Dionne Warwick - I'll Never Fall In Love Again

Dionne Warwick (born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health.
Best known for her partnership with Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest hit makers of the entire rock era (1955–1999), based on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Charts. According to Billboard Magazine, Warwick ranks second only to Aretha Franklin as the most charted female vocalist with 56 singles making the Billboard Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998.

"I'll Never Fall In Love Again" is a popular song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Originally written for the 1968 musical Promises, Promises, it soon became one of Bacharach and David's most enduring songs. It was nominated for Song of the Year in the 1969 Grammy awards. A version with studio singers was released as a single under Burt Bacharach's name in 1969, and achieved a low chart position.

"I'll Never Fall In Love Again" became a hit for Bobbie Gentry when it reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for a single week in October 1969. In January 1970, it became a number six hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and a number-one hit on the Easy Listening chart for Dionne Warwick.

Warwick's version, arranged and produced by Burt Bacharach and recorded in 1969, also reached number three on the Canadian Chart and crossed over into the Top 20 R&B Chart and became an international million seller. Warwick's album of the same name containing the single won a 1971 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance-Female. Ella Fitzgerald's version became a minor hit in September 1969 and charted briefly. It was also the best-charting single in a cover version for Scottish band Deacon Blue, peaking at number two in the UK Singles Chart.

The Jackson 5 - ABC

The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana. Founding group members Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael formed the group after performing in an early incarnation called The Jackson Brothers, which originally consisted of a trio of the three older brothers.

Active from 1964 to 1990, the Jacksons played from a repertoire of R&B, soul, pop and later disco. During their six-and-a-half-year Motown tenure, The Jackson 5 were one of the biggest pop-music phenomena of the 1970s, and the band served as the launching pad for the solo careers of their lead singers Jermaine and Michael, the latter brother later transforming his early Motown solo fame into greater success as an adult artist.

The Jackson 5 were one of very few in recording history to have their first four major label singles ("I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There") reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Several later singles, among them "Mama's Pearl", "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Dancing Machine", were Top 5 pop hits and number-one hits on the R&B singles chart. Most of the early hits were written and produced by a specialized songwriting team known as "The Corporation"; later Jackson 5 hits were crafted chiefly by Hal Davis, while early Jacksons hits were compiled by the team of Gamble and Huff before The Jacksons began writing and producing themselves in the late 1970s.

Significantly, they were one of the first black teen idols to appeal equally to white audiences thanks partially to the successful promotional relations skills of Motown Records CEO Berry Gordy. With their departure from Motown to CBS in 1976, The Jacksons were forced to change their name and Jermaine was replaced with younger brother Randy as Jermaine chose to stay at Motown. During these years, they continued to have a number of hits such as "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", "Show You the Way to Go", and "Blame It on the Boogie". After two years under the Philadelphia International Records label, they signed with Epic Records and asserted control of their songwriting, production, and image, and their success continued into the 1980s with hits such as "Can You Feel It", "This Place Hotel", "Lovely One", and "State of Shock". Their 1989 album 2300 Jackson Street was recorded without Michael and Marlon. Michael and Marlon did appear, however, on the title track. The disappointing sales of the album led to the group being dropped by their record label at the end of the year. The group has never formally broken up, but has been dormant since then, although all six brothers performed together at two Michael Jackson tribute concerts in September 2001

"ABC" is a 1970 number-one hit song by The Jackson 5. "ABC" was written with the same design as "I Want You Back", and was first heard on American Bandstand (which, fittingly, aired on the ABC network) in February 1970. "ABC" knocked The Beatles song "Let It Be" out of the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. "ABC" was also number one on the soul singles chart for four weeks.

"ABC" was the first single from the second Jackson 5 album, ABC. It is considered one of the Jackson 5's signature songs.

Steam - Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is a song written and recorded by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer, attributed to a then-fictitious band they named "Steam". It was released under the Mercury subsidiary label Fontana and became a number one pop single on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1969, and remained on the charts in early 1970.

The song's chorus remains well-known, and is frequently used as a crowd chant at many sporting events.

Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer wrote a primitive version of the song in the early 1960s when they were members of a band from Bridgeport, Connecticut, called The Chateaus. The Chateaus disbanded after several failed recordings. In 1969, DeCarlo recorded several singles at Mercury Records in New York with Paul Leka as producer. The singles impressed the company's executives, who wanted to issue all of them as A-side singles. In need of "inferior" B-side songs, Leka and DeCarlo resurrected an old song from their days as the Chateaus, "Kiss Him Goodbye" with their old bandmate, Dale Frashuer.

