By the time the Sixties were over, Marianne Faithfull had been run ragged as the glamorous muse of the Rolling Stones. For Horses and High Heels, she traveled to New Orleans, looking back on the past with fondness, to record what she called her "happy" album. Instead, we get 13 songs (including Dusty Springfield and Elton John covers) heavy with lost love and Faithfull's honey-over-gravel voice. But failed intent makes this no less soulful or enchanting. With help from Dr. John and guitarist John Porter, Faithfull, like New Orleans itself, proves hard times make for very good music.

Listen to "Horses and High Heels":

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“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.