10/3/2006
Soul and pop form a sublime union in the Supremes, the Motown triumvirate of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard, who dominated the charts with no less than a dozen #1 hits from 1964-69. Begi …
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8/1/2006
Suzanne Vega launched the singer/songwriter revival of the late '80s, when her breakthrough hit, "Luka," vaulted to #3 on the Pop Singles chart. Her songs - which began with neo-folk acoustic guitars a …
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7/25/2006
Time was, in those pre-John Denver days, every aspiring folkie had to have "Suzanne" and a couple of other tunes from Songs of Leonard Cohen in his extended set list if he wanted any street cred …
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7/18/2006
Like Mellencamp and Seger and Springsteen, Billy Joel is captivated by a good, chunky 4/4 rock beat. So, apparently, are his millions of fans - and it's easy to hear why as he doffs his musical cap to …
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7/18/2006
"Summer, Highland Falls," originally an intimate (and exquisite) ballad from the Turnstiles album, takes on a more expansive vibe in this live performance, but Joel's insight still pierces like …
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6/20/2006
Another case of an overnight success that had been more than a decade in the making: the Dells wandered around from label to label following their first chart hit in 1956 before hooking up with Cadet R …
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6/13/2006
Songs like "I Pity the Fool," "Call On Me," and "Farther up the Road" are great no matter who sings them. But there's a reason that Bobby "Blue" Bland's hits are the definitive versions: even when he s …
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5/30/2006
"It's All Right," "People Get Ready," and "Keep On Pushing" sound like the gospel eye of the '60s social storm - reminders to stay true to bedrock values while fighting for change. But Curtis Mayfield …
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3/14/2006
By sucker-punching L.A.'s fashionista scene in the '80s, Black Flag lent a sneering, savage face to not only SoCal punk, but the genre in general. These Basics ("Rise Above," "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie," "T …
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