Friday 3/3/23 2am ET: Feature Live LP: Neil Diamond – Hot August Night II (1987)

Hot August Night II is a live album by Neil Diamond. This is a follow-up to his 1972 double album Hot August Night, which is also a live album. This album is certified Platinum by the RIAA. Released November 10, 1987

1. “Song of the Whales (Fanfare)” 1:55
2. “Headed for the Future” 4:10
3. “September Morn” 4:03
4. “Thank the Lord for the Night Time” 3:23
5. “Cherry, Cherry” 3:14
6. “Sweet Caroline” 3:50
7. “Hello Again” 3:33
8. “Love on the Rocks” 3:13
9. “America” 3:56
10. “Forever in Blue Jeans” 3:29
11. “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” 4:42
12. “I Dreamed a Dream” 4:37
13. “Back in L.A.” 2:25
14. “Song Sung Blue” 2:52
15. “Cracklin’ Rosie” 2:55
16. “I Am…I Said” 5:08
17. “Holly Holy” 4:37
18. “Soolaimon” 1:20
19. “Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show” 5:35
20. “Heartlight” 3:54

Richard Bennett – Acoustic & Electric Guitar
Alan Lindgren – Synthesizer & Piano
King Errisson – Percussion
Reinie Press – Bass
Tom Hensley – Piano & Keyboards
Doug Rhone – Acoustic & Electric Guitar
Vince Charles – Percussion
Ron Tutt – Drums
Background Vocals – Doug Rhone, Linda Press, Ron Tutt
Concertmaster – Assa Drori
Conductor – Alan Lindgren
Violin – Assa Drori, Bill Hybell, Bob Sanov, Clayton Haslop, Donald Palmer, Meg Zivahi, Reg Hill, Shari Zippert
Viola – Lenny Sachs, Margo MacLaine
Cello – Tony Cooke, Ray Kelley
Bass – Mickey Nadel

Tuesday 1/24/23 8am ET: Feature Greatest Hits LP: Neil Diamond – His 12 Greatest Hits (1974)

His 12 Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Neil Diamond, issued in 1974 on the MCA record label. As the title suggests, it contains twelve songs from Neil’s catalogue.

The album contains songs from his tenure with Uni Records, from 1968 to 1972. After Neil had returned to Columbia Records, his earlier works were reissued on MCA Records, which was the parent company of Uni Records which had folded in the early 1970s.

“Sweet Caroline” 4:15
“Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show” 3:26
“Shilo” 2:59
“Holly Holy” 4:24
“Brooklyn Roads” 3:39
“Cracklin’ Rosie” 3:00
“Play Me” 3:49
“Done Too Soon” 2:45
“Stones” 3:03
“Song Sung Blue” 3:15
“Soolaimon” 4:33
“I Am…I Said” 3:32

Monday 1/24/22 10am ET: Artist Countdown: Neil Diamond Top 30 Hits

Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and occasional actor. He has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts: “Cracklin’ Rosie”, “Song Sung Blue”, “Longfellow Serenade”, “I’ve Been This Way Before”, “If You Know What I Mean”, “Desirée”, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, “America”, “Yesterday’s Songs”, and “Heartlight”. Thirty-eight songs by Diamond have been featured in the Top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts. He also played in movies such as The Jazz Singer, a musical drama film.

Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, and he received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. In 2011, he was an honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors, and he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

In 2019, his 1969 signature song “Sweet Caroline” was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”

1 Song Sung Blue 1972
2 Cracklin’ Rosie 1970
3 I Am… I Said 1971
4 You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (with Barbra Streisand) 1978
5 Desiree 1977
6 Sweet Caroline 1969
7 Longfellow Serenade 1974
8 If You Know What I Mean 1976
9 Forever in Blue Jeans 1979
10 Love on the Rocks 1980
11 Heartlight 1982
12 Holly Holy 1969
13 Play Me 1972
14 Beautiful Noise 1976
15 September Morn’ 1979
16 Walk on Water 1972
17 Stones 1971
18 Soolaimón 1970
19 He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother 1970
20 Shilo 1970
21 Hello Again 1981
22 Yesterday’s Songs 1981
23 I’m a Believer 1971
24 I’ve Been This Way Before 1975
25 Skybird 1974
26 America 1981
27 Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon 1967
28 Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show 1969
29 Cherry, Cherry (live) 1973
30 Solitary Man 1970

Tuesday 6/15/21 2pm ET: Sounds of The 80’s

1980-1989

Tuesday 6/8/21 3pm ET: Sounds of The 80’s

Featuring tunes from Duran Duran, Animotion, Pointer Sisters, Ratt, Bob Seger, Billy Joel, and more and more . . .

