TERRY HOKNES - My All Time Favorite Songs and Music - Billboard magazine Hot 100 chart data plus my personal chart data plus youtube video and historical facts and trivia hoknes@hotmail.com

TERRY HOKNES - MY FAVORITE SONGS OF ALL TIME ! hoknes@hotmail.com

1401	ROLLING STONES	I'M FREE	1965
1402	JUDY COLLINS	IN MY LIFE	1967
1403	NO DOUBT	SUNDAY MORNING	1996
1404	CHANTAL KREVIAZUK	BEFORE YOU	1999
1405	LEANN RIMES	NOTHING BOUT LOVE MAKES SENSE	2004
1406	MILEY CYRUS	I MISS YOU	2007
1407	WHO	ARMENIA CITY	1967
1408	CAT STEVENS	BUT I MIGHT DIE TONIGHT	1970
1409	MARTINA MCBRIDE	WRONG BABY WRONG	2010
1410	ROY WOOD	WAKE UP	1973
1411	ANDREW GOLD	ALWAYS FOR YOU	1978
1412	ALICE IN CHAINS	CHECK MY BRAIN	2009
1413	ELVIS PRESLEY	WONDER OF YOU	1970
1414	RINGO STARR	YOU'RE 16	1974
1415	BILLY JOEL	SHE'S GOT A WAY	1982
1416	SUPERTRAMP	IT'S RAINING AGAIN	1982
1417	POLICE	SYNCHRONICITY II	1983
1418	PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS	LETTING GO	1975
1419	BARRY MANILOW	COULD IT BE MAGIC	1975
1420	RINGO STARR	I WAS WALKING	1998

THE ROLLING STONES - I'M FREE (1965)

Album: More Hot Rocks (1972)

I received Tattoo You for Xmas 1981 at age 10 and then quickly followed up with Big Hits for my 11th birthday on January 15th 1982 and then sometime afterwards got More Hot Rocks and Aftermath. At age 11 these was the only songs I knew of the Stones but to this date would say More Hot Rocks is my favorite Stones album.

I'm Free" is a song by The Rolling Stones written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, first released as the final track on the UK Out of Our Heads album on 24 September 1965. It was later placed on the December's Children (And Everybody's) album in the United States.

The song is currently being used as part on New Zealand's TV2 on air identity.

Rolling Stones recorded a re-worked acoustic version for their 1995 live album Stripped, and performed a live version in the 2008 film Shine a Light.

It is unrelated to The Who's "I'm Free".

JUDY COLLINS - IN MY LIFE (1966)

Album: In My Life (1966)

One of my all time favorite covers of a Beatles song. I first heard this song in 1990 on a Lennon & McCartney tribute album my sister brought back to me as a gift from her stay in Europe.

December 13th 1990 - my #1 favorite daily song at age 19 in University 2nd Year.

In My Life is an album by American folk singer Judy Collins, released in 1966. It peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts in 1967. Working with arranger Joshua Rifkin, many of the songs on the album featured dramatic orchestral arrangements, a departure from Collins' previous albums, which had all been more straightforward folk music. The album included work by Leonard Cohen, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Richard Farina. Collins' version of the song "Suzanne" is considered to be the recording that first introduced Leonard Cohen's music to a wide audience.

Allmusic stated "Judy Collins was already an accomplished interpretive singer before recording this album, but In My Life found her widening her horizons and revealing an even greater gift than one might have imagined; for the most part, it's a superb album and still one of her best."

NO DOUBT - SUNDAY MORNING (1996)

Album: Tragic Kingdom (1995)

My 3rd #1 song from the album during 1997 made them my new favorite modern band. Another strong energetic song with another unique intricate arrangement.

