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Daily stories about music and vinyl: albums, artists, labels. Read on the web or in the CrateCore app.
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October 14, 2026
STORY · Pop
Kylie Minogue's Let's Get to It Broke Her Hit Streak
Kylie Minogue's fourth album Let's Get to It arrived on 14 October 1991. It ended her run of thirteen straight UK top-ten hits, with lead single "Word Is Out" stalling at number sixteen.
4 min read
Cover of “Let's Get to It” by Kylie Minogue. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Folk
Taylor Swift's 19-Minute Christmas Gamble
In 2007 Taylor Swift released a six-track Christmas EP, The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection, sold only at Target and running barely nineteen minutes.
4 min read
Cover of “The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection” by Taylor Swift. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
October 20, 2026
STORY · Rock
Why Did The Beatles Ballads Get a Cover Nobody Wanted?
In 1980, The Beatles Ballads compiled the group's softer songs for a single LP released outside the US. Its cover by artist Patrick was often mistaken for a rejected White Album design.
3 min read
Cover of “The Beatles Ballads” by The Beatles. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
October 14, 2026
STORY · Rock
Kings of Leon's Walls: A Number One That Fell Fast
Kings of Leon's seventh album Walls, released on 14 October 2016, debuted at number one in America. A week later it fell to twentieth on the Billboard 200.
4 min read
Cover of “Walls” by Kings of Leon. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Why Did Yngwie Malmsteen Record Only Covers on Inspiration?
Released on 14 October 1996 through Music for Nations, Inspiration was Yngwie Malmsteen's ninth studio album and his first recorded at his own Studio 308.
3 min read
Cover of “Inspiration” by Yngwie Malmsteen. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Jethro Tull's War Child Lose Its Movie?
Jethro Tull planned War Child as a double album and a feature film. The movie was abandoned when financing failed, and the songs were released as a single disc in 1974.
3 min read
Cover of “War Child” by Jethro Tull. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Other
La Monte Young and the Chord That Would Not End
La Monte Young, born in Bern, Idaho on October 14, 1935, built a career from wind and transformer hum, from Trio for Strings to The Well-Tuned Piano.
4 min read
Bingqian Li, Pexels License, via Pexels
4 min read
STORY · Pop
How Modern Talking Doubled Down on Eurodisco
Modern Talking released Let's Talk About Love on 14 October 1985. The second album was built around the single 'Cheri, Cheri Lady' and written entirely by Dieter Bohlen.
4 min read
Richard Khuptong, Pexels License, via Pexels
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How David Bowie Made Heroes by the Berlin Wall
David Bowie recorded 'Heroes' at Hansa Studio 2 in Berlin in the summer of 1977, five hundred yards from the Berlin Wall. Producer Tony Visconti and a core band worked on the album there.
4 min read
Javier Perez Montes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Folk
Natalie Maines and the Comment That Changed Country Music
In a London theatre, Natalie Maines told a crowd the Dixie Chicks were ashamed President George W. Bush came from Texas, triggering a backlash that reshaped the band's career.
3 min read
RDNE Stock project, Pexels License, via Pexels
3 min read
STORY · Pop
Thomas Dolby and the Name He Had to Fight For
Thomas Morgan Robertson took his stage name from the noise-reduction process stamped on studio gear. By 1982 Thomas Dolby had a number 5 Billboard hit with "She Blinded Me with Science".
3 min read
Arthur Mouratidis from United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
STORY · Soul
How D’Angelo Lost and Found His Voice
D’Angelo, born Michael Eugene Archer in Richmond, Virginia, died on October 14, 2025, at fifty-one. The neo soul singer behind Brown Sugar and Voodoo was still working on a fourth album.
3 min read
Damian Sochacki, Pexels License, via Pexels
3 min read
October 13, 2026
STORY · Rock
The Beatles Take Over the London Palladium
Fifteen million people sat down to watch a variety show on a Sunday evening on October 13, 1963. The programme was Sunday Night at the London Palladium, broadca…
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Bob Dylan's Misnamed Live Album Turns 28
Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series Vol. 4, released on Columbia Records on October 13, 1998, preserves a 1966 concert that was famously mislabeled as taking place at London's Royal Albert Hall.
