The Beach Boys ( B23 )

 Wild Honey was released on December 18, 1967, in competition with the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour and the Rolling Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request. It had a lower chart placing than Smiley Smile and remained on the charts for only 15 weeks. As with Smiley Smile, contemporary critics viewed it as inconsequential, and it alienated fans whose expectations had been raised by Smile. That month, Mike Love told a British journalist: "Brian has been rethinking our recording program and in any case we all have a much greater say nowadays in what we turn out in the studio."

Friends, 20/20, and Manson affair

The Beach Boys were at their lowest popularity in the late 1960s, and their cultural standing was especially worsened by their public image, which remained incongruous with their peers' "heavier" music. At the end of 1967, Rolling Stone co-founder and editor Jann Wenner printed an influential article that denounced the Beach Boys as "just one prominent example of a group that has gotten hung up on trying to catch The Beatles. It's a pointless pursuit." The article had the effect of excluding the group among serious rock fans and such controversy followed them into the next year. Capitol continued to bill them as "America's Top Surfin' Group!" and expected Brian to write more beachgoing songs for the yearly summer markets. From 1968 onward, his songwriting output declined substantially, but the public narrative of "Brian as leader" continued. The group also stopped wearing their longtime striped-shirt stage uniforms in favor of matching white, polyester suits that resembled a Las Vegas show band's.

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The Beatles ( B15 )

 Their hairstyle, unusually long for the era and mocked by many adults, became an emblem of rebellion to the burgeoning youth culture.

The group's popularity generated unprecedented interest in British music, and many other UK acts subsequently made their American debuts, successfully touring over the next three years in what was termed the British Invasion. The Beatles' success in the US opened the door for a successive string of British beat groups and pop acts such as the Dave Clark Five, the Animals, Petula Clark, the Kinks, and the Rolling Stones to achieve success in America. During the week of 4 April 1964, the Beatles held twelve positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, including the top five.

Capitol Records' lack of interest throughout 1963 did not go unnoticed, and a competitor, United Artists Records, encouraged its film division to offer the Beatles a three-motion-picture deal, primarily for the commercial potential of the soundtracks in the US. Directed by Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night involved the band for six weeks in March–April 1964 as they played themselves in a musical comedy. The film premiered in London and New York in July and August, respectively, and was an international success, with some critics drawing a comparison with the Marx Brothers.

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The Beatles - With the Beatles ( D2 )

 

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Bob Dylan ( b3 )

 The Pulitzer Prize Board in 2008 awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power". In 2016, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".

Life and career

1941–1959: Origins and musical beginnings

The Zimmerman family home in Hibbing, Minnesota

Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman (Hebrew: שבתאי זיסל בן אברהם Shabtai Zisl ben Avraham) in St. Mary's Hospital on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota, and raised in Hibbing, Minnesota, on the Mesabi Range west of Lake Superior. Dylan's paternal grandparents, Anna Kirghiz and Zigman Zimmerman, emigrated from Odesa in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine) to the United States, following the pogroms against Jews of 1905. His maternal grandparents, Florence and Ben Stone, were Lithuanian Jews who arrived in the United States in 1902. In his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, Dylan wrote that his paternal grandmother's family was originally from the Kağızman district of Kars Province in northeastern Turkey.

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The Beach Boys ( B22 )

 Smiley Smile was released on September 18, 1967, and peaked at number 41 in the US, making it their worst-selling album to that date. Critics and fans were generally underwhelmed by the album. According to Scott Schinder, the album was released to "general incomprehension. While Smile may have divided the Beach Boys' fans had it been released, Smiley Smile merely baffled them." The group was virtually blacklisted by the music press, to the extent that reviews of the group's records were either withheld from publication or published long after the release dates. When released in the UK in November, it performed better, reaching number 9. Over the years, the album gathered a reputation as one of the best "chill-out" albums to listen to during an LSD comedown. In 1974, NME voted it the 64th-greatest album of all time.

When we did Wild Honey, Brian asked me to get more involved in the recording end. He wanted a break [because he] had been doing it all too long.

—Carl Wilson

The Beach Boys immediately recorded a new album, Wild Honey, an excursion into soul music, and a self-conscious attempt to "regroup" themselves as a rock band in opposition to their more orchestral affairs of the past. Its music differs in many ways from previous Beach Boys records: it contains very little group singing compared to previous albums, and mainly features Brian singing at his piano. Again, the Beach Boys recorded mostly at his home studio. Love reflected that Wild Honey was "completely out of the mainstream for what was going on at that time ... and that was the idea."