With DeCarlo as lead vocalist, the three musicians recorded the song in one recording session. Instead of using a full band, Leka spliced together a drum track from one of DeCarlo's four singles and played keyboards himself. "I said we should put a chorus to it (to make it longer)," Leka told Fred Bronson in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. "I started writing while I was sitting at the piano going 'na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na'... Everything was 'na na' when you didn't have a lyric." Someone else added "hey hey" (Bronson, 2003). "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" reached number one in the United States for two weeks, on December 6 and 13 of 1969; it was Billboard's final multi-week #1 hit of the 1960s and also peaked at number twenty on the soul chart.

By the beginning of the 21st century, sales of "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" had exceeded 6.5 million records.

Slade - Coz I Luv You

Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles.

They were the first act to have three singles enter at #1, and all six of the band's chart-toppers were penned by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea. Total UK sales stand at 6,520,171, and their best selling single, "Merry Xmas Everybody", has sold in excess of one million copies.

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music has also made mention of Holder's powerful vocals and guitarist Dave Hill's equally arresting dress sense along with the deliberate misspelling of their song titles for which they became well known.

"Coz I Luv You" is a song by Slade, written by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea and produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band's second hit single in the UK and the first of six number one singles. It was released on 30/10/1971 and was last seen on the charts on 05/02/1972 at #44. According to Noddy Holder's autobiography the single sold half a million copies in only two weeks.

Typical of Slade's brash, stomping glam style, it prominently featured Jim Lea's electric violin and quickly reached number one on the UK singles chart, where it stayed for four weeks in November 1971. Originally, the first week of being released, the single hit #26, followed by #8 the next week and #1 the following after. The single was #1 for 4 weeks and stayed at #3 for 3 weeks after.The single peaked at #82 for 1971 on rateyourmusic and #4062 for overall singles.

Mott the Hoople – All the young Dudes

Mott the Hoople were an English rock band with strong R&B roots and dominant in the glam rock era of the early to mid 1970s. They are popularly known for the song "All the Young Dudes", written for them by David Bowie and appearing on their 1972 album of the same name.

NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray have described the track as "one of that rare breed: rock songs which hymn the solidarity of the disaffected without distress or sentimentality".In 2004, Rolling Stone rated "All the Young Dudes" #253 in its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It is also one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Regarded as one of glam rock's anthems, the song originated after Bowie came into contact with Mott the Hoople's bassist Peter Watts and learned that the band was ready to split due to continued lack of commercial success. When Mott rejected his first offer of a composition, "Suffragette City" (from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars), Bowie wrote "All the Young Dudes" in short order specially for them, allegedly sitting cross-legged on the floor of a room in Regent Street, London, in front of the band's lead singer, Ian Hunter.

With its dirge-like music, youth suicide references and calls to an imaginary audience, the song bore similarities to Bowie's own "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide", the final track from Ziggy Stardust. Described as being to glam rock what "All You Need Is Love" was to the hippie era, the lyrics name-checked contemporary star T.Rex and contained references to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones ("My brother's back at home with his Beatles and his Stones/We never got it off on that revolution stuff") in a "wearied swipe at the previous generation".

Bowie himself once claimed that the song was not intended to be an anthem for glam, that it actually carried a darker message of apocalypse.

According to an interview Bowie gave to Rolling Stone magazine in 1973, the boys are carrying the same news that the newscaster was carrying in the song "Five Years" from Ziggy Stardust; the news being the fact that the Earth had only five years left to live. Bowie explains: "All the Young Dudes' is a song about this news. It's no hymn to the youth, as people thought. It is completely the opposite."

Mott the Hoople's single was released in July 1972 and made #3 in the UK charts, #37 in the US (in November) and #31 in Canada.

Bowie took to performing "All the Young Dudes" on his own 1973 tour, and a medley version appears on the album Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture, the live recording of the last Ziggy show that was finally released officially in 1983. It was also featured during Bowie's 1995-1996 Outside Tour as well as the 2003-2004 A Reality Tour tour and can be heard on the DVD of the same name.

Gary Glitter - Rock and Roll

Gary Glitter (born Paul Francis Gadd; 8 May 1944) is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.

Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s. He had a long solo UK chart run during the 1970s, with several hits including "Rock and Roll, Parts One and Two", "I Love You Love Me Love", "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" and "Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again". Between 1972 and 1995, Glitter had 26 hit singles which spent a total of 180 weeks in the UK Top 100. He continued to record in the 1980s and 1990s, with his 1984 song "Another Rock N' Roll Christmas" being one of the Top 30 Christmas hits of all time.He released seven studio albums, and at least 15 greatest hits collections or live albums.

In 1999, Glitter was convicted of possession of child pornography in the United Kingdom, and later convicted in Vietnam for committing obscene acts with minors.

"Rock and Roll", also known as "The Hey Song", is a song performed by British glam rocker Gary Glitter that was released in 1972 as a single and on the album Glitter. Co-written by Glitter and Mike Leander, the song is in two parts: Part 1 is a vocal track reflecting on the history of the genre, and Part 2 is a mostly instrumental piece. Both parts were popular in Britain, and the single went to #2 on the British charts. In concert, Glitter merged both into one performance.

