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hit singles Music music videos performers photography Singers vocalists

Ms. Linda Ronstadt.

Singer Linda Ronstadt (circa 1978)

Gifted with one of the most magnificent voices ever to be heard, Linda Ronstadt knew how to use it, as well. A vibrant performer with great presence, as is well-documented in the above vids. Can’t fault her material, either; she covered the likes of Emitt Rhodes, Warren Zevon, and Buddy Holly, to name just a few. A remarkable vocalist.

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Audio Goth rock hit singles Music music videos photography Post Punk

Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Desert Kisses.

Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees created some of the most mesmerizing music of their era. Generally described as Post-punk or Goth, they really defied such categorizations. Either that, or they *defined* them. But, let’s not argue. The “Revolver” video is from the Peter Cook show of the same name; the tune is Hong Kong Garden.

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Audio Bob Dylan composers epoch-defining hit singles Music music videos performers photography singer songwriters

While My Conscience Explodes: Bob Dylan.

Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues.
Things Have Changed.
Neighborhood Bully.
Visions of Johanna.

What can one say, at this point, about Mr. Dylan? This post represents but a minute handful of personal favorites composed and performed by one of the great artists of our time. His idiosyncratic, poetic, often cryptic and/or surreal lyrics changed the course of Music history; of that there is simply no doubt. The subsequent and current musical landscapes simply would not exist without him.

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Hard Rock hit singles Music music videos photography

AC/DC, and Bon Scott.

AC/DC has had a long reign, with many great moments. But, at their very best, they had perhaps the most charismatic front man/lead singer ever to draw breath: the great Bon Scott.

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composers hit singles Music music videos photography

Donovan.

Colours.
Season of the Witch.
Sunshine Superman.
Hurdy Gurdy Man.
Cecilia of the Seals.

Mr. Donovan Leitch, the Scottish singer/songwriter, was right in the thick of it during the heyday of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the like. And he penned and performed some of the most sublime, memorable compositions of that, or any era.

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Crowded House hit singles Music music videos Neil Finn new wave photography Singers The 80s vocalists

Hit Singles of the 80s: A Primer, of Sorts.

An introduction to some of the provocative musical goings-on way back in the 1980s. We have: The Vapors, Falco, Eddy Grant, Peter Schilling, Dead or Alive, Wang Chung, The Alarm, XTC, Lene Lovich, Pete Shelley, Echo and the Bunnymen, Paul Young, Bryan Adams, Human League, Simple Minds, Pet Shop Boys, Lloyd Cole, Fiction Factory, Psychedelic Furs, Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark, Dream Academy, Crowded House, Split Enz, Squeeze, Tears for Fears, and The Housemartins.

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Charisma dance hit singles Jackie Wilson Music music videos photography vocalists

Jackie Wilson: Higher and Higher.

The great Jackie Wilson gives two electric performances of Higher and Higher, circa 1974. His mindboggling gifts are on full display throughout; it’s as if time/space were suspended.

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Audio Chris Connor Dusty Springfield Female Vocalists hit singles Music music videos Peggy Lee photography Singers vocalists

Vocalists of Note: Goddess Division.

I Think It’s Going To Rain Today: Peggy Lee.
Don’t Explain.
All About Ronnie: Chris Connor.
Spring is Here.
.
Dusty Springfield: The Windmills of Your Mind.
Breakfast in Bed.

We have here a modest collection of some of the most brilliant, gifted vocalists ever: Peggy Lee, Chris Connor, Anita O’Day, Lulu, Billie Eilish, and Dusty Springfield.

Addendum: also Marilyn McCoo, Irene Krall, and Dinah Washington. And Edith Piaf.

Categories
composers hit singles Music music videos photography Songwriters

Eve of Destruction.

The extraordinary, powerful, and, upon its 1965 release, highly controversial composition Eve of Destruction is performed live by vocalist Barry McGuire on the Hullabaloo show. McGuire, after being introduced by Jerry Lewis, delivers an emotionally charged rendition that made ripples—more like tsunami—across the US.

Composer P.F. Sloan recalls a few fascinating and unlikely (as in, almost credulity-straining…yet not) details: during the studio recording session, “Barry was reading it for the first time off a piece of paper I had written the lyric on! Okay. McGuire’s record is released but ‘Eve’ is the B-side. Somewhere in the Great Midwest of America a DJ played the wrong side by mistake!”.

Banned and denounced as unpatriotic, Eve only became more and more popular, most likely benefiting from all the wild, incorrect accusations and censure. Its creator and performer were not so fortunate, however; Sloan:  “It ruined Barry’s career as an artist and in a year I would be driven out of the music business too.”.

Categories
hit singles Music music videos One Hit Wonders photography

The One {Approx.} Hit Wonders: 1970s, vol II.

A number of further One {approx.} Hitters from the 1970s. I cannot emphasize enough that some artists represented herein are responsible for more than 1 “hit”, somewhere in the world. Right. So, we’ve got The Blues Image, Ocean, Norman Greenbaum, The Sanford-Townsend Band, Wild Cherry, Flash and the Pan, and Sniff ‘n’ The Tears, this time around. Enjoy.