Rediscovered Songs

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If you linger on a Facebook post, Facebook thinks that you want a constant stream of similar posts. So I now get posts about Snoopy, table tennis, Linda Ronstadt, Debbie Harry, Emmylou Harris, and miscellaneous lists of old pop songs.

Incidentally, by "song", I mean a specific recording of a song.

The old songs are interesting because they bring back memories from the 1960s and 1970s. And occasionally I find forgotten songs or songs that I have forgotten how good or bad they are. And it's interesting how some years have great songs and some seem to have nothing of value.

One thing that I have learned is that my memory of a song is colored by other songs of the same time frame. If it was all bad, I might remember the least bad song as good. And if there were many great songs at the time I might not realize how good some are.

Here are some songs that I have rediscovered or reevaluated - not exhaustive, just a short list of songs that are now among my favorites. Being on this list generally means that I don't listen to anything else by the singers/bands - not that the singers/bands are bad but they don't inspire me.

I remembered that one of the songs had spent weeks at no. 1 on the US Billboard pop chart. So I thought it would be interesting to check out all of them.

The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel, written by Paul Simon. Hit no. 1 in 1966. I have loved it since the first time that I heard it. I suspect that everyone loves this song.

Pretty Flamingo - Manfred Mann, written by Mark Barkan. 1966, peaked at no. 29 - that might explain why I didn't remember it. It's better than the songs from Manfred Mann that I do remember. You will find it played by Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Elvis Costello, and more.

River Deep, Mountain High - a great song, nicely sung by Tina Turner, written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, with a horrible Phil Spector Wall of Sound production. Maybe my diminished hearing makes the Wall of Sound worse. I have found a couple of much better, live, performances and it appears that one of them is on an Amazon MP3. But when I ask it to play a sample, I get a different song so no way to verify what I will get. Reached no. 88 in 1966. Now generally considered a classic.

Standing in the Shadows of Love - The Four Tops, written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland. Hit no. 6 in 1967. I never cared for their other songs. This one is great.

Little Bit o' Soul - The Music Explosion, written by John Carter, Ken Lewis. I remembered this song, but not how good it is. 1967 hit no. 2. YouTube has a lot of interesting music. One video is the original recording of this song by The Little Darlings, British I think. Nice. You can also hear it by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Ramones, Bruce Springsteen, and a few more bands that I had never heard of.

To Sir With Love - Lulu, written by Don Black, Mark London. 5 weeks at no. 1 in 1967. I hadn't thought of this as a great song, but I do now. Maybe it's the way she sings it.

Itchycoo Park - Small Faces, written by Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane. Reached no. 16 in 1968. I remembered this well. Never thought much of it when it was sort of popular.

Mrs. Robinson - Simon and Garfunkel, written by Paul Simon. Not forgotten, but for me, it got better with age. Hit no. 1 in 1968.

Piece of my Heart - Big Brother and the Holding Company, with Janis Joplin, written by Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns. Not forgotten, always liked. Peaked at no. 12 in 1968.

That's the Way I've Always Heard it Should Be - Carly Simon, written by Carly Simon, Jacob Brackman. Peaked at no. 10 in 1971. Beautiful.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack. Written in 1957 by Ewan MacColl. Roberta Flack's version was first released on the album First Take in 1969 and as a single in 1972, after being used in the movie Play Misty for Me. No. 1 for six weeks. This is a wonderful song and a wonderful performance.

Someday Never Comes - Creedence Clearwater Revival, written by John Fogerty. Reached no. 25 in 1972. CCR broke up later that year.

Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads, written by David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth. Fascinating. 1981, did not reach the top 100. Considered a classic now.

Authority Song - John Mellencamp, written by John Mellencamp. Energy. Reached no. 15 in 1984.

Notice the years of the songs? Just because that's when I was listening to the radio? No - I think pop songs were way better then than they are now.