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Eric Stewart - Sleep at Night ( l1 )

I used to get angry, I used to get mad,

I lost my direction, my karma was bad.
While looking for glory, I found the pretence,
All mounting to nothing, the years I spent
Trying to understand, the things that cut me so deep.
I tried to make sense of all your sad little games,
But the deeper I got, I found more of the same.
But I will sleep at night, sleep at night, sleep at night, oh yeah,

I'll sleep tonight, sleep tonight, sleep tonight.

I had to look deeper, I needed the key,
The whys and the wherefores, should I let it be?
The clues were so hidden, but under the smile, something was broken, it wasn't your style.
You were losing the plot, the train departed long ago.
The pack were behind you, they were hungry for food,
But I couldn't desert you, you were standing in the nude.
But I will sleep at night, sleep at night, sleep at night, oh yeah,

I'll sleep tonight, sleep tonight, sleep tonight.

It wasn't for money, it don't make things right,
It wasn't for kudos, I hated the limelight.
I was shaking with anger, I couldn't take more,
So I walked away softly, and closed that door.
Don't wanna hold your hand, I moved away from the brink,
I won't be going that way again, I don't need the torment, the lies and the pain.
I wanna sleep at night, sleep at night, sleep at night, oh yeah,

I'll sleep tonight, sleep tonight, sleep tonight.

I looked at your forecast, the outlook was bleak.
You put your foot in it each time you speak.
The porkies get bigger, they grow and they grow,
The reaper is smiling, he knows what you've sown.
Take another look, the cracks are starting to show.
You can't fool the people if you spread it so thin,
They'll see through your pseudo, and they'll make you jack it in.
But I will sleep tonight, sleep tonight, sleep tonight oh yeah,

I'll sleep tonight, sleep tonight, sleep tonight.
I will sleep at night, sleep at night, sleep at night, oh yeah, I'll sleep.

The Beatles ( B14 )

 On 7 February 1964, the Beatles departed from Heathrow with an estimated 4,000 fans waving and screaming as the aircraft took off. Upon landing at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, an uproarious crowd estimated at 3,000 greeted them. They gave their first live US television performance two days later on The Ed Sullivan Show, watched by approximately 73 million viewers in over 23 million households, or 34 per cent of the American population. Biographer Jonathan Gould writes that, according to the Nielsen rating service, it was "the largest audience that had ever been recorded for an American television program". The next morning, the Beatles awoke to a largely negative critical consensus in the US, but a day later at their first US concert, Beatlemania erupted at the Washington Coliseum. Back in New York the following day, the Beatles met with another strong reception during two shows at Carnegie Hall.The band flew to Florida, where they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show a second time, again before 70 million viewers, before returning to the UK on 22 February.

The Beatles' first visit to the US took place when the nation was still mourning the assassination of President John F. Kennedy the previous November. Commentators often suggest that for many, particularly the young, the Beatles' performances reignited the sense of excitement and possibility that momentarily faded in the wake of the assassination, and helped pave the way for the revolutionary social changes to come later in the decade. 

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George Michael ( i1 )

 

Bob Dylan ( b2 )

  His six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" (1965) expanded commercial and creative boundaries in popular music.

In July 1966, a motorcycle accident led to Dylan's withdrawal from touring. During this period, he recorded a large body of songs with members of the Band, who had previously backed him on tour. These recordings were released as the collaborative album The Basement Tapes in 1975. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dylan explored country music and rural themes in John Wesley Harding (1967), Nashville Skyline (1969), and New Morning (1970). In 1975, he released Blood on the Tracks, which many saw as a return to form. In the late 1970s, he became a born-again Christian and released a series of albums of contemporary gospel music before returning to his more familiar rock-based idiom in the early 1980s. Dylan's 1997 album Time Out of Mind marked the beginning of a renaissance for his career. He has released five critically acclaimed albums of original material since then, the most recent being Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020). He also recorded a series of three albums in the 2010s comprising versions of traditional American standards, especially songs recorded by Frank Sinatra. Dylan has toured continuously since the late 1980s on what has become known as the Never Ending Tour.

