Chubby Checker – The Twist
Ask ten people to imitate a foundational moment in pop music, and half of them will instinctively pivot on their…
The Del-Vikings – Come Go with Me
If you’re tracing the bright line where street-corner harmony vaulted into the American mainstream, The Del-Vikings’ “Come Go with Me”…
The Chordettes – Mr. Sandman
There are a handful of mid-century pop recordings that feel like they live outside of calendar time—records that glide in…
Dion – Runaround Sue
If you want a time capsule of what made early-1960s American pop so contagious—street-corner harmonies, hand-clap propulsion, a cautionary tale…
The Crystals – Then He Kissed Me
Few early-’60s singles capture the head-spinning rush of a first romance as vividly as The Crystals’ “Then He Kissed Me.”…
Waylon Jennings’ “The Stage (Stars in Heaven)” — a survivor’s elegy that turned grief into country gospel
There are songs that feel like messages smuggled into the present from a room we can’t enter anymore. Waylon Jennings’…
Jim Reeves – This World is not my home
When listeners talk about the consoling side of country music—the strand that braids faith, tenderness, and quiet assurance—Jim Reeves is…
Patsy Cline – Leavin’ On Your Mind
There are few moments in country music as exquisitely poised as Patsy Cline asking, with a steady voice that trembles…
The Marvelettes – ”When You’re Young and in Love”
Few songs capture the fluttering uplift and fragile stakes of first love with the poise of The Marvelettes’ 1967 single…
The Association – Cherish
There are songs that announce themselves with fireworks, and there are songs that take your hand quietly and don’t let…