In the US, the instrumental portion (Part 2) attracted most of the attention; it hit #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The US mono 45, which is mixed different from the LP, clocks in at 3:10 while the on the US LP, it runs 2:58. In the years since, Part 2 of the song has often been played at various sporting events in Canada and the United States, particularly when the home team scores (or wins).

The nickname "The Hey Song" refers to fact that the only intelligible word in Part 2 is the exclamation of "hey", punctuating the end of several instrumental phrases and repeated three times at the song's chorus.
In France; Part 1 was the successful side, reaching #1. In the UK, "Rock and Roll" was one of over 20 hit singles for Glitter.

In 1998, his recording of "Rock and Roll" was listed as one of the top 1,001 songs in music history by veteran rock critic Dave Marsh.

Styx - Lady

Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater.

The band is best known for the hit songs "Lady" (#6, 1975), "Come Sail Away" (#8, 1977), "Babe" (#1, 1979), "The Best of Times" (#3, 1981), "Too Much Time On My Hands" (#9, 1981), and "Mr. Roboto" (#3, 1983). Other hits by the band include "Show Me the Way" (#3, 1990), "Don't Let It End" (#6, 1983) and "Renegade" (#16, 1978). The band has four consecutive albums certified multi-platinum by the RIAA.

"Lady" is a 1973 song first released on Styx II and was a local hit in the band's native Chicago, but initially failed to chart nationally. The song gained success shortly after Styx left Wooden Nickel Records to move to A&M Records in 1974 as it began picking up airplay nationwide eventually peaking at #6 on the Billboard Top 40. The track was later re-recorded for the 1995 Styx compilation Styx Greatest Hits due to a contractual dispute between A&M and Wooden Nickel.

"Lady" was written by then-Styx keyboardist and founding member Dennis DeYoung for his wife, Suzanne Feusi, the first song he ever wrote for her. DeYoung recounted to Contemporary Keyboard magazine for the January 1981 issue that the first time he ever played acoustic piano was when the band arrived at the recording studio to record "Lady" and saw the piano in the studio; DeYoung had written the song on synthesizer, but decided to try it out on the piano instead, and liked the sound so much that he switched to the piano for the recorded version

This song has been featured in various television programs, including episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Freaks and Geeks, The Office, and Still Standing. It has also appeared in films such as The Perfect Man and Old School. Also in the TV show Carpoolers.

Kiss - I Was Made for Lovin' You

Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Easily identified by its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics.

Kiss has been awarded 24 gold albums to date, the most of any other American rock band. The band has sold more than 40 million albums in the United States, of which 19 million have been certified by the RIAA, and their worldwide sales exceeds 100 million albums.

The 1973–'80 lineup of Paul Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals and bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals), and Peter Criss (drums, percussion and vocals) is the most successful and identifiable.

With their makeup and costumes, they took on the personas of comic book-style characters: Starchild (Stanley), The Demon (Simmons), Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley), and Catman (Criss). The band explains that the fans were the ones who ultimately chose their makeup designs. Paul Stanley became the "Starchild" because of his tendency to be referred to as the "starry-eyed lover" and "hopeless romantic." The "Demon" makeup reflected Simmons's cynicism and dark sense of humor, as well as his affection for comic books. Ace Frehley's "Spaceman" makeup was a reflection of his fondness for science fiction and supposedly being from another planet. Peter Criss' "Catman" makeup was in accordance with the belief that Criss had nine lives because of his rough childhood in Brooklyn.

Because of creative differences, both Criss and Frehley were out of the group by 1982. The band's commercial fortunes had also waned considerably by that point. Buoyed by a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the 1990s, the band announced a reunion of the original lineup (with makeup) in 1996. The resulting Kiss Alive/Worldwide/Lost Cities/Reunion Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996 and 1997. Criss and Frehley have since left Kiss again and have been replaced by Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively. The band continues to perform with makeup, while Stanley and Simmons have remained the only two constant members.

Kiss has been named to many "Top" lists. They include Number 10 on VH1's '100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock', 9th on 'The Greatest Metal Bands' list by MTV,#1 on Hit Paraders's "Top 100 Live Bands", 56th on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists Of All Time", 2nd on Digital Dream Door's "Best Hair Metal Bands", and 26th on Gibson's "50 Greatest American Rock Bands".

Kiss was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,ten years after becoming eligible. However, on December 15, 2009, it was announced that Kiss did not make it in.

“I Was Made for Lovin' You" is a song originally released on their 1979 album Dynasty. It was released as the A-side of their first single from the album. It was the band's second Platinum single, selling over 1 million copies. The B-side of the single is the album track "Hard Times", which was written by Ace Frehley.

