This Comic 1980s Hit Began With Anxiety About Aging
The music video is genuinely funny. A tall, awkward Chevy Chase lip-syncs and clowns around while Paul Simon stands beside him looking faintly bemused. It has the…
A Delicate New Orleans Tenor Turned This Direct Message Into a Soul Standard
Some songs say exactly what they mean and mean every word. This one is built on a message as plain and honest as anything ever put to…
A 1993 Time-Loop Movie Made This 1965 Duet Unforgettable Again
Picture a radio alarm clicking on in the dark. A familiar trumpet fanfare rises, a cheerful voice announces the morning, and then two voices begin to sing…
A Homemade Basement Studio Created One of Classic Rock’s Biggest Sounds
Some of the most polished sounds in rock history did not come from gleaming professional studios with walls of expensive gear and teams of engineers. Sometimes they…
The Songwriter Handed the Microphone to the Voice His Hit Truly Needed
There is a moment in the making of some songs when the person who wrote it quietly steps back. Not because the song failed. Not because the…
An Awkward Record-Industry Gathering Inspired This Witty 1970s Hit
Some songs are born from heartbreak, or late-night drives, or something overheard on the radio. But now and then, a song comes straight out of a room…
Two Female Recordings Came Before This Famous 1981 Country-Pop Revival
There are songs that arrive quietly, disappear before their time, and then find their audience years later through a different voice. Sometimes that second or third chance…
This 1971 Soul Classic Said Respect Must Begin With Personal Responsibility
Some songs ask the world to give you something. This one asked you to look in the mirror first. It arrived in 1971 with a quiet kind…
She Rejected the Finished Production and Recorded This 1990s Anthem Again
Some songs arrive fully formed in the songwriter’s mind long before they ever reach a recording studio. The challenge is not writing them — it is capturing…
The Band Nearly Rejected the Movie Song That Became Its Biggest American Hit
Sometimes a song finds a band before the band is ready for it. In 1984, a Scottish rock group was approached with a track written specifically for…