George Michael made ‘Last Christmas’ alone. Here’s why it endures.
In late 1984, a 21-year-old George Michael shut himself inside a London studio, dialed up a drum machine, stacked glittering…
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Call On Me: The Hit Eric Prydz Couldn’t Outrun, Until Now
A surprise drop in Austin revived a 2004 anthem and reopened an old, thorny story about sampling, credit, and what…
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The Voice Behind Pink Floyd’s Wordless Masterpiece Finally Recognized
On a winter Sunday in 1973, a young session singer stepped into a small room at Abbey Road Studios and…
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The Five-Second Spat Hidden Inside a Global Pop Hit
A single throwaway couplet can hide a sly punch line. In the middle of Tears for Fears’ gleaming 1985 hit…
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Why Pearl Jam Wrote Rock’s Most Long-Winded Song Title
It is one of the most tender songs in Pearl Jam’s catalog, yet it begins with a mouthful: a title…
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The NIN sample behind Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road
A teenage producer in the Netherlands flipped a moody instrumental from Nine Inch Nails into a beat that would upend…
