From San Diego, California came the Monroes, whose impossibly infectious “What Do All The People Know” stalled at the #59 spot on the national charts in the spring of 1982. You May Also Like: Huey Lewis and the News – ‘Picture This’ (1982): On Second Thought

I like to think I’m pretty normal, or at least I can pass for normal on most days. But as I get older, I’m beginning to visualize that somewhere, in the back of my mind, there’s an office where some part of me spends time sorting, evaluating and archiving memoriesRead More

After Peter Gabriel’s exodus from Genesis, the band was scrambling to replace the lead singer that was essential in the group morphing into one of the top prog rock acts of the early ’70s. You May Also Like: When Peter Gabriel Suddenly Decided to Open Up on ‘Us’

Growing up in Chicago, I listened to WLS-AM before it became all-talk radio. It served as one of my earliest introductions to rock and helped form my musical tastes. You May Also Like: Quoan – Fine Dining (2018)

Much bigger in their native Canada than in the States, mainstream rockers April Wine still made some hay south of the 49th Parallel, especially with the mushy slow dance power ballad “Just Between You And Me” back in 1981. You May Also Like: Peter Brotzmann + Heather Leigh – EarsRead More

“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” is one of the longer song titles in rock ‘n roll and one of the more oddball releases from R.E.M. (probably only superseded by “Leave” from New Adventures In Hi-Fi). You May Also Like: Joe Mandica,Read More

Sounding like the Turtles on a bubblegum bender, “The Grooviest Girl In The World” received loads of airplay throughout Southern California and the Southwest during the early months of 1969 You May Also Like: The Countdown 5 – Complete Recordings 1965-1969 (2018) Ken Sharp, “Girl / Forget That Girl” (2020):Read More

I would’ve thought there was enough of a melancholic beauty and universal appeal to the 1967 Kinks’ classic “Waterloo Sunset” that it would have transcended any Anglocentric provincialism You May Also Like: Richard Turgeon, “Sunset” (2020): One Track Mind How the Kinks’ ‘Kronikles’ Put Their Towering Late-’60s Era in Perspective

In the early 1970s, a band taking their act to the road had a much more romantic feel to it. For most rock and roll bands, there wasn’t a bubble protecting them from the rest of the world. You May Also Like: Grateful Dead’s ‘Long Strange Trip’ Film Reminds MeRead More

Unfortunately, Donnie Iris’ “Ah! Leah!” will likely be entered into the historical record as “peaked at 29 – forgotten by many.”