“Never Can Say Goodbye” reveals the true scope of the Jackson 5’s preternatural talent, highlighted by 11-year-old Michael Jackson’s most mature and nuanced performance to date. KSID::30308F364A035916
Live’s ‘Lightning Crashes’ traces the circle of life
Live scored its biggest hit with “Lightning Crashes,” a heartfelt if overwrought meditation on the circle of life. KSID::201d0lN0p22
Owl City’s ‘Fireflies’ illuminates post-millennium pop radio
“Fireflies” ascended from the restless mind of Owl City’s Adam Young to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 2009. KSID::g05a323Y030506
Pop Smoke’s ‘Welcome to the Party’ welcomes Brooklyn drill to the pop mainstream
Pop Smoke’s unflinching breakout hit “Welcome to the Party” rocketed drill music into the pop mainstream, elevating the Brooklyn-born rapper to Billboard chart success less than a year before his untimely death at the age of 20. KSID::50z50126b13252
Mdou Moctar pledges his love on ‘Tala Tannam’
You don’t need to speak a word of the Tamasheq language to understand what “Tala Tannam” says or which emotions it stirs. Mdou Moctar’s luminous, lyrical love song pledges his eternal devotion to wife Layla, connecting the couple across space and time the way that only music can do. KSID::Z4Ui3946056439
How ‘Closing Time’ came pouring out of Semisonic
If you hear “Closing Time” anywhere today other than in KORD, it means you’ve stayed out much too late, and now it’s time to go home — or wherever else you’re planning on sleeping instead. Semisonic’s signature hit is the last-call anthem of bartenders everywhere, the barroom ballad to end all barroom ballads, and with […]
TV on the Radio unleashes the animal within on ‘Wolf Like Me’
“Wolf Like Me” summons and celebrates the awesome power of transformation, launching the shapeshifting avant-pop outfit TV on the Radio to new critical and commercial renown. KSID::40xak52013202
3 Doors Down’s ‘Kryptonite’ breathes the post-grunge era’s last gasp
The saga of 3 Doors Down’s “Kryptonite” splits cleanly — and, at the same time, very messily — into two halves: before Jan. 19, 2017, and after Jan. 19, 2017.
Solve the ‘Love Rollercoaster’ murder mystery that will not die
“Love Rollercoaster” is an absolutely fantastic title for a funk record. It promises dizzying peaks and valleys, heart-stopping twists and death-defying turns — in short, the ride of your life — and its playfulness and pizzazz no doubt helped the Ohio Players rumble all the way to the top of the charts in early 1976. […]
The Gibson Les Paul
Electric GuitarFirst released: 1952Produced in: Kalamazoo, MI