Articles by John Twang

Grandmaster & Melle Mel (Glover) issued the single "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" (Sylvia Robinson - Mel Glover) in 1983. The tune peaked at forty-seven on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart, number nine on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play while reaching the top ten in the U.K.. Melle Mel co-authored the release with Sylvia Robinson, the Mother of Hip-Hop, the same Sylvia who topped the Billboard chart with "Pillow Talk", the co-founder of Sugarhill Records and the Sylvia of Mickey and Sy…

Blake Edwards' "What Did You Do In The War, Daddy?" was the motion picture that introduced Academy Award, Grammy and Golden Globe winner Henry Mancini's (Enrico Nicola) Orchestra and Chorus with "In The Arms Of Love" (Jay Livingston - Ray Evans - Henry Mancini). Released before the movie, Andy Williams' "In The Arms Of Love" was the top twenty album and the single which topped the Adult Contemporary chart and peaked at forty-nine pop in 1966. Andy also hit with Mancini movie music "Moon Rive…

This is songwriter Bobby Caldwell's take on "Next Time (I Fall In Love)" (Bobby Caldwell - Paul Gordon). The song was written with Chicago and Peter Cetera in mind even though Peter had left the group. Topping the Billboard Top One Hundred and Adult Contemporary charts in 1986 were Peter Cetera and Amy Grant when they recorded "Next Time I Fall In Love" for Peter's LP "Solitude/Solitaire". The single was a Grammy winner. This was Amy Grants first venture outside Contemporary Christian music.…

Here is the edited version of The Temptations (lead vocals Eddie Kendricks, Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams and Otis Williams) "Smiling Faces Sometimes" (Norman Whitfield - Barrett Strong) from 1971 and the over twelve minute LP track. The tune was recorded for the top twenty album "Sky's The Limit" just before lead Eddie Kendricks decided to leave the group. Producer Norman Whitfield re-recorded "Smiling Faces Sometimes" with his then latest discovery, the Undisputed Truth (B…

G. C. (George Curtis) Cameron sang "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" (Freddie Perren - Christine Yarian) in the 1975 movie "Cooley High". The original reached number thirty-eight on Billboard's R&B listing. G. C. was once the lead vocalist for The Spinners and later sang lead for The Temptations. The Boyz ll Men (Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wayne Morris and Shawn Stockman) a cappella version of "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" topped the R&B chart in 1991 while reaching…

An original member of The Impressions, Jerry "The Iceman" Butler issued the million seller "A Brand New Me" (Gamble - Butler - Bell) as produced by the team of Gamble and Huff. This is a track on the 19769 "Ice On Ice" album. Recorded in Philadelphia in 1969 by the same production duo, Dusty Springfield covered "A Brand New Me" for her album of the same name. Released as a single the next year the song peaked at number three on the Adult Contemporary chart and number twenty-four on the top f…

Multi- award winner Michel Legrand sings "Les Moulins de Mon Cœur" (Michel Legrand - Eddy Marney) recorded in 1969. "The Windmills of Your Mind" (Michel Legrand -Alan Bergman - Marilyn Bergman) with the English lyric appeared in the 1968 film "The Thomas Crown Affair" starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunnaway. The song was commissioned for a particular scene by director Norman Jewison. This won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1968. Noel Harrison, son of Rex, recorded the original…

The enjoyable television special shilling cds called "Country Family Reunion: The Songwriters" featured Dickey Lee (Lipscomb) who hit with "Patches", "I Saw Linda Yesterday", "Laurie (Strange Things Happen)" and composed the country classic "She Thinks I Still Care" (Dickey Lee - Steve Duffy) in 1962. From his enormous catalogue comes George Jones singing "She Thinks I Still Care". The single topped the Country charts for six weeks! Anne Murray's 1974 album "Danny's Song" contained the t…

Singing cowboy Stuart Hamblen wrote and recorded "It Is No Secret (What God Can Do) in 1950. The single peaked at number eight on the Country chart. Stuart turned to substance abuse and was saved by the late Billy Graham. A friend asked him about the rumour that Stuart had changed his ways. Mr. Hamblen replied that it was no secret what God had done for him and what God could do for his friend, too. The friend then replied that Hamblen should turn those lines into a song. Bill Kenny of the In…

