How the Song Came to Be
Sonny & Cher’s ‘The Beat Goes On’ (& On & On)…
A breakdown of the way things used to be vs. the inevitable winds of change, it gave them their third major hit. But some things, it seemed, never changed.
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The Beatles’ Forgotten Top 20 Hit: A ‘Sweet’ Story
A top 20 hit in the U.S., yet it has received virtually no radio airplay in decades and is almost never mentioned in accounts of the band’s early days.
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A-Ha Reinterprets ‘Take on Me’ With 2 New Versions
A song you’ve heard countless times; its 1985 video has an astonishing number of views on YouTube. A touching acoustic version transforms the song
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Tom Petty’s ‘American Girl’: A Perfect Rock Song
Though the second single from the Heartbreakers’ 1976 self-titled debut failed to chart on Top 40, its story about the girl alone on the balcony overlooking US Route 441 resonates with his fans
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Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’: Behind the Song
The composer of one of the greatest countercultural anthems never made it to the festival that served as the song’s subject.
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Queen’s Homage to Space Exploration: ’39’
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
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Harry Chapin’s Inspiration for ‘Taxi’
‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ may have been Harry Chapin’s biggest hit, but ‘Taxi’ resonated with listeners, perhaps due to its real-life connection.
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Dion’s ‘Abraham, Martin and John’ @ 50
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 songs, the musician shared how he first started writing it and how the title came to be
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Dr. Hook ‘Cover of the Rolling Stone’
A band records a song about its burning desire to make it to the cover of the leading music magazine. We’ve got the backstory. Do you know who wrote it?
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