Content tagged 'Single Stories'

34 years ago today, Twisted Sister released the debut single from their third studio album, STAY HUNGRY, a track which proved to be the band’s only top-40 single but which also raised their profile to such a degree that they’re still considered one of the definitive heavy metal bands of the 1980s. Written by Dee Snider and produced by Tom Werman, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” was – per Snider in his 2013 autobiography Shut Up and Give Me the Mic – heavily influenced by the band Slade, but he later conceded that there are elements of the Christmas classic “O Come All Ye Faithful” in the mix as well

46 years ago this week, David Bowie released the single that helped reinvigorate his career after his post-“Space Oddity” slump. Written by Bowie, who also co-produced the song with Ken Scott, “Starman” is one of the most famous tracks on his iconic album ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS OF MARS, but it almost wasn’t on the album at all. In fact, the big reason it ended up finding its way onto the track listing was that RCA Records bigwig Dennis Katz heard the song and pushed for its inclusion. "We'd finished recording the Ziggy Stardust album at that time and it went into the record company

Even if you haven’t seen Avengers: Infinity War yet, it’s no spoiler to say that the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy are in the film, since they’re heavily promoted not only in the trailer but also on the poster, and even though the film’s been out since the end of April, we’re still not so terrible that we’d spoil any of the plot points for you. That said, however, we do feel obliged to give away at least one small thing that occurs in the film, just in case there’s anyone out there who’s been wondering, “What was the song that was playing when the Guardians first showed up?” Given

34 years ago today, Prince released his first single with the Revolution as his backing band and provided a generation with an instant retort to any traumatizing moment in their lives: “So this is what it sounds like when doves cry…” Written and produced by Prince himself, “When Doves Cry” was effectively penned at the behest of Albert Magnoli, director of Purple Rain, who was looking for a song to serve as the soundtrack for a particular scene. Lyrically, however, Prince biographer Per Nilsen has said that the song was inspired by Susan Moonsie, a member of Vanity 6, and Prince’s relationship

If you’re one of the millions upon millions of viewers who tuned in to watch Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding on Saturday and watched the proceedings with rapt attention, then you couldn’t possibly have missed the Kingdom Choir’s performance of “Stand By Me,” a song popularized by Ben E. King, who composed the track with famed songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. While it’s hard for many of us to imagine that it could’ve been anyone’s first time hearing that classic tune, there were no doubt plenty of viewers who were indeed being introduced to “Stand By Me” during these notable

This weekend, a woman who possesses one of the most famous distinctive voices in music will be celebrating a birthday, but since we won’t be in the office on the day in question, we decided that someone as special as Stevie Nicks was worthy of an early birthday celebration. As such, we thought we’d offer up a Single Stories piece about one of her signature songs from the Fleetwood Mac catalog. Produced jointly by Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut, and the band themselves, Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” was written by the aforementioned Ms. Nicks, of course, and it came about while she was hanging out at

Last month, just two days before the second anniversary of Prince’s death, the estate of His Royal Badness released the original version of his composition “Nothing Compares 2 U,” thereby providing us with a good excuse to spotlight the song for an installment of Single Stories. Written by Prince, “Nothing Compares 2 U” memorably found its greatest success when it was covered by Sinead O’Connor for her 1990 album I DO NOT WANT WHAT I HAVEN’T GOT, but the song was first recorded in July 1984 by Prince himself. The version that the world at large got to hear first, however, was the one which

10 years ago this week, Coldplay released their fourth studio album, VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS, so we’ve decided to celebrate the occasion by delving into the secret origins of its title track, which went on to become a #1 hit on both sides of the pond. Written by the four members of the band – Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin – and produced by four other guys (Markus Dravs, Brian Eno, Jon Hopkins, and Rik Simpson), “Viva La Vida” took a fair while to come to fruition in the form that the average radio listener knows, since each member of Coldplay

57 years ago today, The Drifters released their first single to feature Charlie Thomas on vocals, a Doc Pomus / Mort Shuman composition which was a big hit for the group and an even bigger hit for a completely different group. Just before joining – or, more appropriately, being recruited for – The Drifters, Thomas had been a member of The Five Crowns. When manager George Treadwell, who owned the rights to The Drifters’ name, got fed up with his current crop of performers and decided to fire all of the existing members of The Drifters, he decided to grab The Five Crowns and recruit them to

49 years ago today, David Bowie released a single which – even with the size and breadth of his discography over the course of his life and times as a recording artist – remains one of the signature moments of his career...and, no, we’re not talking about “The Laughing Gnome.” Produced by Gus Dudgeon and written, of course, by Bowie himself, “Space Oddity” was released five days before the launch of Apollo 11, making the tale of Major Tom a decidedly topical track at the time. The source of Bowie’s inspiration, however, was actually Stanley’s Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the last two