How the Song Came to Be

The Ides of March and the Story of ‘Vehicle’

They took their band name from a Shakespeare classic, their biggest hit from a real-life incident, and they drove their way up the charts in the year 1970.

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Johnny Cash—’A Boy Named Sue’: Behind the Song

“That’s the most cleverly written song I’ve ever heard,” Cash told the song’s composer. It became Cash’s biggest hit single.

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‘Dancing in the Moonlight’—The Circuitous Path of the One and Only King Harvest Hit

Everybody was “Dancing in the Moonlight” in the early ’70s, but who was the band that recorded this catchy one-hit wonder? We decided to find out.

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‘Dueling Banjos’ From ‘Deliverance’: An Unlikely Hit

The song, featured prominently in the 1972 thriller, was used without the permission of its composer. There’s actually only one banjo used

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Bon Jovi’s Game-Changing ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’

Guess who didn’t much care for the song that made the band a major force of rock for decades to come? And who’s just fine with it now…

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Zager & Evans’ ‘In the Year 2525’: The Gloomiest #1?

It was, to be sure, one of the bleakest songs ever to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. And then Zager and Evans never charted again.

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When Liberace Was “Feelin’ Groovy”

The famed entertainer performed it on national television in 1968. Our look back at the song’s history. (Its composer, Paul Simon, hates it.)

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From Bobby Freeman to the Beach Boys, Mamas & Papas and Ramones: How ‘Do You Wanna Dance’ Became a Rock ‘n’ Roll Classic

You’ve heard Freeman’s 1958 hit—and most famous song—performed by John Lennon, the Ramones and the Beach Boys. Here’s how it evolved

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Dion’s Moving ‘Abraham, Martin and John’

Tension was in the air in 1968 and rock music reflected the turmoil. Then came a voice from the past, gently singing of non-violence and hope.

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John Fogerty Talks About Writing ‘Proud Mary’

50 years after he began writing one of his most-beloved tracks, the musician shared how the song came to be

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