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August 21, 2026 —– Chart #364 Hello Music Friends, The most famous father-and-son conversation in popular music is not about a father and son. It’s about the Russian Revolution. I’ll give you a minute with that one. In 1969 Cat Stevens was writing a musical called Revolussia, set in 1917 Russia, about a boy who wants to run off and join the revolution over the objections of his conservative farmer father. “Father and Son” was… Read more: FATHER AND SON

August 14, 2026 —– Chart #363 Hello Music Friends, Herb Alpert had a question he liked to ask great songwriters, and it’s a beauty: is there a song tucked away in your drawer somewhere — one that never got the right recording — that you still find yourself whistling in the shower? He put that question to Burt Bacharach over the phone one day in 1968. Burt reached into the drawer. What came out went… Read more: THIS GUY’S IN LOVE WITH YOU

August 7, 2026 —– Chart #362 Hello Music Friends, Rusty Young was hired to be the guy in Poco who didn’t sing. That was the deal. He played the pedal steel, the banjo, the dobro — all the instruments that make a country-rock band sound like a country-rock band and none of the ones that get you on the radio. So naturally, the only monster hit Poco ever had is a song Rusty Young wrote… Read more: CRAZY LOVE

July 31, 2026 —– Chart #361 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week we are going deep into soul music with one of the great heartbreak songs ever recorded. Today’s feature is “The Dark End of the Street” by James Carr. This is not a happy little toe-tapper. Nobody is driving to the beach in this song. Nobody is ordering nachos. This one lives in the shadows,… Read more: THE DARK END OF THE STREET

July 24, 2026 —– Chart #360 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week we are going all the way back to the early days of rock and roll with one of the greats. Today’s feature is “Ain’t That a Shame” by Fats Domino. And before we are done, we are also going to tip our hats to Cheap Trick, who came along years later, plugged the song… Read more: AIN’T THAT A SHAME

July 17, 2026 —– Chart #359 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week we are returning to Van Morrison, and that is never a bad place to go. Today’s feature is “Bright Side of the Road,” a terrific Van Morrison song from his 1979 album Into the Music. It is upbeat, soulful, joyful, and just plain fun to hear. Some Van songs make you stare out the… Read more: BRIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD

July 10, 2026 —– Chart #358 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week’s selection is a little different from many of the songs I feature here. It is a little racy, a little suggestive, and not exactly the kind of tune you would expect to hear at vacation Bible school. But it is catchy, it was a huge hit, and it features one of the most distinctive… Read more: TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT

July 3, 2026 —– Chart #357 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. Since this one lands on July 3rd, right before Independence Day, I thought we needed something with a little red, white, blue, and maybe a brown paper bag in the back of a pickup truck. Today’s feature is “Family Tradition” by Hank Williams Jr., also known far and wide as Bocephus. That nickname came from his… Read more: FAMILY TRADITION

June 26, 2026 —– Chart #356 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week we are going back to 1967 for a song that is fun, clever, and just a little bit unusual for the artists who recorded it. Today’s feature is “I Dig Rock and Roll Music” by Peter, Paul and Mary. Now, when most folks think of Peter, Paul and Mary, they probably think of folk… Read more: I DIG ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC

June 19, 2026 —– Chart #355 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week we are taking a little break from tradition. Most of the songs I feature here come from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, with an occasional toe-dip into the 80s if the song behaves itself and doesn’t show up wearing parachute pants. But this week we are jumping all the way forward to the 1990s.… Read more: ALL FOR YOU

June 12, 2026 —– Chart #354 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week we are going with one of those songs that seems to have lived several lives. It began as a Van Morrison song, became a big Rod Stewart hit, found its way into about ten thousand weddings, and still somehow manages to sound sincere when played by one person with a guitar. That is no… Read more: HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY

June 5, 2026 —– Chart #353 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week we return once again to one of the most distinctive and enduring bands in classic rock—The Moody Blues. Over the years they moved gracefully from orchestral progressive rock into a more modern, synthesizer-driven sound without losing what made them recognizable in the first place. Today’s feature is “The Voice.” It’s one of the strongest… Read more: THE VOICE

May 29, 2026 —– Chart #352 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week’s song has one of the most recognizable opening vocal lines in all of popular music. You hear that high falsetto introduction and instantly know exactly what’s coming next. Today’s feature is “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens. It sounds lighthearted and simple on the surface—but the story behind this song stretches across continents,… Read more: THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT

May 22, 2026 —– Chart #351 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week we’re heading back to 1967 and one of the most instantly recognizable pop songs of the entire decade. From the very first note, you know exactly what’s coming—and there’s a good chance you start smiling before the first verse even begins. Today’s feature is “Happy Together” by The Turtles. It’s bright, clever, perfectly arranged,… Read more: HAPPY TOGETHER

May 15, 2026 —– Chart #350 Hello music friends, Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week’s song might be the only hit record in country music history that proudly announces itself as the perfect country and western song—and then proves it before your very ears. Today’s feature is “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” by David Allan Coe. It’s funny, it’s clever, it’s self-aware, and somewhere along the… Read more: YOU NEVER EVEN CALLED ME BY MY NAME