Author: Dan Seeger

Everything Else43 Comments

Top 40 Smash Taps: “What Now”

Dan Seeger

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. Upon its release in 1964, Billboard reviewed Gene Chandler’s single “What Now” in the following manner: “Tear-jerker tale of a guy done wrong by a fickle gal! Gene wails in fine style backed by driving instrumentation.” The track was Chandler’s fourth song to grace the Billboard Top 40 and the third straight, following “Just Be True,” which peaked at #19, and “Bless Our … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “What Now”

Everything Else20 Comments

College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 38 and 37

Dan Seeger

38. “Heartbreak Beat” by the Psychedelic Furs In a stunning example of hubristic hyperbole, Columbia Records saw fit to promote the fifth album from the Psychedelic Furs, Midnight to Midnight, as the band’s “masterstroke.” It had been around two-and-a-half years since the group’s previous album, and their profile had risen significantly thanks to one of their songs lending a title to a high profile John Hughes movie. They even rerecorded the song for the flick, drawing ire from many longtime fans who found the new version to overly slick and commercial. Turns out that was a mere precursor to a … Continue reading College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 38 and 37

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I had another fairly typical week at Spectrum Culture with one full contribution apiece on the film and music sides. For the former, I reviewed a new documentary focused on the heated immigration issue in the United States. Unfortunately, it falls into one of the pitfalls common to modern documentaries: straining to do far too much. As for music, I reviewed a new compilation of classic, obscure soul music from the generally excellent Now-Again label. As usual, the crate-digger depths of discovery are impressive in the tracks selected, but the intensive focus on ballad-driven, so-called “sweet soul” winds up giving … Continue reading Spectrum Check

Music3 Comments

One for Friday: The Bolshoi, “Swings and Roundabouts”

Dan Seeger

I’ve long been fascinated by other people’s record collections. This was especially the case back in college, when my radio station pals and I almost couldn’t help but use musical taste as a barometer. Even beyond that, I was deeply interested in discovering new stuff that my friends and acquaintances might have in their respective stashes of well-loved vinyl. (It wasn’t nearly as much fun to go through cassettes or CDs as it was to sit around and listen to records.) Back before one could possess practically any song they liked on little more than a whim and ninety-nine cents … Continue reading One for Friday: The Bolshoi, “Swings and Roundabouts”