Blog Archives
FlinterFile: Arlo Guthrie- The City Of New Orleans
Arlo Guthrie wrote quite some songs, but had his only hit in the charts with a cover… Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: Apollo 100- Joy
The band Apollo 100 didn’t exist long, but they did exist long enough to make two albums and have a big hit. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: Lou Reed- Satellite Of Love
Lou Reed wrote this song already in 1970. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: Steely Dan- Do It Again
Steely Dan made their debut in the charts with this song in 1972. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: Albert Hammond- It Never Rains In Southern California
Albert Hammond wrote down the story of his life in 1972. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: R. Dean Taylor- Taos New Mexico
R. Dean Taylor was a successful song writer, producer and singer at Motown. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: David Cassidy- How Can I Be Sure
David Cassidy brought an ‘old’ song back in the charts in 1972. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: David Bowie- Changes
This song started as a parody of a nightclub song. Read the rest of this entry
Song of the day: Deep Purple- Smoke On The Water
On the fourth of December 1971, there was a fire in a casino in Montreux. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: Middle Of The Road- Talk Of All The U.S.A.
The band Middle of the Road started as Part Four, changed their name to Los Caracas, and got the name Middle of the Road in 1970. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: Stephen Stills- So Begins The Task
Stephen Stills is one of the big names in pop music that return every time again. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: Argent- Hold Your Head Up
After being in the Zombies, Rod Argent created his own band, which he called after himself. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: Uriah Heep- Easy Livin’
In 1972, Uriah Heep had their only hit in the US. The song, which was on the album Demons and Wizards, is actually quite simple. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: Billy Paul- Me And Mrs. Jones
In 1972, Billy Paul had one of his biggest hits. The Phillysound-song is about two lovers, who are both cheating their partners. Read the rest of this entry
FlinterFile: The O’Jays- Back Stabbers
In 1972, the O’Jays had their first hit. The song was written by Gene McFadden and John Whitehead (known for their hit Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now), helped by Leon Huff. The song was mainly inspired by problems John Whitehead had with family and friends. Huff played the piano, and arranged the orchestra, which had to fill up an empty space, as the stereo sound was becoming more common. Huff produced the song with Kenny Gamble, who owned the Philidelphia Label. The song became a hit: number 14 in the UK and number 3 in the US. Enjoy
The O’Jays- Back Stabbers
FlinterFile: Focus- Sylvia
In 1972, Focus recorded their biggest hit. Like their other hit, Hocus Pocus, the song was instrumental, apart from a small part of yodeling. The song was already written before Focus existed. Thijs van Leer was in a cabaret band, but did not like the song of another member. He wrote a song for her, but she did not like it, making it go on the shelf. When Focus was formed, the song came from the shelf. Sylvia was played together with Hocus Pocus, making Sylvia hit number 4 in the UK. The US also had a place for the song, though lower than Hocus Pocus, at number 89. Enjoy
Focus- Sylvia (together with Hocus Pocus, performed at the BBC)
Song of the day: Sammy Davis Jr.- The Candy Man
In 1972, Sammy Davis Jr. recorded the biggest hit in his career. The song had been in the movie Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in the year before, and Mike Curb heard this song. At the end of the movie production, he made an instrumental for Sammy Davis Jr. He offered it to Sammy Davis Jr. , who at first did not like the song at all. He recorded it anyway, but wasn’t too confident about the song: according to him it could end his career. The co-writer of the song was not happy with the recording, too: he wanted to release his own version as he was in a divorce. But Sammy Davis Jr. released the song, and made it a number 1 hit in the US… Enjoy
Sammy Davis Jr.- The Candy Man
Song of the day: Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show- Sylvia’s Mother
In 1971, Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show made their debut with a real story. The writer of the song, Shel Silverstein, had a real phonecall with the mother of Sylvia, who told him that she was going to marry a Mexican bullfighter. Earlier on, he was writing poems, stories and he also wrote A Boy Named Sue (we will see that song in just a couple of days…). It was a big hit, number 2 in the UK and number 5 in the US. Enjoy
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show- Sylvia’s Mother
Song of the day: David Bowie- Ziggy Stardust
In 1972, David Bowie released the album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. The name, especially the surname Stardust, was inspired by the Legendary Stardust Cowboy. The song is about the person Ziggy Stardust (who was ‘played’ by David Bowie for a year), who is destroyed by his fame. The looks of Ziggy were inspired by two books, namely A Clockwork Orange and Wild Boys. It’s considered as one of the best songs of all time, though it never charted! Enjoy
