How the Song Came to Be
The Gentrys’ ‘Keep on Dancing’: Behind the ’60s Garage Classic
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.
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Desmond Dekker’s ‘Israelites’—Admit It, You Don’t Know the Lyrics
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.
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Strawberry Alarm Clock’s Psychedelic ‘Incense & Peppermints’
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.
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‘Brandy’ by Looking Glass (It’s a Fine Song)
For one week only, in the summer of 1972, it was the best-selling, most often played single in the United States of America.
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The Beatles’ ‘I Saw Her Standing There’: Way Beyond Compare
The song is an endless (and endlessly relatable) story, but also a finite one in that it takes place in less than three minutes
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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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Joan Baez’s ‘Diamonds & Rust’—Reflections on an Old Friend Named Bob
Dylan asked her who her new song was about. She told him it was about her ex-husband. It wasn’t, of course. It was about Bob Dylan.
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When Motown Went to ‘War’—Edwin Starr’s #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 Five Americans’ Catchy Hit, ‘Western Union’: Dit-Da-Dit-Da-Dit
The clean-cut band from Oklahoma chose its name to help stand out from groups that were part of the British Invasion, and scored a catchy single in 1967
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