single stories

58 years ago today, The Drifters went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with a song that had been relegated to B-side status until a certain Bandstand man steered things in a different direction. Written by Doc Pomus,...

28 years ago today, Morrissey released his last new song (as of this writing) to feature a musical contribution from a fellow former member of The Smiths. Co-written by Morrissey and Kevin Armstrong, “Piccadilly Palare” was the first, last, and...

Today we celebrate a single that’s arguably one of the greatest rock songs to emerge during the 1970s, which is only appropriate for a song that dares to use the name of its genre as its title. There may be...

Today is Nile Rodgers’ birthday, and to celebrate the occasion, we thought we’d kill two birds with one stone and pay tribute by writing about a famous Rodgers co-write – not to mention one of the most iconic songs of...

20 years ago this week, Faith Evans released the first single from her sophomore album, KEEP THE FAITH. Although it was written by the quintet of Evans, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Schon Crawford, Clarence Emery, and Ron “Amen-Ra” Lawrence, “Love Like...

60 years ago today, the late LaVern Baker recorded the song that would become the biggest chart hit of her career. Written by Fred Jacobsen and Al Julia, “I Cried a Tear” was a song unlike just about anything Baker...

50 years ago this week, Aretha Franklin made her debut on the Billboard R&B Singles chart with a Burt Bacharach & Hal David composition that Bacharach himself didn’t exactly love when Dionne Warwick recorded it. That’s not to say that...

35 years ago this week, Spandau Ballet released the single that would go on to become the second biggest hit of their career, and if we have to tell you what song it sits behind, then we can only presume...

30 years ago today, Jane’s Addiction released their first full-length studio album, NOTHING’S SHOCKING. While Billboard did an outstanding job of detailing the origins and making of the LP in a new oral history of the album, we thought we’d...