40 Year Itch: Squeeza Me Tight

[Purchase]Originally conceived as a double album, the eventual Billboard Album Chart topper Red Rose Speedway finds Paul McCartney more interested in creating sophisticated sounds and songs (with a lot of major seventh chords)  than saying anything interesting. Lyrics like "Well, the night is beautiful and mellow/ You said right, made me a happy fellow" probably didn't take Macca a long time to put to paper.It's telling that my favorite song...

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40 Year Itch: Six April 1973 Releases We Missed

[Purchase]Although it lacks a hit single, Arlo Guthrie's Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys is an artistic success highlighted by some horn solos, fiddle solos and guitar work by Ry Cooder.[Purchase]Ah! The lean years for Fleetwood Mac. At least the band could always count on Christine McVie for some catchy pop. Bob Welch also adds some intrigue but far too much of this album is filler. Especially dreadful is the "Road Runner" cover sung by one album wonder...

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40 Year Itch : Finding the Next "Dueling Banjos"

Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell : Dueling Banjos[Purchase]"We simply can't get enough banjos"    -Seymour Schwartz, Heartbeat Records in April 1973If something in the entertainment industry works, you can bet it will be replicated over and over again until it doesn't work. Such is the case of the surprise smash hit "Dueling Banjos" which spent four weeks in 1973  at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, right behind Roberta Flack's...

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40 Year Itch : Funkybutt Tunes from April 1973

[Purchase]Buddah Records exec Cecil Holmes puts together a funky studio band ( featuring Randy Brecker) to record this all instrumental album full of blaxploitation movie themes. "Slaughter" was a Top 20 R and B tune for Billy Preston in 1972.[Purchase]With soulful lead singer Lydia Pense, The Bay Area band Cold Blood rivaled Tower of Power in pure funkiness. This Bill Withers cover is driven by the great Sandy McKee on drums.[Purchase]Motown artist...

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40 Year Itch: Caviar And Moonlight Wine

[Purchase]Robin Trower had a few moments he was allowed to really shine as a member of Procol Harum. There was "Whiskey Train" on the 1970 album Home and....um...well....So it was only a matter of time before Trower left the band, eventually teaming up with ex Stone the Crows bassist Jim Dewar and drummer Reg Isidore. With ex Procol member Matthew Fisher working the boards, they recorded 1973's Twice Removed From Yesterday.  The album ,...

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7 Songs with Howard Kaylan of The Turtles

[Purchase Shell Shocked]For rock fans, Shell Shocked is this year's must-read. It's the ultimate insider's tale of the rock and roll revolution. Howard's a funny guy. He'll take you into swinging London nightclubs where you will sit across from Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. You'll be in Montreux for the infamous Zappa concert that inspired Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" and in the Nixon White House for some rock star antics you may not believe....

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40 Year Itch : UK Top 30 for April 28. 1973

While three of the top 6 songs were sung by either an Osmond or David Cassidy, the UK pop chart for April 28, 1973 balanced the shlock with real rock. Geordie --featuring future AC/DC singer Brian Johnson --would soon see "All Because of You" reach #6 on the UK chart. The highest charting debut was another classic : Wizzard's "See My Baby Jive".1.Tie a yellow ribbon round the ole oak tree – Dawn featuring Tony Orlando2.Hello! Hello! I'm back again...

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40 Year Itch : Scramble My Eggs, Honey

[Purchase]Now don't touch the knobs now, we're going to have some fun around here    -Peter Wolf With Bloodshot, a potpourri of blues, boogie and the reggae influenced #30 hit "Give It To Me", Boston's  J. Geils Band enjoyed their first and only Top Ten album until Freeze Frame went multi-platinum in 1982. Years of touring had helped turn J Geils into the ultimate American house party band.True fans can boast of owning the original...

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My Top Ten: Stuart Adamson of Big Country

[Purchase]Anticipating the May release of the single "In A Big Country" ( their follow-up to the Top 10 "Fields of Fire") and the album The Crossing, vocalist and guitar player Stuart Adamson provided Smash Hits an eclectic, wide-ranging list of his ten favorite songs. The single was a big hit in the big country of Canada ( #3) and made inroads in the US thanks to MTV.The list comes courtesy of Brian at Like Punk Never Happened.LEONARD COHEN...

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40 Year Itch : Stay On The Bus; Forget About Us

[Purchase]You can't go a whole year discussing the music of 1973 without mentioning the year's biggest hit. For 4 weeks beginning April 21st, Tony Orlando and Dawn's "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree" was the number one song on the charts. Even country radio stations were playing it!        It may be corny but the song is based on the true story of a convicted bad check writer heading home to White Oak,  Georgia...

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40 Year Itch : Losing Your Love, Acting Foolishly

                                                                                              [Purchase]Call Me ( home to three great singles : "You Ought To Be With Me", "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" and "Call...

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40 Year Itch : This Is Our Fork In The Road

[Purchase]The Spinners self titled Atlantic label debut would top Billboard's Soul Album charts for most of May 1973 thanks to its mother lode of singles ("I'll Be Around", "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love", "Ghetto Child", "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" and "How Could I Let You Get Away").  For The Spinners, success was a long time coming. They'd been together for more than ten years with just one hit to show them: 1970's Stevie Wonder...

