*The history of this track goes all the way back to the artist, Screamin' Jay Hawkins in 1957.  He wrote the ballad lamenting the loss of a girlfriend he wanted back.  It was originally a much slower song, thus the ballad status.  Ther version we'll play comes from a great band in 1968 who covered it on their eponymous album and then performed it at Woodstock in 1969.  Name the band that covered it and extra credit for the name of the song....
*A song we'll enjoy is about an unconditional love where you are determined to stick it out through good times and bad.  It's a very popular wedding song.  The singer/artist wrote the lyrics, but the music was written by Al Jackson, Jr. (a legendary soul drummer)  and Willie Mitchell (the artist's producer).  Justin Timberlake idolized the artist and actually sang the song with him at the 2009 Grammy Awards.  Name the artist and the song...
 
*At the close of the 70's, this group began inching toward a sleek, modern sound, partially inspired by the thriving punk and new wave scene and partially inspired by one of the member's solo debut album.  Two consecutive albums by the group in '79 and '80 found them sketching out their pop/soul/new wave fusion sound that propelled them to greatness.  While the band formed in the early 70's and had released 7 albums before 1979, they gained new legendary status after these 2 albums.  Name the group.
 
*People and things mentioned in this song...Mott The Hoople, Life, Monopoly, Twister, Risk, checkers, chess, twenty-one, Elvis Presley, Moses, Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.  The song came out in 1992.  Name the song and the group that performed it...
 
BATTLE OF THE BANDS
Let’s Stay Together by Al Green vs Chain Of Fools by Aretha Franklin
 
ANSWERS
1. Credence Clearwater Revival, I Put A Spell On You
2. Al Green, Let’s Stay Together
3. Hall & Oates
4. Man on the Moon, R. E. M.
Battle of the Bands : Aretha Franklin ran away to an easy win with 57% of votes

*This American band's first album came out in 1972 and the track we'll enjoy was also the band's very first single.  It turned into a huge hit in both the U.S. and U.K. and earned the group some great press coverage.  The band's sound was very unusual to anything else released around the time and when asked to describe it, they called it 'smart rock'.  The song didn't seem to make literal sense, but was known for creating an undeniable groove, a mood, a vibe.  Name the band...
 
*This artist's album that preceded his 1977 album that we'll dip into acknowledged a certain creative desperation that probably narrowed his commercial appeal.  So on the next album, he wrote and recorded more of a concept album about being on the road, an effort that actually did raise the appeal factor.  Some of the songs were actually recorded on the road stages and some even recorded on the bus or in the hotel.  Born to a father in the service in Heidelberg, Germany, the family then moved to California, the state this artist claims as home.  Name the artist and extra credit for the name of the album...
 
*We all remember the movie, Good Morning Vietnam, based on the life of Adrian Cronauer.  The most requested song on Armed Forces Radio when he was in Vietnam came from this band which was released in 1965,
Name the song and the British band that recorded it.
 
*Abandoning overt progressive sound...thereby leaving behind the operas and extended instrumental section, but not the organ solos, this band became a mainstream rock band with the release of their 4th album in 1977.  Despite his efforts to democratize the group, (he invited all of the bandmembers to write and sing throughout the album), this band still feels very much like the frontman's baby...primarily because the songs that really truly work on the album are the ones that he wrote and sang.  Name the American band that was formed in 1973 and extra credit for the name of the founder...
 
BATTLE OF THE BANDS
September by Earth, Wind & Fire  vs Work To Do by Average White Band
 
ANSWERS
1. Steely Dan
2. Jackson Browne
3. We Gotta Get Out of This Place, The Animals
4. Utopia, Todd Rungren
Earth, Wind & Fire won the battle with 54% of the votes

* This fantastic artist released his debut album in 1973.  His 2nd album truly expanded the folk-rock approach to strains of jazz, among other styles just 8 months later...that same year.  With his chief musical lieutenant and keyboard player they created a street-life mosaic of suburban society that owed much in its outlook to Van Morrison's romanticization of Belfast in his album, Astral Weeks.  In the final analysis, it is largely considered to be one of the all-time great rock and roll albums..  Name the artist and extra credit for the name of the album...
 
*A quintessential and prolific Americana singer/songwriter throughout his career, he told romantic stories of an already vanished and still disappearing America, its people, landscapes and history.  He was a key member of a 3 person group from 1961-1967 and when they broke up...his solo career ensued.  Name the artist and extra credit for the name of his earlier group....
 
