Santana – Black Magic Woman
The memory of late-night radio is a sense-memory for a certain generation, an experience inseparable from the music itself. Long…
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – The Ronettes
There are pieces of music that soundtrack a season, and then there are records that become the season. The Ronettes’…
Ricky Nelson – Gypsy Woman
The air in the studio must have been thick with cigarette smoke and the low, expectant hum of tape machines.…
Louie Louie – Paul Revere & The Raiders
Forget the matching Revolutionary War uniforms for a moment. Forget the slick, technicolor pop-art aesthetic that made Paul Revere &…
The Tornados – All The Stars In The Sky
There are certain sounds that immediately transport you. For those of us who grew up with the shadows of the…
CW McCall (Convoy)
The sound hits you not with a guitar riff or a drum crack, but with a sudden, startling burst of…
Lenny and the Squigtones – Night after Night
I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard the full studio (or rather, “live”) recording of “Night…
Gayla Peevey – I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
The holiday season arrives each year with an enormous, predictable playlist. We settle into the familiar narratives: snow, romance, chimney…
Charlie Rich – Behind Closed Doors
The sound of 1973 was, in many ways, an exercise in excess: stadium rock anthems, sprawling prog epics, and funk…
Drift Away – Dobie Gray
The car radio, that ancient, ubiquitous altar of pop culture, is where the best songs live forever. It doesn’t matter…