I cannot believe it’s that time of year again already.
Rewound Radio is now taking your votes for The Greatest
Songs Of All-Time. 2025 will mark their
28th anniversary of this special year-end countdown that airs
between Christmas and New Year’s.
I’ll turn it over to Mike Riccio to explain the whole thing
…
Hello once again ...
IT'S OUR ONCE-A-YEAR REMINDER TO VOTE NOW FOR THE TOP SONGS OF ALL-TIME at: https://musicradio77.com/voting2025.html
As moderator of the "OldiesBoard.com"
music site, thanks again for voting last year to become part of the 27th
edition of the "Top Songs of All-Time" list.
If you didn't see the results, here's the address to view the final tally: https://musicradio77.com/voting2024.html
The year went by quickly and now it's time to pick
your favorites for the 2025 edition of the "Top Songs of All Time."
It's become a true tradition as we enter the 28th edition thanks to your
participation and so many followers of OldiesBoard.com and RewoundRadio.com.
The voting is just starting. You can pick up to ten of your favorite songs to
determine the results.
Then you can view the results at OldiesBoard.com and also listen to the results
all week long over the holidays on RewoundRadio.com
You can even have your own booklet of the results of more than 3000 songs that
get votes, along with interesting facts and details about all the songs.
Remember, this is the only music survey that includes any artist, any era, any style ... and we NEED YOUR VOTE THIS YEAR to continue this fun tradition!
The process is easier than ever! Just take a few minutes to pick your favorite
songs (pick anything from one song up to to ten of your favorites).
Go to OldiesBoard.com for details or just vote at the following link (It's a
100% safe and secure link): https://musicradio77.com/voting2025.html
Thanks so much for helping to make this so much fun
for all these years.
We need and appreciate your participation and hope you'll vote for your
favorite choices this year.
Sincerely,
Mike Riccio
OldiesBoard.com moderator
HERE'S MY 2025 TOP 77 VOTE ---
1 = "ONLY YOU" / PLATTERS
2 = "IN THE STILL OF THE
NIGHT" / FIVE SATINS
3 = "EARTH
ANGEL" / PENGUINS
4 = "TONITE - TONITE"
/ MELLO - KINGS
5 = "JAILHOUSE
ROCK" / ELVIS
6 = "SIXTEEN CANDLES"
/ CRESTS
7 = "CARA MIA" / JAY &
THE AMERICANS
8 = "MACK THE KNIFE" /
BOBBY DARIN
9 = "FRANKIE" / CONNIE
FRANCIS
10 = "CATHY's CLOWN" /
EVERLY BROTHERS
FRANK B.
Place YOUR votes here:
https://musicradio77.com/voting2025.html
Speaking of countdowns, this week’s Ross On Radio column has
a feature on songs that have become Halloween classics in recent years. (You’ll likely be scratching your head at the
greater majority of these.)
Still, his findings are not unwarranted …
Here is the complete list of all 49 songs that surged into
the Spotify 200 in the U.S. for October 31st, 2024, in order of total daily
plays:
1. Michael
Jackson - Thriller
2. Ray
Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters
3. Bobby
“Boris” Pickett, The Crypt-Kickers - Monster Mash
4. Andrew
Gold - Spooky, Scary Skeletons
5. Rockwell
- Somebody’s Watching Me
6. The
Citizens of Halloween - This Is Halloween
7. Tyler,
The Creator feat. ScHoolboy Q, Santigold - Thought I Was Dead
8. John
Carpenter - Halloween Theme
9. Andrew
Gold - The Addams Family
10. Rihanna
- Disturbia
11. Talking
Heads - Psycho Killer
12. Blue
Öyster Cult - (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
13. Screamin’
Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell On You
14. Britney Spears - Toxic
15. Ghost
- Mary On A Cross
16. Harry
Belafonte - Banana Boat (Day-O)
17. Billie
Eilish - Bad Guy
18. The
Cramps - Goo Goo Muck
19. Jorge
Rivera-Herrans, TROY, Diana Rivera-Herrans - Sangerous
20. Ed
Ivory, Ken Page - Oogie Boogie’s Song
21. Lana
Del Rey - Season Of The Witch
22. Jorge
Rivera-Herrans, Steven Rodriguez, Cast of EPIC: The Musical - Six Hundred
Strike
23. The
Specials - Ghost Town
24. AC/DC
- Highway to Hell
25. Jorge
Rivera-Herrans, Steven Rodriguez, Steven Dookie, Armando Julián, Wanda Herrans,
Cast of EPIC: The Musical - Get in the Water
26. Daryl
Hall & John Oates - Maneater
27. Ava
Max - Sweet but Psycho
28. Jorge
Rivera-Herrans, Barbara Wangui, Cast of EPIC: The Musical - Not Sorry for
Loving You
29. Trap
Remix Guys, Trap Remix Guy - Harry Potter (Trap Remix)
30. Evanescence
- Bring Me To Life
31. Sam
Smith, Kim Petras - Unholy
32. Jorge
Rivera-Herrans - Charybdis
33. Nelly
Furtado - Maneater
34. Jack
Lenz - Goosebumps Original Theme Song
35. The
Cranberries - Zombie
36. Michael
Jackson - Smooth Criminal
37. Warren
Zevon - Werewolves of London
38. Danny
Elfman - What’s This?
