Feed
Daily stories about music and vinyl: albums, artists, labels. Read on the web or in the CrateCore app.
Filters & search
October 16, 2026
STORY · Hip-Hop
How The Game Turned One Album Into a Two-Week Event
The Game released The Documentary 2.5 on October 16, 2015, the second half of a split project that followed The Documentary 2 by one week.
4 min read
Cover of “The Documentary 2.5” by The Game. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Three Dog Night's Debut Album Started With a Blank Cover
Three Dog Night's debut album arrived on Dunhill Records in October 1968 with a cover that showed only the band's name, designed by Gary Burden.
3 min read
Cover of “Three Dog Night” by Three Dog Night. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
How ZZ Top's Recycler Almost Never Found Its Grit
ZZ Top's tenth album Recycler began as a sequel to Eliminator and Afterburner. A Memphis studio accident pushed the Texas trio back toward a rougher, more human sound.
4 min read
Cover of “Recycler” by ZZ Top. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
How Ozzy Osbourne's Down to Earth Became a Platinum Surprise
Epic Records pushed Ozzy Osbourne back into the studio for Down to Earth. Released on 16 October 2001, the album became a platinum success in the US and Canada.
3 min read
Cover of “Down to Earth” by Ozzy Osbourne. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Alternative
How Eurythmics Made a Flop That Changed Everything
Eurythmics' debut album In the Garden arrived on RCA Records in October 1981 and missed the charts entirely. It taught Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart to build songs from machines and strange sounds.
4 min read
Cover of “In the Garden” by Eurythmics. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Kate Bush and the Words She Couldn't Use
Kate Bush wanted James Joyce's Molly Bloom monologue for the title track of The Sensual World. The Joyce estate refused, so she wrote her own words instead.
3 min read
Cover of “The Sensual World” by Kate Bush. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Soul
Lisa Stansfield's All Around the World at 37
Lisa Stansfield's 'All Around the World' turned a casual piano riff into a global soul hit. Written with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, it was released in 1989.
4 min read
Cover of “All Around the World” by Lisa Stansfield. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Why Demi Lovato's Confident Changed Everything
Demi Lovato released Confident on 16 October 2015 through Safehouse Records, the label she helped launch with Phil McIntyre and Nick Jonas.
4 min read
Cover of “Confident” by Demi Lovato. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Rammstein's Liebe ist für alle da and the Censorship Fight
Rammstein's sixth album Liebe ist für alle da was released in 2009. Germany's Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons placed it on its list of materials dangerous to minors.
4 min read
P. R. Brown, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Jason Everman: From Nirvana to the Green Berets
Jason Everman paid $606.17 for Nirvana's Bleach, toured with the band, then joined Soundgarden before quitting music for the US Army, where he became a Ranger and Green Beret.
4 min read
GeorgeCarlinn, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How Did Bob Weir Survive Being Kicked Out of Grateful Dead?
Bob Weir was sidelined by Grateful Dead in 1968 when Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh played shows without him. He returned and stayed for nearly six decades.
3 min read
dbking, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
October 15, 2026
STORY · Soul
Why Did Berry Gordy Almost Bury Stevie Wonder's Hit?
In 1967 Stevie Wonder cut "For Once in My Life" as a fast soul track and Berry Gordy shelved it. Billie Jean Brown pushed until the single came out on 15 October 1968.
4 min read
Cover of “For Once in My Life” by Stevie Wonder. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Pat Benatar Add a Studio Hit to a Live Album?
Pat Benatar released Live from Earth on October 15, 1983, a concert album that also carried two new studio tracks, including Love Is a Battlefield.
4 min read
Cover of “Live from Earth” by Pat Benatar. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Soul
The Jackson 5 Christmas Album Turned a Chart Ban Into Gold
The Jackson 5 Christmas Album arrived on October 15, 1970, as the group's first holiday collection. It was barred from the main Billboard chart for its entire original run.
3 min read
Cover of “Jackson 5 Christmas Album” by The Jackson 5. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
How Did Motörhead Survive Losing a Guitarist?
Motörhead released Overnight Sensation on 15 October 1996 as a trio after guitarist Würzel left. That lineup stayed together longer than any other in the band's history.
