Beyond The 60s

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...