Aretha Frnaklin is the undisputed Queen of Soul, but in the late-60s, she was beat by British blue-eyed soul singer Dusty Springfiield. In 1968, songwriters John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins wrote Son of a Preacher Man for Aretha Franklin, but Aretha turned it down because her father really was a

What the heck was that Cheap Trick cover of Don't Be Cruel all about? I realize I'm 35 years late in asking this pertinent question, but I was just reading an article about Elvis Presley's September 9, 1956 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Here's Elvis performing his hit "Don't

The moment at which a song hits me is very important. There are mediocre songs I adore to this day becuase they hit me at precisely the right time. When Oasis released Be Here Now in 1997, they had already peaked. Be Here Now was the follow-up to (What's the

#TMLX13 is Thursday from 6-9pm at Great Lakes Brewery (30 Queen Elizabeth Blvd) and I'm trying to mimic the vibe of our recent park gatherings. There's no live recording or band, just a good bunch of people collecting to enjoy fresh craft beer and delicious Palma Pasta. I sincerely hope

Do I ever love Radiohead's "Creep". It was their first single, and unlike anything else you've heard from Radiohead, but I fuckin' love it. The melody, the guitars, the lyrics... the band may not love "Creep", but I do! "Creep" is similar enough to "The Air That I Breathe", a

I loved Duran Duran as a kid. Rio was the first vinyl I ever bought on my own, although I doubt it was my own money. I was very excited to buy Seven and the Ragged Tiger on cassette. Here's The Reflex from that album. Not a bad song, but

I was born in the 70s, but was still pretty young when we entered the 1980s. I remember the first day back at school after the 1979 Christmas break when our French teacher said the date. She always started class with the date, and I remember the mind-blow that 1980

Pulp Fiction is my favourite movie of all-time, and it's held that title for almost 30 years. There's a deleted scene in Pulp Fiction where Mia Wallace is interrogating Vincent Vega by asking if he's a Beatles or Elvis man, because she claims there are only two types of people.

In my life, there are several examples when I got into a band with their second album. Of course, I was often there for the first release, and for many bands, I didn't jump in until later in their careers, but here are a few times I missed the first

Last night, my wife started streaming Sisters, a new Canadian-Irish co-production. The first episode features The Pogues's version of Dirty Old Town. That got me thinking about The Pogues, and I started singing Fairytale of New York. I thought to myself, "this is the only Christmas song I can enjoy

Joni Mitchell recorded "This Flight Tonight" for her 1971 album Blue. She wrote the song, she sings it, and she produced it. In 1973, Nazereth covered the song for their album Loud 'n' Proud. They really rocked it up, and Canadian rock radio play it all the time. So we

When Peter Gross dropped by the other day to kick out the horse racing jams, one of the songs we played was Stewball. I wasn't familiar with Stewball, but I did some digging and learned this folk song has quite the history. Firstly, Stewball was an actual horse, an 18th-century

What if I told you the same man sang these three hit songs. How Long - AceTempted - SqueezeThe Living Years - Mike + The MechanicsThat's right, Paul Carrack is performing lead vocals on all three hits for three different bands. Here's his biggest solo hit, another banger.

When the alarm went off this morning to get up for my son's 7:30am hockey game, I felt awfully tired. Maybe it's the punishing cold we've had the past few days, maybe it's because I like to bite off more than I can chew (and then chew it!), or

"(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" is one of my favourite songs of all-time, but it's the cover I dig. That's right, Elvis Costello's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" is a cover. "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" is a Nick Lowe song,

Last week's toast was all about Girl Groups, so I spent a lot of time in the 1960s. That got me listening to bonafide one-hit-wonder Barry McGuire and his #1 Billboard Hot 100 smash Eve of Destruction. That jam still sounds great and resonates in 2022 as much as it

In 1987, I was obsessed with Billy Idol's live version of Mony Mony, originally recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells. But it had to be the live version, not the version on Vital Idol. I actually bought the 45 single and played the mess out of it. This is