TERRY HOKNES - My All Time Favorite Songs and Music - Billboard magazine Hot 100 chart data plus my personal chart data plus youtube video and historical facts and trivia hoknes@hotmail.com

TERRY HOKNES - MY FAVORITE SONGS OF ALL TIME ! hoknes@hotmail.com

701	BEATLES	OH DARLING	1969
702	ROY WOOD & WIZZARD	ARE YOU READY TO ROCK	1974
703	BEATLES	I'VE JUST SEEN A FACE	1965
704	MADONNA	LIKE A PRAYER	1989
705	KISS	STRUTTER	1974
706	PAULA ABDUL	BLOWING KISSES IN THE WIND	1991
707	SUSAN AGLUKARK	HINA NA HO	1995
708	DOOBIE BROTHERS featuring NICOLETTE LARSON	SWEET FEELING	1978
709	PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS	SPIRITS OF ANCIENT EGYPT	1975
710	SPANKY AND OUR GANG	LAZY DAY	1967
711	GRAND FUNK	SHININ' ON	1974
712	TERRY HOKNES	IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS	2005
713	DELLS	GOODBYE MARY ANN	1969
714	GRAPEFRUIT	ROUND GOING ROUND	1969
715	ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAY	WHITE BIRD	1969
716	SPANKY AND OUR GANG	THREE WAYS FROM TOMORROW	1969
717	SPIRIT	THE PRISONER	1989
718	STARS ON 45	FUNKY TOWN MEDLEY	1981
719	JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE	MANIC DEPRESSION	1966
720	FOO FIGHTERS	THE PRETENDER	2007

THE BEATLES - OH DARLING (1969)

Album: Abbey Road (1969)

I don't remember when I got Abbey Road but it was likely in 1982 at age 11. I love singing this song live - its one of my all time favorites to belt out.

"Oh! Darling" is a song by The Beatles composed by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and appearing as the fourth song on the album, Abbey Road, in 1969. Its working title was "Oh! Darling (I'll Never Do You No Harm)". Although not issued as a single in either the United Kingdom or the United States, a regional subsidiary of Capitol successfully edited it as a single in Central America, having "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" as its B-side. It was also issued as a single in Portugal.

McCartney later said of recording the track, "When we were recording 'Oh! Darling' I came into the studios early every day for a week to sing it by myself because at first my voice was too clear. I wanted it to sound as though I'd been performing it on stage all week." He would only try the song once each day; if it was not right he would wait until the next day, in order to make sure he got every precious first take right. He once lamented that "five years ago I could have done this in one take". In a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine, John Lennon said, "'Oh! Darling' was a great one of Paul's that he didn't sing too well. I always thought I could have done it better—it was more my style than his. He wrote it, so what the hell, he's going to sing it."

George Harrison described the song as "a typical 1950s–'60s-period song because of its chord structure

ROY WOOD & WIZZARD - ARE YOU READY TO ROCK (1974)

Album: Introducing Eddy And The Falcons (1974)

Roy Wood was in The Move (1966-1971) and then ELO (1971-1972) and then leader of Wizzard (1973-1975) meanwhile releasing solo songs. I had been a huge fan of ELO for a while and knew of Roy Wood one of the founding members. On February 14th 1985 at age 14 (grade 9) I flipped through the bargain bin of records at the Kresge's Department Store in Midtown Plaza shopping mall in Saskatoon and found this new sealed album Mustard priced at 99 cents. The first time I heard this album that night I knew I had found a masterpiece and Roy Wood would be the first act to ever debut at #1 on my daily favorite music groups chart on that valentines day. (I declare this to be Roy Wood day). I flew to New York 17 years later in 2002 to see Roy Wood 3 times in concert and got to meet him backstage 2 times. I have posted some of those video performances I filmed on www.youtube.com I became a fan of The Move and Wizzard in May 1985 at age 14.

