This week in 1972 David Bowie released his fifth studio album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The concept album introduced us to Bowie’s alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, a fictional rock star who is sent to Earth as a saviour to bring a message of hope to humanity before an impending apocalypse. The album peaked at number 5 in the UK and remains on that chart for two years, bolstered by Bowie’s performance of “Starman” on “Top of the Pops” in July 1972.
Month: June 2023
“The Defiants” are a band whose music recalls the glory days of the hair metal era of the eighties and early nineties. Formed in 2015 by former members of hair metal band “Danger Danger,” The Defiants’ 2016 self-titled debut album contained hard rock anthems full of guitar solos and singalongs and was considered a glorious return to the “in your face” melodic hard rock that enraptured millions of fans back in the ’80s and ’90s. A second album, Zokusho, was released to critical acclaim in 2019 and now, after another four year wait, they have returned with their third release, Drive, which could turn out to be their greatest musical achievement so far.
The Defiants’ single 19 Summertime is new this week on RadiJohan.
The “Michael Thompson Band” (MTB) is a rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1988. In musician circles, Michael Thompson is considered one of the leading guitar players. He is widely regarded as being among the elite studio session players. His list of credits includes prominent names like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, the Scorpions, Michael Bolton, Shania Twain and many others. MTB’s new album, The Love Goes On, sees the return of the band’s original vocalist “Moon Calhoun,” who sang on MTB’s 1989 debut album, How Long.
The title track of the Michael Thompson Band’s new album, The Love Goes on, is new this week on RadiJohan.
This morning I suddenly remembered a hit from 1981 which, until now, had disappeared somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind. I don’t know how it slipped in there as it arguably should have been on RadiJohan’s playlist all along.
Gary U.S.Bonds is an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer who had a few hits in the US and the UK in the early 60’s but otherwise remained largely unknown until the early 80’s. Bonds’ had an 80’s career resurgence with two albums recorded with Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, and the E Street Band. The first of these, Dedication, was released in 1981 and featured his US and UK comeback hit, This Little Girl, which also charted in New Zealand, peaking at number 11.
| TW | LW | Artist | Title |
| 10 | 5 | Birdy | Raincatchers |
| 9 | 6 | Leah | Before This War Is Over |
| 8 | 4 | Floor Jansen | My Paragon |
| 7 | 9 | Mecca | Falling |
| 6 | New | DMA’s | Forever |
| 5 | New | Chris Janson ft Dolly Parton & Slash | 21 Forever |
| 4 | 2 | Uriah Heep | Golden Light |
| 3 | 7 | McFly | Where Did All The Guitars Go |
| 2 | 3 | Texas | After All |
| 1 | 1 | Shinedown | A Symptom of Being Human |
Watch this week’s Top 10 by clicking the play button below
This week in 1974 Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You hit number 1 on the US Country chart. Dolly wrote the ballad of undying platonic love for her longtime mentor, Porter Wagoner, with whom she recorded 13 duet albums before she decided to part ways.
Nearly two decades later, Whitney Houston’s version of the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Country star “Ashley McBryde” has teamed up with “Lzzy Hale” of Grammy Award winning hard rock band “Halestorm” for a new duet version of Terrible Things. The original version, which was not released as a single, appeared on Halestorm’s 2022 album Back From The Dead which reached the top 10 of the UK album chart.
Terrible things by Halestorm ft Ashley McBryde is new this week on RadiJohan
Nineties hit-makers “Matchbox Twenty” have returned with their first new music in a decade. The band have been in hiatus more than once since they formed in 1996 and that explains why Where The Light Goes is only the band’s fifth studio album.
Matchbox Twenty’s new single, Don’t Get Me Wrong, is new this week on RadiJohan.
| TW | LW | Artist | Title |
| 10 | 3 | Sophie Ellis-Bextor | Breaking The Circle |
| 9 | 10 | Mecca | Falling |
| 8 | 9 | Lenny Kravitz | Have you Been Blind |
| 7 | New | McFly | Where Did All The Guitars Go |
| 6 | 6 | Leah | Before This War Is Over |
| 5 | 5 | Birdy | Raincatchers |
| 4 | 2 | Floor Jansen | My Paragon |
| 3 | 8 | Texas | After All |
| 2 | 4 | Uriah Heep | Golden Light |
| 1 | 1 | Shinedown | A Symptom of Being Human |
Watch this week’s Top 10 by clicking the play button below.
This week in 1973 the “Wings” album Red Rose Speedway hit the top of the albums chart in the USA. Its lead single, My Love, written by Paul McCartney as a love song to his wife (and Wings bandmate) Linda, started a four-week run at number 1 on the Hot 100. It was the band’s first number one.