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Song Stories

“Tipitina”

Professor Longhair | 1972

The rhumba-style track "Tipitina" was first released as a single in 1953 and was re-released on Professor Longhair's classic 1972 album New Orleans Piano. The song provided the name for an iconic New Orleans nightclub and music venue when Tipitina's opened in 1977, and the album was named one of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of all time. "Tipitina" has become a quintessential New Orleans standard and has been covered by many artists, including fellow New Orleanian Dr. John. It was added to the National Recording Registry in 2011.

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“1999”
Prince | 1982
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“Discoverer”
R.E.M. | 2011

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“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.

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