Introducing Eddy and the Falcons is the second album by Wizzard. It peaked at No. 19 in the UK album chart – a much better placing than its predecessor, Wizzard Brew. As with the previous Wizzard album, all songs were composed by Roy Wood. The album had a concept similar to The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in that the intro 'featured' the appearance on stage of fictional band Eddy & The Falcons. All tracks were written and recorded as tributes to 1950s and early 1960s rock’n’roll greats, "Eddy’s Rock" being a guitar and saxophone instrumental played in the style of Duane Eddy, while "Everyday I Wonder" was similar in sound and approach to Del Shannon’s "Runaway", and "Come Back Karen" did the same for Neil Sedaka’s "Oh! Carol". A particularly clear tribute was to Elvis in "I Dun Lotsa Cryin’ Over You". One single was released from the album, "This Is The Story Of My Love (Baby)". Its chart performance (No. 34) was a disappointment, as all Wizzard's previous singles had reached the Top 10. Music journalists thought that the more catchy, up-tempo "You Got Me Runnin’" would have made a better single.

THE BEATLES - I'VE JUST SEEN A FACE (1965)

Album: Help (1965)

This is possibly the first Beatles song I ever heard ! It was the opening cut of the US release version of Rubber Soul which is the only Beatles album my mother had that I listened to when John Lennon died when I was age 9 in 1980. I have performed this song many times myself live over the years.

I've Just Seen a Face" is a song by The Beatles. It appears on their 1965 United Kingdom album Help!, although in the United States it and "It's Only Love" first appeared on the Capitol version of the Rubber Soul album. "I've Just Seen a Face" was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and features McCartney on vocals. Before its release, the song was briefly titled "Aunty Gin's Theme" after his father's youngest sister, because it was one of her favourites. It is one of very few Beatles songs that lacks a bass track.

McCartney has stated, “It was slightly country and western from my point of view... it was faster, though, it was a strange uptempo thing. I was quite pleased with it. The lyric works; it keeps dragging you forward, it keeps pulling you to the next line, there’s an insistent quality to it that I liked.” Its lyrics sound effortless and conversational, but they also contain a complex sequence of cascading rhymes ("I have never known/The like of this/I've been alone/And I have missed") that is responsible for the song's irresistible propulsion According to music critic Richie Unterberger of allmusic, "Several songs on 1964's Beatles for Sale, as well as "I'll Cry Instead" from A Hard Day's Night, had leaned in a country and western direction. But 'I've Just Seen a Face' was almost pure country, taken at such a fast tempo that it might have been bluegrass if not for the absence of banjo and fiddle." Music critic Ian MacDonald said the up tempo song "lifted the later stages of the Help! album with its quickfire freshness." Capitol Records chose it as the lead track for the US edition of Rubber Soul with the intent of giving the album a stronger acoustic feel, in step with the then-current folk-rock movement. The song was recorded on 14 June 1965 at Abbey Road Studios in London in the same session with "Yesterday" and "I'm Down

MADONNA - LIKE A PRAYER (1989) hit #1

Like a Prayer" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her fourth studio album of the same name (1989). Sire Records released it as the album's lead single on March 21, 1989. Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, "Like a Prayer" denoted a more artistic and personal approach to songwriting for Madonna, who believed that she needed to cater more to her adult audience. The song is about a passionate young girl in love with God, who becomes the only male figure in her life.

"Like a Prayer" is a pop rock song that incorporates elements of gospel music. A choir provides background vocals that heighten the song's spiritual nature, while rock guitar sounds keep the music dark and mysterious. Madonna introduced liturgical words in the lyrics—which were inspired by her Catholic upbringing—but changed the context in which they were used. Thus, they had dual meanings of sexual innuendo and religion. "Like a Prayer" was acclaimed by critics, and was a commercial success. It became Madonna’s seventh number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and reached the top of the singles charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom and other countries.

The single's accompanying music video, which Mary Lambert directed, features Madonna as a witness to a murder, as she hides in a church for safety. The clip depicts Catholic symbols such as stigmata and burning crosses, and a dream about making love to a saint. After its release, the Vatican condemned the music video, while family and religious groups protested its broadcast. They boycotted products by soft drink manufacturer Pepsi, which used the song for a commercial. Madonna's contract with Pepsi was subsequently canceled, although she was allowed to retain her initial fee.

Alongside its respective album, "Like a Prayer" has been marked as a turning point in Madonna's career, as she began to be viewed as an efficient businesswoman—someone who knew how to sell a concept.

KISS - STRUTTER (1974)

Album: Kiss (1974)
I first bought the album "The Originals" in about 1983/1984. I had bought Kiss bubblegum cards during original release in 1978 at age 7 but never knew what they sounded like at that time.

