the word “properly” in the previous paragraph, we were trying to gently note that this wasn’t actually Newman’s first time around the block in terms of writing a movie score. In fact, he had composed the music for Norman Lear’s lone foray into feature-film directing, Cold Turkey, which was released in 1971. The problem, at least in terms of Newman managing to find an

47 years ago today, Peter, Paul and Mary flew to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first and only time, doing so with a song written by a gentleman who went on to score a few number-one hits himself. Written in 1966 by John Denver, “Leaving on a Jet Plane” actually had another title when it was first composed, and it’s one that will be familiar to anyone who remembers the lyrics to the song: “Babe, I Hate to Go.” Denver’s producer, Milt Okun, talked him into changing it, and if Denver had any regrets about that decision, it’s doubtful that they survived beyond the day the song went to #

Director Mike Mills first made his mark on the silver screen with the Academy Award-winning film Beginners, but his back catalog is also filled with a number of music videos, including those for songs by Everything But The Girl (“Temperamental”), Moby (“Run On”), Air (“All I Need”), Mansun (“Legacy”), Pulp (“Party Hard”), and Air (“Sexy Boy”). His appreciation of music also extends to the soundtracks of his films, and with 20TH CENTURY WOMEN, his latest cinematic endeavor, he’s managed to put together one of the most musically diverse compilations in recent memory. This is not praise derived f

32 years ago today, a one-off conglomeration of pop stars sat atop the UK Singles chart with a song that’s been re-recorded three times to date, each of which has been a hit in its own right. Even if you weren’t alive and aware of what was going on in 1984, you’ve probably since heard the story of how Bob Geldof’s desire to do something to help alleviate the suffering going on in Ethiopia led him to ask Midge Ure what he thought could be done. Their decision: to make a charity record. They started calling up folks to ask them to participate, and the whole thing started snowballing to such a de

Everyone could use a little help around the holidays. How about we help you? From now through December 20th, follow the Official Cars Playlist on Spotify using the link below and you’ll be entered to win our "Just What I Needed" giveaway. One grand prize winner will take home a copy of The Cars' THE ELEKTRA YEARS 1978-1987 on vinyl and a copy of the limited-edition "Just What I Needed" 7" picture disc. Five lucky runner-ups will receive picture discs. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Purchase will not increase chances of winning . Open only to legal residents of the 50 U.S./D.C. (excluding Puerto Rico,

41 years ago today, Chicago landed atop the Billboard 200 with their ninth album, which also doubled as their first greatest-hits album. CHICAGO IX, a.k.a. CHICAGO’S GREATEST HITS, covered the band’s most notable numbers from their 1969 debut album, THE CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY, through 1974’s CHICAGO VII. If you’re wondering why it doesn’t go all the way up to CHICAGO VIII, well, that’s a fair question, but the answer is simply that the decision was made that the songs were still too new to warrant inclusion. Additionally, if you look through the track listing, you’ll also notice that there’

Rhino has made it a point to reissue classic albums on 180-gram vinyl on a regular basis. These are the latest to get that treatment. You’re welcome. AMERICAN LIFE : Released on the heels of Madonna’s theme song for the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day – in case you’re wondering, yes, the track is included here as well – this was a concept album revolving around materialism and the American Dream. If you don’t remember it from its title track, then perhaps one of the other three singles (“Hollywood,” “Nothing Fails,” and “Love Profusion,” all of which hit #1 on the Billboard Dance chart) w