Life on Mars? The Bathroom Deadline, Mick Ronson’s Orchestration, and a Moment of Creative Brilliance

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E8IUyeAgJ7QVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: David Bowie's 'Life On Mars' – Mick Ronson Wrote String Arrangement in the Bathroom – Ken Scott (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E8IUyeAgJ7Q) Some of the most extraordinary moments in recorded music happen not because everything is…

White Christmas – The Biggest Selling Song of All Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi2rWMl4jwsVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: 'White Christmas' Songs That Changed Music: The World’s Best-Selling Single (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi2rWMl4jws)   In 1942, Bing Crosby introduced a new Christmas song to the world that would quietly become the most commercially successful song in…

Stephen Street, Linger, and the Moment The Cranberries Found Their Sound

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0sUuGvRdr1sVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: The Cranberries Iconic Intro Could have Been VERY Different (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0sUuGvRdr1s)   When Stephen Street first heard the demo of Linger, he instantly recognised what so many of us now hold as obvious. Dolores O’Riordan’s voice…

Hole’s “Celebrity Skin”: Inside the Song with Michael Beinhorn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh79bHpHG10Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Hole's "Celebrity Skin": Inside the Song with Michael Beinhorn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh79bHpHG10)  

Gerry Rafferty: Avoiding the Spotlight on “Baker Street”
Written by Caitlin Vaughn Carlos At the start of the eighties, the saxophone was suddenly and unexpectedly omnipresent. From TV commercials to rock singles, its smooth, sultry tones seemed to be found everywhere. By mid-decade, it was the most popular…
How 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love” Reimagined The Popular Love Song
Written by Caitlin Vaughn Carlos In the mid-seventies 10cc was one of England’s hottest bands. They put out five consecutive Top Ten albums between 1975 and 1978 - Sheet Music (1975), The Original Soundtrack (1975), How Dare You (1976), Deceptive…
Stop Motion Transformations: Peter Gabriel’s Artistic Ascent into Pop Stardom with “Sledgehammer”
Written by Caitlin Vaughn Carlos In August of 1975, Peter Gabriel of Genesis fame delivered his resignation letter, “Out Angels Out” to the press. Citing the challenges of personal growth within the necessary structures of a band environment, he explained:…
How the Pretenders Became Real: “Brass in Pocket” and the Hit That Almost Wasn’t
By Caitlin Vaughn Carlos “This goes out over my dead body,” Chrissie Hynde told producer Chris Thomas in the fall of 1979. The Pretenders had just recorded their newest track “Brass in Pocket” at Wessex Studios in London and the…