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Song Stories

“Genius of Love”

Tom Tom Club | 1981

A hybrid of frothy pop love song and deep funk, "Genius of Love" mixed heavy handclaps and high female vocals with a bit of rap, as well as whimsical lyrics that namechecked greats like Bootsy Collins and Bob Marley. Speaking in Rip It Up! Rock & Roll Rulebreakers, Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison tagged it as "one of the most sampled songs of all time, besides [James Brown's] 'Funky Drummer.'" Added Chris Frantz in the same book, "'Genius of Love' was highly influenced by the band Zapp. 'More Bounce to the Ounce,' to be specific."

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“Handle With Care”
The Traveling Wilburys | 1988
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“All Along the Watchtower”
The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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