Beyond The 60s

Dixon House Band   "Sooner Or Later" Dixon House Band was an obscure rock group that released one album and two singles in 1979. Taking their name from leader Edward Dixon House, the group sounded a bit like Styx, but had more in common with Heart, since both groups hailed from Seattle, had a female guitar player and were produced by Mike Flicker. Unfortunately Dixon House Band never had any of Heart's mainstream success. I remember hearing our spotlight song "Sooner Or Later" a few times on FM radio in the late 70s. It's a great mid-tempo rocker, with crystal clear production. Released as the second single from their lone album, it should've been a hit.

Jigsaw   "Sky High" This song was a huge #3 hit in the summer of 1975 that seemingly came from out of nowhere. But the British band Jigsaw had been around since the late 60s and  had some hits in Europe. In 1974 US listeners got a taste of what was to come when Bo Donaldson And The Heywoods had a top 20 hit with "Who Do You Think You Are" a song written by Jigsaw members Des Dyer and Clive Scott. This same duo also wrote the smooth and breezy "Sky High" But the success was short lived in The US. Their follow-up "Love Fire" was their only other single to make the top 40, peaking at #30 in early 76.

Dennis Coffey And The Detroit Guitar Band   "Taurus" Dennis worked behind the scenes as a session guitarist for Motown Records, playing on late 60's hits by The Temptations, The Supremes and others. In the fall of 1971 he released "Scorpio" a funky guitar driven instrumental which went top 10 on both the pop and RnB charts. For his follow-up single Dennis didn't have to look far for a title, he simply went over to the other end of the zodiac and called it "Taurus" Also an instrumental "Taurus" while not as successful as "Scorpio" did well peaking at #18 in early 1972. That was pretty much it for the hits and Dennis went on to produce for fellow Detroiters Gallery who hit big with "Nice To Be With You"

Simon Stokes   "Captain Howdy" Cult singer Simon Stokes has been compared to Captain Beefheart and has worked with Wayne Kramer and Timothy Leary. A fringe artist active in the 60s and 70s, he did manage to get a couple of songs to chart low on the Hot 100. In 1974 Simon Stokes signed to Casablanca records. Along with Kiss and Parliament, Stokes was one of the first acts signed to the label. "Captain Howdy" was released as a single in the spring of 1974.

Slave    "Slide" Along with The Ohio Players and several others, Slave emerged from the Dayton, Ohio funk scene and gained national attention. Signed to Atlantic Records' Cotillion label they released their first LP in the spring of 1977. "Slide" was the lead single from that LP, though heavily edited, it sold well, making #1 on the RnB charts, and #32 on The Hot 100.

Donovan      "I Like You" If there's one artist who's synonymous with the love and peace hippie culture of the 60s, it's Donovan. Donovan racked up a dozen top 40 hits in the 60s, but once the calendar turned to 1970 the hits dried up, and just like that Donovan was yesterday's news. Ironically some of the artists of the singer-songwriter movement of the early 70s, who were putting out hits left and right, were not that much different than Donovan was early in his career as a folkie troubadour. Donovan's huge success in the 60s is a combination of making the right music at the right time and teaming up with legendary record producer Mickie Most. When Donovan and Most parted ways in 1969 the hits dried up. But Donovan was not done yet, he continued to release records well into the 70s. Most of his 70s work is worth a listen. "I Like You" is Donovan's last song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. It managed to climb to #66 in the spring of 1...

Hudson   "Leavin' It's Over" This single is actually an early release by The Hudson Brothers, who found fame in the latter half of the 70s as teenage heartthrobs. In 1970 they released an album on Decca Records as Everyday Hudson. In 1971 they changed their name to 'Hudson' and in 1972 they signed to the newly formed Playboy Records. In 1974 they became The Hudson Brothers, signed to Casablanca records, and their career really took off. "Leavin' It's Over" is a great rock song with a nice blend of acoustic and electric guitars that should've been a hit. It was released on the Playboy label in Feb. 1972, but only peaked at #110 on Billboard's Bubbling Under chart .

John Hall Band   "Crazy (Keep On Falling)" John Hall was a member of the 70s soft rock group Orleans, which had 3 major hits "Dance With Me", "Still The One" and "Love Takes Time" In the early 80s Hall formed the John Hall Band who released 2 albums and 5 singles. Only one of the singles made an impact "Crazy (Keep On Falling)" Its a straight ahead moderate rock song that made #42 in late 81. John has always had plenty of other interests besides music, his long time interest in activism in various causes led to him serving a term in the US Congress from 2007-11.