David Bowie- Ziggy Stardust
Song of the day: The Temptations- Papa Was A Rolling Stone
In 1972, the songwriters of Motown came up with a new song. Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong wrote Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone, and this was recorded by The Undisputed Truth. However, it was only a minor hit in the US. Therefore, Whitfield reworked the song to a 12 minute version, produced it for the Temptations and they brought it to number 1 in the US in the same year as the original. The song pictured some children asking their mother about their father, who died before they could have known him and all they know are bad things. Enjoy
The Temptations- Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone
Song of the day: Jim Croce- Time In A Bottle
In 1972, Jim Croce released his album You Don’t Mess Around With Jim. One of the singles, Time In A Bottle, was written in 1970 after he heard his wife was pregnant. The song was not intended to be a single, but after he died in a plane crash, ABC decided to release the song. It was played many times and took the number 1 position for two weeks in the US. Since then, many artists covered it. Enjoy
Jim Croce- Time In A Bottle
Song of the day: The Buoys- Give Up Your Guns
In the early seventies, there was a band which was quite provocative. Their first single was banned from most radio stations, because it was about cannibalism, their second single was about a bank robber. This song, released in 1972, was not a big hit in most countries, except for the Netherlands, where it was a hit twice! Enjoy
The Buoys- Give Up Your Guns
Song of the day: Alice Cooper- Elected
When the United States are going to elect a new president, it’s mostly big news. And every American civilian can become president. Probably this was the motivation for Alice Cooper to give it a try with a song and a video. Elected was a single from their sixth studio album, and the first to reach the general US chart on number 26. In the UK it would reach number 4! The song was a new rewritten version from Reflected (1969). Later the song was covered by Mr. Bean in 1992. Enjoy
Alice Cooper- Elected!
Song of the day: Bread- Guitar Man
In the early seventies (1972), the rock group Bread released their fifth album, Guitar Man. One of the singles was the Guitar Man, which became one of the hits of the album. Written by David Gates, the song made it to number 11 in the US. It uses 12 different chords, which is quite special for a rock song, since it makes the song very complex in music. A great song, enjoy
Bread- The Guitar Man
Song of the day: The Carpenters- Top Of The World
In 1972, the Carpenters released their second number one hit. It was on their album A Song For You, but it did not immediately reach the charts: the song entered the next year! In the last part of 1973 it would top the US chart, and it would make number 5 in the UK. Karen Carpenter would later re-record the song, since she was not happy with the result it made. I am a big fan of the Carpenters, so enjoy
The Carpenters- Top Of The World
Song of the day: The Moody Blues- Nights In White Satin
One of the all time sixties classics today, written by Justin Hayward in 1967. He wrote it after he got some satin bedsheets from his girlfriend. The song was recorded by the Moody Blues, and it was featured in three different lengths: the album version of 7 and a half minutes, and two different single edits, one of 3 minutes and one of 4 and a half minutes. That means the song was released twice, and that’s true: the first time, in 1967, it charted number 19 in the UK. The second time, in 1972, made it to number one in the UK and number two in the US. Today we enjoy the album version:
The Moody Blues- Nights In White Satin
Song of the day: Lou Reed- Walk On The Wild Side
As I read the paper today, I came across a column about the song Happy, which was in the news because of some people in Iran dancing to the song. The writer of the piece made a reference to several songs which were “happy” or describing the feeling of happiness. One of them was Perfect Day by Lou Reed, which was sung in such a mood that you would like to hang yourself, as the writer stated. The great thing about the song is that it is the B-side of his other big hit, Walk On The Wild Side. And that is an interesting song. David Bowie produced the song and it actually was about all sorts of taboos. Why would I choose this song as song of the day? Because it has a great saxophone solo in the end of the song, which I would have preferred in the middle, but okay. Enjoy
Lou Reed- Walk On The Wild Side
Song of the day: Les Humphries Singers- Mexico
1972 ment a big hit for this popgroup, or should I say gospel? However, they had a huge hit with a swinging (feeling like disco…) song which is just to good to leave behind in this account. Besides, it gives a perfect reflection of the time. The strange thing, however, is that it was a huge hit in the Netherlands, but I really can’t find it in the end chart of Billboard. Different opinions, maybe? Enjoy
Les Humphries Singers- Mexico
The FlinterFiles 