*We'll play a song from 1992 that references an object in the title that is quite and notably important to this artist.  Whether or not it was purposeful (methinks it probably was), but this object shows up in no less than 28 of the artist's songs.  This multi-talented musician played all of the following on the track we'll enjoy...guitar, banjo, piano, pump organ, vibes and of course handled the vocals.  Name the artist and extra credit for the name of the song...
 
*This British band toured America in 1971 and actually wrote and recorded this song (a big hit for them) during that tour.  They were not well known in the U.S. at the time and the band's leader wanted to change that by coming up with something that would strike to the heart of America.  The song is all about sex, but with imagery so comically vague it would be hard for even the most prudish listeners to take offense.  As it turns out, the biggest suggestion of the intended theme is in the title.  Name the band and extra credit for the song title..
 
BATTLE OF THE BANDS
Fields Of Gold by Sting  vs Harvest Moon by Neil Young
 
ANSWERS
1. Bruce Springsteen, The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle
2. John Stewart, Kingston Trio
3.Neil Young, Harvest Moon
4. T. Rex, Bang A Gong (Get It On)
Sting won the battle by two votes

Jeff Weigl Beats Working Friday @ 4pm

This Little Girl by Gary U.S. Bonds
 The next song was born of a collaboration between Gary U.S. Bonds and Bruce Springsteen after the two spent a few hours commiserating about their stalled careers.
Springsteen wrote this song for Bonds and a thank you, Bonds gave Bruce a ’63 Chevy Impala. 
 
Wild Thing by The Troggs
That was written by a songwriter named Chip Taylor and he has made a lot of money from the royalties from different artists, TV shows and movies all using the song. 
Unfortunately, he has gambled most of it away as he has been kicked out of every casino in Las Vegas for card counting. 

What's Love Got to Do with It           Tina Turner 
The song is more about physical attraction without any emotional attachment. Originally Tina Turner hated the song and balked at recording it. She deferred to her manager who was engineering a comeback for her.  At his bidding, she got into character and sold the song. 
At the 1985 Grammys, it won for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Female Vocal Performance.
​ 
Question      The Moody Blues
 The Moody Blues guitarist Justin Hayward wrote the song to reflect the thoughts of many young people who were questioning the war in Vietnam.
He said "We'd achieved great success in the United States, and we were mixing with these people and seeing how different the problems were for them. I was just expressing my frustration around that, around the problems of anti-war and things that really concerned them, and for their own future. How that would morally be a dilemma for them and that kind of stuff. After a decade of peace and love, it still seemed we hadn't made a difference in 1970. That was the theme of the song.
And then the slow part of the song is really a reflection of that and not feeling defeated, but almost a quiet reflection of it, and mixing with a bit of a love song, as well."

*We'll play a track early that mentions the term, 'Heavy Metal' which would go on to become a renowned genre, although the song itself is not really that at all.  The song spent 3 weeks at #2 on the charts behind The Rascals' People Got To Be Free in 1968.  It was the 3rd single released from the band's 1st album.  The first 2 flopped, but this song elevated the band to stardom.  Name the band and the song...
 
*This band released a 1974 album that came on the heels of their two previous albums that were both chart toppers.  It may be why this album was a hit the day it was announced (it was certified platinum based on pre-orders alone) and was the last album by the band to achieve that status.  This British band's song from that album is a beautiful, largely acoustic number that was popular in concert and rock stations everywhere.  Name the band, somewhat famous for hard, concept albums and extra credit for the name of the song that got significant airplay...
 
*This superstar artist's change of directions in the early 70's was notable on successive albums, trading cinematic aspirations of the earlier for a tentative stab at progressive rock on the next one.  The later album was driven by sweeping string arrangements, giving many of the tracks a richly dark and haunting edge.  On the track we'll play, a mandolin takes center stage conjures up shades of Rod Stewart and Maggie May.  Name the aritst and extra credit for the name of the track...
 
*This band's frontman wrote this song, both the lyrics and the music that was released in 1977.  The song indicated him feeling unstoppable as he's 'floating around in ecstasy and 'like a tiger defying the laws of gravity',
It is clear that his character is throwing caution to the wind and putting himself in danger.  Name the band, the frontman and extra credit for the name of the song...
 
BATTLE OF THE BANDS
Time For Me To Fly by REO Speedwagon  vs No Matter What by Badfinger
 ​
ANSWERS
1. Born To Be Wild, Steppenwolf
2. Supertramp,  Dreamer
3. Elton John, Holiday Inn
4. Queen, Freddie Mercury, Don’t Stop Me Now
Badfinger won the battle by two votes