Strutter" is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss, released on their eponymous debut album in 1974. The song was released as the third single from their album and failed to chart. "Strutter" is one of the few Kiss songs written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley together: Stanley wrote lyrics to a song for which Simmons had originally written music, called "Stanley the Parrot". Stanley lyrics here show some of his Bob Dylan influences. Original Kiss drummer Peter Criss has said "Strutter" is his favorite Kiss song.

Kiss is the debut album by American rock band Kiss, released on February 18, 1974. Much of the material on the album was written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, as members of their pre-Kiss band Wicked Lester. Simmons estimated that the entire process of recording and mixing took three weeks, while co-producer Richie Wise has stated it took just thirteen days

The album was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, which was owned by the company that owned Buddah Records. Neil Bogart, founder of Casablanca Records, was an executive at Buddah prior to forming Casablanca. Casablanca Records held a party at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles to celebrate the West Coast release of Kiss (February 18) and to introduce the record company to the press and other record industry executives. In keeping with the Casablanca theme, the party included palm trees and a Humphrey Bogart lookalike. Kiss performed their usual loud and bombastic stage show, which turned Warner Bros. Records (Casablanca's record distributor) against the group. Soon after the show, Warner Bros. Records contacted Neil Bogart and threatened to end their deal with Casablanca if Kiss did not remove their makeup. With manager Bill Aucoin's backing, Kiss refused. Shortly after the release of Kiss, Warner Bros. released Casablanca from their contract

PAULA ABDUL - BLOWING KISSES IN THE WIND (1991) hit #6

December 28th 1991 - my #1 favorite top 40 song for 4 weeks into my 21st birthday

January 3rd 1992 - my #1 favorite daily song on my 21st birthday

My favorite Paula Abdul song - a nice dramatic lush minor ballad.

Blowing Kisses in the Wind" was the third single from Paula Abdul's album, Spellbound. The music video featured Abdul dancing on a theater stage, ballet-style. Like her other videos it got strong play on MTV. The song was written by Peter Lord.

The song was another popular hit for Abdul, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #4 in Canada

SUSAN AGLUKARK - HINA NA HO (1995)

Album: This Child (1995)

February 13th 1996 - my #6 favorite daily song for 223 days at age 25 while on the road with Marilyn performing country music now for 2.5 years. I heard this song on CMT and couldn't get it enough of it so I went and bought the used CD just for this one song. This song hit #30 in Canada

Susan Aglukark, OC (Inuktitut syllabics: ᓲᓴᓐ ᐊᒡᓘᒃᑲᖅ suusan agluukkaq), (born 27 January 1967) is an Inuk musician whose blend of Inuit folk music traditions with country and pop songwriting has made her a major recording star in Canada. Her most successful single is "O Siem", which reached No. 1 on the Canadian country and adult contemporary charts in 1995. Overall, she has released seven studio albums and has won three Juno Awards.

This Child, released in 1995, became her breakthrough album. The first single from that album, "O Siem", went to number one on the Canadian adult contemporary and country charts that year, making Aglukark the first Inuk performer to have a Top 40 hit. "Hina Na Ho (Celebration)" and "Breakin' Down" became hit singles as well. The album was eventually certified triple platinum (300,000 copies sold) in Canada.

KORN - COMING UNDONE (2008)

May 27th 2006 - my #1 favorite current mainstream rock song for 14 weeks making it my #1 favorite mainstream rock song of 2006.

June 3rd 2006 - my #1 favorite alternative rock song for 12 weeks making it my #2 favorite alternative rock song of 2006.

June 8th 2006 - my #8 favorite daily song for 36 days at age 35 living at Eastview dating Valerie for 4 months now and Nicholas is 6 weeks old

August 3rd 2006 - my #9 favorite daily song for 20 days.

Coming Undone" is a song written and recorded by American nu metal band Korn and The Matrix for Korn's seventh studio album, See You on the Other Side. It was released as the album's second single in February 2006. The song hit #4 on mainstream rock. The track finds Korn experimenting with a swelling, mid-tempo chorus.

