.

.

.

“Islands in the Stream” is a song written by the Bee Gees and recorded by American country music artists Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. It was released in August 1983 as the first single from Rogers’s fifteenth studio album Eyes That See in the Dark. The Bee Gees released a live version in 1998 and a studio version in 2001.

The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, giving each of Rogers and Parton their second pop number-one hit (after Rogers’s “Lady” in 1980 and Parton’s “9 to 5” in 1981). It also topped the Country and Adult Contemporary charts. In 2005 the song topped Country Music Television‘s poll of the best country duets of all time; Parton and Rogers reunited to perform the song on a CMT special. As of May 2023, it has been triple certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for three million certified units.

Named after the 1970 novel by Ernest Hemingway, the song was originally written for Diana Ross in an R&B style but later reworked for the duet by Rogers and Parton.

It has been claimed that the song was also intended for Marvin Gaye. This is attributed to a 2001 Good Morning America interview with the Bee Gees. When Barry Gibb said the song was written for Ross, Robin Gibb interrupted and said, “No, we wrote it for Marvin Gaye … We sent it to him but he was dead so it was a bit difficult for him to sing it.”  Gaye actually died in 1984, a year after the recording.  Separately, Robin Gibb has said the song was stylistically written “… as a Tamla kind of soul song in a Marvin Gaye type feel”, though not asserting it was for Gaye.  In other interviews, Barry Gibb has always maintained that Ross was the original artist for the song with no mention of Gaye.

For licensing reasons, the song was not included on the digital release of Eyes That See in the Dark from Capitol Records Nashville. Sony Music, the current owner of RCA Records, protected copyrights in the recording, which is digitally available only in various compilations from Sony Music, especially those of Dolly Parton.

.

.

“(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” is best known as a hit for the Monkees. Released in November 1966, the song became the first Monkees B-side to chart, reaching #20 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[4] Musicians featured on the recording are Micky Dolenz (lead vocal), Tommy Boyce (backing vocal), Wayne Erwin and Gerry McGee (rhythm guitar), Louis Shelton (lead guitar), Bobby Hart (Vox Continental organ), Larry Taylor (bass), Billy Lewis (drums) and Henry Lewy (percussion).

The single, stereo album, and mono album versions contain several differences. In the stereo version, the track’s title is sung just before the second verse, whereas on the single and mono album versions, this segment is left instrumental. The stereo version has an edit in the fadeout, but the mono album version does not have this edit and therefore has a longer coda. The single also does not have the edit, but it fades out earlier than does the mono album. All Monkees hits compilations through the mid-1980s used the stereo version, and afterward typically used the single version.

The Monkees’ version is featured in the “romp” segments of several episodes of the group’s television series. It has also been heard in episodes of shows such as The Queen’s Gambit and Zoo.

.

.

“Dancing in the Street” is a 1964 hit song by Martha & The Vandellas, released on Motown’s Gordy label. Co-written by Marvin Gaye, it peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is celebrated as an iconic Motown anthem for summer and social unity, often mistaken as a protest song.

.

.

.

“Nice to Be with You” is a 1972 song, from the album of the same name, by Gallery.

On Dick Clark‘s American Bandstand of February 26, 1972, “Nice to Be with You” – which had just debuted on that day on the Hot 100 – received a “lousy” average of 57.5, on a scale from 35 to 98, on the “Rate-a-Record” segment of the show. Nevertheless, the group performed the song on the May 13, 1972 American Bandstand.

It became an international top 5 hit, reaching No. 4 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on Cashbox,  WCFL,  and WLS.  It also reached No. 1 in Canada. The song reached No. 4 in Australia and No. 2 in New Zealand.

.

.

“I’m into Something Good” is a song composed by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and made famous by Herman’s Hermits. The song was originally recorded by Cookies member Earl-Jean on Colpix Records in 1964.

.

.

.

“(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” is a rock song written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. It was first recorded by the English band the Liverpool Five in early 1966 but remained unreleased before summer of that same year. In the meantime, the American band Paul Revere & the Raiders recorded the song which appeared on their album Midnight Ride, released in May 1966.

