Buried in These Hands For Years: Thomas Dolby’s ‘The Golden Age of Wireless’ Turns 40
Thomas Dolby’s 40-year-old debut The Golden Age of Wireless is a definitive synthpop album that raises many questions but only answers a few of them.
Pop Past
Diana Ross Explored Black Music’s Rich History on ‘Red Hot Rhythm & Blues’
Thirty-five years ago, Red Hot Rhythm & Blues saw Diana Ross ambitiously and affectionately placing herself within the history of Black music.
65 Years Ago Judy Garland Found Artistic Growth by Singing ‘Alone’
When Judy Garland went into the studio to record Alone, she moved away from shellacked showbiz happy talk to record a sad, wistful, and lonely masterpiece.
Yoko Ono’s Greatest Work Is Aptly Represented on ‘Walking on Thin Ice’
Released in May 1992, Walking on Thin Ice is a great primer for the kind of esoteric, avant-garde pop Yoko Ono forged in the 1970s.
When a Concept Became a Problem: Reconsidering the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’
Humdrum, high and low, the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sounds like a swirling, strident loss of pre-modern innocence.
Racializing Rock: The ’60s and the White Sounds of ‘Pet Sounds’
The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds is not a racist text, but its impact was racist because it further encoded rock as a white genre, perpetuating the institutionalized prejudice that relegated African Americans to the margins of rock.
Sci-Fi ‘Seconds’ Offers a Second Chance At Life: Dare You Take It?
Think it’s right to want seconds in life? A second chance at life? Sci-fi thriller Seconds will have you think again.
‘Sweet Forgiveness’ Paved the Way for Bonnie Raitt’s Just Desserts 45 Years Ago
Sweet Forgiveness (1977) was Bonnie Raitt’s first breakthrough album, laying the groundwork for ‘Nick of Time’ and beyond. There can be no second act without a great first one.
What Roger Corman’s Psychedelic Film ‘The Trip’ Helps Us Realize
Roger Corman’s film about psychedelics and self-awareness, The Trip, turns 55 this summer, yet its message resonates to this day.
Barbra Streisand Went to Washington (by Way of Malibu) on ‘One Voice’ 35 Years Ago
Barbra Streisand’s One Voice is a merger of pop and politics, a “rally” attended by the likes of Jack Nicholson, Kurt Russell, and Penny Marshall.
The Beating Heart of Yo La Tengo’s Discography Turns 25
A quarter of a decade later, Yo La Tengo’s game-changing genre-bender continues to invite listeners into its cozy little corner of the world.