'New York Groove: An Inside Look at the Stars, Shows, and Songs That Make NYC Rock' Book Excerpt Rhino Most know the Drifters as the smooth and soulful group of the early 1960s that featured singers like Ben E. King, Charlie Thomas, Johnny Moore, and Rudy Lewis. “This Magic Moment,” “Under the Boardwalk,” “Save the Last Dance for Me,” and “Up on the Roof” were all Top 10 hits for the group. But an entirely different collection of singers, led by tenor Clyde McPhatter, formed

'Rock Quiz: 1000 Questions Classic Rock Challenge!' Book Excerpt Roger McGuinn. Photo: Bill Kollar 1. Roger McGuinn got a Dylan lyric wrong in A. “My Back Pages” B. “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” C. “Mr. Tambourine Man”   2. Suzi Quatro appeared on Happy Days as A. Pinky Tuscadero B. Leather Tuscadero C. Laverne De Fazio   3. “Let’s Spend the Night Together” was in an ad for A. Sealy mattresses B. Sominex C. Sheraton Hotels   4. They originated the “Rave Up” sound A. The Yardbirds

‘New York Groove: An Inside Look at the Stars, Shows, and Songs That Make NYC Rock’ Book Excerpt Verve Forecast “Want to take a mind excursion? How ‘bout a little diversion? The hippest of all trips. The return to reality. Well, join me.” With that introduction, William Mercer, or Rosko to free-form radio fans, would open his shows that showcased a broad range of music: rock, soul, folk, and jazz. Mercer, who grew up on New York’s 114th Street and Manhattan Avenue, read poetr

‘200 Greatest 60s Rock Songs’ Book Excerpt Disky Communications The Band was a group of talented multi-instrumentalists and vocalists: four Canadians, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, and Richard Manuel, and Levon Helm from Turkey Scratch, AR. Its members met in Canada as part of Ronnie Hawkins’ band, the Hawks. Hawkins, who grew up in Fayetteville, AR, found success in Canada in the late 1950s and became a permanent resident. Helm was a member of the Hawks when th

‘200 Greatest 70s Rock Songs’ Book Excerpt The Media Champ Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and Walter Becker met at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, the site of 1973’s “My Old School.” The tune was included on Steely Dan’s 1973 LP Countdown to Ecstasy. The song only reached №63 but is a fan favorite. Its lyrics describe their arrest, along with Fagen’s girlfriend, Dorothy White, in a marijuana raid. “These were the days when there was a ‘war on longhairs,’ as they used to c

‘200 Greatest 60s Rock Songs’ Book Excerpt Collectables In the 1960s, the movers and shakers of the Philadelphia music scene would gather one night a month at the home of Jerry Blavat, the top-rated disc jockey and host of TV’s The Discophonic Scene . Famous as “The Geator with the Heator” and “The Boss With Hot Sauce,” Blavat hosted a group called the “Mother’s Club.” Music industry heavyweights like Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler along with record promoters and songwriters

‘Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever’ Book Excerpt Fillmore East, 1971. © Jeff Rothstein In this excerpt from the book Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever , two people who worked at promoter Bill Graham’s historic concert hall describe for the first time the night Paul McCartney — in disguise — and future wife Linda Eastman attended a show. Marc Rubenstein is the founder of Pig Light Show, one of the pioneering groups of technicians t

‘100 Greatest Soul Songs’ Book Excerpt Tamla Motown “Dancing in the Street” was written in the Motown hit factory by Marvin Gaye, horn player Ivy Jo Hunter, and producer Mickey Stevenson. Martha Reeves was working at Motown as a secretary when she recorded the Hot 100 № 2 hit in 1964. “One day, there was some sort of union dispute and they needed someone to sing on a demo, so I offered,” said Reeves in The Guardian. “The next thing I knew, I was singing backup on Marvin’s “St

'New York Groove' Book Excerpt Bleecker Bob's Records, 2013. © Frank Mastropolo In this excerpt from the book New York Groove: An Inside Look at the Stars, Shows, and Songs That Make NYC Rock , we look back at Bleecker Bob’s, the iconic Greenwich Village record shop. Fellow record collectors Al Trommers and Robert Plotnik opened Village Oldies in 1967 at 149 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. It was at the record shop that Trommers, known as Broadway Al, gave Plotnik the n