The single reached #11 on the US Billboard singles chart. The song also became a massive hit in Australia reaching #1 on the ARIA charts in 1979. The song also charted in Western Europe, it became a top 20 hit in Sweden, a top 10 hit in Norway, made it to the number 2 position in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and in The Netherlands it was a #1.

The song was one of the band's few singles to chart in the UK in the 1970s, though only peaking at No. 51, where a 7 min 54 sec version was released on 12" single in addition to the shorter 7" version.

Boston - More Than a Feeling

Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists. Boston's best-known works include the songs "More Than a Feeling," "Peace of Mind," "Foreplay/Long Time," "Rock and Roll Band," "Smokin'," "Don't Look Back" and "Amanda."

They have sold over 31 million albums in the United States, of which 17 million are their self-titled debut album and 7 million are their second album, Don't Look Back.The discography of the rock band Boston consists of 5 studio albums, 1 compilation album and 12 singles.

“More Than a Feeling" was released as the lead single from their self-titled debut album on Epic Records in September 1976, with "Smokin'" on the flipside. The single peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. The track has become a staple of classic rock and in 2009 it was named the 39th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.

His biggest hit, "More Than a Feeling" took writer Tom Scholz five years to complete. The track achieves a majestic sound quality, blending acoustic and electric guitar work, soaring vocals and ethereal harmonies. The lyrics express the author's discontent with the present and his yearning for a former love, whose memory is strongly evoked by an old familiar song.

The Book of Rock Lists suggests that the chorus riff may itself be a subtle homage to the Kingsmen's classic, "Louie Louie". Scholz credits "Walk Away Renee" by The Left Banke as the song's main inspiration.

It is also very much similar (same descending pattern) to the opening riff of Elton John's "Screw You (Young Man's Blues)". Other critics have noted that this song's main riff is referenced in the Nirvana single "Smells Like Teen Spirit".The descending verse riff is also similar to the hook from "Badge" by Cream. The song's instrumental guitar bridge is heavily inspired by the instrumental hooks of The Tornados' 1962 instrumental hit "Telstar", but also sounds like the riff from the song "Tend My Garden" by Joe Walsh.

Elvis Costello - Alison

Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre.

Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader than that of most popular songs. His music has drawn on many diverse genres; one critic described him as a "pop encyclopedia," able to "reinvent the past in his own image".

Costello has worked with Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Lucinda Williams, Kid Rock, Lee Konitz, Brian Eno, and Rubén Blades, as well as many other musicians not listed above.

Costello is also a music fan, and often champions the works of others in print. He has written several pieces for the magazine Vanity Fair, including the summary of what a perfect weekend of music would be.
He has contributed to two Grateful Dead tribute albums and covered Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter tunes such as Ship of Fools, Friend of the Devil and Tennessee Jed in concert. His collaboration with Bacharach honoured Bacharach's place in pop music history.

Costello also appeared in documentaries about singers Dusty Springfield, Brian Wilson, Wanda Jackson, and Memphis, Tennessee-based Stax Records. He has also interviewed one of his own influences, Joni Mitchell.

In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #80 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Costello has released over 30 studio albums on his own and with the Attractions, the Imposters, or others. He has also released five live albums: Live at the El Mocambo, Deep Dead Blue, Costello & Nieve, My Flame Burns Blue, and Live at Hollywood High. There have also been numerous compilations, box sets, and reissues by labels such as Rykodisc, Demon, Rhino, and Universal Music Enterprises.

"Alison" is the fifth track on Elvis Costello's first album, My Aim Is True, released in 1977. Because "Alison" was recorded before Elvis Costello and the Attractions formed, his backing band was Clover.

In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it #318 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and Entertainment Weekly voted it as one of Costello's top 10 greatest tunes. The song features in the film Adaptation. (2002). The line "my aim is true" gives the album its title.

Costello has divulged little on the meaning of the song other than to say that it is about "disappointing somebody" and to deny suggestions that the lines "somebody better put out the big light" and "my aim is true" refer to murder. He has also declined to reveal who the song is about, writing in the liner notes for Girls Girls Girls, "Much could be undone by saying more."The chorus is based on "Ghetto Child" by The Detroit Spinners.

"Alison" was released as a single in the United Kingdom with a B-side of "Welcome to the Working Week" and as two singles in the United States; one with a mono version of the same song on the B-side, the other with "Miracle Man".

The US (and Canadian) single versions of "Alison" are unique in that someone at CBS in the US decided to add synth-strings, background singers and echo to the song.

Electric Light Orchestra - Livin' Thing

Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) were a British rock group from Birmingham, who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. After Wood's departure following the band's debut record, Lynne wrote and arranged all of the group's original compositions and produced every album.