Ted Nugent    "Hey Baby" The words '45 RPM single and Ted Nugent' are rarely mentioned in the same sentence, being as Ted was a major presence on AOR radio for a good part of the 70s and early 80s. But Ted Nugent has released quite a few singles over the years.  He first gained national attention as lead guitarist and leading light of The Amboy Dukes, who's psychedelic "Journey To The Center Of The Mind" made top 20 in 1968. In 1975 Ted released his eponymous  debut album on Epic Records.  The album was a huge success and went platinum. "Stranglehold" is the most famous track on the LP, but "Hey Baby" was issued as a single and charted at #72 on Billboard in the spring of '76. In another year and a half Ted would have a #30 hit on his hands with "Cat Scratch Fever"

Stories   "Brother Louie" The band Stories will always be remembered for "Brother Louie" their cover of a Hot Chocolate song that went to #1 in the summer of 73. But the 'story' doesn't end there. This was a talented and versatile band, capable of belting out Paul McCartney style rockers, delicate baroque style songs, or something in between that could be called progressive, sort of like what Ambrosia would release a few years out. Led by Michael Brown on keys, ex of  The Left Banke who hit big in the 60s with "Walk Away Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina" and Ian Lloyd on vocals. Lloyds vocal style was a bit like Rod Stewart's with less gravel. Stories are basically a one hit wonder band, but they had a few other charting singles. "I'm Coming Home" their first single was out in the summer of '72 and peaked at #42 on Billboard. It's the closest thing to another hit Stories had. All three of their albums and  seve...

Fotomaker   "Miles Away" It sure sounded good on paper. Two former members of 60s hitmakers The Rascals, and a former member of the early 70s power pop band The Raspberries teaming up with two others and signing to Atlantic Records, who had released the bulk of The Rascals hits and had a large stable of successful rock bands on their roster. But it wasn't meant to be. Fotomaker released 3 albums in the late 70s that weren't successful. I don't think the album covers helped sales at all. Their debut features the face of an androgynous child on the cover, the second LPs' even weirder cover shows an elderly man wearing a court jester's cap. But Fotomaker did manage to get a couple of records on The Hot 100, that's two more than other similar hard luck acts Crack The Sky and Artful Dodger did. "Miles Away" is probably Fotomaker's most well known song. It peaked at #63 on Billboard in late 1978. It's a really good song, that should...

Michael Murphey "Geronimo's Cadillac" For many people, their only exposure to Michael Murphey is via his 1975 top 5 hit "Wildfire" While there's no denying "Wildfire" is a great song, Michael Martin Murphey (He started using his full name in the early 80s) is so much more than that one song. Through most of the 70s MMM straddled the line between edgy soft rock and country & western, with an emphasis on western. Most of his 80s work is more C&W oriented. Far from a one-hit wonder, MMM placed a total of five singles on The Hot 100. Including todays spotlight song, his first single from the summer of 1972. Released on A&M Records, it peaked at #37 on The Hot 100. By '72 MMM was already an old hand in the music biz, having had some chart success as a member of The Lewis And Clarke Expedition, and writing songs for acts such as The Monkees, Flatt & Scruggs, and Kenny Rogers. Though "Geronimo's Cadillac is not my favorite M...

  Jo Jo Gunne   "Ready Freddy"                           Today the spotlight shines on Jo Jo Gunne. Led by Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes ex of Spirit, Jo Jo Gunne  had a more mainstream hard rock sound than their former band, and along with Jackson Browne and the Eagles were one of the first acts signed to the newly formed Asylum Records label. Jo Jo Gunne can definitely be considered a one-hit-wonder since their most well known song "Run Run Run" is their only entry on The Hot 100; it made #27 in 1972. After it was all said and done the band released 4 albums and 6 singles.  "Ready Freddy" was released as the lead single in the spring of 1973 from their second album "Bite Down Hard" It's a nice slice of moderately hard rock with a balance of keys and guitars. By this time Mark Andes was gone, he would soon j...

It's a given that much of the greatest music of all time was released from 1964 to around 1972 or 73. This is the golden era where the 45 was king and AM radio was the go-to place to hear these great songs. But things really started changing in the early 70s as FM gradually replaced AM as the place to hear good music. The 45 gave way to the LP, and longer more sophisticated songs became the norm. Artists liked this in that they weren't restricted by the 3:00 de facto length of a 45 single. For me a lot of this "artistic freedom" was too much of a good thing. With boring drum solos and self indulgent instrumental breaks and passages, a lot of songs were a long way away from the basic verse chorus verse that was the hallmark of many great songs just a few short years prior. But good singles were still being released, you just rarely heard them on AM radio anymore. Many of these songs were edited down to keep them close to 3:00 which wasn't always a good thing. Stil...