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The Spinners – “Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me, Girl”
Working My Way Back To You” is a rare example of a modern remake eclipsing the original in popularity and cultural recognition.
Richard Challen
May 22, 202010 min read
830 views
9 comments
Donna Summer – “On The Radio”
“On The Radio” is a goodbye, but it’s also a love letter to the genre, a final example of how intoxicating disco when done right.
Richard Challen
May 18, 20208 min read
1,218 views
15 comments
Rufus & Chaka – “Do You Love What You Feel”
Sadly, the world never got a true Thriller-style match-up between Chaka and Quincy. But we did get “Do You Love What You Feel.”
Richard Challen
May 15, 20208 min read
586 views
3 comments
Neil Diamond – “September Morn’”
Diamond treats “September Morn’” like a talented actor approaching a bad soap opera script.
Richard Challen
May 11, 20205 min read
1,072 views
9 comments
Cheap Trick – “Voices”
“Voices” winds up being pretty but vacant, an oddly faceless turn portending further facelessness to come.
Richard Challen
May 6, 20209 min read
1,005 views
4 comments
Santana – “You Know That I Love You”
How do you go from “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen” to a song as faceless as “You Know That I Love You” in less than a decade?
Richard Challen
May 4, 20205 min read
596 views
6 comments
Dan Fogelberg – “Longer”
“Longer” unravels like a strand of gossamer, almost too delicate to actually touch.
Richard Challen
May 1, 20205 min read
1,437 views
17 comments
Styx – “Why Me”
If “Why Me” didn’t exactly save Styx, it certainly delayed their demise for a good half decade.
Richard Challen
Apr 29, 20207 min read
1,274 views
8 comments
Anne Murray – “Daydream Believer”
Was Murray filling an unspoken need? Did radio listeners collectively forget about the existence of “Daydream Believer” in one decade?
Richard Challen
Apr 27, 20207 min read
839 views
11 comments
Led Zeppelin – “Fool In The Rain”
Strip away all the classic rock baggage, and “Fool In The Rain” might be the band’s most gutsy—and successful—stylistic swing ever.
Richard Challen
Apr 24, 20209 min read
1,572 views
6 comments
Tom Johnston – “Savannah Nights”
When Johnston finally came back, it wasn’t with the Doobies. It was with a 1979 solo single that sounded a whole lot like his previous band.
Richard Challen
Apr 22, 20206 min read
803 views
5 comments
The Dirt Band – “An American Dream”
The Dirt Band didn’t have to overly sweeten Rodney Crowell’s song to make it work for Top 40 radio; they just needed to nail the marketing.
Richard Challen
Apr 20, 20208 min read
1,286 views
12 comments
Queen – “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
Queen had never attempted to record a rockabilly song. But damn if they didn’t nail a perfect approximation on their very first try.
Richard Challen
Apr 17, 20208 min read
758 views
7 comments
The O’Jays – “Forever Mine”
Its impeccably arranged universe gets completely laid out within the opening seconds, and from there, "Forever Mine" simply wallows.
Richard Challen
Apr 15, 20204 min read
914 views
3 comments
Rita Coolidge – “I’d Rather Leave While I’m In Love”
By this point, Coolidge was a battle-scarred veteran of rock 'n roll’s misogyny; intended or not, that history seeps into the margins.
Richard Challen
Apr 13, 20205 min read
506 views
7 comments
Blackfoot – “Train, Train”
“Train, Train” is folklore and Appalachian tradition colliding with Marshall-stack ferocity on the floor of a ruffneck bar.
Richard Challen
Apr 10, 20203 min read
914 views
4 comments
Sugarhill Gang – “Rapper’s Delight”
“Rapper’s Delight” changed music. “Rapper’s Delight” changed culture. “Rapper’s Delight” got everything wrong and still made history.
Richard Challen
Apr 8, 202015 min read
2,122 views
4 comments
Herb Alpert – “Rotation”
As one of the earliest "chillout" tunes, you could expand this track to a full half-hour and lose none of its hypnotic pull.
Richard Challen
Apr 6, 20208 min read
1,093 views
3 comments
Steve Forbert – “Romeo’s Tune”
The great paradox of “Romeo’s Tune” is how much work it took to create something that sounds so effortless.
Richard Challen
Apr 3, 20204 min read
1,432 views
6 comments
Teri DeSario with K.C. – “Yes, I’m Ready”
Pure chemistry, but not the sexual kind. Theirs is closer to platonic puppy love, a first crush rendered in overwhelming Technicolor.
Richard Challen
Apr 1, 20208 min read
1,249 views
14 comments
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