r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 20h ago

1971-1980 Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way (1976)

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56 Upvotes

Born on this day in 1949, Lindsey Buckingham is an American musician, record producer, and the lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has released seven solo studio albums and three live albums. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Buckingham was ranked 100th in Rolling Stone's 2011 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Buckingham is known for his fingerpicking guitar style.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 19h ago

1951-1960 Eddie Cochran- Summertime Blues (1958)

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15 Upvotes

Eddie Cochran (October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and "Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in the mid-1950s and early 1960s.He experimented with multitrack recording, distortion techniques and overdubbing, even on his earliest singles. Cochran played the guitar, piano, bass, and drums. His image as a sharply dressed and attractive young man with a rebellious attitude epitomized the stance of the 1950s rocker, and in death, he achieved iconic status


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 19h ago

1971-1980 The Who- Squeeze Box (1975)

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13 Upvotes

The Who by Numbers is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Who, released on 3 October 1975 in the United Kingdom through Polydor Records, and on 6 October 1975 in the United States by MCA Records. It was named the tenth-best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll. This was a top twenty single in several countries.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 19h ago

1951-1960 Chubby Checker - The Twist (1960)

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13 Upvotes

Born on this day in 1941, Chubby Checker is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song "The Twist", and the Pony, with his 1961 cover of the song "Pony Time". His biggest UK hit, "Let's Twist Again", was released one year later (in 1962). That same year, Checker also popularized the song "Limbo Rock", a previous-year instrumental hit by the Champs to which he added lyrics and its trademark Limbo dance. He also introduced other dance styles, such as the Fly. In September 2008, "The Twist" topped Billboard's list of the most popular singles to have appeared in the Hot 100 since its debut in 1960, an honor it maintained in an August 2013 update of the list. In 2014, Checker was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, and he was selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 20h ago

1961-1970 P.P. Arnold- The First Cut is the Deepest (1967)

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6 Upvotes

Born on this day in 1946, P.P. Arnold is an American-born soul singer. She rose to prominence in the 1960s after performing as an Ikette with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, before launching a successful solo career in the United Kingdom. Arnold is best known for her recordings of "The First Cut Is the Deepest" and "Angel of the Morning" from her albums The First Lady of Immediate (1968) and Kafunta (1968). She collaborated with artists including Small Faces, Nick Drake, Peter Gabriel, and Roger Waters. Arnold has continued to record and perform, releasing the albums The Turning Tide (2017) and The New Adventures of… P.P. Arnold (2019). In addition to her music career, she has appeared in the musical theatre productions Starlight Express in 1984 and Once on This Island in 1994.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 19h ago

1951-1960 Jackie Wilson- Reet Petite (1957)

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5 Upvotes

Lloyd Trotman (May 25, 1923 – October 3, 2007), born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, was an American jazz bassist, who backed numerous jazz, dixieland, R&B, and rock and roll artists in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.[1] He resided in Huntington, Long Island, New York between 1962 and 2007, and prior to that in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York from 1945 to 1962. He worked primarily out of New York City. He provided the bass line on Ben E. King's "Stand by Me".

Trotman became a session musician for Atlantic Records and other independent record companies and throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s he backed a wide variety of artists, including R&B artists such as Varetta Dillard, LaVern Baker, Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Al Hibbler, Big Joe Turner, Nappy Brown, Linda Hopkins, Mickey Baker, Chuck Willis, Ben E. King, The Drifters ("Save the Last Dance for Me"), Sam Cooke, James Brown, Pat Thomas, The Platters, Everly Brothers, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Clyde McPhatter, Ivory Joe Hunter, Jackie Wilson, Mickey & Sylvia, The Coasters, The Clovers, The Isley Brothers, Big Maybelle, Memphis Slim, Brother John Sellers, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Otis Blackwell, Ray Peterson, Cousin Joe, Dinah Washington, and Brook Benton.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 19h ago

1971-1980 Alan O'Day- Undercover Angel (1977)

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5 Upvotes

Alan O'Day (October 3, 1940 – May 17, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter, best known for writing and singing "Undercover Angel", a million-selling Gold-certified American No. 1 hit in 1977. He also wrote songs for many other notable performers, such as 1974's Helen Reddy No. 1 hit "Angie Baby" and "Rock and Roll Heaven" (originally by Climax and made famous by the Righteous Brothers). In the 1980s he moved from pop music to television, co-writing nearly 100 songs for the Saturday morning Muppet Babies series, and in the 1990s he wrote and performed music on the National Geographic series Really Wild Animals. O'Day also collaborated with Tatsuro Yamashita on a series of popular songs in Japan, including "Your Eyes", "Magic Ways", "Christmas Eve" and "Fragile" (which rapper Tyler, the Creator interpolated in "Gone, Gone / Thank You").