August 12th 1997 - my #1 favorite daily song for 36 days

"Sunday Morning" is a song written by Tony Kanal, Gwen Stefani, and Eric Stefani for No Doubt's third album Tragic Kingdom (1995). It was released as the album's sixth single in 1997 and the fifth and final single released internationally

CHANTAL KREVIAZUK - BEFORE YOU (1999)

Album: Colour Moving And Still (1999)

January 10th 2000 - my #1 favorite daily song for 74 days during my 29th birthday

Great passionate song which for 13 years now always reminds of Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones during part of the chorus. This song was a huge hit in Canada hitting #2 in 2000.

Colour Moving and Still is the second album by Canadian singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, released in 1999. An edition of the album is also available with a bonus disc

Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk (krɛviˈæzək born May 18, 1973) is a Canadian singer-songwriter of the adult contemporary music genre. She is also a classically trained pianist, and can play the guitar

LEANN RIMES - NOTHING BOUT LOVE MAKES SENSE (2004)

Album: This Woman (2004)

Great traditional country song with great harmonies and strong fiddle parts

November 27th 2004 - my #1 favorite Country hit song for 16 weeks straight over Xmas 2004 and it turned out to be my #1 favorite Country song of 2005.

February 14th 2005 - my #1 favorite daily song for 52 days making it my #4 daily song of 2005. I was 34 living with Michelle and Brianna on Eastview.

"Nothin' 'bout Love Makes Sense" is a song performed by American country music artist LeAnn Rimes. Released in 2004, it was the first single from Rimes' This Woman album. The song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. A music video was also released in 2004 for the song.

MILEY CYRUS - I MISS YOU (2007)

Album: Hannah Montana 2 (2007)

This was from one of my favorite albums of 2007 and this was the 3rd #1 hit from this album on my daily charts. A nice touching pop romantic ballad.

November 11th 2007 - my #1 favorite daily song for 14 days and my #13 favorite daily song of 2007

I Miss You" is pop music song performed by American recording artist Miley Cyrus. It was co-written by Cyrus (credited under her birth name Destiny Hope Cyrus), Brian Green, Wendy Foy Green, and produced by Brian Green. "I Miss You" is a homage to Cyrus' late grandfather, Ron Cyrus, who died in February 28, 2006. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma, and, seeing her grandparent nearing death, Cyrus wanted to write him a song prior to his decease. It was released to Radio Disney mid-year 2007 as promotion for the dual disc Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus. The song is a ballad with rock and country influences.

The song received received generally positive reviews from music critics; some commented on how it deviated from her usual material at the time and how effective the message was. "I Miss You" appeared on two United States charts: it peaked at number nine on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, an extension of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and at number ninety-two on the defunct Pop 100

THE WHO - ARMENIA CITY (1967)

Album: The Who Sell Out (1967)

February 8th 1987 - my #1 favorite daily song for 7 days at age 16 in Grade 11 which was my last year at Aden Bowman Collegiate. My favorite Who album which I had played many many times at this period. Psychedelic tinge to this song.

Armenia City in The Sky" is a song by The Who released on their album The Who Sell Out. It was recorded and mixed at IBC Studios, London on 20 October 1967. Oddly enough, it was not written by a member of The Who, but rather by Pete Townshend's former roommate and chauffeur John Keen. Apparently, they were good friends and one day, Keen told Townshend that he had written them a song. This was the only time that The Who used a song written specifically for them by a person outside the group. A year later Keen would be part of the Townshend-created group Thunderclap Newman. This track was released as a single in Japan backed with "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand

The Who Sell Out is the third album by English rock band The Who, released in 1967 by Track Records in the UK and Decca Records in the US. It is a concept album, formatted as a collection of unrelated songs interspersed with faux commercials and public service announcements. The album purports to be a broadcast by pirate radio station Radio London. Part of the intended irony of the title was that the Who were making commercials during that period of their career, some of which are included as bonus tracks on the remastered CD. The album's release was reportedly followed by lawsuits due to the mention of real-world commercial interests in the faux commercials and on the album covers, and by the makers of the real jingles (Radio London jingles), who claimed the Who used them without permission. (The jingles were produced by PAMS Productions of Dallas, Texas, which created thousands of station ID jingles in the 1960s and 1970s). It was the deodorant company, Odorono, who took offense that Chris Stamp made a request for endorsement dollars. In 2003, the album was ranked number 113 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time

