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Keep On Pushing
Inspirational to both Bob Marley, who heard it in Jamaica, and Bob Dylan, who included the album from which it sprang on the cover of his own Bringing It All Back Home, Curtis Mayfield drew his own inspiration for his civil-rights-era soul song from church music. "All I needed to do was change 'God gave […]
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Ghetto Superstar (That Is What You Are)
Pras' post-Fugees debut rode largely on the strength of its title cut, also included on the soundtrack to Warren Beatty's political satire Bulworth. Bolstered by a the addition of Ol' Dirty Bastard (who reportedly gate-crashed the session), the melody of Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's "Islands in the Stream" with vocals by Mya and a […]
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O-o-h Child
A family act from Chicago’s South Side who were signed to Curtis Mayfield’s Windy C label, the Burkes started as four brothers and a sister ranging in age from 13 through 17 and helped inspire the formation of another Midwestern family group — the Jackson 5. Soaring on inspirational tones and the promise of a […]
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Sweet Emotion
Bassist Tom Hamilton and vocalist Steven Tyler get the official songwriting credit, but “Sweet Emotion” wouldn’t be quite as sweet without guitarist Joe Perry's unusual addition to the recording. That “sucking sound,” concocted by producer Jack Douglas, combines a high-hat and backwards clapping, along with the phrase “sweet emotion,” sung by Perry through an “air […]
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Grow Old With Me
Officially released on the posthumous album Milk and Honey, "Grow Old With Me" was among the last songs recorded by John Lennon before he was murdered. Yoko Ono slept with a cassette of the final take in her handbag, with bells on her door for protection from intrusion. “I didn’t want anyone to take it […]
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Young Blood
Doc Pomus gave a demo of his song to fellow songwriter Mike Stoller, thinking it might make a good A side for the Coasters. A few months later, Pomus heard "Young Blood" blaring out of a jukebox, though he hardly recognized it: Stoller and writing partner Jerry Leiber had adapted it to better suit the […]
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I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
Co-written by Billy Taylor and originally recorded by the jazz piano legend, this civil rights anthem was redone many times over, but none as famously as by Simone, who released it on her Silk & Soul album. Freedom was a value dear to the singer; she explored the theme time and again in her own […]
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Wake Up Everybody
A Number One record by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes in 1976 (a McFadden- and Whitehead-penned classic sung by Teddy Pendergrass) inspired the title and lead single from Wake Up!, John Legend's tribute album to message music. The more familiar strains of "Wake Up Everybody" also fit his agenda. "It basically sums up, in a […]
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IRM
Fashioned to mimic the sound of a magnetic resonance imaging or MRI, "IRM" (the French designation for the brain scan) grew out of Gainsbourg’s love of the sound of the clickety-clack of medical machinery. The IRM album project also marked the fulfillment of two goals for the singer: to document a traumatic experience, and to […]
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Push It
Originating as a B side to their cover of the Stax classic “Tramp,” Cheryl “Salt” James, Sandi “Pepa” Denton and Dee Dee “DJ Spinderella” Roper came up with the goods on this career-making, Grammy-nominated platinum single about working it on the dancefloor. “Push It” has been sampled and spliced to death since it debuted in […]
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