3 min read
Alena Sharkova, Pexels License, via Pexels
3 min read
STORY · Pop
How Robyn Is Here Became a Slow-Burning Pop Hit
Robyn's 1995 debut Robyn Is Here began as a Swedish-only release on Ricochet Records, Ariola Records and BMG. A reworked international edition turned it into an American platinum album.
3 min read
Cover of “Robyn Is Here” by Robyn. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
How Overkill's The Years of Decay Changed Thrash
Overkill released The Years of Decay on October 13, 1989, a progressive thrash album that pushed the band beyond its earlier sound and influenced Pantera.
4 min read
Cover of “The Years of Decay” by Overkill. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How AC/DC Turned a Cancelled Hits LP into Live Blood
AC/DC scrapped a planned studio compilation and instead released If You Want Blood You've Got It. It was the only live album issued while singer Bon Scott was alive.
4 min read
Cover of “If You Want Blood You've Got It” by AC/DC. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Other
The Carpenters' Christmas Portrait at 48
The Carpenters released Christmas Portrait on A&M Records in October 1978. Richard Carpenter produced the 49-minute holiday album, with Karen Carpenter as associate producer.
4 min read
Cover of “Christmas Portrait” by The Carpenters. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How Joe Satriani Built a Time Machine from Leftovers
Joe Satriani released Time Machine on 13 October 1993 on Relativity Records. The double album gathered nine years of recordings, from 1984 to 1993, into 139 minutes of music.
3 min read
Cover of “Time Machine” by Joe Satriani. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
How Beck Turned a Four-Year Delay Into Colors
Beck's thirteenth studio album Colors arrived on October 13, 2017, four years after recording began with producer Greg Kurstin in a Los Angeles studio.
4 min read
Cover of “Colors” by Beck. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Prince Name an Album Love Symbol?
Prince released his fourteenth studio album on October 13, 1992, with The New Power Generation. Its title was an unpronounceable glyph registered as Love Symbol #2.
3 min read
Cover of “Love Symbol” by Prince. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Other
How Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Chose the Family Voice
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was born on 13 October 1948 into a family that had made qawwali for nearly 600 years. His father, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, wanted him to become a doctor or engineer.
3 min read
Mick Haupt, Pexels License, via Pexels
3 min read
October 25, 2026
STORY · Rock
Kiss: Creatures of the Night, the Heavy Last Stand
Kiss released Creatures of the Night in 1982 as their heaviest record and their last for Casablanca, with Ace Frehley on the cover but not on the album.
4 min read
Cover of “Creatures of the Night” by Kiss. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
October 13, 2026
STORY · Pop
Pink's Beautiful Trauma: The Album That Took Three Years
Pink wrote fifty songs before settling on the thirteen that make up Beautiful Trauma, her seventh studio album. It was released on RCA Records on October 13, 2017.
4 min read
Andemaya, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Pop
How Cyndi Lauper Turned Bankruptcy Into a Pop Landmark
Cyndi Lauper's debut solo album She's So Unusual arrived on 13 October 1983, after bankruptcy and a failed band nearly ended her career.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Olivia Newton-John Almost Said No to Physical
Olivia Newton-John nearly turned down the song that became her biggest hit. The demo was written for a rock singer but landed with the Australian pop star instead.
4 min read
Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
October 12, 2026
STORY · Hip-Hop
Why Did Mos Def Risk Everything on Black on Both Sides?
Mos Def released Black on Both Sides on October 12, 1999, a 71-minute debut on which he played six instruments and handed production to a dozen beatmakers.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Why Did Editors' In This Light and on This Evening Divide Everyone?
Editors released In This Light and on This Evening on 12 October 2009. The machine-driven album about London topped the UK chart and then vanished from it in three weeks.
3 min read
Cover of “In This Light and on This Evening” by Editors. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Soul
How Did Brandy's Two Eleven Bring Her Back?
Brandy Norwood released Two Eleven on October 12, 2012, her sixth studio album. Its title pointed to her birthday, February 11, the same date Whitney Houston died that year.
4 min read
Cover of “Two Eleven” by Brandy Norwood. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Fleetwood Mac Bet Everything on Tusk?
Fleetwood Mac's Tusk, released on 12 October 1979, was a double album that cost 1.4 million dollars and sold four million copies, far below Rumours.
5 min read
Cover of “Tusk” by Fleetwood Mac. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
5 min read