CAT STEVENS - BUT I MIGHT DIE TONIGHT (1970)

Album: Tea For The Tillerman (1970)

November 2nd 1987 - my #1 favorite daily song for 8 days at age 16 in Grade 12. Family Video on Taylor Street rented CD players and CD's so we thought we try out this new format which I had so far avoided even though The Beatles CDs had even come out earlier in the year. We rented Cat Stevens and Billy Joel's greatest hits. This was the 2nd of 2 #1 songs from the album on my daily chart. Opening side 2 Cat has this ability to write powerful songs with great lyrics and yet keep them musically simple enough for the masses to understand.

Tea for the Tillerman is an album by the singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. This album, Stevens' second during 1970, includes many of Stevens' best-known songs including "Where Do the Children Play?", "Hard Headed Woman", "Wild World", "Sad Lisa", "Into White" and "Father and Son". Four of the tracks ("Where Do the Children Play?", "On the Road to Find Out", "Tea for the Tillerman" and "Miles from Nowhere") were featured in the Hal Ashby and Colin Higgins' black comedy film titled Harold and Maude, in 1971. The track "But I Might Die Tonight" was featured in a film the year before, in 1970: Deep End, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. Stevens, a former art student, created the artwork featured on the record's cover. "Tea for the Tillerman" was also used over the end credits for the BBC TV show "Extras."

With "Wild World" as an advance single, this was the album that brought Stevens world-wide fame. The album itself charted into the top 10 in the United States On 18 November 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine included this album in its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list at number 206. In 2006, the album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2007, the album was included in the list of "The Definitive 200 Albums of All Time," released by The National Association of Recording Merchandisers and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

MARTINA McBRIDE - WRONG BABY WRONG (2010) (#11 country)

April 17th 2010 - my #1 favorite current Country radio hit for 11 weeks making it my #2 favorite current country song of 2010.

April 26th 2010 - my #8 favorite daily song for 34 days at age 39 living on Ave M South married 2.5 years to Valerie and Nicholas turned 4 that week.

Martina McBride (born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. McBride has been called the "Céline Dion of Country Music" for her big-voiced ballads and soprano range

McBride has recorded a total of nine studio albums, one greatest hits compilation, one "live" album, a Christmas compilation, as well as two additional compilation albums. Seven of her studio albums and two of her compilations have received an RIAA Gold certification, or higher. In the U.S. she has sold over 14 million albums. In addition, McBride has won the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" award four times (tied with Reba McEntire for the most wins) and the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" award three times

ROY WOOD - WAKE UP (1973)

Album: Boulders (1973)

I had been a huge fan of ELO for a while and knew of Roy Wood one of the founding members. On February 14th 1985 at age 14 (grade 9) I flipped through the bargain bin of records at the Kresge's Department Store in Midtown Plaza shopping mall in Saskatoon and found this new sealed album Mustard priced at 99 cents. The first time I heard this album that night I knew I had found a masterpiece and Roy Wood would be the first act to ever debut at #1 on my daily favorite music groups chart on that valentines day. (I declare this to be Roy Wood day). I bought a used copy of his first album Boulders a week later at Nudon Record shop on Louise & 8th Street. I flew to New York 17 years later to see Roy Wood 3 times in concert and got to meet him backstage 2 times. I have posted some of those video performances I filmed on www.youtube.com

February 1985 - this would have been one of my favorite songs but not documented.

February 18th 1989 - my #10 favorite daily song for 1 day at age 18 the year after graduating high school celebrating the 4th anniversary of Roy Wood day.

February 17th 1991 - my #2 favorite daily song for 5 days at age 20 while in 2nd year University celebrating the 6th anniversary of Roy Wood day.

