Guest post by Michael J Roberts, Author of “33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters”   Galveston – Jimmy Webb Jimmy Webb was trained in music in Southern California and entered the business via a contract with Motown’s publishing arm in 1965. His gift with melody and memorable hooks soon meant his songs were all over the top 40 and successes with The Fifth...

Guest post by Michael J Roberts, Author of “33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters”   Peter Gabriel – Family Snapshot Peter Gabriel left the successful Prog-Rock outfit Genesis in the mid 70’s to pursue a career as a solo act and produced the astonishing Solsbury Hill to kick it off. The song was a key marker in Gabriel staking out his identity, separate to...

Guest post by Michael J Roberts, Author of “33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters”   Nick Lowe – Faithless Lover Nick Lowe was a product of the ‘pub rock’ scene of the early 1970’s in London, honing his skills with his band Brinsley Schwarz. Lowe’s gift with melody and inventive lyrics saw him rise to minor pop stardom with the wonderful Cruel To Be Kind in...

Guest post by Michael J Roberts, Author of “33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters”     Evangeline – Matthew Sweet Matthew Sweet emerged from the same vibrant pop scene in Athens, Georgia that turned out REM et al. Sweet signed with A&M for his second album, but left for Zoo Entertainment in 1991, producing the wonderful Girlfriend, one of the best...

Guest post by Michael J Roberts, Author of “33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters”   Dry My Tears and Move On – Richard Thompson Richard Thompson came out of the British folk scene in the late 1960’s in his band Fairport Convention and he quickly became the guitarist du jour on the scene, playing sessions for many people, including label mate Nick Drake....

Guest post by Michael J Roberts, Author of “33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters”   Couldn’t Call It Unexpected No4 – Elvis Costello Elvis Costello morphed into the so called ‘brave arranger’ in the early 1990’s, pushing his melodic and witty pop into areas not many had charted before, searching for new and interesting framings for his adventurous musical...

Guest post by Michael J Roberts, Author of “33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters”   Can We Still Be Friends – Todd Rundgren Self styled iconoclast Todd Rundgren spewed forth in the deluge of young boys who followed in the wake of the Beatles storming of the ramparts of American pop. Todd joined The Nazz in the late ‘60s and had some chart success before becoming...

Guest post by Michael J Roberts, Author of “33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters”       Behind That Locked Door – George Harrison After The Beatles officially broke up in 1970 George Harrison flowered for a time in ways no-one expected. The previously mildly productive song writer blossomed into a prolific writer and composer and the...

Guest post by Michael J Roberts, Author of “33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters”   Anchorage: Written by Michelle Shocked  This is an impossibly gorgeous song, instantly recalling a Dylan classic with its Positively 4th Street sound palette and its masterful level of storytelling. Michelle Shocked (Karen Johnson) was a misfit, activist folk singer...