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4 Songs with Roger Fisher from Heart

To celebrate Heart's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1001Songs asked guitarist Roger Fisher to talk about four of the band's best known songs: "Crazy On You","Magic Man", "Barracuda" and "Mistral Wind". Tonight Roger and the other original members of Heart will join Ann and Nancy Wilson onstage for the first time in more than 30 years to perform "Crazy On You" so let's start with that one.Nancy Wilson and Roger Fisher...

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Interview with the Magic Man : Mike Fisher of Heart

For several years in the mid -70's, Heart, a band that got its start in a Bellevue Washington basement, ruled rock and roll radio. Fans came to hear hits like "Barracuda", "Crazy On You" and "Magic Man" and to see two women--sisters--rock out. In the middle of the crowd--riding the sound board--band manager Mike Fisher felt like he was watching a dream come true.Mike Fisher and  Ann Wilson As a draft dodger living in Vancouver BC, where...

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40 Year Itch: "James Paul McCartney" Special Airs

[Purchase]On April 16, 1973 ABC aired "James Paul McCartney", a 50 minute special featuring McCartney and his band members singing:-"Big Barn Bed" to an audience of TV sets;-a medley of "Blackbird/Bluebird/Michelle/Heart of the Country" during a photo session (the first time McCartney had sung a Beatles song in public);-an outdoor video of Mary Had a Little Lamb",-"Little Woman Love", "C Moon", and the new single "My Love" all recorded with an orchestra; -a...

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40 Year Itch: No Sun Will Shine In My Day

[Purchase]In retrospect, Chris Blackwell's bet on Bob Marley and the Wailers looks like the best $6000 ever placed. Catch A Fire, released April 13, 1973 in its now iconic zippo-shaped record cover, drew rave reviews and set off reggae's greatest band on the track to super-stardom. Not that Blackwell didn't hedge his bets.After paying for the stranded Wailers ( which then also included future stars Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingstone) to fly home...

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My Top Ten : Pete Wylie of Wah!

To promote " Hope (I Wish You'd Believe Me) ",the follow up single to his UK #3 "The Story of the Blues", former Julian Cope and Ian McCulloch bandmate Pete Wylie of Wah! provided Smash Hits with this list of his ten all time favorite songs in April of 1983. List comes courtesy of Brian at Like Punk Never Happe...

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40 Year Itch: Smack! Baby! Smack!

[Purchase]More urgent and far more challenging than its predecessor, Aladdin Sane (released April 13, 1973) explores stardom from the inside. Many of the songs were written during Bowie's 1972 tour ( "Time" in New Orleans; "Drive-In Saturday" between Seattle and Phoenix) which is why it's been called the American Ziggy Stardust.Note: Bowie supposedly shaved his eyebrows when Mott the Hoople turned down "Drive In Saturday"What kind of debauchery did...

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40 Year Itch: That'll Be The Day

[Purchase]Months before American audiences would be seduced by the 1950's nostalgia of American Graffiti, UK audiences got their 1950's fix with That'll Be The Day which made its premiere on April 12, 1973.The movie, starring David Essex,  was shot on location at Warners Holiday Camp and tells the story of a rock obsessed teen growing up in 1950's Britain.Two of rock's greatest drummers have roles in the movie: Ringo Starr ( in his best performance...

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40 Year Itch : Gatherin' Up The Tears

On April 13, 1973 Steely Dan performed their #11 US hit " Reelin In The Year"on the Midnight Special, hosted by Bill Cosby. The dual guitar solos by Denny Dias ( in purple pants) and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is really quite extraordinary. Singer David Palmer was on his way out as Donald Fagen developed his vocal prowess ( and hopefully lost the 'flicking of his head after every line" tic). Fanny, Waylon Jennings and Billy Preston also performed that...

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40 Year Itch: Your Mouth Is Driving Me Mad

[Purchase]With the short-lived Wizzard, Move and Electric Light Orchestra co-founder Roy Wood had an amazing run of UK singles in 1973 beginning with the Top 10 "Ball Park Incident" in January, and two #1 hits "See My Baby Jive" ( peaking for four weeks in May) and "Angel Fingers" (in September) before rounding out the year with the perennial hit "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". You could hardly escape the vision of this wild man in his star...

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40 Year Itch : The Birth of Outlaw Country

[Purchase]                   When the producer-driven Nashville sound reinvigorated country music, Waylon Jennings wasn't happy. It meant producers chose his songs and session players recorded them -- not his band. When his contract came up for renewal in 1972 he and his manager demanded Waylon produce himself. Lonesome On'ry and Mean, which debuted on Billboard's Hot Country LP chart on April 7,...

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40 Year Itch : Can You Show Me A Dream

[Purchase]Rod: The Autobiography is far more charming and enjoyable than you might think. Credit "editor" Giles Smith and Rod himself for capturing Stewart's self deprecating humor. Unfortunately, it was that kind of humor that may have doomed the last Faces studio album before it ever came out. By 1973, smart concert promoters were already putting up "Rod Stewart And The Faces" on the marquees, infuriating Stewart's band mates.Bickering increasingly...

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40 Year Itch : Top 20 Soul Singles April 7, 1973

This week five of the top ten songs in the Billboard Hot 100 were by soul artists. Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Four Tops, Stylistics, Roberta Flack and War ( with the then #21 soul tune 'Cisco Kid') all celebrated top 10 hits. More interesting is the Soul Top 20. This is also the week Billboard predicted a "can't miss hit" called "So Very Hard To Go" by Tower of Power while Sylvia's sexy "Pillow Talk" was burning up the charts on its way #1.1....

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