Since 1994, Dylan has published eight books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. He has sold more than 125 million records, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, ten Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award. Dylan has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

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The Beach Boys ( B21 )

 Carl remembered: "Brian just said, 'I can't do this. We're going to make a homespun version of [Smile] instead. We're just going to take it easy. I'll get in the pool and sing. Or let's go in the gym and do our parts.' That was Smiley Smile." Sessions for the new album lasted from June to July 1967 at Brian's new makeshift home studio. Most of the album featured the Beach Boys playing their own instruments, rather than the session musicians employed in much of their previous work. It was the first album for which production was credited to the entire group instead of Brian alone.

In July 1967, lead single "Heroes and Villains" was issued, arriving after months of public anticipation, and reached number 12 in US. It was met with general confusion and underwhelming reviews, and in the NME, Jimi Hendrix famously dismissed it as a "psychedelic barbershop quartet". By then, the group's lawsuit with Capitol was resolved, and it was agreed that Smile would not be the band's next album. In August, the group embarked on a two-date tour of Hawaii. Bruce Johnston, who was absent for most of the Smiley Smile recording, did not accompany the group, but Brian did. The performances were filmed and recorded with the intention of releasing a live album, Lei'd in Hawaii, which was also left unfinished and unreleased. The general record-buying public came to view the music made after this time as the point marking the band's artistic decline. 

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Brian Eno - Needles in the Camel's Eye ( l1 )

Those who know
They don't let it show
They just give you one long life and you go

Goes to show
Wow winds blow
The weather's fine and I feel so so-so

Birds of prey
With too much to say
Oh what could be my destiny, another rainy day?

Why ask why?
For by the by and by
All mysteries are just more needles in the camel's eye

Those who know
They don't let it show
They just give you one long life and you go

Why ask why?
For by the by and by
All mysteries are just more needles in the camel's eye

The Beatles ( B13 )

  After it emerged that the label did not report royalties on their sales, the licence that Vee-Jay had signed with EMI was voided. A new licence was granted to the Swan label for the single "She Loves You". The record received some airplay in the Tidewater area of Virginia from Gene Loving of radio station WGH and was featured on the "Rate-a-Record" segment of American Bandstand, but it failed to catch on nationally.

The Beatles arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 7 February 1964

Epstein brought a demo copy of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to Capitol's Brown Meggs, who signed the band and arranged for a $40,000 US marketing campaign. American chart success began after disc jockey Carroll James of AM radio station WWDC, in Washington, DC, obtained a copy of the British single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in mid-December 1963 and began playing it on-air. Taped copies of the song soon circulated among other radio stations throughout the US. This caused an increase in demand, leading Capitol to bring forward the release of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by three weeks. Issued on 26 December, with the band's previously scheduled debut there just weeks away, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" sold a million copies, becoming a number-one hit in the US by mid-January. In its wake Vee-Jay released Introducing... The Beatles along with Capitol's debut album, Meet the Beatles!, while Swan reactivated production of "She Loves You".

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Edgar Winter ( i2 )

 

Bob Dylan ( b1 )

 Robert Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career spanning more than 60 years. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements. His lyrics during this period incorporated a range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defying pop music conventions and appealing to the burgeoning counterculture.

Following his self-titled debut album in 1962, which comprised mainly traditional folk songs, Dylan made his breakthrough as a songwriter with the release of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan the following year. The album features "Blowin' in the Wind" and the thematically complex "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall". Many of his songs adapted the tunes and phraseology of older folk songs. He went on to release the politically charged The Times They Are a-Changin' and the more lyrically abstract and introspective Another Side of Bob Dylan in 1964. In 1965 and 1966, Dylan drew controversy among folk purists when he adopted electrically amplified rock instrumentation, and in the space of 15 months recorded three of the most important and influential rock albums of the 1960s: Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited (both 1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966).

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The Beach Boys ( B20 )

 The other group also appreciates the early songs for their energy and complexity, but not as much as the band's ambitious work that was created during the formative psychedelic era. At the time, rock music journalists typically valued the Beach Boys' early records over their experimental work.

In May 1967, the Beach Boys attempted to tour Europe with four extra musicians brought from the US, but were stopped by the British musicians' union. The tour went on without the extra support, and critics described their performances as "amateurish" and "floundering". At the last minute, the Beach Boys declined to headline the Monterey Pop Festival, an event held in June. According to David Leaf, "Monterey was a gathering place for the 'far out' sounds of the 'new' rock ... and it is thought that [their] non-appearance was what really turned the 'underground' tide against them." Fan magazines speculated that the group was on the verge of breaking up. Detractors called the band the "Bleach Boys" and "the California Hypes" as media focus shifted from Los Angeles to the happenings in San Francisco. As authenticity became a higher concern among critics, the group's legitimacy in rock music became an oft-repeated criticism, especially since their early songs appeared to celebrate a politically unconscious youth culture.

