Ventures photo posed 1960 1500 crop

who was the first rock band to sell a million albums?

I HAD TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION: “Who was the first rock band to sell a million albums?” It was on Quora and immediately seized my attention. Why? Because not only had I never thought about it, but I had never heard a record-collecting friend or a professional music writer address it. [Continue reading]

are there albums where the covers are worth more than the records?

HERE’S ANOTHER QUESTION ABOUT VINYL on Quora that distracted me from various writing projects! The question is, “What vinyl album cover empty is worth more than a mint vinyl album without the cover?” Or, as I have worded it in this article’s title: Are there albums with covers that are worth more than the records? [Continue reading]

DoobieBrothers DutchTV 1974 HansPeters 1500

like, whoa, do the doobie brothers belong in the hall of fame?

THE DOOBIES IN THE HALL OF FAME?” That’s a question that’s been asked a bit in the wake of their recent induction into said Hall. There was a version of that question (“Are the Doobie Brothers Hall of Fame Worthy”) on Quora this morning. I answered it there and wanted to share my answer here. [Continue reading]

MilesDavis FillmoreEast 1970 1500

why are non-rock artists in the rock & roll hall of fame?

A SERIES OF ARTICLES about Elvis Presley’s Gold Standard records has been taking up most of my time (along with redesigning the look of all my blogs). Because of that, I have been ignoring both the readers of this blog and those who salivate waiting for me to answer a question on Quora. [Continue reading]

LinkWray 2 1500 crop

does link wray belong in the rock & roll hall of fame?

I HAVEN’T BEEN PAYING a lot of attention to Quora lately, but this question caused me to respond; “Will Link Wray ever make the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?” Wray had one seminal hit, Rumble, in 1958 that Cub Koda stated popularized “popularized “the power chord, the major modus operandi of modern rock guitarists.” [Continue reading]

Beatles WhiteAlbum poster 1500 crop3

what is a “record album” and where did the term come from?

THE WORLD TURNS AND WORDS EVOLVE. Sometimes the evolution of a word is gradual and logical and few notice the change. Sometimes it happens quickly—often through ignorance and misuse—and the change is jarring. Today, a word can go through a tremendous upheaval if one influential person misuses it one time on the internet. [Continue reading]

TommyJames HankyPanky GoldRecord b 1500

are today’s pop song lyrics getting more redundantly repetitive?

DOES YOUR BABY DO THE HANKY PANKY? The question asked on Quora was “Are Pop lyrics getting more and more repetitive?” Instead of a well-reasoned, thoughtful answer, I posted this instead (and my complete answer is between the two lines):

 

TommyJames HankyPanky Roulette 45 600

This is the Roulette Records version of Hanky Panky that was the #1 hit on Billboard and Cash Box and sold millions of copies in 1966. [Continue reading]