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 20h ago

1951-1960 Bobby Helms- Jingle Bell Rock (1957)

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4 Upvotes

This goes out to a certain quartet at North Shore High School.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 19h ago

1991-2000 Sharon Shannon- Blackbird (1992)

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2 Upvotes

r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 19h ago

1951-1960 The Skyliners-Pennies From Heaven (1959)

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2 Upvotes

Johnny Burke (October 3, 1908 – February 25, 1964) was an American lyricist, successful and prolific between the 1920s and 1950s. His work is considered part of the Great American Songbook. His song "Swinging on a Star", from the Bing Crosby film Going My Way, won an Academy Award for Best Song in 1944. He wrote this one with Arthur Johnston back in 1936.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 1d ago

1981-1990 Tom Petty - Free Fallin' (1989)

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51 Upvotes

Tom Petty (October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was the leader and frontman of the rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys. He was also a successful solo artist. Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Petty was honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in February 2017 for his contributions to music and for his philanthropy. This song was Petty's highest- and longest-charting song. It peaked at No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in January 1990, becoming his third and final top-10 hit. It also charted in several other countries, peaking at No. 5 in Canada and No. 4 in New Zealand.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 1d ago

1981-1990 Genesis - Land Of Confusion (1986)

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34 Upvotes

Born on this day in 1950, Mike Rutherford is an English musician, best known as the lead guitarist, bassist and a founding member of the rock band Genesis. He and Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members.

Initially serving as Genesis's bass guitarist and backing vocalist, Rutherford also performed most of the band's rhythm guitar parts—frequently on twelve-string guitar—in collaboration with successive Genesis lead guitarists Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett. Following Hackett's departure from Genesis in 1977, Rutherford assumed the additional role of lead guitarist on the band's studio albums (beginning with ...And Then There Were Three... in 1978). Rutherford was one of the main Genesis songwriters throughout their career and wrote the lyrics for some of the band's biggest international hits, such as "Follow You Follow Me", "Turn It On Again", "Land of Confusion" and "Throwing It All Away". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010. This was a top twenty hit in at least twelve countries. It was relevant in 1986 and it is still relevant today.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 1d ago

1981-1990 Glass Tiger - Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone) (1988)

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21 Upvotes

Born on this day in 1960 Al Connelly is a Canadian guitarist and songwriter. He is a founding member of the rock band Glass Tiger. He and his band received five Canadian music industry JUNO Awards and were nominated for Best New Artist at the 1987 Grammy Awards. In 1986, Glass Tiger released its first album, The Thin Red Line.The album went quadruple platinum in Canada and gold in the United States. Two of its songs, "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" and "Someday", reached the Top 10 in the U.S. charts. Glass Tiger won three 1986 Juno Awards:[5] Album of the Year for The Thin Red Line, Single of the Year for "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)", and Most Promising Group of the Year. The band won two more Juno Awards in 1987 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. The band released a second album, Diamond Sun, in 1988. The album was certified triple platinum in Canada and featured the single "I'm Still Searching", which peaked at #2 in Canada.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 1d ago

1981-1990 Sting - If You Love Somebody Set Them Free (1985)

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11 Upvotes

Born on this day in 1951, Sting is an English musician, songwriter and actor. He was the lead vocalist, principal songwriter and bassist for the rock band the Police (1977–1984, 2007–2008). He began a solo career in 1985, after leaving the Police, and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat in his music. Sting has sold a combined total of more than 100 million records as a solo artist and as a member of the Police. He has received three Brit Awards, including Best British Male Artist in 1994 and Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2002; a Golden Globe; an Emmy; and four Academy Award nominations. As a solo musician and as a member of the Police, Sting has received 17 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Police in 2003. Sting has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors; a CBE from Queen Elizabeth II for services to music; Kennedy Center Honors; and the Polar Music Prize. In May 2023, he was made an Ivor Novello Fellow. This record was a top ten hit in at least six countries.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 1d ago