Boulders is the first solo album by Roy Wood. Apart from harmonium on track 1 played by John Kurlander, all the instruments (including guitars, cello, saxophone recorders) and voices were by Wood, who also wrote, arranged, and produced the whole album, and did a self-portrait for the front cover. Most of the album was recorded while Wood was still in The Move, although it was not released until he had left the Electric Light Orchestra and was fronting Wizzard. Two singles were taken from the album, ‘When Gran’ma Plays the Banjo’/’Wake Up’ (February 1972), and ‘Dear Elaine’/’Songs of Praise’ (August 1973). The latter reached No. 18 in the UK charts.

ANDREW GOLD - ALWAYS FOR YOU (1978)

Album: All This And Heaven Too (1978)

December 7th 2005 - my #5 favorite daily song for 28 days at age 34 living on my own at Eastview and dating Cheryl from Regina. It was that week I hung out with another Cheryl in Saskatoon at Rick Hamilton's 50th birthday party where someone played my Yamaha fretless bass guitar which led to me playing it as a Three String Fretless which became the name of the band when I played with Kelly Read. Andrew Gold was actually a facebook friend of mine about 2009 until he died in 2011.

Andrew Maurice Gold (August 2, 1951 – June 3, 2011) was an American singer, musician and songwriter. His works include the Top 10 single "Lonely Boy" (1977), as well as "Thank You for Being a Friend" (1978), and "Never Let Her Slip Away" (1978). In 1975, Gold began recording as a solo artist, releasing four studio albums in the 1970s and over twelve since then. His hit single "Lonely Boy" reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June, 1977 and has appeared in many film soundtracks, including Boogie Nights (1997) and Adam Sandler's movie Water Boy, among others. Although "Lonely Boy" was the bigger radio hit in the States, his single "Thank You For Being A Friend" (which peaked at #25 in 1978) later gained popularity as the theme song for the 1985–1992 NBC situation comedy The Golden Girls (performed by Cindy Fee for the show). Gold is also known for his biggest UK hit song "Never Let Her Slip Away", which was a UK #5 hit twice, by him and again at #5 fourteen years later by Undercover. Freddie Mercury, who was a friend of Gold's, assisted him with sparse harmony vocals as an uncredited background singer. Gold was pleased that Petula Clark covered "Lonely Boy" in French ("Poor Lonesome Playboy"). It is on her Paris, Orleans, Paris set. He attended one of her performances and reminded her that she had recorded the song. In 1976 Gold wrote the title track "Endless Flight" for Leo Sayer's hit album.

ALICE IN CHAINS - CHECK MY BRAIN (2009)

Album: Black Gives Way To Blue (2009)

October 30th 2009 - my #6 favorite daily song for 25 days at age 38 living at Ave M South now married to Valerie for 2 years and I was performing the Dueling Pianos Show with Mark Zielke now for almost 4 months and this song I used to perform when it was brand new on the piano.

Check My Brain" is a song by Alice in Chains, featured on their fourth studio album Black Gives Way to Blue (2009). It was released as the second single from the album on August 17, 2009. The single topped the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and Billboard Rock Songs charts in September 2009. This was the first time an Alice in Chains song would hit #1 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart since their 1994 single "No Excuses". "Check My Brain" received a nomination for "Best Hard Rock Performance" at the 52nd Grammy Awards.

On August 12, 2009, the band released a 30 second sample of the new single On August 14, 2009, the full version of the song was released to radio stations. On August 17, 2009, "Check My Brain" was released as the second single from the album and as of October 10, 2009, it has peaked at number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at number one on the Billboard rock charts — Rock Songs, Alternative Songs and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. In Canada, the song reached the top 70 on the Canadian Hot 100.

