Susan Maughan 1963 – Bobby’s Girl
The air in the rehearsal room was thick with cigarette smoke and the restless energy of a band waiting for…
Bobby Vee 1961 – Run To Him
The world of 1961 was still reeling from the shockwave of rock and roll’s first wave, but the sonic landscape…
The Moody Blues 1964 – Go Now
The first time “Go Now!” hit me properly, it was late, the room quiet enough to hear tape hiss in…
PJ Proby 1965 – Hold Me
There’s a moment in “Hold Me” where the air seems to contract, as if the tape itself inhales. The strings…
Mark Dining 1960 – Teen Angel
There’s a particular hush that lives in the tape of late-’50s and early-’60s pop. You can hear it just before…
Bill Haley & The Comets 1954 – Shake Rattle & Roll
It begins like a door thrown open on a humid summer night. You can practically feel the air shift as…
The Tremeloes 1969 – My Little Lady
The tape hiss is the first thing I imagine when I cue up “My Little Lady,” as if the band…
Little Eva 1962 – The LocoMotion
I like to imagine the tape rolling before anyone in the room believes a worldwide dance craze is about to…
The Hollies 1969 – Sorry Suzanne
The first thing you notice is the sway. A soft swing in the drums, a bright chord bloom, and then…
The Love Affair 1968 – A Day Without Love
The first thing you notice is the air in the room. Not silence—the soft hiss that tells you tape is…