Tuesday 6/1/21 2pm ET: Sounds of The 80’s

Featuring tunes from David Lee Roth, Southern Pacific, Ray Parker Junior, Kathy Mattea, Whitney Houston, Queen, Paula Abdul, Carlene Carter, Police, Ramones, Oak Ridge Boys, Honeymoon Suite, Alabama, Genesis and more. . . 2pm – 6pm ET

Tuesday 5/25/21 2pm ET: Sounds of The 80’s

Featuring tunes from Pointer Sisters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Police, Eddy Grant, Pat Benatar, INXS, Kenny Loggins, Def Leppard, Whispers, Pam Tillis, Dan Hartman, Night Ranger, Go Go’s and more . . .

Tuesday 5/18/21 2pm ET: Sounds of The 80’s

2 – 6pm ET

Featuring tunes from Pablo Cruise, Def Leppard, Dire Straits, Little Richard, Madonna, Stevie Nicks, KT Oslin, Neil Diamond, Janet Jackson, Was (Not) Was, Fleetwood Mac, Lou Gramm, Irene Cara, Genesis, and more . . .

Monday 5/10/21 2pm ET: Sounds of The 70’s

This week we feature music from Doobie Brothers (Spotlight Artist), Minnie Ripperton, Diana Ross, Olivia Newton-john, Peter Frampton, Barry Manilow, McFadden & Whitehead, Van McCoy, Neil Diamond, Billy Ocean and featuring extended program.

Tuesday 11/24/2020 3pm ET: Feature LP: Neil Diamond & The London Symphony Orchestra (2020)

Although a 2018 Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis effectively ended Neil Diamond’s touring career, the songwriting legend has no plans to stop making music. Recorded between London’s historic Abbey Road Studios and the singer’s own Los Angeles studio, Classic Diamonds is equal parts retrospective and reinterpretation as he revisits 14 of his best known songs with assistance from the London Symphony Orchestra.

Playing with an orchestra is nothing new for Diamond; brass and strings have been a defining characteristic of his music since the late 1960s, both on-stage and in the studio. To that end, it’s almost surprising that a symphonic reimagining of his hits doesn’t already exist. Still, with a catalog as deep as Diamond’s, it’s hard to fault him for playing to his strengths and at 79, he still brings a remarkable amount of emotion and an easy warmth to the experience.

Forgoing his usual band, Classic Diamonds aims for a classy vibe, relying mostly on piano and orchestra to reframe songs like “Beautiful Noise” and “Song Sung Blue,” neither of which resemble their original arrangements. A sweeping overture and deconstructed chord changes breathe new life into the former, while the latter is extended with a newly written intro containing extra lyrics. Produced by Walter Afanasieff who also co-arranged with conductor William Ross, it’s nice to hear Diamond and his collaborators taking liberties with the material, even if not all of them land.

Altering the perky pop classic “I’m a Believer” into a wistful ballad serves up a little too much corn, as does his impassioned reading of Emma Lazarus’ famous sonnet (“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…”) to kick off the rousing immigration anthem “America,” though the latter is certainly on-brand for Diamond’s style of earnest showmanship. On the other hand, the sudden appearance of a sitar and exultant choir adds an interesting twist and makes for a bombastic and surprisingly moving version of “Holly Holy.” On the whole, Classic Diamonds feels like somewhat of an unnecessary exercise given the already-lush nature of Diamond’s work, but his performances are uniformly strong and the set contains just enough surprises to prop up the misfires.

