R&SRNR_ 177 – “THE LAST SHOW”*

Welcome to the final edition of our little podcast series. Yes, it’s true. After nearly eight years of episodes downloaded by a loyal worldwide audience numbering hundreds of thousands – plus critical acclaim as one of the highest quality oldies and music history programs in cyberspace, we think now is the right time to take our creativity in new directions. More about that during this prrogram.

Our bittersweet so-long will be light on our personal nostalgia and heavy on the types of tunes and tales about the music that you’ve come to expect from us. For instance, the only Elvis Presley hit single on which he didn’t sing a single note. And a song that embarrassed its performers, but topped the charts and then was adopted a few years later by a major league baseball team as its cheerleading anthem.

They’re all part of the “goodbye” songs we’ve gathered for this occasion – along with more of the greatest rock and roll stories on record. Hear it all here.

*Note:  All of our nearly 180 shows will remain online and available for downloads through November 2023.

R&SRNR_176 – “THE TRADE SECRETS OF LENNON & MCCARTNEY”

Although they only collaborated for about twelve years beginning in late 1957, John Lennon and Paul McCartney rank as one of the most successful songwriting duos of all time. Our best guestimate is that approximately one billion copies of their compositions have been sold as of the posting date of this podcast. This includes around 600 million or more of those waxed by the Beatles with the remainder recorded by countless other performers.

That extraordinary success wasn’t the result of an ordinary composing partnership. Behind the scenes, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were often on different emotional plateaus when they penned these tunes. And as you will hear, their opposite moods frequently played out musically. Our resident Rockologist, Ken Deutsch, and Radio Dave will reveal some of the Lennon & McCartney trade secrets – with a lot of help from noted Beatles historian and National Public Radio music commentator, Tim Riley – who’s our guest expert for this episode.

It’s "The Trade Secrets Of Lennon & McCartney” – along with more of the greatest rock and roll stories on record. Here it all here.

R&SRNR _175 – “CAROLE KING – UPDATED & REMASTERED”

This episode spotlights the most successful female songwriter of the rock and roll era. She’s written or co-written more than 200 charted hits. There’s a hit stage musical about her life, and her live concerts continue to be huge draws worldwide. In addition to our playing snippets of all of her charted hit singles, Radio Dave and our resident rockologist, Ken Deutsch cover many of what are known as “demo” recordings that she did to sell her songs to established recording stars in 1960s along with samples of their hit versions. And we’ll spotlight her special connections with Neil Sedaka, Paul Simon, Bobby Vee, the Drifters, Aretha Franklin, Phil Spector, the Righteous Brothers, the Monkees, James Taylor, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, and many others, as well as her remarkable comeback to international fame after breaking up with her first husband and primary co-composer Gerry Goffin in the late-1960s. She’s Carole King. Hear her remarkable story here.