Dave Schwensen's Blog, page 11

#204 – I Got You Babe

#204 – I Got You Babeby Sonny & Cher

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– It was all about the look when this duo hit the pop scene in 1965. Yes, they had a very catchy number one pop song with I Got You Babe, but the lookwas a publicist dream and what landed them not only on the covers of teen magazines, but also featured in mainstream newspapers and magazines.

Their attention grabbing look– or in showbiz terms, hook – happened because no one else looked like Sonny and Cher.

In this era of The British Invasion, if someone wa...

#205 – She’s A Rainbow

#205 – She’s A Rainbow by The Rolling Stones

[image error]– Was it just me, or did everyone know the album Their Satanic Majesties Request was already outdated when it was released in December 1967? I don’t mean that as any kind of anti-Stones thing since I’m a huge fan of the group. But seriously, the psychedelic Summer Of Love had hit auto drive with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band more than six months earlier and by Christmas shopping season boomers were coasting into the pre-Woodstock era.

The p...

#206 – She Loves You

#206 – She Loves You by The Beatles

– This was the drum roll into the 1960’s as many of us prefer to remember the decade. Yeah (yeah yeah), the “official” turn of the clock from the 50’s was four years earlier for U.S. baby boomers, but play any of us the opening of She Loves You and the reaction is similar to the first time we ever saw a color television.

Our senses took a direct hit and we were launched into the Swingin’ 60’s.

Okay, for a lot of us in early 1964 the only swingin’ we did was...

#207 – Green Tambourine

#207 – Green Tambourine by The Lemon Pipers

The Lemon Pipers

– Like a lot of music we were listening to as teenagers in late 1967 going into early 1968, it’s tough to come up with a classification for this song. I considered it psychedelic, which was a trend that was definitely happening at the time. But after doing a quick online surf to find out what – if any – residue was left behind by this song in the annals of Classic Rock, it is given credit for inventing a category that had never been...

#208 – Lady Godiva

#208 – Lady Godiva by Peter and Gordon

– For a change of pace, we’ll dwell on the past by starting from a futuristic point of view. Let’s pretend aspiring pop culture historians a few decades from now are given the title of this song as a research assignment. They’re familiar with the story of Lady Godiva, who rode on a horse naked through the streets of Coventry, England to protest high taxes imposed by her husband on his subjects. That legend has been passed down since the 13th Century, so...

#209 – Hey Jude

#209 – Hey Jude by The Beatles

– It’s easy to look back at an event and think, “Yeah, that’s when that happened.” Time gives you a historical perspective or as the old saying goes, “Hindsight is 20/20.” To go even further with this thought and put it into Classic Rocker terms, I’ll borrow a 1972 a song title and lyric from Johnny Nash:

I Can See Clearly Now.

There have been countless books written about the Beatles and like most dedicated fans, I’ve read many of them. With the passage of time...

#210 – Killer Queen

#210 – Killer Queen by Queen

– I’m guessing for a lot of us in the Midwest, this was our first dose of Queen. It was years later when I learned they had released two albums prior to Sheer Heart Attack, which included this breakthrough song. But nothing had cracked the music charts or the radio airwaves we listened to until Killer Queen. The layered harmonies, dancehall rhythm and even the name Queen fit in with the flamboyant glam rock that was trending at the time.

David Bowie,Marc Bolan wit...

#211 – Can’t Help Falling In Love

#211 – Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley

– The legend of Elvis has been told countless times and doesn’t need repeating by The Classic Rocker. But I will say if you have any interest in pop, rock or even a broader genre likeAmerican Music, you are aware of his importance. If not you may have practiced the art of head-banging longer than evenMetallicawould recommend.

His life has been detailed in books, documentaries and acted-out in films. Depending on the source, some of it is true...

#212 – I Like It

#212 – I Like It by Gerry & the Pacemakers

– This song is pure pop from 1963 (UK) and 1964 (U.S.) with a bouncy tempo that’s hard to ignore. If you were a boomer just into your early teens or within a few years of crossing that age line of no return, it should be almost impossible for you to hear without cracking a smile.

It’s one of the songs by a group other than The Beatles that brings back memories of the first wave of The British Invasion.

I have a picture in my mind of being about eleve...

#213 – I Just Want To Be Your Everything

#213 – I Just Want To Be Your Everything by Andy Gibb

– Even though a lot of classic rockers get night sweats when remembering the disco era, with hindsight some of the songs were actually pretty good. This is one of them. It’s just too bad there are negative reminders that go along with it.

I Just Want To Be Your Everything came out during the height of disco mania in 1977 and was No. 1 in the U.S. for four weeks. It was also ranked as the No. 2 song for the entire year by Billboard Magazine...