Browse Past Tunes by category, then by story. This reader sitemap lists the six main categories, every published post grouped under its category, and the main pages. On the live site at the time of writing there were 91 published posts: Behind the Songs 40, Classic Albums 23, Artists & Legends 13, Duets & Groups 5, On This Day 5, and One-Hit Wonders 5 in the six categories below and 0 in Uncategorized, listed separately at the end so that no published post is omitted.
Categories
Behind the Songs
- Piano Man: A Room Full of Unfinished Stories
- She Works Hard for the Money: A Chorus with a Purpose
- Last Dance: Why the Slow Beginning Matters
- I Feel Love: A Voice Inside an Electronic Pulse
- Endless Love: Two Voices, One Shared Melody
- Love Hangover: The Moment the Groove Takes Over
- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough: A Soul Song as Cinema
- The Best: An Anthem Built to Be Shared
- We Don’t Need Another Hero: Tina Turner on the Big Screen
- What’s Love Got to Do with It: Strength in Restraint
- Sir Duke and Isn’t She Lovely
- Superstition
- Darling Nikki and the Sticker That Changed the Record Industry
- When Doves Cry — The Hit With No Bass Line
- Papa Don’t Preach
- Material Girl
- Like a Virgin at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards
- Hotel California: The Song Everyone Misunderstands
- Billie Jean: The Night the Moonwalk Stopped America
- 9 to 5: A Working Day Becomes a Pop Hook
- Here You Come Again: Crossover Without Losing the Voice
- I Will Always Love You: A Farewell Without a Villain
- Jolene: A Plea Carried by a Restless Pattern
- Coat of Many Colors: One Object Holds a Whole Story
- True Colors: A Large Feeling at Close Range
- All Through the Night: The Spacious Side of a Bright Debut
- Time After Time: A Promise Written in Conversation
- Girls Just Want to Have Fun: A Different Speaker Changes the Song
- We Are the World: One Song, Many Recognisable Voices
- Hello: The Ballad Behind the Familiar Image
- All Night Long: How a Pop Record Builds a Crowd
- Truly: Lionel Richie Steps into His Solo Spotlight
- Sexual Healing: A Human Voice Meets an Electronic Pulse
- Got to Give It Up: A Party Heard from Inside
- Let’s Get It On: The Arrangement of Intimacy
- Trouble Man: Marvin Gaye Thinks in Film
- Freeway of Love: A Soul Voice in a Bright 1980s Frame
- Sparkle: Aretha Franklin in Curtis Mayfield’s Songbook
- Amazing Grace: When the Room Becomes Part of the Record
- Young, Gifted and Black: A Voice Across Different Rooms
Artists & Legends
- Donna Summer: Boston, Munich and a New Dance Language
- Diana Ross: From the Supremes to a Solo Identity
- Tina Turner: The Art of Starting Again
- From Child Star to Motown Master
- The Minneapolis Sound — Prince’s Musical World
- The Reinvention Machine
- New York Club Roots
- The Night Clive Davis Heard the Future
- Raised in the Church: Whitney Houston’s Gospel Roots
- Seven in a Row: Whitney Houston’s Impossible Run
- How Michael Jackson Invented the Modern Music Video
- The Partnership: Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones
- From Gary to the World: The Jackson 5 Years
Classic Albums
- Spirit in the Dark: The Piano Inside the Soul
- Born in the U.S.A.: Hearing Beyond the Chorus
- Nebraska: The Power of Leaving Space
- The River: Celebration Beside Consequence
- Darkness on the Edge of Town: What Comes After Escape
- Born to Run: The Sound of Wanting Out
- An Innocent Man: Remembering Pop by Making It New
- Glass Houses: Billy Joel Turns Up the Guitars
- 52nd Street: Pop Songwriting with a Jazz Accent
- The Stranger: Billy Joel Finds a Wider Canvas
- Bad Girls: Disco with Character and Contrast
- diana: Diana Ross Meets the Chic Sound
- Private Dancer: A New Frame for an Unmistakable Voice
- Innervisions (1973)
- Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
- 1999 — The Double Album That Broke Prince Into the Mainstream
- Purple Rain — The Album and the Film That Owned 1984
- Whitney (1987): The Second Album That Sealed It
- Whitney Houston (1985): The Debut That Announced a Voice
- Thriller: The Album That Ate the World
- She’s So Unusual: A Debut with More Than One Mood
- Can’t Slow Down: Eight Songs, Several Kinds of Invitation
- What’s Going On: A Question That Opens an Album
One-Hit Wonders
Duets & Groups
- ABBA — The Group Whose Harmonies Ruled the 70s
- Up Where We Belong
- Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
- Endless Love
- Islands in the Stream
On This Day
- December 14, 1977 — The Night Saturday Night Fever Premiered
- July 12, 1979 — The Night Disco Demolition Got Out of Hand
- January 28, 1985 — The Night the Stars Recorded We Are the World
- July 13, 1985 — The Day the Whole World Watched Live Aid
- August 1, 1981 — The Night MTV Switched On