The former Mrs. Stevie Wonder, Syretta (Rita Wright), recorded the demo for "Love Child" (R. Dean Taylor - Frank Wilson - Pam Sawyer - Deke Richards - Henry Cosby) in 1968. Diana Ross and The Supremes (Cindy Birdsong and Mary Wilson) topped the pop and reached number two on the Soul charts in 1968 with "Love Child". This came from the album of the same name. In actuality Mary and Cindy weren't on this track as Diana was backed by The Andantes, which was not unusual in the studio. Sweet S…

Chicago Cubs fan Steve Goodman wrote and recorded "City Of New Orleans" for his 1971 self-titled album. The soon to be Grammy winning song had Paul Anka as executive producer, Kris Kristofferson and Norman Putman as co-producers and includes a recognizable John Prine on the track. Steve Goodman died of leukemia in 1984 while referring to himself "Cool Hand Leuk". It was Woody Guthrie's son Arlo Guthrie who had the hit with "City Of New Orleans" in 1972. This is from the LP "Hobo's Lullaby".…

Katy Perry's (Hudson) "Teenage Dream" (Katy Perry - Lukasz Gottwald - Max Martin - Benjamin Levin - Bonnie McKee) was a chart topping single from the also chart topping 2010 LP of the same name. Wikipedia: "According to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, "Teenage Dream" set the record for most added song in a week with 64 new stations and 14.9 million plays." Katy is a strong believer in LGBT rights. Tuft's University A Cappella group The Beelzebubs" and actor, singer Darren Criss combined tale…

Songwriter, singer Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" (Berry Gordy - Janie Bradford) was the first hit for Motown although it was distributed nationally by Chess Records in 1960. The single reached number two on the R&B chart while peaking at twenty-three on the Top One Hundred. John Lennon takes the lead on The Beatles "Money (That's What I Want)" with drummer Pete Best during the failed Decca Records audition in early 1962.The label picked Brian Poole and The Tremeloes over the…

William Gillespie sang "Blues In The Night" (Harold Arlen - Johnny Mercer) in the 1941 movie of the same name. Wikipedia: "When they finished writing the song, Mercer called a friend, singer Margaret Whiting, and asked if they could come over and play it for her. She suggested they come later because she had dinner guests—Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Mel Tormé, and Martha Raye. Instead, Arlen and Mercer went right over. Margaret Whiting remembered what happened then: They came in the back door,…

Film score composer, producer and noted keyboardist Patrick Leonard plays "La Isla Bonita" (The Beautiful Island) recorded in 2008. The tune was originally offered to Michael Jackson who passed on it but Madonna certainly didn't. Patrick joined Frank Zappa's band and after that the Allman Brothers Band. He also was lead keyboardist and music director for the 1984 Jackson Victory Tour. Madonna's (Ciccone) album "True Blue" contains the track "La Isla Bonita" (Madonna - Patrick Leonard - Bruce…

The original Don Mclean (the third) song "American Pie" topped Billboard in 1972. Don had other hits like "Crying" and "Vincent" but this song defined his music. He is one great songwriter, just listen to "If We Try", "And I Love You So", "Wonderful Baby" and "Castles In The Air". Don inspired the composition "Killing Me Softly With His Song", see him in concert and you will understand. Madonna's (Ciccone) "American Pie" topped thirteen world charts including the U.K. and many commonwealth c…

This is Pete Townshend and the demo of "Squeezebox" complete with enough double entendres to build a wall. This is from Pete's LP "Scoop". At the time Pete wrote the song he though he may have been too old to play rock and roll. From the 1975 album "The Who By Numbers" The Who (lead vocalist Roger Daltry, John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Pete Townshend), "Squeezebox" peaked at number sixteen on the Top One Hundred while topping the Canadian chart and hitting the U.K. top ten.

Bruce Springsteen originally recorded "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)" for the 1979 album "The River". For some reason it was not included on the LP and didn't surface until it was included on a bonus disc for "The Essential Bruce Springsteen". Should you be driving while listening to this track be careful of speeding. Dave Edmunds covered "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)" in 1982 and reached number twenty-eight on Billboard. The single is from the album "D.E. 7th".…