“(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” is best known as a hit for the Monkees. Released in November 1966, the song became the first Monkees B-side to chart, reaching #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Musicians featured on the recording are Micky Dolenz (lead vocal), Tommy Boyce (backing vocal), Wayne Erwin and Gerry McGee (rhythm guitar), Louis Shelton (lead guitar), Bobby Hart (Vox Continental organ), Larry Taylor (bass), Billy Lewis (drums) and Henry Lewy (percussion).

.

.

“Carry On Wayward Son” is a song by American rock band Kansas, released on their 1976 studio album, Leftoverture. Written by guitarist Kerry Livgren, the song became the band’s first top 40 hit, reaching No. 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1977.

The song has since remained a classic rock radio staple and a signature song for the band.

While Kansas’ previous three albums had split songwriting duties between lead vocalist Steve Walsh and band member Kerry Livgren, the latter essentially provided all the material for the band’s fourth album release, Leftoverture. According to Livgren, “On the very first day of rehearsals, Steve…said that he had nothing – not a single song. I don’t relish that kind of pressure, but with hindsight it really brought out the best in me.” Although based in Atlanta, Georgia, Kansas had returned to its Topeka, Kansas, home town to work up material for what would be the Leftoverture album, the band rehearsing in a vacant store in a strip mall the material Livgren was working up on a Lowrey organ at his parents’ home where he was staying. “Carry On Wayward Son” was written after the band had completed rehearsals. Livgren, who perceived the song as being “beamed down” to him in full, in 2004 stated: “It’s an autobiographical song. Parallel to my musical career I’ve always been on a spiritual sojourn, looking for truth and meaning. It was a song of self-encouragement. I was telling myself to keep on looking and I would find what I sought.”

.

 Virginia officials confirm that Blue Ridge Benny has officially begun his court-ordered community service after what experts are calling “a highly emotional weather betrayal.”

For a brief, dangerous 72 hours, Virginians were led to believe spring had arrived. The sun showed up. Windows came down. Porches filled up. Hope… returned.

Then Virginia did what Virginia does.

The fog rolled back over the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The rain came sideways.
And the temperature dropped like it remembered it had standards.

Authorities say Benny will now spend the week cleaning roadsides near Skyline Drive, picking up everything from crushed cans to broken dreams.

Meanwhile, residents across Virginia are once again checking the forecast like it’s a toxic relationship.

Virginia is for lovers…
and apparently, weather-related trust issues.

.

.

.

“Fire” is a 1968 song written by Arthur Brown, Vincent Crane, Mike Finesilver and Peter Ker.  Performed by the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, it was released as a single and on the band’s debut album, also called The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. The single became a transatlantic hit, reaching number one in the UK and Canada and number two in the United States, while hitting the top 10 in markets across Europe.

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown had been performing the song “Fire” in their live act to highly favorable audience response. When it came time to record an album, Arthur Brown, the band’s singer, wanted to record The Fire Suite, a rock opera centered around the song “Fire”, which would have focused on the horrors of Hell. Kit Lambert, Brown’s manager and the album’s producer, dissuaded him against the uncommercial original concept. As a compromise, side A of the vinyl record featured a suite of songs written as part of the album’s original concept, including “Fire”, while side B featured unrelated songs.

During live performances and in the black and white promotional television clip, Brown performed the song wearing a burning helmet. The helmet was improvised with a leather skull cap onto which was bolted a metal dish that held lighter fluid or petrol. As the cap was not insulated, the heat from the burning fuel quickly conducted through the fixing bolt to the top of Brown’s head, causing him considerable pain.  Brown claims that the flames got up to 4 feet high and at one point caught fire to his clothes during a performance.

.

.

“Wildfire” is a song written by Michael Murphey and Larry Cansler. It was originally recorded by Murphey, who had yet to add his middle name to his recorded work, and appears on his gold-plus 1975 album Blue Sky – Night Thunder.

Released in February 1975 as the album’s lead single, “Wildfire” became Murphey’s highest-charting pop hit in the United States. The somber story song hit No. 2 in Cash Box and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1975. Additionally, it hit the top of the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, displacing “Love Will Keep Us Together“.

The single continued to sell, eventually receiving platinum certification from the RIAA, signifying sales of over two million US copies. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

Murphy re-recorded this song with American country singer Cody Johnson and released on September 19, 2025.