Korn is an American rock band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and Ray Luzier. Korn was originally formed by three of the members of the band L.A.P.D.. The band released their first demo album Neidermeyer's Mind, in 1993. Their debut album Korn, was released in October 1994. The band began recording Life Is Peachy in April 1996, and released it in October 1996. Follow the Leader is recognized as Korn's mainstream breakthrough, peaking at number one on the Billboard 200 in August 1998, along with the following album Issues, in November 1999.

PAUL McCARTNEY - SMILE AWAY (1971)

Album: Ram (1971)

I bought this album brand new possibly at Sears or Eatons in about 1983 at age 12. Unfortunately no chart data pre-1987 for learning any of Paul's albums when I originally bought them.

Ram is an album by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, released in 1971, the only album credited to the pair. Set against the backdrop of the legal action taking place in Britain's High Court with the dissolution of The Beatles partnership, following their break-up the year before, Ram was the second of two albums McCartney released between quitting The Beatles and forming Wings, whose future drummer Denny Seiwell played on the record.

Three singles were released from Ram: the American number 1 hit "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", the minor British hit "The Back Seat of My Car", and "Eat at Home", which appeared in Europe, Japan and Australia. The album was reissued on 21 May 2012.

After the release of the commercially successful (though, critically, poorly received) debut McCartney, Paul and Linda went on a lengthy holiday and spent much time on their farm on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland. It was during this period that Paul, often with his wife's input − her self-confessed lack of musical ability notwithstanding − composed the songs that would feature on Ram. The couple flew to New York City in the fall of 1970 to record the new material. Lacking a working band, they held auditions for musicians, bringing some in under the guise of a session to record a commercial jingle. Denny Seiwell was recruited on drums, David Spinozza was tapped for guitar duties (later replaced by Hugh McCracken when Spinozza became unavailable), and Marvin Stamm was featured on flugelhorn on "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey".

THE DOOBIE BROTHERS - SWEET FEELIN' featuring Nicolette Larson (1978)

Album: Minute By Minute (1978) hit #1 in 1979

September 29th 1989 - my #1 favorite daily song for 5 days.

I had the 45 rpm of this song and found this to be one of my favorite songs by the Doobie Brothers.

Minute by Minute is the eighth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 1978. The album contains their biggest hit, the Grammy-winning "What a Fool Believes". "Depending on You" and the title track were also released as singles. The album would be the last to include members Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and John Hartman

PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS - SPIRITS OF ANCIENT EGYPT (1975)

Album: Venus And Mars (1975)

I likely had this album by 1983 at age 12 but I spent considerable time playing these songs on the piano and singing the entire album as I had received the guitar/piano songbook in 1984 at Ruth Street making this possibly my most well known album by McCartney. I had no daily song charts pre-1987 so there is documentation on which were my favorite McCartney songs when I first learned his albums.

June 21st 1987 - my #5 favorite daily song for 9 days at age 16 in Grade 11

Venus and Mars is the fourth album by Wings. Released as the follow-up to the enormously successful Band on the Run, Venus and Mars continued Wings' string of success and would prove a springboard for a year-long worldwide tour. It was Paul McCartney's first post-Beatles release under the Capitol Records label.

After recording Band on the Run as a three-piece with wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine, McCartney added Jimmy McCulloch on lead guitar and Geoff Britton on drums to the Wings line-up in 1974. Having written several new songs for the next album, McCartney decided upon New Orleans, Louisiana as the recording venue, and Wings headed there in January 1975.

SPANKY AND OUR GANG - LAZY DAY (1967) hit #14

Lazy Day" is a popular song by the 1960s band Spanky and Our Gang that peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after its 1967 release. It appeared on their album Spanky and Our Gang.

The song stayed in the Top 40 four weeks longer than their other hit song, "Sunday Will Never Be The Same," which peaked higher on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Lazy Day" was featured on The Ed Sullivan Show and sold over one million copies.

