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Waterloo: The Night Four Swedes in Platform Boots Conquered Europe
Waterloo: The Night Four Swedes in Platform Boots Conquered Europe On the evening of April 6, 1974, a man dressed as Napoleon walked onto the stage of the Brighton Dome in England, raised his baton, and conducted an orchestra into the most consequential three minutes in pop history. Behind him came four Swedes in glittering…
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Know When to Hold ‘Em: How a 23-Year-Old’s Train Song Made Kenny Rogers \”The Gambler\
Know When to Hold ‘Em: How a 23-Year-Old’s Train Song Made Kenny Rogers “The Gambler” “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away, know when to run.” It is, by almost any measure, the most famous poker advice ever given — quoted in boardrooms, locker…
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\”Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi\”: The Night Labelle Turned a French Whisper into America’s Hottest Record
“Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi”: The Night Labelle Turned a French Whisper into America’s Hottest Record There is a moment in every great pop song when you can hear the exact second it becomes immortal. In Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade,” it arrives about forty seconds in, when the groove — all New Orleans funk and church-organ swagger…
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The Cassette That Changed Everything: Paul Simon’s Forbidden Journey to \”Graceland\
The Cassette That Changed Everything: Paul Simon’s Forbidden Journey to “Graceland” In the summer of 1984, Paul Simon was lost. The man who had written “The Sound of Silence,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and “Still Crazy After All These Years” — one of the most decorated songwriters alive, a three-time Album of the Year winner…
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The Song She Hated: How \”What’s Love Got to Do with It\” Made Tina Turner the Queen of the Comeback
The Song She Hated: How “What’s Love Got to Do with It” Made Tina Turner the Queen of the Comeback On the morning of September 1, 1984, a 44-year-old woman woke up to news that no one in the music business had thought possible. Tina Turner — written off by every major record label in…
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Believe: How Cher Turned a Rejected Demo and a Late-Night Studio Accident Into the Biggest Hit of Her Life
Believe: How Cher Turned a Rejected Demo and a Late-Night Studio Accident Into the Biggest Hit of Her Life In January 1998, Cher flew from London to Los Angeles to bury her ex-husband. Sonny Bono — the man who had been her husband, her singing partner, and the architect of her fame since she was…
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Can’t Get Enough: How Barry White Turned a Sleepless Night Into the Sound of Desire Itself
Can’t Get Enough: How Barry White Turned a Sleepless Night Into the Sound of Desire Itself In the late summer of 1974, something unprecedented was happening on American radio. Out of the static would rise a voice so deep it seemed to come from below the floorboards — a voice that didn’t so much sing…
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I Feel Love: How Donna Summer Sang the Future Into Being
I Feel Love: How Donna Summer Sang the Future Into Being It was the summer of 1977, and the biggest pop song in Britain was a record that sounded like nothing on earth. No drums you could see, no bass guitar, no strings, no brass — just a pulse. A deep, hypnotic electronic heartbeat that…
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The Day Johnny Cash Walked Into Folsom Prison — The Concert That Saved His Life
The Day Johnny Cash Walked Into Folsom Prison: The Concert That Saved His Life On the morning of January 13, 1968, a thin, hollow-eyed man in a black suit walked through the granite gates of Folsom State Prison in California with a guitar in his hand and very nearly nothing left to lose. He had…
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The Night James Brown Saved Boston
The Night James Brown Saved Boston On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Within hours, America was on fire. In Washington, D.C., flames would consume whole blocks. In Chicago, Baltimore, Kansas City, and more than a hundred…