3 min read
Cover of “Overnight Sensation” by Motörhead. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
How Coldplay Built a Solar System for Their Ninth Album
Coldplay's ninth album Music of the Spheres, released on 15 October 2021, unfolds inside a fictional planetary system. Every track corresponds to a different celestial body.
4 min read
Cover of “Music of the Spheres” by Coldplay. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Pop
How XTC Built a Rusty Victorian Machine Called The Big Express
XTC released The Big Express on 15 October 1984, a studio-dense concept album about Swindon and its railway works. Andy Partridge called its sound industrial pop.
3 min read
Cover of “The Big Express” by XTC. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
Led Zeppelin Remasters: The 1990 CD Cash-In
Atlantic Records rushed Led Zeppelin's catalogue onto compact disc with Remasters. The three-vinyl set arrived on 15 October 1990, drawn from eight of the band's nine studio albums.
3 min read
Cover of “Led Zeppelin Remasters” by Led Zeppelin. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
Why Alcatrazz's Debut Still Matters in Metal
Alcatrazz released No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll on October 15, 1983, with Graham Bonnet on vocals and a young Yngwie Malmsteen on guitar.
3 min read
Cover of “No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll” by Alcatrazz. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
Korn's Life Is Peachy: Chaos Forged a Nu-Metal Landmark
Korn's second album, Life Is Peachy, arrived on October 15, 1996, through Immortal and Epic, and entered the Billboard 200 at number three.
3 min read
Cover of “Life Is Peachy” by Korn. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Soul
Otis Redding's Dictionary of Soul at 60
Otis Redding's fifth studio album arrived on 15 October 1966. Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul split one side of covers against one side of his own songs.
3 min read
Matthias Groeneveld, Pexels License, via Pexels
3 min read
STORY · Pop
Jessie Ware and the Heart-Shaped Record That Started It All
Jessie Ware was born in Hammersmith on 15 October 1984 and grew up in Clapham. She sang backing vocals on tour with Jack Peñate before her own records reached the UK top five.
4 min read
Pixabay, Pexels License, via Pexels
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Why Savatage's Streets: A Rock Opera Almost Didn't Happen
Savatage released Streets: A Rock Opera on Atlantic Records on October 15, 1991. The album grew out of a Broadway play producer Paul O'Neill had written in 1979 and left in a drawer.
5 min read
Tima Miroshnichenko, Pexels License, via Pexels
5 min read
STORY · Classical
How Karl Richter Sent Bach Into Deep Space
Karl Richter, the German conductor born in Plauen in 1926, led the Munich Bach Orchestra recording of Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 that NASA placed on the Voyager golden record in 1977.
5 min read
Yan Krukau, Pexels License, via Pexels
5 min read
STORY · Pop
Why Did Sarah Engels Take the Eurovision Risk?
Sarah Engels finished 23rd at Eurovision 2026 in Vienna with "Fire", months after her album "Strong Girls Club" became the lowest-charting of her career.
3 min read
Superbass, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
STORY · Pop
Why Did Jeon Ji-yoon Walk Away from 4Minute?
Jeon Ji-yoon let her Cube Entertainment contract expire on 14 June 2016 and left 4Minute, then signed with JS E&M and debuted solo as Jenyer that November.
4 min read
KIYOUNG KIM, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How Grateful Dead Rebuilt After Loss
The Grateful Dead recorded Wake of the Flood in Sausalito in August 1973 without founding keyboardist Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. It arrived that October on the band's own label.
4 min read
Cover of “Wake of the Flood” by Grateful Dead. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Tito Jackson, the Guitarist Motown Wouldn't Let Play
Tito Jackson, the third of ten Jackson children, was the guitarist whose secret practice on his father's guitar set the family on its path to Motown fame.
4 min read
David Sedlecký, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
October 14, 2026
STORY · Alternative
How Medazzaland Became Duran Duran's Lost Digital Gamble
Duran Duran released Medazzaland on 14 October 1997. The ninth album was named after Simon Le Bon's dental anaesthetic and issued only in North America, Latin America and Japan.
3 min read
Cover of “Medazzaland” by Duran Duran. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Cliff Richard Choose a Name That Meant Rock?
Harry Rodger Webb chose 'Cliff' for its rock-face suggestion and 'Richard' in honour of Little Richard, becoming Cliff Richard before his first hit.
3 min read
Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read