by

Song of the Day #6,471: ‘Seven Nation Army’ – The White Stripes

The White Stripes might be responsible for the best-known song to never reach the Billboard Top 40. ‘Seven Nation Army,’ released in 2003, peaked at #76 and yet it’s instantly recognizable to anybody who’s been in a sports arena or political rally. Its opening riff is one of the most famous ever recorded.

‘Seven Nation Army’ alone should probably earn The White Stripes admission into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but they do have a strong overall case. So much so that they made it in not in their first year of eligibility — 2023 — but just two years later.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #6,470: ‘Black Hole Sun’ – Soundgarden

The grunge era that started in the mid 1980s and peaked in the early 1990s was epitomized by four Seattle bands: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. Nirvana and Pearl Jam are first ballot Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, inducted in 2014 and 2017, respectively. Alice in Chains has been eligible since 2016 but has yet to be nominated.

Soundgarden, eligible since 2012, was nominated three times before making it into the Rock Hall last year.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #6,469: ‘Shoop’ – Salt-N-Pepa

The next inductee from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2025 has been eligible for a little over a decade and made it in on its first nomination. The rap trio Salt-N-Pepa is the latest in a growing contingent of hip-hop artists in the Hall.

Made up of Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper), Salt-N-Pepa was a pioneer for women rap artists. It was the first female rap group to have a Gold and Platinum album and the first to win a Grammy, and for awhile held the record for top-selling album by a woman or women in rap.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #6,468: ’19th Nervous Breakdown’ – The Rolling Stones

The week of March 22, 1966, found the Vietnam era hit ‘The Ballad of the Green Berets‘ hanging on the #1 spot of the Billboard Hot 100. The British Invasion was hot on its heels, with the next two slots going to The Rolling Stones and The Beatles.

The Stones’ ’19th Nervous Breakdown’ sat at #2, where it would peak, held out of the top spot by the Green Berets. This was the band’s third top five single on the U.S. chart in nine months, after ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ and ‘Get Off of My Cloud’ became their first #1 hits in the States the previous summer.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #6,467: ‘I’ll Be Home’ – Pat Boone

Throwing back to the week of March 21, 1956, we find a host of repeats atop the Billboard singles chart — five songs I’ve already covered during Throwback Weekends and won’t bother listing now.

That brings us to #6, where Pat Boone’s ‘I’ll Be Home’ sat on its way to a peak at #5 the following week. Boone released this song a year after it was written by Ferdinand Washington and Stan Lewis, and a few months after doo-wop band The Flamingos dropped their own version.

Continue reading →