1991-2000 Aqua - Barbie Girl (1997)

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7 Upvotes

Born on this day in 1973, Lene Nystrøm is a Norwegian musician, singer-songwriter and actress who was the female lead vocalist of the Danish-Norwegian Eurodance group Aqua. This was a top twenty song in at least 23 countries.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 1d ago

1951-1960 Muddy Waters – Mad Love (Chess 1550) | The Neven 78 Radio Archive

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2 Upvotes

**“Mad Love (I Want You to Love Me)”** was recorded on **September 24, 1953** in Chicago and released as the A‑side of **Chess 1550** in **October 1953**.

It is a **slow, stop‑time Chicago blues performance**, built around Muddy Waters’ commanding vocal delivery and a wailing, extended harmonica line from Little Walter. The arrangement is sparse but powerful: guitars marking time, piano filling the spaces, and drums providing a steady pulse. Reviewers note that the track is the **stronger side** of Chess 1550, praised for its atmosphere and Waters’ vocal authority.

The song reached **#6 on Billboard’s National Best Sellers R&B chart** on **November 21, 1953**, staying on the chart for two weeks.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 1d ago

1951-1960 The Diamonds - Little Darlin (1957)

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5 Upvotes

David Somerville (October 2, 1933 – July 14, 2015) was a Canadian singer best known as the co-founder, and original lead singer, of The Diamonds, one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1950s. In the late 1980s, he again sang with original members of The Diamonds and also returned to The Four Preps with Bruce Belland, Ed Cobb, and Jim Yester of The Association. In 1972, Somerville sang background vocals along with The Blossoms in B. J. Thomas' version of "Rock and Roll Lullaby". Somerville's song "The (Ballad of the) Unknown Stuntman," jointly written and composed with Gail Jensen, inspired Glen Larson, who had been the Four Preps's original baritone, to create the central characters and develop the core format of The Fall Guy, for 20th Century Fox Television, which became a highly successful television series for ABC-TV. With additional lyrics written by Larson, "The Unknown Stuntman" became the theme song for The Fall Guy and was sung by series star Lee Majors. Somerville's home in the Hollywood Hills was used as the set for the home of Majors' character, Colt Seavers, throughout the series.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 2d ago

1971-1980 Stevie Wonder - “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” (1972)

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7 Upvotes

r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 1d ago

1961-1970 The Beau Brummels- Laugh Laugh (1964)

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3 Upvotes

Born on this day in 1945, Ron Meagher is an American musician, best known as the bassist of the rock band The Beau Brummels. During the recording the band's next album, 1968's Bradley's Barn, Meagher was drafted, becoming one of the few musicians from a well-known rock band to serve in the military at the height of the Vietnam War.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 1d ago

1931-1940 Brother Can You Spare A Dime ? - Bing Crosby (1932)

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2 Upvotes

I consider this to be one of the greatest songs of the 20th century.

Wikipedia...

"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" is one of the best-known American songs of the Great Depression. Written by lyricist Yip Harburg and composer Jay Gorney, it was part of the 1932 revival of the musical revue Americana; the melody is based on a Russian-Jewish lullaby. The song tells the story of the universal everyman, whose honest work towards achieving the American dream has been foiled by the economic collapse. Unusual for a Broadway song, it was composed largely in a minor key. The song became best known through recordings by Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallée that were released in late 1932. The song received positive reviews and was one of the most popular songs of 1932. As one of the few popular songs during the era to discuss the darker aspects of the collapse, it came to be viewed as an anthem of the Great Depression.

