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Contributing Author Music Historian returns with the surprisingly dramatic tale of a chart system that once tried to out-Billboard Billboard. It’s a story featuring jukebox math, disputed No. 1s, and an extremely determined crooner who broke the algorithm – before algorithms existed.
Today is gonna be the day that Contributing Author DJ Professor Dan unpacks the moment Oasis tried to manifest legend status by opening an album with “Wonderwall” before anyone knew what a “Wonderwall” was – a power move surpassed only by Tupac strolling out of jail and immediately leveling California. What follows is a guided tour through Britpop beefs, West Coast mythmaking, and at least one chart upset so bewildering it nearly makes Robson & Jerome sound like a threat.
In this week’s dispatch, Contributing Author and historian Bill Bois introduces us to a man who heard a weird noise on Radio Moscow and thought, quite reasonably, that his radio had finally given up. Instead, it turns out Paul Pena was just warming up for his eventual career as Tuva’s most improbable “Earthquake,” proving once again that the universe rewards curiosity—and occasionally, bathroom acoustics.
Heavy Metal – Before It Was Heavy Metal Toward the end of the 60s, a louder, more discordant, fuzzed-out electric-guitar dominated propulsion of sound emerged from the haze: The ear-splitting shock wave of what was labeled psychedelic rock, acid rock, or the more nebulous hard rock was a fresh hell for many of the older generation, who were just getting over the Beatles and the Stones. Beginning around 1970, some of these bands developed a sound that would later crystalize into what came to be known as heavy metal. The term existed at the time, but was used by rock
It can be a thin line between a “dud” and a “banger.” And to further complicate matters, some artists have a sole diamond in their virtual jewelry box of hits. With a list of personal faves amidst the stiffs, here’s Contributing Author blu-cheez
Coonskin cap-clad Contributing Author and DJ Professor Dan has been writing this bit since the wee small hours of the morning – so can all be in-the-know about what was happening musically around this time… in 1955
The music! The lights! The exciting performances! The flying bottles of – um… maybe we’d best let our good friend and Contributing Author JJ Live At Leeds take it from here
It’s all coming back to him now: Contributing Author rollerboogie presents persistent polonaises for your perceptive pleasure. (Maybe)
Currently in search of a snappy portmanteau to call his own, it’s Contributing Author and DJ Professor Dan, with copious notes on what was happening musically around this time… in 2005
Of the millions of musical instruments that have been crafted over the centuries, most meet an expected and unceremonious ending. In some fashion, they are retired. They become broken, lost, or just plain worn out. But sometimes, they are re-discovered and go on to create new music. Here are a few situations where a particular instrument ended up changing hands – and received a new assignment. The Famed Instrument: This Kay M-1 Maestro Upright Bass Where You’ve Heard It: On just about all of the early Elvis Presley hits. Bill Black was Elvis Presley’s original bassist and played on many
You say you can’t get enough Number Ones? Well, our good friend from The Nation Of Shopkeepers is pleased to oblige: Join Contributing Author JJ Live At Leeds’ for a brand new chapter of Streams Of Statistics
We know where he came from. but where will he go? Why, back 30 years, of course – it’s Contributing Author DJ Professor Dan, with a three-fer about what was happening musically around this time… in 1995
“…. a band I couldn’t appreciate at the time now has a documentary about their formation.” Contributing Author and music historian Bill Bois reviews the new movie, Becoming Led Zeppelin