Top 10 Blog Posts of 2011

With only about ten hours left for 2011 here on the East Coast of the US, I thought I'd give a quick listing of the Top 10 Blog Posts (based on hit traffic) here at Martin's View in 2011.

Let's check out the list...

John Denver - Back Home Again

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Saturday. Today (December 31st) would have been John Denver’s sixty-eighth birthday had he not died in an aircraft accident in 1997.

In 1974, at the height of his growing popularity, John Denver released his seventh studio album Back Home Again. This was his first album to reach number 1 on both the US Billboard Hot 200 chart and the US Billboard Country chart; it also went to number 1 in Canada and number 3 in the UK.

Happy Birthday, Jeff Lynne

Happy sixty-fourth birthday today (December 30th) to English singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jeff Lynne.

Jeff started out by playing music locally in the early 1960's. In 1970, he formed the Electric Light Orchestra (known by many as ELO) with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan. The group were together for sixteen years and made some amazing, innovative records that were a fusion of rock and classical music.

Pat Benatar - Crimes of Passion

Happy fifty-sixth birthday today (December 29th) to guitarist Neil “Spyder” Giraldo and husband to rocker Pat Benatar (the two have been married since 1982).

After a strong debut album In the Heat of the Night in 1979 (click here for my review of that one), Pat Benatar followed it up on August 5th of 1980 with her second album Crimes of Passion. The album did very well, reaching number 2 on the US Billboard Album chart with a total run of ninety-two weeks, and has been certified multi-platinum.

Happy Birthday, Terry Bozzio

Happy sixty-first birthday yesterday (December 27th) to drummer Terry Bozzio.

The San Francisco born Bozzio was inspired to become a drummer after seeing the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show. After high school, he went to the College of Marin on a music scholarship. After school, he played in a number of local jazz groups.

Foreigner - Agent Provocateur

Happy sixty-seventh birthday today (December 27th) to English guitarist, songwriter and producer Mick Jones of Foreigner.

After their hugely successful album 4 in 1981 and before their appearance on the 1985 Vision Quest soundtrack (click here and here for my reviews of each of those), Foreigner put out their fifth studio album Agent Provocateur on December 7th of 1984. This concept album, which tells the story of a spy who sees life from many sides, went to number 1 in the UK, Germany and Switzerland; in the US it reached number 4 on the Billboard Album chart. Sales-wise, the record achieved multi-platinum status.

Daughtry - Daughtry

Happy thirty-second birthday today (December 26th) to American rocker Chris Daughtry.

The native North Carolinian came to national fame as a fifth season contestant on American Idol. A strong contender in a season packed with talent, he placed fourth that season and was able to move on to work on his debut album for RCA records. The self-titled Daughtry was released in 2006 and became the fastest selling debut rock album in Soundscan history. Within five weeks of its release it had sold over one million copies and by its ninth week on the charts it reached number 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart. It stayed on that chart for a total of one hundred and thirty six weeks. The album also won the American Music Award in 2007 for Favorite Pop-Rock Album.