ELVIS PRESLEY - THE WONDER OF YOU (1970)

"The Wonder of You" is a song written by Baker Knight. In 1959, Ray Peterson released it as a single. The song became a Top 40 hit for him on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #25. That same year it was recorded by Ronnie Hilton in the United Kingdom, his version reaching #22 on the UK Singles Chart. The Ray Peterson record briefly re-entered the Hot 100 in 1964. In the early 1960s, the Platters also recorded this song, which appeared on a 1970s compilation "The Platters--30 Golden Hits". In 1969, The Sandpipers recorded an album of the same name including the song. An album of instrumentals of the same name by Nelson Riddle was also released in 2000.

Elvis Presley released it as a single on April 20, 1970. Its b-side song was "Mama Liked the Roses". In the United States, both songs charted at #9 together in the spring of 1970, though "The Wonder of You" was one of his most successful records in the UK ever, topping the UK Singles Chart for six weeks in the summer of that year. This was the 59th Top 40 hit of his career. "The Wonder of You" was one of about thirty five songs he would play live in concert, never recording it in a studio. Presley's version also reached number 37 on the US Country Singles chart, and number one on the easy listening chart

It was the first of three singles during his lifetime that were recorded live in concert in Las Vegas, Nevada in February 1970.

Peterson himself relates a telling tale: "He [Elvis] asked me if I would mind if he recorded 'The Wonder of You.' I said, 'You don't have to ask permission; you're Elvis Presley.' He said, 'Yes, I do. You're Ray Peterson.'"

RINGO STARR - YOU'RE 16 (1974) hit #1

Album: Ringo (1973)

My family had the 8-track so when I became a Beatles fan this 8-track was in the home at my grandparents so likely started listening to it by 1982 at age 11. Eventually I had 3 copies of the record.

You're Sixteen" is a song written by the Sherman Brothers (Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman). It was first performed by American rockabilly singer Johnny Burnette, whose version peaked at number eight on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in December 1960 and number 3 in the U.K. in 1961.

In January 1974, a cover version by British musician Ringo Starr hit number one. The latter performance reunited Ringo Starr with his former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney. McCartney is credited on the liner notes of the album Ringo as having played the instrumental solo on a kazoo. Starr's version remains one of the few #1 singles to feature a kazoo solo. Harry Nilsson sang backing vocals on Starr's version.

Ringo is the third album by Ringo Starr, released in 1973 on Apple Records. It peaked at #7 on the UK Albums Chart and #2 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. In Canada, it reached #1 on the RPM national albums chart. The album is noted for the appearance of all four Beatles, and for its numerous guest stars, something which would become a signature for Starr on many of his future albums and tours.

As soon as Starr sent word to all his musician friends to help him in his new venture, they all responded positively. Taking part in the sessions were Marc Bolan, members of The Band, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Nicky Hopkins, Harry Nilsson and Jim Keltner. Additionally, all three of his former bandmates appeared on and composed material for Ringo, and Starr, Lennon and Harrison appear together on the Lennon-penned song "I'm The Greatest".

BILLY JOEL - SHE'S GOT A WAY (1982) hit #23

She's Got a Way" is a song by Billy Joel. The original version is on the 1971 album Cold Spring Harbor, while the remade live version was released as a single from the 1981 album Songs in the Attic and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1982.

After its original recording, Joel no longer appreciated the song as much as he originally had. In a 1981 interview, he said he thought the song was "cornball for years. I had trouble singing it at first. Then I got into it and decided everybody has a corny side, I suppose."

Joshua Ledet covered this song during top 10 week of American Idol season 11.

William Martin "Billy" Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man," in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to the RIAA. He also has the third best-selling album in the United States with his Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2

SUPERTRAMP - ITS RAINING AGAIN (1982)

It's Raining Again" is a song recorded by British pop rock band Supertramp and released as a single from their 1982 album …Famous Last Words…. Its writing credits are given to Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, although as indicated on the album sleeve, it is a Hodgson composition. Like John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles, Hodgson and Davies joined writer's credits from 1974 until 1983, when Hodgson left the band to pursue a solo career.

