This week in 1984 the album Sports, the third album by American rock band “Huey Lewis and the News,” claimed a week at Number 1 in the USA. Sports spent just over three years on the US album chart and spawned four top-ten hits, with Heart and Soul and The Heart of Rock & Roll earning Grammy Award nominations. Sports also did very well internationally, with most of its singles charting in the top 40 in multiple countries. It’s one of just five albums to top the US album chart in 1984, the others being Thriller, Purple Rain, Born in the U.S.A., and the Footloose soundtrack.
Month: June 2023
Stockholm based Swedish pop-folk duo “Smith & Thell” are back with a brand-new release. Their latest, and first new single in 2023, is a slight change in pace, with the duo delivering a ballad inspired by profound and enduring love, and with Victor (Thell) taking the lead throughout the song. Unchanged however, is their trademark skill for telling a story and inviting us right into it. Reflecting on the inspiration behind the single, Victor Thell shares:
“The song draws from the story of my grandparents, who shared a marriage that spanned 65 years. Our grandparents grew up in an era where it was less common to openly express emotions, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t feel deeply. After my grandfather’s passing, I could see in my grandmother’s eyes just how much she missed him. This prompted us to write about the unspoken words and emotions we wish we could have expressed while our loved ones were still with us. ‘We Were In Love’ is our interpretation of my grandmother’s love for my grandfather—the words she never had a chance to say.”
We Were In Love by Smith & Thell is new this week on RadiJohan.
The B-52’s are an American band formed in 1976. This week in 1989 they released Cosmic Thing, their mainstream breakthrough and their first album following the death of guitarist and band co-founder Ricky Wilson. The second single released from the album, Love Shack, is considered the band’s signature song and has been a concert staple since its release. Commercially, the single topped the charts in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone magazine named Love Shack the best single of 1989.
This week in 1990 “Nelson” released their debut album After the Rain, which sold over 2 million copies in the USA thanks to their number 1 single (Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection. The band was founded by twins Matthew and Gunnar Nelson. Their Father, Ricky Nelson, was an actor who also had a long and successful recording career, with hits including Hello Mary Lou (1961) and Garden Party (1972), before he died in a plane crash in 1985.
Robert Jon & the Wreck is an American five-piece blues rock band formed in 2011. In 2021 the title track from their most recent studio album, Shine a light on Me Brother, spent three weeks at number one in the RadiJohan Top 10. The band has recently announced a new album is on its way. Ride Into The Light, their seventh studio album, will be released in August.
To celebrate the announcement, Robert Jon & The Wreck have released the album’s newest single, West Coast Eyes, which is new this week on RadiJohan.
Little Rock, Arkansas based duo joan has been known by their followers for creating an infectious blend of pop music from inside their bedrooms in deepest Middle America. Apart from that they seem to have a thing for not using capitals for their name or their titles. They formed in 2017 and released their first EP, called portra, in 2019. Three more EPs have followed, and now, in 2023, their first full album is a fact.
superglue, the title track from joan’s debut album, is new this week on RadiJohan.
| TW | LW | Artist | Title |
| 10 | New | Matchbox Twenty | Don’t Get Me Wrong |
| 9 | 6 | Mecca | Falling |
| 8 | 5 | Chris Janson ft Dolly Parton & Slash | 21 Forever |
| 7 | 9 | Winger | Tears of Blood |
| 6 | 10 | Crazy Loop | Love Maria |
| 5 | 8 | Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds | Dead To The World |
| 4 | 3 | McFly | Where Did All The Guitars Go |
| 3 | 2 | Texas | After All |
| 2 | 4 | DMA’s | Forever |
| 1 | 1 | Shinedown | A Symptom of Being Human |
Watch this week’s Top 10 by clicking the play button below.
This week in 1979 the Charlie Daniels Band released The Devil Went Down to Georgia from the album Million Mile Reflections. The song tells the story of a young man named Johnny, who makes a deal with the devil. It was the band’s biggest hit, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and prevented from a higher peak by After the Love Has Gone by “Earth, Wind and Fire” and My Sharona by “The Knack.
The song begins as a disappointed Devil arrives in Georgia, apparently “way behind” on stealing souls, when he notices a young man named Johnny who is playing a fiddle, and quite well. Out of desperation, the Devil, who claims that he also is a fiddle player, bets a fiddle of gold against Johnny’s soul to see who is the better fiddler. Although Johnny believes taking the Devil’s bet might be a sin, he fearlessly accepts, confidently boasting that he’s “the best that’s ever been.”
Listen below to hear how the story ends.
“The Teskey Brothers” are an Australian blues rock band from Melbourne, named after Sam and Josh Teskey, who formed the band in 2008 and began by performing in the street and at parties. The brothers take influence from iconic soul men Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett and prove how timeless music that appeals directly to the human spirit endures.
Success came in 2017 with the release of their debut album, Half Mile Harvest. Their second album, Run Home Slow, followed in 2019 and made it to number 2 on the Australian album chart. Their highly anticipated third album, The Winding way, has just been released.
The latest single by The Teskey Brothers, Remember The Time, is new this week om RadiJohan.
| TW | LW | Artist | Title |
| 10 | New | Crazy Loop | Love Maria |
| 9 | New | Winger | Tears of Blood |
| 8 | New | Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds | Dead To The World |
| 7 | 4 | Uriah Heep | Golden Light |
| 6 | 7 | Mecca | Falling |
| 5 | 5 | Chris Janson ft Dolly Parton & Slash | 21 Forever |
| 4 | 6 | DMA’s | Forever |
| 3 | 3 | McFly | Where Did All The Guitars Go |
| 2 | 2 | Texas | After All |
| 1 | 1 | Shinedown | A Symptom of Being Human |
Watch this week’s Top 10 by clicking the play button below.