Dr. Nelson Winston

My parents embarrass me in several ways.  Particularly my father. My dad has made me ashamed to be his son on several topics involving the seventies.  He loves Colombo.  He loves “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)” (yes, that song sucks, don’t @ me).  He loves Barry Manilow.  And most of all, he loves “Thunder Island”…

Author’s Note: The following was written in June and July 2021, shortly after I moved to Toledo from Upstate New York. After doing much of my preliminary listening in my final days in New York, I wrote the intro and dishonorable mentions in an Airbnb in Sylvania, and wrote the rest of the list in…

RECAP #10: Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire” was a blazing success. #9: Del Shannon’s “Little Town Flirt” is so good, you could get hurt. #8: Bill Pursell presented us with “Our Winter Love.” #7: The Impressions’ first hit?  “It’s All Right.” #6: The answer to Peter, Paul, & Mary’s success is “Blowin’ In The Wind.”…

Before we take a look at the best song 1963 had to offer, here are ten songs that were also very good, but failed to make the cut. “Surfer Girl” – The Beach Boys #7 peak#35 year-end It’s been said that before The Beach Boys broke their careers wide open on the seminal record Pet…

The song with barely any instrumentation. Whether it’s a cappella or whatever you want to call it, it’s a gimmick.  I know I’m meeting my critical kryptonite here as a non-singer, but I’m certain we’ve gotten a mixed bag here.  I’m one of the few people who likes “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin,…

There were a lot of instrumentals in 1963. Oh yeah, I mentioned this earlier.  But you know what there was also a lot of?  Surf rock instrumentals. This was the year of “Wipe Out” by the Surfaris, an early surf rock jam that has probably stood as the most famous guitar riff of the year…

I wanted to open this section up with a big lecture about vocals, but then I remembered I don’t know how to sing. When I review songs as a result, I always put music, instrumentation, and lyrical content first before moving on to the vocals. But I do have an idea of how I want…

1963 was the year Motown really began to find its footing.  After only having hits sporadically over the previous two years, Motown scored no less than six hit songs this year.  Martha and the Vandellas, the group that brought us probably the ultimate Motown song “Dancing In The Street,” broke through in 1963 with “Come…

Chart nerds will find that I skipped out on two shoo-in contenders on my worst list, “Candy Girl” by The Four Seasons and “Two Faces Have I” by Lou Christie.  Part of the reason is because as a song, “Candy Girl” is fine: it has a unique melody, even of the song construction is clearly…