All of the voices on the studio version of the track were done by Hodgson. In live versions on the accompanying Famous Last Words tour, John Helliwell and Scott Page sang the lower harmonies on stage while Hodgson sang higher parts. The end of the song incorporates the old nursery rhyme "It's Raining, It's Pouring". For the most part, the song is upbeat. It contains a brief melodica solo by Rick Davies, originally thought to be by John Helliwell until proved incorrect by a French radio interview.

The song's video, directed by future Highlander director Russell Mulcahy and conceptualized by Keith Williams, anticipates Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" in multiplicate.

Supertramp are a British rock band formed in 1969 under the name Daddy before renaming themselves in early 1970. Though their music was initially categorised as progressive rock, they have since incorporated a combination of traditional rock and art rock into their music. The band's work is marked by the inventive songwriting of Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson and the distinctive voice of Hodgson. Supertramp were also well known for their prominent use of the Wurlitzer electric piano and saxophone.

While the band's early work was mainstream progressive rock, they would enjoy greater critical and commercial success when they incorporated more conventional and radio-friendly elements into their work in the mid-1970s, going on to sell more than 60 million albums. They reached their peak of commercial success with 1979's Breakfast in America, which has sold more than 20 million copies

THE POLICE - SYNCHRONICITY II (1983) hit #16

Synchronicity II" is a song by The Police, described by People Weekly as "aggressive" and "steely." It was recorded in 1983 and was included on the album Synchronicity. It was released as a single in the UK and the U.S. by A&M Records. The third single from the album, it reached number 17 in the UK Singles Chart and number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1983. It featured the non-album track "Once Upon a Daydream" on the b-side.

The song, which refers to Carl Jung's theory of synchronicity, nominally tells the story of an emasculated husband and harried father whose home, work life, and environment are terrible and depressing. In an early stretch of lyrics we find "Grandmother screaming at the wall" (family trouble/mental illness), as well as "mother chants her litany of boredom and frustration, but we know all her suicides are fake" (nagging, unhappy spouse). Later, we hear about humiliation by his boss ("and every single meeting with his so-called superior/is a humiliating kick in the crotch"), all the while he "knows that something somewhere has to break". Meanwhile something monstrous is emerging from a "dark Scottish lake/loch", a reference to the Loch Ness Monster—a parallel to the father's own inner anguish. In "Synchronicity II" guitarist Andy Summers "forgoes the pretty clean sounds for post-apocalyptic squeals and crashing power chords", writes Matt Blackett in Guitar Player magazine

The music video for the song was directed by Godley & Creme. In it the band are seen performing on top of giant piles of guitars, drums, junk, car parts, wires, etc. with debris and papers flying about, punctuated by footage of Loch Ness for each chorus.

"Synchronicity II" is covered and appears as a playable track on the PlayStation 2 game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. The master track of the song also appears as downloadable content for the music video game series Rock Band and Rocksmith.

PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS - LETTING GO (1975)

Album: Venus And Mars (1975)

I likely had this album by 1983 at age 12 but I spent considerable time playing these songs on the piano and singing the entire album as I had received the guitar/piano songbook in 1984 at Ruth Street making this possibly my most well known album by McCartney. I had no daily song charts pre-1987 so there is documentation on which were my favorite McCartney songs when I first learned his albums.

Letting Go" is a song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney and originally released by Wings on the 1975 album Venus and Mars. The song was released as a single on 4 October 1975 in the United States, and on 18 October 1975 in the United Kingdom. The song peaked at number 41 in the UK, and a slightly better number 39 in the US.