Despite early singles success in the UK the band were initially more successful in the United States, billed as "The English guys with the big fiddles". They soon gained a cult following despite lukewarm reviews back in their native United Kingdom. By the mid-1970s, they had become one of the biggest selling bands in music. From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated 27 Top 40 hit singles in both the UK and the US. The group also scored 20 Top 20 U.K. hit singles, as well as 19 Top 20 hit singles in the U.S. Billboard charts. The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits of any band in US chart history without ever having a number one single.

ELO collected 19 CRIA, 21 RIAA and 38 BPI awards, and sold over 50 million records worldwide during the group's active period of recording and touring.

"Livin' Thing" is a song written by Jeff Lynne and performed by Electric Light Orchestra. It appears on ELO's 1976 platinum-selling album, A New World Record. Patti Quatro sang uncredited vocals, particularly the 'higher and higher' parts of "Livin' Thing", according to Unzipped, an autobiography by her sister Suzi Quatro.

In August 2006, "Livin' Thing" was named by the UK's Q magazine as the #1 'Guilty Pleasure' single of all time – a list designed to celebrate 'uncool' but excellent records, and which received considerable publicity. The original single had the added bonus of having "Fire On High" on the flip side, a song that became the band's most popular instrumental piece. The UK version was released in a Blue vinyl format.

The song has appeared on the soundtrack to the 1997 film, Boogie Nights, and in the 2007 film, Chaos Theory.

Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing

Dire Straits were a British rock band from 1977 to 1995. They comprised Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), his younger brother David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals), and Pick Withers (drums and percussion).

Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest to beat music within the context of rock and roll. Despite the prominence of punk rock during the band's early years, the band's stripped-down sound contrasted with punk, demonstrating a more "rootsy" influence that emerged out of pub rock.

Many of Dire Straits' compositions were melancholy. Dire Straits became one of the world's most commercially successful bands, and sold over 120 million albums worldwide.

Dire Straits won numerous music awards during their career, including three BRIT Awards, four Grammys, and two MTV Video Music Awards. Dire Straits' most popular songs include: "Sultans of Swing", "Romeo and Juliet", "Tunnel of Love", "Private Investigations", "Money for Nothing", "Walk of Life", "So Far Away" and "Brothers in Arms".

"Sultans of Swing" was their first single release; first released in 1978, its 1979 re-release caused it to become a U.K. and U.S. hit.

The song was first recorded as a demo at Pathway Studios, North London in July 1977, and quickly acquired a following after it was put on rotation at Radio London. It did not take long for its popularity to reach record executives, and Dire Straits were offered a contract with Phonogram Records.

The song was then re-recorded in early 1978 at Basing Street Studios for the band's debut album Dire Straits. The record company wanted a less-polished rock sound for the radio, so an alternative version was recorded at Pathway Studios in April 1978 and released as the single in some countries including the United Kingdom and Germany.

The song was written by Mark Knopfler whilst in a bar in South London, the inspiration came from a jazz band playing in the corner of an otherwise deserted pub.

The song was originally released in May 1978 but did not chart. Following re-issue in January 1979, the song entered the American music pop chart. Unusually, the success of this single release came more than six months after the relatively unheralded release of the band's debut album in October 1978. BBC Radio was unwilling to play the song due to its high lyrical content; after it became a U.S. hit, their line softened.

The song reached the top 10 in both the UK and the U.S., reaching number 8 on the UK Singles Chart and number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped drive sales of the album, which also became a hit.

It was re-issued again as a single in November 1988, a month after it appeared on the band's greatest hits album Money for Nothing. It was also included on Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits and The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations.

The album version of the song featured a critically acclaimed extended guitar solo, reaching #22 on Guitar World's list of the greatest guitar solos and #32 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of greatest guitar songs.

Mark Knopfler improvised and expanded that solo many times during live performances. The coda of the live recording on the 1984 album Alchemy features one of Knopfler's most notable guitar improvisations. Another memorable live version of the song came as an 11-minute epic performance at the 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert in London when Eric Clapton teamed up with the band to play the song.

The master track of the song is featured in the video game Guitar Hero 5, as a playable song.

Grateful Dead - Dark Star

The Grateful Dead were an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock —and for live performances of long musical improvisation.

"Their music," writes Lenny Kaye, "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists." These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead "the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world."They were ranked 57th in the issue The Greatest Artists of all Time by Rolling Stone magazine.

The fans of the Grateful Dead, some of whom followed the band from concert to concert for years, are known as "Deadheads" and are known for their dedication to the band's music. Many referred to the band simply as "the Dead."

"Dark Star" was written by lyricist Robert Hunter and composed by lead guitarist Jerry Garcia; however, compositional credit is sometimes extended to include Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, the late Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, and Bob Weir.

"Dark Star" was an early Grateful Dead classic and became one of their most loved and anticipated numbers, often with the group using it as a vehicle for musical improvisation sessions that extended beyond the original structure of the song. The song is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.