Courtesy allmusic.com

1 Beautiful Noise 03:25
2 Hello Again 04:02
3 I Am… I Said 05:04
4 I’m a Believer 03:48
5 Song Sung Blue 04:08
6 September Morn 03:57
7 America 04:04
8 Holly Holy 05:55
9 You Don’t Bring Me Flowers 03:32
10 Play Me 04:42
11 Love on the Rocks 04:06
12 Heartlight 04:46
13 I’ve Been This Way Before 03:44
14 Sweet Caroline 04:22

Wednesday 2pm ET: Feature Artist – Neil Diamond

Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts: “Cracklin’ Rosie”, “Song Sung Blue”, “Longfellow Serenade”, “I’ve Been This Way Before”, “If You Know What I Mean”, “Desirée”, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, “America”, “Yesterday’s Songs”, and “Heartlight”. 38 songs by Diamond have featured in the Top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.

Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, and he received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. In 2011, he was an honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors, and he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

In January 2018, Diamond announced that he would immediately retire from touring due to having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Tour dates on the final leg of Diamond’s “50 Year Anniversary World Tour” in Australia and New Zealand were cancelled. An announcement on his official website said he was not retiring from music and that the cancellation of the live performances would allow him to “continue his writing, recording and development of new projects.”

On July 28, 2018, Diamond and his wife Katie McNeil made a surprise visit to the Incident Command post in Basalt, Colorado – near where Diamond lives – to thank the firefighters and families with a solo acoustic guitar concert for efforts in containing the Lake Christine Fire, which began on July 3 and had scorched 12,000 acres (4,900 ha; 49 km2) of land.

Wednesday 2pm: Sounds of The 70’s

This week on Sounds of The 70’s we feature:  Pablo Cruise, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Charlie Daniels Band, Wild Cherry, Neil Diamond, Hot Chocolate, Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Robert Palmer, Doobie Brothers and more . . . 

Tuesday 6pm: Sounds of The 60’s

This week we feature music from: Wanda Jackson, Chiffons, Neil Diamond, Elton John, Beatles, Gladys Knight and The Pips, Rolling Stones, Troggs, Bob Dylan, Grass Roots, James Brown, McCoys, Beach Boys, Janis Ian and many more . . . 

Artist Countdown: Neil Diamond Top 50 Hits 6pm ET @NeilDiamond

Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter with a career that began in the 1960s. Diamond has sold over 125 million records worldwide. He is the third most successful adult contemporary artist on the Billboard charts behind Barbra Streisand and Elton John. His songs have been covered internationally by many performers from various musical genres.

Neil Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Additionally, he received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and in 2011 was an honoree at Kennedy Center. On the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, he has had ten #1 singles: “Cracklin’ Rosie”, “Song Sung Blue”, “Longfellow Serenade”, “I’ve Been This Way Before”, “If You Know What I Mean”, “Desiree”, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, “America”, “Yesterday’s Songs”, “Heartlight” and “I’m a believer”. He continues to record and release new material and maintains an extensive touring schedule as well. – Wikipedia

1	Cracklin’ Rosie
2	I Am…I Said
3	Song Sung Blue
4	Longfellow Serenade
5	Love on the Rocks
6	Sweet Caroline
7	If You Know What I Mean
8	Desiree
9	Heartlight
10	You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (w/ Barbra Streisand)
11	Beautiful Noise
12	Forever in Blue Jeans
13	Hello Again
14	Holly Holy
15	September Morn’
16	Stones
17	Play Me
18	Shilo
19	Soolaimón
20	Do It
21	Yesterday’s Songs
22	Walk on Water
23	I’m a Believer
24	I’ve Been This Way Before
25	America
26	Skybird
27	Solitary Man
28	Cherry, Cherry
29	Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon
30	Be
31	Thank the Lord for the Night Time
32	Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show
33	Stargazer
34	Kentucky Woman
35	The Boat That I Row
36	This Time
37	New Orleans
38	You Got To Me
39	He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
40	The Last Thing on My Mind
41	Red, Red Wine
42	Two-Bit Manchild
43	Sunday Sun
44	The Long Way Home
45	Until It’s Time for You to Go
46	Brooklyn Roads
47	Done Too Soon
48	Midnight Train to Georgia
49	Some Day Baby
50	You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’ (w/ Dolly Parton)