Southern rock superstars Lynyrd Skynyrd embraced gothic noir for “Saturday Night Special,” their lurid and unflinchingly direct critique of gun violence in America. KSID::F2Ua2T0F30215
How Gladys Knight and the Pips ‘Heard It Through the Grapevine’ before Marvin Gaye
Gladys Knight and the Pips’ “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” was at one time the best-selling single in Motown Records history — and then Marvin Gaye’s version of the song came along just 13 months later, and knocked it off its pedestal. But Knight’s “Grapevine” is no footnote: her rendition of the Norman Whitfield/Barrett […]
‘In Too Deep’ sugarcoats Sum 41’s pop-punk
Sum 41 is synonymous with scabby late-Nineties pop-punk, but its music skews decidedly pop on “In Too Deep.” Though it originally failed to match the chart success of its predecessor, “Fat Lip,” “In Too Deep” has since proven to be the band’s most enduring song, a blissful mixture of Beatlesque vocal harmonies and chunky power […]
‘Reunited’ brings Peaches & Herb together again for the first time
There’s only one “Reunited.” Peaches & Herb’s gauzy, gooey ballad is pure polyester pop, a disco-era kitsch classic endlessly repurposed and recontextualized across a dizzying array of sitcoms, advertisements and memes. There’s a whole lot of Peaches, however. While Herb Fame has remained a constant in the R&B duo since its 1966 introduction, no fewer […]
Nelly Furtado soars on the success of ‘I’m Like a Bird’
Nelly Furtado ascended into the popular consciousness with the soulful folk-pop anthem “I’m Like a Bird,” winner of the 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year in the singer’s native Canada as well as a chart smash in the U.S. and overseas. KSID::d55b5Bd52Q
Camper Van Beethoven ushers in the alternative era with ‘Pictures of Matchstick Men’
“Pictures of Matchstick Men” by Camper Van Beethoven was not the biggest modern rock hit of 1989, but it was one of the most significant. College rock was becoming something else as the decade drew to a close: it would be two years before it was clear what that new thing was, when Nirvana’s “Smells […]
‘Twenty-Five Miles’ later, Edwin Starr lives up to his billing
Edwin Starr will forever remain synonymous with “War,” his 1970 psychedelic soul milestone assailing America’s ongoing involvement in the decades-long conflict in Vietnam. But Starr was by no means a one-hit wonder. Eighteen months before declaring “War” on the pop charts, the singer hit paydirt with “Twenty-Five Miles,” one of the most propulsive singles ever […]
Romance rumors fan the flames of Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s ‘Señorita’
Rising pop superstars Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello exploited fevered speculation about the nature of their relationship to fuel the frenzy behind their blockbuster 2019 duet “Señorita,” a number one single across a record-setting 40 countries worldwide. KSID::303Aa38Aa40157
Johnny and Rosanne Cash keep ‘Tennessee Flat Top Box’ in the family
When Rosanne Cash covered “Tennessee Flat Top Box” for her 1987 album King’s Record Shop, she assumed the venerable country hit was in the public domain. But the song was in fact written by someone she knew intimately: her father, the one and only Johnny Cash, who re-recorded “Tennessee Flat Top Box” for his new […]
Guitar god James Burton steps out of the shadows to headline ‘Polk Salad Annie’
James Burton is the quintessential sideman. The virtuoso electric guitarist’s legacy spans more than half a century, and encompasses stints behind many of the most celebrated artists of the rock and roll era, including Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Merle Haggard, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. While Burton spent the vast majority of his career 20 […]