The group at Zuma Beach, July 1967

Although Smile had been cancelled, the Beach Boys were still under pressure and a contractual obligation to record and present an album to Capitol.

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Billy Idol ( b16 )

 

1984	"Dancing with Myself"	Best Special Effects	Nominated
1984	"Eyes Without a Face"	Best Cinematography	Nominated
1984	"Eyes Without a Face"	Best Editing	Nominated
1990	"Cradle of Love"	Best Video from a Film	Won
1990	"Cradle of Love"	Best Male Video	Nominated
1990	"Cradle of Love"	Best Special Effects	Nominated
1993	"Shock to the System"	Best Special Effects	Nominated
1993	"Shock to the System"	Best Editing	Nominated

Brit Awards

The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
1991	Billy Idol – "Cradle of Love"	Best British Video	Nominated

Pollstar Concert Industry Awards

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result	Ref.
1988	Tour	Most Creative Tour Package	Nominated

The Beatles ( B12 )

 In a reversal of then standard practice, EMI released the album ahead of the impending single "I Want to Hold Your Hand", with the song excluded to maximise the single's sales. The album caught the attention of music critic William Mann of The Times, who suggested that Lennon and McCartney were "the outstanding English composers of 1963". The newspaper published a series of articles in which Mann offered detailed analyses of the music, lending it respectability. With the Beatles became the second album in UK chart history to sell a million copies, a figure previously reached only by the 1958 South Pacific soundtrack. When writing the sleeve notes for the album, the band's press officer, Tony Barrow, used the superlative the "fabulous foursome", which the media widely adopted as "the Fab Four".

First visit to the United States and the British Invasion

Main article: British Invasion

EMI's American subsidiary, Capitol Records, hindered the Beatles' releases in the United States for more than a year by initially declining to issue their music, including their first three singles. Concurrent negotiations with the independent US label Vee-Jay led to the release of some, but not all, of the songs in 1963. Vee-Jay finished preparation for the album Introducing... The Beatles, comprising most of the songs of Parlophone's Please Please Me, but a management shake-up led to the album not being released.

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Istoric ( 327 )

 18.05.1980 - Ian Curtis, solistul formatiei Joy Division, se spanzura in casa la varsta de 23 de ani. Curtis asculta Iggy Pop cand s-a sinucis.

Foreigner - Feels Like the First Time ( S1.4 )

 Personnel

• Lou Gramm – lead vocals
• Mick Jones – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Ian McDonald – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Al Greenwood – keyboards, Hammond organ, synthesizer
• Ed Gagliardi – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Dennis Elliott – drums

Single by Foreigner
from the album Foreigner
B-side	"Woman, Oh Woman"
Released	March 1977
Recorded	1976
Genre	Rock hard rock
Length	3:15 (single) 3:49 (album)
Label	Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Mick Jones
Producer(s)	Gary Lyons John Sinclair
Foreigner singles chronology
"Feels Like the First Time" (1977) "Cold as Ice" (1977)
Music video

Foreigner - Feels Like the First Time ( S1.3 )

In popular culture

In 2010, "Feels Like the First Time" was re-recorded to be included in the rhythm game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

The song appears at the end of the 2012 film Magic Mike and was also used during the Riff Medley by the Treblemakers in the movie Pitch Perfect. It was also featured in the 2013 film Anchorman 2, the 2017 film I, Tonya, and the end credits of the 2021 film Eternals. A heavily-edited version appears in the 2020 Netflix movie Spenser Confidential.

In Pitch Perfect, the Bellas have a Riff off one of their oppositions starts to sing the song.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1977)	Peak position
Australia (KMR)	41
Canada RPM Top Singles	7
UK	39
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	4
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	5

Year-end charts

Chart (1977)	Rank
Canada	79
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	31
U.S. Cash Box	34

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Foreigner - Feels Like the First Time ( S1.2 )

 Henry McNulty's contemporary review of Foreigner in the Hartford Courant said that "Feels Like the First Time" was a good choice for the album's first single due to "Jones' guitar blasting out metal-tinged chords at the outset and plenty of clever little hooks."

