It's amazing how many of these seem to involve clowns. In addition to The Great Pretender, noted above, there's these greasepaint greats:

Everybody Loves A Clown - Gary Lewis & The Playboys
Yes, I'm a clown but I don't want to be
Why can't you see the other side of me?

The Tears Of A Clown - Smokey Robinson 
Just like Pagliacci did 
I try to keep my sadness hid
Smiling in the public eye 
But in my lonely room, I cry
The Tears of a Clown
When there's no one around.

Goodbye Cruel World - James Darren
I'm off to join the circus
Gotta find a way to hide my tears
Then I'll have them rollin' in the aisles
And I'll forget that woman if it takes a hundred years...

Come on, everybody, he's good for a laugh
And no one could tell his heart is broken in half.

It's explained at the end of the song, but Jim Stafford's offbeat "My Girl Bill," which was a 1974 hit, gave a very different impression of what it was about until the last verse. Never gets played anymore, but a wonderfully whimsical song.

I believe he's the only man to ever have reached #1 on Billboard for the same record in two different years. In a twist of fate (or should that be a fate of the Twist?) Chubby Checker will finally be earning his place in music history, a choice for the 2025 Rock Hall of Fame. He's been eligible but never chosen since 1986.

He enters the hallowed Hall with some august company - Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Soundgarden. The White Stripes and Outkast, among others.

Also nice to 90-year-old guitarist Carole Kaye of the Wrecking Crew receiving an honour, too. I'm very glad she's still around to see it. 

More here.

It's a story I never heard before and wasn't around to see - how Elvis Presley influenced his younger fans to get vaccinated against polio at a time where those shots weren't common and one pundit raised concerns about the shot causing deaths. 

It was part of a PSA (Public Service Announcement) that worked even better than health officials could have hoped. And it likely saved thousands of lives. 

How Elvis got teens vaccinated against polio

Everyone knows the words - "When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom: Let It Be."

For years, Paul McCartney has explained "Mother Mary" was his own mom, who passed away and came to him in a dream. When I first heard it, I wondered if it was an allusion to be a religious figure.

But there's yet a third explanation and it involves a member of one of the Beatles own crew - who may have originally been named in the song. 

See what you think.

The heartbreaking true story behind The Beatles' song Let It Be

We now know who will play the Fab Four in all the separate movies about the group. But they're not exactly household names.

Sam Mendes’ ‘The Beatles’ Movies, All Four Of ‘Em, Are Coming Out In April 2028; Cast Confirmed 

At the #1 spot in his personal Top 10 - a breakout song by Elvis. 

Elton John names his top 10 favorite songs of all time

There's another semi-obscure record that was a moderate hit in the late 60s that does something similar. 

"Hello Hello" by Sopwith Camel, has an odd spoken intro you never got to hear on the radio, because it was easier just to play it without the extra verbiage. But it's on the original and even though it makes no sense, it's perfectly in keeping with the playfulness of the song that follows - including the "Good Evening Friends" piano extro at the finale. 


 

RobN wrote:

Absolutely love "Cara Mia" - Jay and the Americans
Jay Black was incredible.  Even when he was getting up in age, the videos are still worth a look.

100% agree. This is one of the greatest endings to a song ever and it never fails to give me a chill. 

Another one is the great build-up that finishes the #1 song of 1970, Simon and Garfunkel's magnificent "Bridge Over Troubled Water," a masterpiece that builds to an incredible crescendo at the end that is also one of my all-time favorite finishes. 

There was a separate tragedy beyond just Buddy Holly, although his death in a plane crash remains forever etched into history, especially thanks to Don McLean's "American Pie."

But there was another terrible Day in music history and it happened on March 5, 1963. But this time it involved some major Grand Ole Opry stars, including a country crossover who also made the pop charts - Patsy Cline. 

The parallels are striking - three major stars died in a plane crash, along with their pilot, including one who was just becoming a major music figure. I don't think there was an "American Pie" for Cline and the others. But she was another up-and-coming artist whose life ended way too soon. 

Remembering The Plane Crash That Killed Patsy Cline And 3 Others

It's a 500-page book filled with photos and memories of a time most don't really know much about - the years after The Beatles. Now Paul McCartney is readying a huge tome, complete with some never seen pics, of the genesis and life of Wings, the band that followed the Fab Four. 

There are a lot of revelations promised in the book, but one speaks volumes - McCartney asked his then wife Linda to join only because he didn't want to leave her alone while they toured the world. So she became the keyboard player. Although not necessarily the best keyboard player. 

“We were terrible. We knew Linda couldn’t play, but she learned, and looking back on it, I’m really glad we did it … I could have just formed a supergroup, and rung up Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page and John Bonham."

As good as Wings turned out to be, imagine that line-up! 

If you want to read this new bio, "Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run," you'll have a bit of a wait. It won't be out until November. 

Paul McCartney announces huge new project for November after reinventing career

There seems to be a lot of obits here lately and sadly, here's another one.

Roberta Flack appeared in the 70s with a string of monster hits, most famously the #1 song of 1972, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" from the movie "Play Misty For Me."

Flack passed away this week at age 88. She had been suffering from ALS, which robbed her of her ability to sing and forced her into an early retirement. But she certainly made her mark, having won five Grammy Awards.

Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning singer with an intimate style, dies at 88

The annual list of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is out and there's a real oldie on it: Chubby Checker.

It's actually hard to believe he's never been considered before. After all, The Twist is considered a classic of its kind, created a worldwide phenomenon and is one of only two songs that ever went to #1 on Billboard in two separate years (1960 and again in 1962.) 

(The other is Mariah Carey's perennial "All I Want For Christmas Is You," which topped the charts in 2019 and 2020.)

I hope Chubby (aka Ernest Evans) makes it. He was something of a one-hit genre guy, with a lot of dance tunes, none of which reached the heights of Twist fame. But it was such a big craze, I think he's earned the spot. 

Others on the list:

Cher, 
Joe Cocker, 
Cyndi Lauper and
Billy Idol

The winners will be unveiled in April, and the ceremony will be held in the fall.

List of Nominees