Written by George Fischoff and Tony Powers, the song received generally positive reviews and is fondly remembered. According to AllMusic, "Lazy Day" "...is a giddy joy no matter what." Despite calling the lyrics frothy, The Milwaukee Journal writer Dick Young called the melody magnetic

The group's first album, simply titled Spanky and Our Gang, was released by Mercury Records on August 1, 1967, and included three popular songs that were released as singles. These were "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" (their biggest hit, which reached number #9 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1967), followed by "Making Every Minute Count" (reached #31) and "Lazy Day" (reached #14). Both "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" and "Lazy Day" sold over one million copies. "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" was written by Terry Cashman and Gene Pistilli. In an interview by Cashman with the Songfacts website, he revealed that the song was originally written as a ballad. However, Cashman said the group "changed it, and they added the vocal, 'Ba-da-da-da-da,' which was a great hook

GRAND FUNK - SHININ' ON (1974)

Shinin' On is the eighth album by Grand Funk Railroad, released in 1974. Although not as successful as its predecessor, We're an American Band, it peaked at #5 in the US and was certified gold, and its first single, a cover of "The Locomotion" topped the U.S. charts. The original cover was done in bi-visual 3-D and included the required blue and red lensed glasses to view it. The title song was featured in The Simpsons' 7th season episode "Homerpalooza".

In 1972, Grand Funk Railroad added Craig Frost on keyboards as a full-time member. Although Farner and Brewer had known Frost from the Terry Knight and the Pack days and Frost had both recorded and toured with Grand Funk as a sideman, he was not the band's first choice. Originally, Grand Funk attempted to attract Peter Frampton, late of Humble Pie; however, Frampton was not available due to signing a solo-record deal with A&M Records. The addition of Frost, however, brought a stylistic shift from Grand Funk's original garage-band based rock & roll roots to a more rhythm & blues/pop-rock-oriented style. With the new lineup, Grand Funk released its sixth album of original music Phoenix in 1972.

To refine Grand Funk's sound, the band secured veteran musician Todd Rundgren as a producer. Two successful albums and two #1 hit singles resulted: the Don Brewer penned "We're an American Band" (from We're an American Band) and "The Loco-Motion" (from Shinin' On, written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin and originally recorded by Little Eva). The album We're an American Band topped out at #2 on the charts, while the "We're an American Band" single, released during summer 1973, was Grand Funk's first #1 hit. "The Loco-Motion" followed in 1974 as Grand Funk's second chart topping single.

TERRY HOKNES - IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS (2005) Opus #1100 ??

As the new century began a new chapter in songwriting where the focus was more on recording polished songs but writing way less and very sporadic. I had written 500 songs by the age of 19 and had hit 1000 songs by the age of 25. But since then I can go over a year at a time without writing a song but really focusing in most cases on a more commercial type of polished song however I still venture into all possible genres. I continue to play and sing every part on all my songs and recordings.

I hired Neil Meckelborg of Audio Art to record my songs in 2001. We started out recording a full album at their location downtown behind the Bus depot but eventually worked on recordings at Neil's private studio. In total we recorded 3 full albums of material of my songs and a full length album of songs I wrote with Marilyn Parney that I produced. Neil and I also worked on a Trooper hit song karaoke CD in 2001. I spent 18 months recording with Neil and over 40 songs and over $10,000.00 in studio bills I paid at that time to record the best quality audio ever on my songs. Neil had used Sonar Cakewalk so I learned how to use it and have used that now for a decade in my own studio.

THE DELLS - GOODBYE MARY ANN (1969)

Album: Musical Menu (1969)

May 9th 1989 - my #3 favorite daily song for 1 day at age 18 while taking extra high school classes the year after graduating.

The Dells are an American R&B and crossover musical group. Their successful recordings spanned more than four decades. Formed in 1952 after attending high school together, the Dells' repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul, disco and contemporary rhythm and blues. Unlike many of their contemporaries, the group's lineup did not change much from 1960 and consisted, until 2009, of falsetto leader Johnny Carter (died August 21, 2009), baritone lead singer Marvin Junior and background singers Mickey McGill, Verne Allison and Chuck Barksdale. The Dells are 2004 inductees into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame the same year. One of the longest-running groups in music history, the Dells recorded and performed for almost 50 years without a single change in personnel

GRAPEFRUIT - ROUND GOING ROUND (1969)

Album: Around Grapefruit (1969)

This would have been a masterpiece if The Beatles had recorded it as it sure sounds like it could have fit on the Magical Mystery Tour album but instead Grapefruit recorded this amazing powerful pop song from a perfect 60's album. I picked up this album at a garage sale in the mid 80s and it became one of my all time favorites and I have "boosted" this album on my charts 4 different occasions.