Allmusic critic Denise Sullivan described "Feels Like the First Time" as " one of those typically generic, much reviled by critics, '70s corporate rock hits" which nonetheless had "insta-appeal." Sullivan attributed its popularity in part to its ability to bridge between heavy metal and MOR rock, with "hard-hitting" snare drum, "layered instruments and fist-pumping guitar riffs." She describes lead singer Gramm as turning in a "blueprint metal screamer vocal performance." Livingston County Daily Press and Argus critic Scott Pohl said the song "expressed how anyone feels with a new lover."

Ultimate Classic Rock critic Matt Wardlaw ranked "Feels Like the First Time" as Foreigner's 7th greatest song, stating that it represented a new beginning for Jones "as he had gotten married, moved to America and started what would become a very successful rock 'n' roll band." Classic Rock History critic Janey Roberts ranked "Feels Like the First Time" as Foreigner's all-time top song. Billboard reviewer Gary Graff rated "Feels Like the First Time" to be Foreigner's 3rd greatest song, calling it "a perfect introduction and statement of purpose, brimming with optimism and intent."

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Foreigner - Feels Like the First Time ( S1.1 )

 "Feels Like the First Time" was one of four songs (along with "Take Me to Your Leader," "At War with the World" and "Woman, Oh Woman") that Lou Gramm sang at his audition to become the lead singer of Foreigner. These same four songs were used on the demo Foreigner used to get their recording contract.

Reception

Billboard called "Feels Like the First Time" "tasteful, high energy rock" with "a direct, happy, love lyric." Billboard called the guitars "booming" and Gramm's lead vocal "intense but controlled." Cash Box said that "the heavy rock feeling is there at bottom, but glittering backing vocals and keyboard work add the patina necessary to soothe top 40" and also commented on the "spine-tingling guitar chords" that open the song. New York Times critic John Rockwell called the song a "none-too-imaginative" example of a "straightforward rock song" that combines "latter-day British rock with a hint of synthesizer progressiveness." Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh said the song "combines Roxy Music-like synthesizer with the eternal thump" and said that Jones' songwriting on this song and its follow-up single "Cold as Ice" "places him among the better English hard-rock writers. 

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Foreigner - Feels Like the First Time ( S1 )

 

Background

Jones wrote "Feels Like the First Time" while putting together the band that would become Foreigner. According to Jones, "I started writing by myself. Before I knew it, I had two or three songs, and I wondered what to do with them. One of those songs was 'Feels Like the First Time.'"

Jones also said:

"Feels Like The First Time" was written about a bit of a change in my life. I was coming out of a previous marriage with somebody I'd met in France. I'd gone back to England and then finally made the journey to America while I was in the band Spooky Tooth. And to me it was this challenge of really going for a new start in my life. ... to me it was signifying a new start. I'd met somebody, I got re-married and moved with her to America, and that was the song that described that experience."

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The Beach Boys ( B19 )

  Many of Wilson's associates, including Parks and Anderle, disassociated themselves from the group by April 1967. Brian later said: "Time can be spent in the studio to the point where you get so next to it, you don't know where you are with it—you decide to just chuck it for a while."

In the decades following Smile's non-release, it became the subject of intense speculation and mystique and the most legendary unreleased album in pop music history. Many of the album's advocates believe that had it been released, it would have altered the group's direction and cemented them at the vanguard of rock innovators. In 2011, Uncut magazine staff voted Smile the "greatest bootleg recording of all time".

1967–1969: Faltered popularity and Brian's reduced involvement

Smiley Smile and Wild Honey

From 1965 to 1967, the Beach Boys had developed a musical and lyrical sophistication that contrasted their work from before and after. This divide was further solidified by the difference in sound between their albums and their stage performances. This resulted in a split fanbase corresponding to two distinct musical markets. One group is the conservative audience who enjoys the band's early singles as a wholesome representation of American popular culture from before the political and social movements brought on in the mid-1960s. 

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Billy Idol ( b15 )

 

Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result	Ref.
2005	Himself	Comeback of the Year	Won

Grammy Awards

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result	Ref.
1985	"Rebel Yell"	Best Male Rock Vocal Performance	Nominated
1987	"To Be a Lover"		Nominated
1991	"Cradle of Love"		Nominated

MTV Video Music Awards

The MTV Video Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by MTV.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
1984	"Dancing with Myself"	Best Direction	Nominated
1984	"Dancing with Myself"	Best Art Direction	Nominated

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