How the Song Came to Be
The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

A-Ha’s ‘Take On Me’ MTV Unplugged Transforms the Song

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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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

ELO’s ‘Don’t Bring Me Down… Bruce!’

Most classic rock acts have a misheard lyric. It goes with the territory. So what did Jeff Lynne do when concert audiences started singing along to his big hit?

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

The Glory of ‘Gloria’: Behind the Resilient Van Morrison Rock ’n’ Roll Anthem

One of the most beloved and oft-covered songs in the garage-rock canon started life as a single’s B-side. We take a look at the wonders of ‘G-L-O-R-I-A.’

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

When Motown Went to ‘War’—The Edwin Starr #1 Hit

When Motown’s chief was reluctant to release an antiwar song by the Temptations as a single, another singer stepped in to re-record it. It went to #1.

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

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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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

Gordon Lightfoot’s Tale of a Ship’s Crew and Its Captain

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

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!

It was bizarre but an instant smash hit. Then there was a backlash. Read the strange tale of Napoleon XIV and hear the song that drove people mad.

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

10cc “I’m Not in Love”: Well, My High School Self Was, Actually

Best Classic Bands’ founder tells how the hit song always brings him back to the spring of his senior year, and how five decades later he got its co-writer, Graham Gouldman, to tell him how it came to be.

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

The Beatles’ “I’m Down”: The Overlooked McCartney Song You Need to Get Into Your Life

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…

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The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

Mark Lindsay, Hal Blaine and the Raiders’ #1 Hit, ‘Indian Reservation’

Our interview with the star about the legendary drummer who made magic happen at the recording session and the single’s unusual path to success

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