Memory Lane Music

Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 — Photo: Wolf Schram. Some songs announce themselves. Others grow on you, returning at unexpected moments until they feel like part of your own history. “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” by The Cars belongs to the second kind for many listeners, and it is worth slowing down for. This is a … Read more

Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 — Photo: Celsoazevedo. Some songs announce themselves. Others grow on you, returning at unexpected moments until they feel like part of your own history. “Georgia” by Boz Scaggs belongs to the second kind for many listeners, and it is worth slowing down for. This is a listening story about a record … Read more

Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 — Photo: Celsoazevedo. Some songs announce themselves. Others grow on you, returning at unexpected moments until they feel like part of your own history. “It’s Over” by Boz Scaggs belongs to the second kind for many listeners, and it is worth slowing down for. This is a listening story about a … Read more

Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 — Photo: foldscheap. Some songs announce themselves. Others grow on you, returning at unexpected moments until they feel like part of your own history. “My Feet Keep Dancing” by Chic belongs to the second kind for many listeners, and it is worth slowing down for. This is a listening story about … Read more

Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 — Photo: foldscheap. Thematic illustration, not an archival photograph of the artist. Some songs announce themselves. Others grow on you, returning at unexpected moments until they feel like part of your own history. “Savoir Faire” by Chic belongs to the second kind for many listeners, and it is worth slowing down … Read more

Introduction Some records announce themselves at once, and some grow on the listener quietly, returning in memory long after the last note has faded. Wanted! The Outlaws (1976) belongs to the second kind of listening experience, even when it was widely heard in its own time. In the work of Willie Nelson, it sits at … Read more

Every successful singer has a follow-up problem: after a breakthrough hit, how do you prove that you are not a one-song artist? Billy Ocean faced that question in 1976, after “Love Really Hurts Without You” gave him his first major UK success. “L.O.D. (Love on Delivery),” released the same year, was part of his answer. … Read more

Long before Billy Ocean became an international pop star in the mid-1980s, he was a working singer in Britain, learning his craft in clubs, studios, and on singles that slowly built an audience. “Love Really Hurts Without You,” released in 1976, was his breakthrough in the United Kingdom, and it remains a revealing record. It … Read more

Image credit: CC0 1.0 — Jenkuh Some records announce themselves loudly. Others, like “Take a Chance on Me”: A Plea in Rhythm, work more quietly, and that is part of their staying power. Listening to ABBA here, you hear a performer who is not trying to impress you with range or volume alone, but with … Read more

Past Tunes » Behind the Songs George Michael — “Father Figure”: Desire, Restraint and a Slow Burn Listening first Put this record on before you read further, if you can. The best way into any Past Tunes story is through the sound itself: the opening seconds, the voice as it enters, and the way the … Read more