The song was recorded late in 1974 at Abbey Road Studios, before the band went to New Orleans to record the bulk of Venus and Mars. It was one of only three songs recorded with short-term Wings' drummer Geoff Britton before Britton quit the band (the others being "Love in Song" and "Medicine Jar") Authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter called "Letting Go" "one of the best songs on the LP." Robert Rodriguez called it "a strong track topped with a full slab of brass" and noted that it was "one of the Wings' onstage highlights." Authors Roy Carr and Tony Tyler described the song as one of the few "genuinely potent" tracks on Venus and Mars but with respect to the single declare that McCartney "should have taken his advice and let go. This seeks to be composedly heavy but merely succeeds in attaining a considerable degree of ponderosity." In the book The Rough Guide to the Beatles, Chris Ingham considered "Letting Go" to be "an inert sludge rocker," calling it "a disastrous choice for a single

Venus and Mars is the fourth album by Wings. Released as the follow-up to the enormously successful Band on the Run, Venus and Mars continued Wings' string of success and would prove a springboard for a year-long worldwide tour. It was Paul McCartney's first post-Beatles release under the Capitol Records label.

BARRY MANILOW - COULD IT BE MAGIC (1975) hit #6

Could It Be Magic" is a song by Adrienne Anderson and Barry Manilow. It was included on Manilow's 1973 debut album, Barry Manilow.

Due to its popularity, it was released as a single in 1975, two years after it had originally been recorded, where it reached #6 in the United States.

Manilow's recording begins and ends with an excerpt of Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C Minor, Opus 28, Number 20. The whole song is based on the harmonic scheme of Chopin's prelude. The "sweet Melissa" is a nod to singer Melissa Manchester.

The song has been covered by a number of other artists over the years, most successfully by Donna Summer in 1976 and UK boy band Take That in the early 1990s. Manilow himself re-recorded an up-tempo version of the song in 1993, using the original orchestration of brass and strings combined with new drums, bass and synthesizers, and included it on the album Greatest Hits: The Platinum Collection. An extended remix of the 1993 version was issued as a promotional 12" single.

Barry Manilow (born June 17, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter and producer. He is best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana (At the Copa)."

In 1978, five of his albums were on the best-selling charts simultaneously, a feat equalled only by Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Mathis. He has recorded a string of Billboard hit singles and multi-platinum albums that have resulted in his being named Radio & Records number one Adult Contemporary artist and winning three straight American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist. Between 1974 - 1983 Manilow had three number 1 singles and 25 that reached the top 40. Several well-known entertainers have praised Manilow, including Sinatra, who was quoted in the 1970s saying, "He's next." In 1988, Bob Dylan stopped Manilow at a party, hugged him and said, "Don't stop what you're doing, man. We're all inspired by you

RINGO STARR - I WAS WALKING (1998)

Album: Vertical Man (1998)

August 11th 1998 - my #1 favorite daily song for 38 days at age 27 I bought this brand new CD by Ringo while on the road with Marilyn touring full time for 5 years now and selling now on ebay for 3 months.

Vertical Man is Ringo Starr's 11th studio album, issued in 1998. The release represents Starr's attempt at a comeback following the enormous success of The Beatles Anthology project. Like some of his best-loved projects, Starr would engage the help of many of his musician friends in making Vertical Man.

Following 1992's Time Takes Time, Starr began a musical partnership with musician and songwriter Mark Hudson which lasted until a split during the sessions for what would become Liverpool 8. The album being "Re-Produced" by Dave Stewart, Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick to mix the tracks, with Starr and Hudson producing, Vertical Man was cut sporadically mostly in 1997. Among the celebrity guests were Scott Weiland, Brian Wilson, Alanis Morissette, Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Petty, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler (with whom Hudson had composed "Livin' On The Edge"), and last but not least, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

With The Beatles' fame having extended to newer and younger fans, thanks to the recent Anthology, it was reasoned that Starr would benefit from the exposure; McCartney's Flaming Pie had done very well upon its 1997 release. With Starr newly signed to a worldwide major label deal with Mercury Records, he was hoping for a similar reaction.

Released in June 1998 - with "La De Da" as the lead single - Vertical Man received average reviews and reached number 61 in the US, the highest peaking album by Starr since 1976's Ringo's Rotogravure. In the UK, the album bubbled below the official Top 75, reaching number 85 there. Although the reaction was encouraging, it was ultimately not enough to make Vertical Man or "La De Da" a hit. The album was no longer distributed shortly after 2000.