"Dark Star" was initially released as a two-minute single in 1968, backed with "Born Cross-Eyed", a track written by rhythm guitarist Bob Weir. The single, to quote Phil Lesh, "sank like a stone."

Due to the relentless touring of the Grateful Dead, and the fact that fans were allowed to tape the band's shows, many live versions of "Dark Star" exist. Interesting to note: the studio recording of Dark Star lasted only 2:40, yet the song was known for its lengthy live performances, many of which clocked in at 20–30 minutes.

Running over 23 minutes (13 minutes of it consisting of Jerry Garcia's guitar solo), the popular rendition as found on the Live/Dead live album was a captivating blend of psychedelia, jazz, and jam elements. "Dark Star" defines the Dead's early improvisational music.

Lynn Anderson - (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden

Lynn Rene Anderson (born September 26, 1947 in Grand Forks, North Dakota) is an American country music singer and equestrian, best known for her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most popular and successful female country singers of the 1970s.

In addition to being named "Top Female Vocalist" by the Academy of Country Music (twice) and "Female Vocalist of the Year" by the Country Music Association, she has scored 11 #1, 18 Top 10, and over 50 Top 40 hits.

She was the first female country artist to win an American Music Award in 1974, as well as the first to headline and sell out Madison Square Garden that same year. Anderson was named Billboards "Artist of the Decade" (1970–1980).

Anderson debuted in 1966, at the age of 19, and had her first major hit with Ride, Ride, Ride. After a series of Top 10 hit singles on the country charts during the later half of the 1960s, Anderson went on to sign with Columbia Records in 1970. Under Columbia, she had her most successful string of hits.

Her signature song, "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden", was and remains one of the most successful country crossover hits of all time. The song even made it to #3 on the Billboard Pop Chart and was later ranked #83 on CMT's "100 Greatest Songs in Country Music History."

The song has been covered by several other artists; most notably k.d. lang and Martina McBride, who released their covers as singles in 1987 and 2005, respectively.

Al Green-Lets Stay Together

Albert Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together".

In 2005, Rolling Stone named him #65 in their list of the '100 Greatest Artists of All Time'. The nomination, written by Justin Timberlake, stated that "people are born to do certain things, and Al was born to make us smile."

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Green in 1995, referring to him as "one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music." Green has sold more than 20 million records.

"Let's Stay Together" is a song by Al Green on his 1972 album of the same name. Released as a single in 1971, the song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained on the chart for 16 weeks and also topped Billboard's R&B chart for nine weeks.

It was ranked the 60th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

T. Rex were a British rock band fronted by guitarist, singer and songwriter Marc Bolan. Formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1960s London, the folk rock group's debut album My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows (1968) reached number 15 in the UK.

In the 1970s, they achieved mainstream success as a glam rock band with the hits "Jeepster", "Get It On", "Ride a White Swan", "20th Century Boy", "Children of the Revolution", "Hot Love", "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru". After waning commercial success in the mid-70s, T. Rex ended in 1977 after Bolan was killed in a car accident.

T. Rex have vastly influenced the glam rock, punk rock and Britpop genres. Many modern indie bands play music heavily influenced by the glam scene. The Who specifically referenced T. Rex in the lyrics of their 1981 song You Better You Bet.

The early acoustic material was influential in helping to bring about progressive rock and 21st century folk music-influenced singers.
"Get It On" is a song featured on their 1971 album Electric Warrior. Written by Marc Bolan, "Get It On" was the second chart-topper for T. Rex on the UK Singles Chart.

In the United States, the song was retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" to avoid confusion with a number of the same name by the group Chase. It is arguably T. Rex's best-known song.

While it only spent four weeks at the top in the UK, starting 24 July 1971 ("Hot Love" was number one for six weeks from March to May), it was the group's biggest hit overall, selling nearly a million copies in the UK.

It peaked on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles chart at number ten in January 1972, becoming the band's only major U.S. hit. In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Get It On" at number 36 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.

Isaac Lee Hayes - Theme from Shaft

Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American songwriter, musician, singer, and occasionally an actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s.

Hayes, Porter, Bill Withers, the Sherman Brothers, Steve Cropper, and John Fogerty were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of writing scores of notable songs for themselves, the duo "Sam & Dave", Carla Thomas, and others.

The hit song "Soul Man", written by Hayes and Porter and first performed by "Sam & Dave", has been recognized as one of the most influential songs of the past 50 years by the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was also honored by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, by Rolling Stone magazine, and by the RIAA as one of the Songs of the Century.

During the late 1960s, Isaac Hayes also began recording music and he had several successful soul albums such as Hot Buttered Soul (1969) and Black Moses (1971). In addition to his work in popular music, he worked as a composer of musical scores for motion pictures.

In 1992, in recognition of humanitarian work there, he was crowned the honorary king of the Ada, Ghana region.

