The Four Preps 1958 – Big Man
The late 1950s—an electric, transitional era. The smooth, orchestral sheen of Capitol Records was brushing up against the raw grit…
Jackie Wilson 1967 – (You’re Love Keeps Lifting Me )Higher And Higher
The scene is almost cinematic, and perhaps that’s the way the greatest pieces of music should arrive: out of time,…
Martha & The Vandellas 1965 – Nowhere To Run
It is late. The city is asleep, or at least it’s trying to be. You’re in a car, maybe driving…
The Supremes 1964 – When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes
It’s late, and the world outside my window is a saturated blue-black, exactly the color of mid-century cinematic heartbreak. I’m…
The Four Seasons 1966 – Working My Way Back To You
The air was thick and humid, smelling of old leather and stale cigarette smoke—the universal scent of a dimly lit…
Vince Gill – When I Call Your Name
The air in the cabin was thick with the scent of pine and old leather. It was late, maybe 2…
Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas 1964 – Little Children
The air in early 1964 felt like high-voltage electricity, a dizzying current flowing across the Atlantic. Merseybeat had done its…
Martha And The Vandellas 1966 – Jimmy Mack
It is two in the morning. The kind of hour where city sounds thin out, leaving only the bass frequencies…
Stevie Wonder 1963 – Finger Tips
There are pieces of music that define an era, and then there are those that simply explode it. They arrive…
Dionne Warwick 1964 – Walk On By
The memory is not a visual one, but a sonic one: the distant, slightly muffled quality of a transistor radio…