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I’m in Trouble
The A side to the Replacements' first single, this Paul Westerberg song also showed up on their debut album, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash. It was, according to Westerberg, the first song that he was proud of and a watershed moment in his songwriting. "It was an actual song with a beginning, […]
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History Lesson — Part II
The Minutemen were a tightly knit trio, but the relationship between guitarist D. Boon and bassist Mike Watt goes back to their childhood growing up in the blue-collar California town of San Pedro. This nostalgic song's narrative (sung by Boon but written by Watt) details the duo's friendship and coming of age as music lovers […]
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That’s When I Reach for My Revolver
A popular track from the landmark Signals, Calls and Marches EP, this Clint Conley song highlighted the Boston postpunk band's poppier side. The song's title alludes to an essay by author Henry Miller, which in turn makes reference to an infamous line from the pro-Hitler 1933 play Schlageter, by playwright Hanns Johst, a member of […]
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South Bronx
KRS-One would soon position himself as a teacher, but rather than the empowerment messages the rapper would become known for, this track is a gritty "dis record" aimed at a rival. According to KRS, one of his friends played some demos for Mr. Magic, and the noted radio DJ pronounced them wack. "We was like, […]
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Jimbrowski
Jungle Brothers sampled, among other things, jazz, James Brown and house music. The New York crew's lyrics were equally diverse but never short on clever wordplay or a playful sense of humor, as exemplified by this song from 1988's Straight Out the Jungle. "The idea for that came at the end of a studio session, with […]
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Me and My Woman
Roy Harper's vocals and transcendent acoustic guitar work carry this 13-minute epic. "Me and My Woman" is full of folk music elements, but there are also weird, unsettling strings and odd vocals floating in the background of this densely layered song about the environment. Talking about this song, Harper said, "What is our destiny? Does […]
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Penetration
Iggy Pop had descended into dark place marked by heroin addiction and the dissolution of his band, only to have David Bowie come to the rescue by helping get the Iggy and the Stooges a new record deal and producing the album. On the resulting Raw Power LP, James Williamson's buzzsaw guitar replaced Ron Asheton's primal blues […]
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A Nickel and a Nail
Southern soul singer Overton Vertis Wright first sang gospel before switching to secular music in 1964. This is one of several songs Wright did with producer Willie Mitchell and his acclaimed Hi rhythm section, which recorded many of Al Green's biggest hits around the time this track was done. "When you gave O.V. Wright a […]
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Our Love
The daughter of pop-jazz vocal legend Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole spent the early years of her career singing light R&B before transitioning into a smooth brand of jazz in the late Eighties. This song from her third album, Thankful, was written by the production team of Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy (the latter was […]
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Verses From the Abstract
Although there are bass samples all over The Low End Theory, thus giving the album its name, jazz legend Ron Carter plays upright acoustic bass live on this track. "He was a great guy — We definitely had a good conversation," Q-Tip said. "He was definitely interested in what we were doing with hip-hop, or […]
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