November 26th 1988 - my #7 favorite daily song for 2 days at age 17 after finishing high school.

Grapefruit was a London-based British band of the late 1960s. Their brand of music was a typical late 1960s blend of rock, which they often fused with psychedelic effects such as phasers and vocoders, or classical arrangements. Grapefruit's recording career spanned only two years, from late 1967 to the end of 1969. They released two albums (around in 1968, Deep Water in 1969) and several singles, none of which made a significant impact on the charts. Their best-known track is probably the Terry Melcher-produced "Dear Delilah", which was released in early 1968, and peaked at #21 in the UK Singles Chart, while their single "Deep Water" did crack the German Top 20, peaking at #19. Toward the end of their career, following the new material being written by Alexander (with some inclusions by Wale) Grapefruit shifted from melodic pop to more of a rock-based sound, referred to as "Soft Rock" in a full-page Billboard ad for the album "Deep Water".

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY - WHITE BIRD (1969)

Album: Its A Beautiful Day (1969)

August 23rd 1988 - my #2 favorite daily song for 10 days at age 17 two months after finishing high school and the month after Nanny died. This unique rock instrumental features the violin.

It's a Beautiful Day is the self-titled debut album by San Francisco psychedelic band It's a Beautiful Day. This album's song "White Bird" was the band's biggest hit. The theme from the song "Bombay Calling" was used by Deep Purple as the intro to their song Child in Time.

The group's signature song "White Bird" was inspired by the experiences David and Linda LaFlamme had while living in Seattle, Washington. For a few weeks in December 1967 the group members lived in the attic of an old house while playing and rehearsing at Seattle's Encore Ballroom. In an ironic twist on the band's name, the song was partly inspired by Seattle's rainy winter weather. In a later interview David LaFlamme said:

Where the 'white bird' thing came from ... We were like caged birds in that attic. We had no money, no transportation, the weather was miserable. We were just barely getting by on a very small food allowance provided to us. It was quite an experience, but it was very creative in a way.

The song "White Bird" is used in three episodes of the 1980s television series Knight Rider. It is the theme song for the relationship between main character Michael Knight and his one true love, and appears in the episodes "White Bird" in season 1, "Let It Be Me" in season 2 and " The Scent of Roses" in season 4

SPANKY AND OUR GANG - THREE WAYS FROM TOMORROW (1968)

October 26th 1987 - my #1 favorite daily song for 4 days at age 16 in Grade 12. I had bought this album used at the flea market on 33rd Street and Ontario Ave? I had seen lead singer Spanky McFarlane as a member of the Mamas And Papas live in concert in 1987.

Spanky and Our Gang was an American 1960s folk-rock band led by Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. The band derives its name from Hal Roach's popular Our Gang comedies of the 1930s (known to modern audiences as The Little Rascals). The group was known for its vocal harmonies.

The group's first album, simply titled Spanky and Our Gang, was released by Mercury Records on August 1, 1967, and included three popular songs that were released as singles. These were "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" (their biggest hit, which reached number No. 9 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1967), followed by "Making Every Minute Count" (reached No. 31) and "Lazy Day" (reached No. 14). Both "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" and "Lazy Day" sold over one million copies. "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" was written by Terry Cashman and Gene Pistilli. In an interview by Cashman with the Songfacts website, he revealed that the song was originally written as a ballad. However, Cashman said the group "changed it, and they added the vocal, 'Ba-da-da-da-da,' which was a great hook."

Their second album, Like to Get to Know You, was released in April 1968. Two singles were released: "Sunday Mornin'" in the spring, which reached No. 30, and "Like to Get to Know You", which reached No. 17 in the Summer 1968. The single's B-side, "Three Ways From Tomorrow", also received considerable airplay. The album included their rendition of "Stardust", and a version of "Everybody's Talkin'", best known as a hit single for Harry Nilsson and the theme song for the movie Midnight Cowboy.

SPIRIT - THE PRISONER (1989)

Album: Rapture In The Chambers (1989)

April 9th 2003 - my #1 favorite daily song for 42 days at age 32 while staying at grandmas house short term while I looked around to buy my first house on my own after living in Dalmeny, SK.