He also acted in motion pictures and television, such as in the movie, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, and as Gandolf "Gandy" Fitch in the TV series The Rockford Files (1974–1980). From 1997 to 2005, he lent his distinctive, deep voice to the character "Chef" on the animated TV series South Park.
Allmusic.com says that Isaac Hayes is responsible for the evolution of disco and rap.

As of 2008, his songs generated more than 12 million performances.
"Theme from Shaft", written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971, is the soul and funk-styled theme song to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, Shaft. The theme was released as a single (shortened and edited from the longer album
version) two months after the movie's soundtrack by Stax Records' Enterprise label (at the time owned by Paramount Pictures, which later released the 2000 version of Shaft).

"Theme from Shaft" went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in November 1971. The song was also well-received by adult audiences, reaching number six on Billboard's Easy Listening (later Adult
Contemporary) chart.

The following year, "Theme from Shaft" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, with Hayes not only becoming the first African American to win that honor (or any Academy Award in a non-acting category) but also becoming the first recipient of the award to both write and perform the winning song. Since then, the song has appeared in numerous television shows, commercials, and other movies, including the 2000 remake of Shaft, for which Hayes re-recorded the song without making any changes to it.

Free - All Right Now

Free were an English rock band, formed in London in 1968, best known for their 1970 signature song "All Right Now". They disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums; lead guitarist Paul Kossoff died from a drug-induced heart failure at the age of 25 in 1976, bassist Andy Fraser formed Sharks.

The band was famed for its sensational live shows and nonstop touring. However, early studio albums did not sell very well – until the release of Fire and Water which featured the massive hit "All Right Now". The song helped secure them a place at the huge Isle of Wight Festival 1970 where they played to 600,000 people.

By the early 1970s, Free was one of the biggest-selling British blues-rock groups; by the time the band dissolved in 1973, they had sold more than 20 million albums around the world and had played more than 700 arena and festival concerts. "All Right Now," remains a rock staple, and had been entered into ASCAP's "One Million" airplay singles club.

Rolling Stone has referred to the band as "British hard rock pioneers". The magazine ranked Rodgers #55 in its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time", while Kossoff was ranked #51 in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

"All Right Now" is a rock single by the English rock band Free. The song, released in mid-1970, hit #2 on the UK singles chart and #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "All Right Now" originally appeared on the album Fire And Water, which Free recorded on the Island Records label, formed by Chris Blackwell. In 1991, the song was remixed and re-released, reaching #8 on the UK singles chart.

"All Right Now" was a #1 hit in over 20 territories and was recognised by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) in 1990 for garnering 1,000,000 plus radio plays in the U.S. by late 1989. In 2006 the BMI London awards included a Million Air award for 3 million air plays of All Right Now in the USA.

According to drummer Simon Kirke, "All Right Now" was written by bassist Andy Fraser and singer Paul Rodgers in the Durham Students' Union building, Dunelm House. However, Paul Rodgers stated whilst performing with Queen that he wrote the lyric of "All Right Now". This remark can be heard on the Queen + Paul Rodgers CD, Return of the Champions, when "All Right Now" starts.

The Eagles - Hotel California

The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner.
With five number one singles, six Grammys, five American Music Awards, and six number one albums, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s.

At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and Hotel California, ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the U.S. according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Hotel California is ranked 37th in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and the band was ranked #75 on the magazine's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. They also have the best selling album in the U.S. with Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975), which sold more than 29 million copies. They have sold over 120 million albums worldwide and 100 million in the U.S. alone. They are the fifth highest selling music act in U.S. history and the highest selling American band in U.S. history. No other American band sold more than the Eagles during the 1970s.

The Eagles released their self titled debut album in 1972 which spawned three Top 40 singles, "Take It Easy", "Witchy Woman", and "Peaceful Easy Feeling". They followed up the success of their debut album with Desperado in 1973. The album was less successful than the first, reaching only #41 on the charts and neither of its two singles reached the Top 40. However, the album contained two of the band's most popular and beloved tracks, "Desperado" and "Tequila Sunrise".

They released On the Border in 1974 and added guitarist Don Felder midway through the recording of the album. The album released two Top 40 singles, "Already Gone" and their first chart topper, "Best of My Love". It was not until 1975's One of These Nights, though, that the Eagles became America's biggest band. The album released three Top 10 singles, "One of These Nights", "Lyin' Eyes", and "Take It to the Limit".

They continued with that success in late 1976 with the release of Hotel California, which would go on to sell over 16 million copies in the U.S. alone. The album yielded three Top 20 singles, "New Kid in Town", "Hotel California", and "Life in the Fast Lane". They released their last studio album for nearly 28 years in 1979 with The Long Run. The album displayed that the Eagles were still at the top of their popularity at the time of their breakup and the album released three Top 10 singles, "Heartache Tonight", "The Long Run", and "I Can't Tell You Why".

