A Dutch novelty act released a single that was a medley of songs, backed by a disco beat. The worldwide #1 hit spawned other singles from actual superstars
Browsing: How the Song Came to Be
McCartney loved Little Richard’s singing, and used to cover his songs with the band. Then he decided to write his own tune in Richard’s style…
The band’s guitarist, Brian May, can do many things well, one of which is to write songs. This one, about time travel, presaged his PhD in astrophysics
The single and album signaled a shift from the psychedelic sound toward something more aggressive, loud and primal. Rock fans either loved it or hated it.
The Memphis septet took an obscure R&B tune and turned it into a top 5 rocker in 1965. The story behind the recording–and the band–is fascinating.
Even as it found its way to the top 10 in the U.S. and several other countries, many listeners had no idea what this proto-reggae song was about.
Trivia note: The singer on one of the biggest and most memorable hits of 1967 was not even a band member. Check out the whole back story here.
The song is an endless (and endlessly relatable) story, but also a finite one in that it takes place in less than three minutes
The singer-songwriter had a string of big hits including 1976’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” based on a true story of a doomed freighter
Have a listen to how the song evolved from this early 1982 recording to what ultimately became a gargantuan worldwide hit