My favorite Linda Ronstadt album is "Mad Love".  If for no reason other than her killer take on Mark Goldenberg’s "Justine".This is the one about the girlThe girl who came to stay Before she went to Broadway, before she sang standards, Linda Ronstadt went New Wave.  You remember New Wave, don’t you?  The analog of […]

Once upon a time, Top Forty was the sideshow.  The action was over on the FM dial.  And eventually, with enough success on FM, a track would percolate and cross over.  And then the act would become monstrous. Two examples: "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "You Keep Me Hangin’ On". Yes, that was ’68, but […]

1. "The Word" I didn’t even buy "Rubber Soul" when it came out.  The American version had no hits!  And I had only a little bit of money, and had to use it wisely and preferred to buy albums that contained big radio tracks.  Yes, I had a very brief ride on the singles train, […]

If Bettye LaVette were white instead of black, and had lived in obscurity for decades instead of trying to make it right under our noses, with only a tiny bit of success, she’d be the new Susan Boyle. Or let me put it this way…  If Susan Boyle’s album had come with a free copy […]