Arts and Entertainment

Used to be that R&B acts would cover mainstream pop hits routinely, often improving them in the process. You can't find a better example than what the Isley Brothers did…

People know this song from Bobby Womack's 1974 release, which reached No. 10 on the Hot 100 (No. 1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart), but that wasn't its first…

Didn't mean to run another War song so soon, but to quote the lyrics, summertime is here. Yes, I know Americans foolishly start their seasons with a celestial solstices and…

Every once in a while I learn that a hit song that I thought was original is actually a cover. That's the case here. The song was a hit in…

This band was a true one-hit wonder. Originally from Florida, Blues Image moved to Los Angeles in 1969 and released one album before 1970's "Open," which included their only hit,…

We're all familiar with the concept of the one-hit wonder, bands or singers who disappear after one popular single. Sometimes even bands with two hits are mistakenly included in such…

RE Vanella and I had a little discussion on one of yesterday's threads about the greatest rapper of all time. RE touted Biggie Smalls as the GOAT, which is a…

War is one of those groups that shows up year after year on lists of "best bands snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." This was the title…

Is pop-punk still a thing? Twenty years ago bands like Green Day welded punk's energy to pop's accessibility for one of rock's last hurrahs before the hip-hop deluge. "Movies," released…

Bruce Springsteen has a new solo album coming out June 14. He has said "Western Stars" is a rumination on Southern California music of the ''60s and '70s and specifically…

This isn't the original recording from "Out of the Blue." This is the title track from Jeff Lynne's 2012 album of re-recorded ELO classics, the release of which was accompanied…

Harold Dorman, a white guy from the Mississippi Delta, had only one hit record in his career, this classic from 1960. What I find interesting is his choice of metaphor.…

I read yesterday that Donald Trump's obsession with The Wall has manifested itself as micromanagement of its design. He wants scary spikes on top, and he wants it painted black…