RadiJohan Top 10 on 13 January 2024

TWLWArtistTitle
10NewHugo’s VoyageA Friend Like You
95The Castellows Hurricane
8NewOverpassBeautiful
7NewMoon SafariEmma, Come On
64Jason Aldean Let Your Boys Be Country
57Exit Eden ft. Marko HietalaRun
410D’Virgilio, Morse & JenningsTiny Little Fires
33 At 1980 Back To Me
22Games We Play Too Young
11The Dryes Take Me Out

Watch this week’s Top 10 by clicking the play button below.

Magnum legend Tony Clarkin passes aged 77

Magnum founder, guitarist and songwriter Tony Clarkin has died after a short illness. The news was confirmed in a statement shared by his family on Magnum’s official social media channels. Last month the band revealed that Tony had been diagnosed with a rare spinal condition, which brought about the cancellation of their Spring 2024 tour.

Tony Clarkin founded Magnum in his hometown Birmingham together with vocalist Bob Catley in 1972 in order to appear as the resident band at Birmingham’s “Rum Runner” nightclub. Clarkin and Catley remained at the centre of the band, producing 23 studio albums across six separate decades. Tony Clarkin was the sole songwriter throughout Magnum’s history, writing all of their material.

Magnum’s latest album, Here Comes The Rain, is due for release this Friday, January 12.

“I didn’t look to live forever”
(TC 2024)

R.I.P. David Soul

Actor and singer David Soul has died at the age of 80, his wife Helen Snell has confirmed. David Soul, born David Richard Solberg on August 28, 1943, was an American-British actor and singer, best known for his role as California detective Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson in the series Starsky and Hutch from 1975 to-1979. After a successful singing career, Soul led an obscure life throughout the 1980’s and had a lengthy battle with alcoholism. He recently appeared in various American television series, playing relatively small roles.

David Soul scored his biggest hits in the mid 70’s, including the 1976 chart topper “Don’t Give Up On Us” which went to number 1 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.

RadiJohan Top 10 on 06 January 2024

TWLWArtistTitle
10NewD’Virgilio, Morse & JenningsTiny Little Fires
910StreetlightHit The Ground
8NewBlink-182Dance With Me
78Exit Eden ft. Marko HietalaRun
66The StrumbellasHold Me
51The CastellowsHurricane
43Jason Aldean Let Your Boys Be Country
35 At 1980 Back To Me
24Games We Play Too Young
12The Dryes Take Me Out

Watch this week’s Top 10 by clicking the play button below.

Frampton Found The Way

It was released on the 6th of January 1976, was the best-selling album of that year in the USA and is one of the best-selling live albums of all time. “Frampton Comes Alive!” is a double live album by guitarist, singer and songwriter “Peter Frampton.”

Peter Frampton, a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, gained prominence as the lead singer for “The Herd” when he was only 16. Later, he formed the band “Humble Pie” with Steve Marriott from “The Small Faces.” During his time with Humble Pie, Frampton also engaged in session recording for other artists including George Harrison, Harry Nilsson, and Jerry Lee Lewis. After four studio albums and one live album with Humble Pie, Frampton left the band.

In 1971, after four studio albums and one live album with Humble Pie, Peter Frampton decided to pursue a solo career. His early albums did not achieve significant commercial success. However, everything changed with the release of “Frampton Comes Alive!”  Three tracks from the album, “Show Me the Way”, “Baby, I Love Your Way”, and “Do You Feel Like We Do” were released as singles, with all three reaching the top 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

A Brief Introduction to Overpass

Four piece Birmingham band “Overpass” was formed in 2020 and have been gradually lighting up the Indie rock scene in the UK. Despite the band not having an EP or an album under their belt, they have captured the attention of many by touring relentlessly. Their debut EP, From the Night, is set to be released in February.

Beautiful, a song “Overpass” has been performing live in concert, will no doubt be on the EP and is new this week on radiJohan.

Moon Safari: Swedish Symphonic Rock

Moon Safari is a Swedish progressive rock band formed in 2003. Although their music incorporates many different styles their genre is predominantly symphonic rock. All six band members contribute to the vocal aspect of their music and many of their melodies are sung as full vocal harmonies, with a number of their songs featuring a capella sections. Among others, they list their influences as The Beatles, and notable progressive rock bands Genesis, Marillion, IQ, and Yes.

Himlabacken Vol. 2 is Moon Safari’s latest album and was released last month and comes a decade after its predecessor Himlabacken Vol. 1. The band explain:

“It took us ten years, for a million different reasons. We won’t bore you with all of them. Let’s just say that for a band that celebrates the wonders of youth like we do it would have been impossible for us to keep up the pace we had until 2014. We had four kids between us when Himlabacken Vol. 1 came out. Now that number is 16. Watching these kids laugh, play and marvel at the simple things in life is the point of it all, really, and that’s taken up much of our time. Rightly so.”

Moon Safari’s latest single, Emma, Come On, is about the slightly unhealthy kind of celebrity worshipping, and is new this week on RadiJohan.

Longing For Massachusetts

On December 28th, 1967, the “Bee Gees” topped the German singles chart with their song “Massachusetts.” The track had previously reached number 1 in the UK in October and marked the first of the group’s five UK number 1 hits. Notably, “Massachusetts” also served as the first single on which Robin Gibb sang the lead vocals.

In this poignant song, the singer expresses a longing to return to Massachusetts, a state located in the northeastern United States. Interestingly, the Bee Gees had never actually been to Massachusetts when they recorded the song; they were simply captivated by the sound of its name. Unfortunately, the memories associated with this time became bittersweet for Robin Gibb. On November 5th, while “Massachusetts” still held the number 1 spot, he was involved in a train crash that claimed the lives of 49 people, marking one of Britain’s most devastating rail disasters.

“Massachusetts” also reached the number 1 spot in numerous other countries. Notably, the Bee Gees became the first non-Japanese act to top the Japanese singles chart when “Massachusetts” spent a week at number one in April 1968.

Remembering Stevie Wright

On the 27th of December 2015 Stevie Wright died, aged 68, after lengthy battles with drugs and alcohol and years of poor health. From 1964 to 1969 he was the lead singer of Sydney-based band “The Easybeats,” who had a world-wide hit in 1966 with ‘Friday on My Mind’. The Easybeats were widely regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s.