39. Twenty
One Pilots - Heathens
40. October
Country - My Girlfriend Is a Witch
41. Stevie
Wonder - Superstition
42. Harry
Belafonte - Jump in the Line
43. Michael
Jackson - Billie Jean
44. Andrew
Lloyd Webber, Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum - The Phantom Of the Opera
45. PattyCake
- I Put a Spell on You (In the Style of Hocus Pocus)
46. Danny
Elfman - Main Title Theme (from “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”)
47. Little
Nell, Patricia Quinn, Richard O’Brien - Time Warp
48. Kate
Bush - Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
49. Lucie Cravero, HoKø - Ghost Sanctuary
This year’s list of Songwriters Hall Of Fame Nominees has
just been released … again, several more elite songwriters who have helped to
elevate the craft are on the ballot, some of whom for some inexplicable reason
have been overlooked before.
Still, you’ll find a very impressive (and eclectic) list of
nominees:
Kenny Loggins, Taylor Swift, LL Cool J, Pink, Sarah
McLachlan, David Byrne (Talking Heads) Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and
Jane M. Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings of The Guess
Who, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell of America and Gene Simmons and Paul
Stanley of Kiss, Richard Carpenter of The Carpenters, Harry Wayne Casey (best
known as KC of KC and the Sunshine Band) and Boz Scaggs.
From the non-performer category, nods went out to Patrick
Leonard (“Like A Prayer” and “Live To Tell,” both hits for Madonna), Vini
Poncia (The Ronettes’ “Do I Love You?,), Martin Page (Starships’ “We Built This
City”), Kenny Nolan (Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade”) and the duo Terry Britten and
Graham Lyle (Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got To Do With It.”)
Country songwriters are represented by Jeffrey Steele
(Rascal Flatts’ “What Hurts The Most,” and Tim McGraw’s “The Cowboy In Me”) and
Larry Weiss (Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy,” Jeff Beck’s “Hi Ho Silver
Lining.”)
R&B-pop songwriters nominated include Tom Snow (The
Pointer Sisters’ “He’s So Shy,” Deniece Williams’ “Let’s Hear it for the Boy”)
and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart (for Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” Beyoncé’s “Single
Ladies” and “Break My Soul.”)
Walter Afanasieff (who helped Mariah Carey with her
perennial smash “All I Want for Christmas Is You”) is nominated again as is Bob
McDill, noted for the country classic “Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold),”
a hit for Dan Seals. Bachman and
Cummings are also repeat nominees.
Eligible voting members have until midnight Eastern on December
4th to turn in their ballots, noting up to three nominees from the songwriter
category and up to three from the performing-songwriter category. Recipients will be announced in early 2026. (kk)
June Lockhart, who we just talked about recently when she
celebrated her 100th birthday, has passed away.
June starred in two ‘60’s classics, “Lassie” and “Lost In
Space.” She also had several movie
roles, including “Meet Me In St. Louis” and “A Christmas Carol.” In all, she had over 150 movie and tv
credits. In fact, she has TWO stars on
The Hollywood Walk Of Fame … one for movies and one for television. She was well-loved by everyone she worked
with over the years … and will be missed.
(kk)
David Ball, one half of the duo Soft Cell, has passed
away. He was 66.
Ball handled all of the synthesizer chores that backed up
Marc Almond’s vocals on their chart-topping hit “Tainted Love” in 1982. (It topped the charts in Great Britain,
Australia and Canada … and spent 43 weeks on the charts here in the US, ultimately
peaking at #8 in Billboard ... and reportedly sold over 21 million copies
worldwide. When it was re-released in
the UK in 1991, it went back into The Top Five.)
Ironically, the duo, who first teamed up in 1979, split in
1984 and then reunited in 2001, had just completed their next album, “Danceteria,”
scheduled for release early spring of next year.
Soft Cell had just played a headline slot at England Rewind
Festival in Henley-on-Thames a few weeks ago.
(Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the past two years due to
ongoing health issues as a result of damage from a previous spine fracture he suffered
in 2023 in a fall, in which also broke five ribs and his wrist. Ball then subsequently caught pneumonia and
developed sepsis, which led to him being placed in an induced coma during a
seven month hospital stay.
Almond said “His tunes and hooks are still unmistakably Soft
Cell, yet he always took it to the next level, too. He was a wonderfully brilliant musical genius
and the pair of us have been on a journey together for almost 50 years. In the
early days we were obnoxious and difficult, two belligerent art students who
wanted to do things our way, even if it was the wrong way. We were naive and
made mistakes, although we never really saw them as such. It was all just a
part of the adventure. Dave and I were always a bit chalk-and-cheese, but maybe
that’s why the chemistry between us worked so well.
Admitting that the duo also had several splits along the
way, Almond went on to say “Whenever we came back together after long periods
apart there was always that warmth and chemistry. There was a deep mutual respect that gave our
combined songwriting its unique power. We laughed a lot, and shared a sense of
humour, and a love of film, books and music. Dave had shelves full of books and
an array of wonderful and surprising musical references. He was the heart and
soul of Soft Cell and I’m very proud of our legacy.”
“We’ve been invested in the Soft Cell myths and stories, and
“Danceteria” will now stand as an album that brings everything full circle for
us. I just wish that Dave could have stayed on long enough to celebrate our 50
years together in a couple of year’s time. He will always be loved by the Soft
Cell fans who love his music and his music and memory will live on. At any
given moment, someone somewhere in the world will be getting pleasure from a
Soft Cell song. Thank you, Dave, for being an immense part of my life and for
the music you gave me. I wouldn’t be where I am without you.”
LOCAL CONCERT UPDATE:
The Franki Valli and the Four Seasons show with The Rascals, scheduled
for Saturday, November 1st, 2025, at the Rosemont Theatre has been cancelled by
the artist.
That’s too bad … this sounded like and interesting pair-up
of artists. Please contact the theatre
regarding refunds. (kk)