The Eagles broke up in July 1980, but reunited in 1994 for Hell Freezes Over, a mix of live and new studio tracks. They have toured intermittently since then and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

In 2007, the Eagles released Long Road out of Eden, their first full studio album in 28 years. The album would top the album charts, release five singles on the Adult Contemporary Charts and win the band two Grammys. The next year they launched The Long Road out of Eden Tour in support of the album.

"Hotel California" is the title song from the Eagles' album of the same name and was released as a single in February 1977. It is one of the best-known songs of the album-oriented rock era. Writing credits for the song are shared by Don Felder, Don Henley and Glenn Frey. The Eagles' original recording of the song features Henley singing the lead vocals and concludes with an extended section of electric guitar interplay between Felder and Joe Walsh.

"Hotel California" topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for one week in May 1977. Three months after its release, the single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America representing 1,000,000 records shipped. The Eagles also won the 1977 Grammy Award for Record of the Year for "Hotel California" at the 20th Annual Grammy Awards in 1978.

In 2009, the song "Hotel California" was certified Platinum (Digital Sales Award) by the RIAA for sales of 1,000,000 digital downloads.

The song is rated highly in many rock music lists and polls. Rolling Stone magazine, for example, placed it as the 49th greatest song of all time.

It is also one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The song's guitar solo is ranked 8th on Guitar Magazine's Top 100 Guitar Solos and was voted the best solo of all time by readers of Guitarist magazine.

As one of the group's most popular and well-known songs, "Hotel California" has been a concert staple for the band since its release; performances of the song appear on the Eagles' 1980 live album simply called "Live", and, in an acoustic version, on the 1994 [Hell Freezes Over] reunion concert CD and video release. The "Hell Freezes Over" version is performed using eight guitars in total, and has a decidedly Spanish feel to it - with Don Felder playing a flamenco-inspired intro. During the band's Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne the song was performed in a manner closer to the original album version, but with a trumpet interlude in the beginning.

Glenn Frey described the origins of the song:
The song began as a demo tape, an instrumental by Don Felder. He’d been submitting tapes and song ideas to us since he’d joined the band, always instrumentals, since he didn’t sing. But this particular demo, unlike many of the others, had room for singing. It immediately got our attention. The first working title, the name we gave it, was ‘Mexican Reggae'

Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed (born on March 2, 1942) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which spans several decades and crosses multiple genres.

The Velvet Underground gained little mainstream attention during their career, but became one of the most influential bands of their era. As the Velvet Underground's main songwriter, Reed wrote about subjects of personal experience that rarely had been examined so openly in rock and roll, including a variety of sexual topics and drug culture.

After his departure from the group, Reed began a solo career in 1971. He had a hit the following year with "Walk on the Wild Side", although for more than a decade he evaded the mainstream commercial success its chart status offered him.

Reed's work as a solo artist has frustrated critics wishing for a return of the Velvet Underground. The most notable example is 1975's infamous double album of recorded feedback loops, Metal Machine Music, upon which Reed later commented: "No one is supposed to be able to do a thing like that and survive."[citation needed] He is also responsible for the name and popularization of ostrich tuning.

By the late 1980s, however, he had gained recognition by the music community as an elder statesman of rock.

"Walk on the Wild Side" is a song from his 1972 second solo album Transformer. It was produced by David Bowie. The song received wide radio coverage, despite its touching on taboo topics such as transsexuality, drugs, male prostitutes and oral sex and the term "colored" to refer to African Americans. In the United States, RCA released an edited version of song as a single which eliminated the song's reference to oral sex.

The lyrics tell of a series of individuals and their journeys to New York City, and refers to several of the regular "superstars" at Andy Warhol's New York studio, The Factory, namely Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, Joe Dallesandro, Jackie Curtis and Joe Campbell (referred to in the song by his nickname Sugar Plum Fairy). Candy Darling was also the subject of Reed's song "Candy Says".

The saxophone solo played over the fadeout of the song was performed by Ronnie Ross, who had previously taught David Bowie to play the saxophone during Bowie's childhood.

The backing vocals were sung by Thunderthighs, a girl group that included founder Dari Lallou, Karen Friedman, Jacki Campbell and Casey Synge.

In the 2001 documentary Classic Albums: Lou Reed: Transformer, Reed says that it was Nelson Algren's 1956 novel, A Walk on the Wild Side, that was the launching off point for the song, even though the song grew to be inhabited by characters from his own life.

As with several other Reed songs from the 1970s, the title may also be an allusion to an earlier song, in this case Mack David and Elmer Bernstein's song of the same name, the Academy Award-nominated title song of the 1962 film based on Algren's novel. During his performance of the song on his 1978 Live: Take No Prisoners album, Reed humorously explains the song's development from a request that he write the music for the never completed musical version of Algren's novel.