“Boat on the River” is a 1980 song by Styx, from their album Cornerstone. It was released as a single, but did not chart in the band’s native United States. However, it was popular in several German-speaking countries, becoming a top-five hit on the German, Austrian and Swiss charts (reaching number one on the latter.) The song features Tommy Shaw on lead vocals and mandolin, with Dennis DeYoung accompanying on accordion. In the video for the song, Chuck Panozzo, John Panozzo, and James Young play bowed double bass, tambourine/bass drum and acoustic guitar respectively.
Category: 70’s
Kansas – Carry On Wayward Son
“Carry On Wayward Son” is a progressive rock single recorded by Kansas and written by Kerry Livgren for their 1976 album Leftoverture. In 1977, the song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard pop singles chart, becoming their first Top 40 hit. The 7″ single has been certified Gold by the RIAA. This version was a much shorter version of the song, edited down to 3:26, a version that was also the band’s only single to chart in the UK, reaching number 51 there. All initial releases of the single had a B-side of “Questions of My Childhood”.
Toto – Hold the Line
“Hold the Line” is a song written by David Paich and recorded by American rock group Toto. The song was the band’s first single, and was featured on their debut eponymous album. It reached #5 in the US Billboard Charts during the winter of 1978–79. The song has been a live staple at Toto shows. Lukather played the song live with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band during the summer of 2012. Bobby Kimball plays it every time during his live performances with his own band since 2009.
KISS – Strutter
“Strutter” is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, released on their eponymous debut album in 1974. It was released as the third single from their album and failed to chart. “Strutter” is one of the few Kiss songs written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley together: Stanley wrote lyrics to a song for which Simmons had originally written music, called “Stanley the Parrot”. Stanley’s lyrics show some of his Bob Dylan influences. Original Kiss drummer Peter Criss has said it is his favorite Kiss song.
Bryan Ferry – Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (live)
Bryan Ferry, CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer, musician, and songwriter known for his unique vocal style. Ferry came to prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, which enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in the United Kingdom during the 1970s and ’80s, including “Virginia Plain”, “Street Life” and “Jealous Guy”.