Spirit was an American jazz/hard rock/progressive rock/psychedelic band founded in 1967, based in Los Angeles, California

Rapture in the Chambers was a 1989 album by Spirit. It was their first "proper" album since their 1984 album Spirit of 84, which had featured the entire original line-up. Their albums since that time had mostly consisted of archival releases. It was also their final album for an established label, IRS Records. The primary line-up for this album was Randy, Ed and John Locke. Mark Andes also appeared on two tracks, and Randy's sister Janet provided harmony vocals on Hard Love and "Shera: Princess of Power.

They embarked on working almost continually for the next six years. Though they would release very few albums of new material during the decade, the group was always either recording or touring. California had his own home recording studio since the early 1980s, though he had been making home recordings for years prior to that. Sadly, this renewed vigor came to an end on January 2, 1997, when California drowned off the coast of Hawaii. He had been surfing with his son, who got caught in a riptide. He managed to push his son to safety, but ended up losing his own life.

STARS ON 45 (STARS ON) - FUNKY TOWN MEDLEY (1981)

Album: Stars On Long Play 1 (1981)

This album may be the reason I became an entertainer. The first time I performed singing in front of an audience of strangers was in the summer of 1981 at age 10 singing along with this entire 15 minute song which I had memorized as I was in full gear as a Beatles fanatic after John Lennon died. At the time I created a fictional band called The Recorders which consisted of myself, my sister Leslie and my best friend Zender Millar who were all members who in an alternative world we recorded all The Beatles songs ourselves in their place. I designed all the album covers and song lists at that time. I loved the 3 Stars On Long Play albums and bought them all immediately when they were released. It was also a great learning experience to hear many classic songs for the first time before I had even heard the originals.

Stars on 45 was a Dutch novelty pop act that was briefly very popular in the United Kingdom, throughout Europe, the United States and Australia in the early 1980s. The group later shortened its name to Stars On in the U.S., while in the U.K. and Ireland it was known as Starsound. The band, which consisted solely of studio session musicians under the direction of Jaap Eggermont, formerly of Golden Earring, popularized the medley, by recreating hit songs as faithfully as possible and stringing them together, with a common tempo and relentless underlying drum track. The point was to provide a danceable disco record which used familiar tunes—a technique that was also used in the Hooked on Classics series of recordings released by RCA Records and K-Tel Records.

THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE - MANIC DEPRESSION (1966)

Album: Are You Experienced (1966)

My mother had bought Smash Hits likely new in 1969 and I acquired it and most likely knew the album by 1984 at the latest at age 13.

Manic Depression" is a song written and recorded by Jimi Hendrix and first released in 1967 on the Are You Experienced album.

The song's name is an old name for bipolar disorder, a mental health disorder. There is no evidence that Hendrix ever suffered from (or did not suffer from) bipolar disorder himself, but when he was doing a press conference in London his manager at the time, Chas Chandler, told him that he sounded like a manic depressive. So the next day Hendrix wrote this tune. One interesting aspect to the song is that it is in 3/4 time signature.

At Winterland in 1968, Jimi explains to the crowd: "I'd like to do a frustrating type of song for you, it's called Manic Depression, a story about a cat wishing he could make love to music, instead of the same old everyday woman

FOO FIGHTERS - PRETENDER (2007) hit #37

The Pretender" is a song by the American alternative rock band Foo Fighters. It was the first single from the group's 2007 album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. It is one of Foo Fighters' most successful songs; only "Learn to Fly" and "Best of You" beat its position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

This song was number 47 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. The song was a 2008 Grammy Award nominee for Best Rock Song and Record of the Year. It won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance the same year. This song was also number 94 on MTV Asia's list of Top 100 Hits of 2007 The music video was nominated for a 2008 MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video, but lost to Linkin Park's "Shadow of the Day".

This album was the fourth consecutive Foo Fighters album to have a song reach the top of the U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. "The Pretender" was the most densely played alternative rock song of 2007. It holds the record for longest running number 1 in the Modern Rock Tracks' history, with 18 weeks at number 1. It also spent 6 weeks at number 1 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It made the Triple J's Hottest 100 in Australia placing in at number 5.

Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. It was founded by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the death of Kurt Cobain and the resulting dissolution of his previous band. The group got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II, which were known collectively as foo fighters.