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You can just imagine the meeting: A Canadian producer looks at the US version of K-tel’s “Music Express,” and politely and quietly built a better (and occasionally cheesier) pop time capsule. Contributing Author Chuck Small rides the rails of 1975 chart logic, regional pride, and the fine art of calling a Top 10 hit what it very clearly was not.
Contributing Author DJ Professor Dan steps away from his usual chart archaeology to take aim at the Internet’s favorite pastime: blaming Spotify for everything but the weather. It’s surgical dissection of the booming cottage industry of gloomy headlines, playlist paranoia, and contradictory claims about “passive listening”—all somehow proven by the same songs, including the ever-abused “Sound & Vision.”
Join DJPD as he checks in on “ghost artists,” the moral panic over background music, and the heroic labor of critics determined to turn algorithmic recommendations into a cultural crisis.
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.
In this deliriously detailed dispatch from the fall of ’85, we meet a-ha’s earnest dreamers, Kate Bush’s theatrical mysticism, and a Scottish feedback storm called The Jesus and Mary Chain.
It’s a pop history of sweat, synths, and sweet delusion from Contributing Author DJ Professor Dan.
Contributing Author and Music Historian Bill Bois is back with Part Two of stories of extraordinary musical reemergence..
Five more artists who vanished for decades, then reemerged as if no time had passed. Bill reminds us that in music, the long way back can be the most interesting road of all.
Late Career Dylan, Vol. 1
In a knowing and refreshingly unsentimental spin through Dylan’s oft-overlooked ’80s output, Contributing Author Stobgoppermakes the case that even Bob’s “wobbly years” had their diamonds.
The playlist is smart, sly, and a little bit reverent: Exactly the way you want it.
Oddities And Surprises In The Music World
The voice of Blondie on kazoo, a 50’s crooner in a dog collar, and that devil’s-horns guy on brass — just a few of music’s weirdest quirks. How did any of this actually happen? Contributing Author Rollerboogie brings us up to date.
A joyfully off-kilter stroll through October 1975: disco anthems, funk miracles, and glam excess, all wrapped in sequins and self-belief.
Contributing Author DJ Professor Dan brings his signature wit and deep cuts to another irresistible dive into the month’s biggest hits.
Part 1
Some bands vanish for decades before stepping back into the studio, and the results can be fascinating, funny, or flat-out legendary.
Part One of this sharp and surprising chronicle comes from Contributing Author Bill Bois , who as ever, makes the wait worth it.
When Musicals Ruled the UK Album Charts
Before The Beatles rewrote the program notes, it was Julie, Yul, and a few enchanted evenings that owned the album charts. In this lively chronicle, Contributing Author JJ Live At Leeds explores the unlikely reign of musicals on Britain’s hit parade, where South Pacific outlasted rockers, crooners, and even Freddy Cannon’s discounts.
‘Dynamic Sound’…Times Two
Soul, schmaltz, and one very questionable strawberry patch: this compilation has it all. Contributing Author Chuck Small unpacks the strange charms of 1974’s ‘K-tel’s Dynamic Sound.’
It’s The Hits Of September-ish 1965!
Contributing Author DJ Professor Dan dives headfirst into September 1965, where John Lennon’s coded S.O.S., Wilson Pickett’s dance-floor thunder, and Nina Simone’s biblical firestorm collided.
The Real Truth About The Vapors’ Biggest Song
Pop culture loves a indelicate legend, but Contributing Author Bill Bois sets the actual record straight on “Turning Japanese”, showing how clever hooks and catchy choruses fueled its rise.