Year 8, Day 142

Hey guys. Today's song is One Fine Day by The Chiffons. 

The Chiffons are an American girl group active since 1960 with members including Judy Craig, Patricia Bennett, Connie Harvey, Barbara Lee, and Sylvia Peterson. It started off with schoolmates Craig, Bennett, and Lee then adding Peterson in 1962. They got the name while recording their first hit He's So Fine which went gold (platinum by today's standards) following by the album of the same name, then the release of their second album named after this song. They released two singles in 1963 under the name the Four Pennies, but abandoned that when the Chiffon's success started coming. Through the 60's Peterson took on a lead role for many songs and the group, through some business issues, kept touring before their popularity kind of waned, only earning minor hits up to 1968. With the lack of success and constant touring, Craig left the group by 1970, getting a normal 9 to 5 - a move that was soon followed by the other three who got regular jobs, but still did shows on the weekend. After a while Peterson also left, being replaced by a round robin of friends of the group. Peterson rejoined the group in the 80's, then in the 90's Lee passed away leading to Craig returning to the group. Shortly after that Peterson left again, officially retiring, and was replaced with Connie Harvey. As of now Harvey has decided to go solo and Bennett has retired, leaving the only active member as Judy Craig, although I don't forsee anything happening in the future. In any event you can listen to this song and enjoy it, as I often do.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 141

Hey guys. Today's song is Downtown by Petula Clark. 

Photo by: Lindeboom, Henk/Anefo

Petula Clark is a British singer/actress/composer active since 1940. Petula is actually a stage name, with her real name being Sally Clark. She did a bit of stuff before, but her career actually started when she was a kid during WW2. The BBC was running a radio thing for kids to send messages over the air to family service members, but an air raid happened and the kids were starting to freak out, so the producer asked for a volunteer to perform to calm everyone down, and Petula volunteered to sing. They like her voice so much that they recorded it, and it led to 500 shows of her performing for the troops, and other radio spots, and soon became known as Britain's Shirley Temple and became a mascot for the Army. She was cast in her first movie in 1944 which was a war drama followed by a bunch of other movies for her. In 1949 Polygon Records formed and she recorded her first songs there, including her first big hit, before the label was sold and became a new label at which she stayed into the 70's. She did lots of touring in the 60's and focused her career more in France, leading to he British career to kind on wane. Composer Tony Hatch tried showing her a bunch of songs she could do, and she didn't care for them at all, but on a whim he played a melody he was writing, which would later become this song and became a hit all over the world. Over her whole career she has 46 albums listed which is crazy, even keeping in mind that most "albums" early in her career were minuscule compared to today's standards. She also has live albums, compilations, EPs, and German, Italian, French, Spanish singles along with her other ones. Plus she has about 30 acting credits. Her career is so full and long (80 years) which I why I'm skipping most of it so I'm not here for hours writing about her, but seriously look it up if you're curious. There's just so much.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 140

Hey guys. Today's song is Chapel Of Love by The Dixie Cups.

Photo by: Albert Herring

The Dixie Cups are an American girl group active since the 60's. It started as a family trio: sisters Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee Hawkins and their cousin Joan Marie Johnson. They had a couple of names besides The Dixie Cups, first supposed to be known as Little Miss and the Muffets and were called The Meltones starting in 1963. Another singer signed on as their manager and got them signed, then in 1964, prior to releasing this song, they changed the name to The Dixie Cups. Fun Fact: this song was actually supposed to be for another group named The Ronettes. They had a couple other hits, then moved to a new label in 1965, but went on a hiatus in 1966. The sisters went on to have modeling careers and also work as makeup artists, but Joan left the group and music all together. The sister toured with a new third member in Beverly Brown, who had done some solo stuff before. Brown was with the group until she got sick in the 80's, then was replaced with Athelgra Neville, who has family also in the music business. The group was inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame in 2007 for their previous works, and has actually released a newer album from 2011 to go along with the ones from 1964 and 1965. While the group is still technically around unfortunately one of the sisters Rosa Lee Hawkins passed away early this year so currently the members include Barbara Ann Hawkins and Athelgra Neville Gabriel. So my condolences to the group and thank you for the music you've given us.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 139

Hey guys. Today's song is Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez.

Photo by: Gus Philippas of WFUV Public Radio

Stephen Sanchez is an American musician active since 2020. He started by posting a cover of a Cage the Elephant song on TikTok which earned him a following. Then he posted a piece of one of his songs, leading to another artist named Jeremy Zucker offering to produce it, which he did, and then led to Sanchez getting a record deal. He released his debut EP in 2021, and has since released a second one this year which is where this song is from. Now the female voice on this isn't listed so I don't actually know who it is accompanying him. The girl in the video is actress and model Jeri Mae James, but I don't think it's actually her singing. There is also a version of this song that features Em Beihold, but it also isn't her on the chorus here. So I guess for now we'll just appreciate Sanchez and the nameless woman who sang with him.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 138

Hey guys. Today's song is When The Night Is Over by Lord Huron.

Photo by: Gus Philippas of WFUV Public Radio

Lord Huron is an American band active since 2010. Currently it's made up of Ben Schneider, Mark Barry, Miguel Briseño, and Tom Renaud with past members including Brett Farkas, Peter Mowry, Karl Kerfoot, and Anne Williamson. It started as a solo project from Schneider, with him releasing a couple EPs on his own. The other members slowly joined as he needed people for playing shows. The first album was released in 2012, followed by another in 2015, than another in 2018. In 2020 they did a couple of live-stream shows for their fans before releasing their fourth album in 2021. Fun Fact: The band name is inspired by Lake Huron, which Schneider used to visit as a kid. I'm pretty sure I've featured them before so this shouldn't be new to most of you, but if it is I hope you enjoy it.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 137

Hey guys. Today's song is Act One: The Queen Of Fiji by Crywolf.

So Crywolf (not to be confused with the 80's hair metal band Cry Wolf) is American singer/producer/instrumentalist Justin Taylor Phillips. His YouTube has been active since 2011 and he started posting actively to SoundCloud in 2013. Based on the listings on Apple, he has an EP from 2013, two EPs released in 2014 and one in 2015. He also has a bunch of albums listed and a new EP out this year so there's quite a bit to check out. Specifically this song I've had saved for a really long time to show you guys, I just never got around to it, so finally it's up for you to listen to. Enjoy.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 136

Hey guys. Today's song is No Going Back by Yuno.

Yuno is Carlton Moodie, an American singer active since 2010 when he started releasing music on Bandcamp, though he officially started using Yuno as his moniker in 2012. He was approached by a label and was signed, releasing his debut EP in 2018 which is where this song is from. He does have at least one more song credit since then from 2021 so he's still around. Check him out if you're curious.

Peace.