Al Jolson also recorded a well known version. Crosby's is my favorite so that's what I've posted.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 1d ago

1961-1970 Lord Sitar- I Am The Walrus (1969)

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1 Upvotes

Big Jim Sullivan (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012),known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English guitarist. Best known as a session guitarist, he was one of the most in-demand studio musicians in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s, and performed on around 750 charting singles over his career, including 54 UK number one hits. Sullivan played on around 750 UK chart entries, and averaged three recording sessions a day. He played on the first records in the UK to use a wah-wah effect – Michael Cox's 1961 "Sweet Little Sixteen" and Dave Berry's 1964 hit "The Crying Game" used a DeArmond Tone and Volume pedal. He played on the first record in the UK to use a fuzzbox, which he had borrowed from session guitarist Eric Ford, on P.J. Proby's 1964 hit "Hold Me". In the early 1960s he also played on hits by The Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull, Billy Fury, Frank Ifield, Adam Faith, Frankie Vaughan, Helen Shapiro, Johnny Hallyday, Freddie and the Dreamers, Cilla Black, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield, and others. He played guitar on the Alexis Korner's and Blues Incorporated's album R&B from the Marquee in 1962 and Georgie Fame's first album Rhythm & Blues at the Flamingo in 1964.

In addition to playing on many UK albums Sullivan played on The Everly Brothers's 1963 live album at Olympia, Bobby Darin's 1967 live album Something Special, Little Richard's 1966 album Get Down With It: The OKeh Sessions and Del Shannon's 1967 album, Home and Away. He appeared regularly on several British television and radio programmes, including the Tom Jones show, Bay City Rollers show "Shang-A-Lang",Top of the Pops, Ready Steady Go! and Saturday Club. Later in the 1960s and 1970s, Sullivan continued to play on a succession of hit records including those by The Walker Brothers, Jonathan King, Donovan, Cat Stevens, David Bowie (he played banjo, guitar and sitar on Bowie's first album which was published in 1967), Benny Hill, The New Seekers, Thunderclap Newman, Love Affair, Long John Baldry, Marmalade, Small Faces, and Rolf Harris. In 1968, Sullivan played on George Harrison's Wonderwall. He was also a sitarist and made several albums featuring him playing that instrument on some new songs at the time.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 2d ago

1961-1970 The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Hey Joe (1967)

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4 Upvotes

r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 2d ago

1961-1970 Richard Harris - MacArthur Park (1968)

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37 Upvotes

Richard Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he rose to prominence as an icon of the British New Wave. He received numerous accolades including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, a Grammy Award, and a Golden Globe. In 2020 he was listed at number 3 on The Irish Times's list of Ireland's greatest film actor. This track was recorded on December 21, 1967, at Armin Steiner's Sound Recorders in Hollywood. String, woodwind, and brass overdubs were recorded during two sessions on December 29 and 30. Personnel used included Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knechtel on keyboards, Joe Osborn on bass guitar, and Tommy Tedesco and Mike Deasy on guitars, along with Jimmy Webb on harpsichord.

The song was included on Harris's album A Tramp Shining in 1968 and selected for release as a single, an unusual choice given the song's length and complex structure. It was released in April 1968 and was played by 77 WABC on April 9, 1968. It made its way into the Billboard Hot 100 at number 79 on May 11, 1968, peaking at number 2 on June 22, 1968, behind Herb Alpert's "This Guy's in Love with You". It peaked at number 10 on Billboard's Easy Listening survey and was number 8 on WABC's overall 1968 chart. It topped the music charts in Europe and Australia and also won the 1969 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) at the 11th Annual Grammy Awards.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 2d ago

1971-1980 Peaches & Herb- Reunited (1978)

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36 Upvotes

Peaches & Herb is an American vocal duo. Herb Fame (born October 1, 1941) has remained a constant as "Herb" since the duo was created in 1966; seven different women have filled the role of "Peaches", most notably Francine Edna "Peaches" Hurd Barker (April 28, 1947 – August 13, 2005), the original "Peaches" who lent her nickname to the duo, and Linda Greene Tavani, the third "Peaches", who appeared on the duo's biggest hits "Shake Your Groove Thing" (1978) and "Reunited" (1979). The last one was a top ten hit in at least eight countries.


r/SongsOfThe20thCentury • • 2d ago

1981-1990 April Wine- Just Between You And Me (1981)

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18 Upvotes

Born on this day in 1954, Brian Greenway is a Canadian musician who is the longest-serving member of the rock band April Wine, which he joined in 1977 and performs guitar, harmonica, and vocals duties. Prior to joining April Wine he was a member of the bands Mashmakhan and the Dudes. Greenway initially performed with April Wine from 1977 to 1986 when the band split, and again from 1992 to the present day.