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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 5, 2026
STORY · Pop
Why Did Park So-yeon Walk Away from Girls' Generation?
Park So-yeon left SM Entertainment half a year before Girls' Generation debuted. She then joined T-ara in 2009 and survived a 2012 car crash that reshaped her career.
3 min read
AI-generated illustration
3 min read
STORY · Rock
How Did James Valentine Find His Way Into Maroon 5?
A street in Lincoln, Nebraska, now carries the name James Valentine Blvd, a tribute to a local kid who grew up in a Mormon family with three sisters and a broth…
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Metal
How Joakim Brodén Walked 560 km to a Sabaton Gig
In 2015 Sabaton frontman Joakim Brodén lost a bet with his bandmates and walked roughly 350 miles to a gig in Trondheim, Norway. He slept in fans' homes along the way.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Pop
R.E.M. Around the Sun: The Album That Lost the Groove
R.E.M. released Around the Sun on Warner Bros. in autumn 2004, the Athens band's thirteenth album and its first with drummer Bill Rieflin.
4 min read
Cover of “Around the Sun” by R.E.M.. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Tame Impala's Lonerism Change Everything?
Kevin Parker built Lonerism in a tiny Paris apartment and on flights between tours. It was the second Tame Impala album, released on Modular Recordings on October 5, 2012.
4 min read
Cover of “Lonerism” by Tame Impala. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Classical
How Jacques Offenbach Left His Final Opera Unfinished
Jacques Offenbach, born in the Prussian Rhineland in 1819, died in Paris in 1880 leaving his serious opera The Tales of Hoffmann unfinished.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
October 4, 2026
STORY · Folk
How Loretta Lynn Turned a $17 Guitar Into Country History
Loretta Lynn, a teenage wife from a Kentucky coal camp, taught herself to play a 17-dollar guitar. She became the first woman to win the CMA Entertainer of the Year award.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Pop
How Slavko Kalezić Turned a Eurovision Flop Into a Second Act
Slavko Kalezić finished 16th in Kyiv with “Space” and won the Barbara Dex Award. He then turned the loss into a second act across X Factor UK, World Pride and a book called “Moja Istina.”
4 min read
Mykola Swarnyk, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Pop
How Did Jon Secada Go From Teacher to Pop Hitmaker?
Jon Secada left a teaching job at Miami Dade College after Emilio Estefan heard his demo, then sold seven million copies of his debut album.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Alternative
Chris Lowe: The Architect Who Built Pet Shop Boys
Chris Lowe trained as an architect before meeting Neil Tennant in a King's Road hi-fi shop in 1981. That chance encounter redirected him toward Pet Shop Boys.
5 min read
AI-generated illustration
5 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Bruno Mars Call His Debut Doo-Wops & Hooligans?
Bruno Mars released Doo-Wops & Hooligans on October 4, 2010. He named his debut after the two opposing sounds he grew up hearing: his father's doo-wop and rowdier hooligan energy.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Metal
Janis Joplin: The Outsider Who Outsang Everyone
Janis Joplin grew up bullied in Port Arthur, Texas, and became one of America's best-selling female vocalists before her death at 27 in October 1970.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Other
How Diahann Carroll Broke Broadway and Fought Hollywood
Diahann Carroll won a Tony for 'No Strings' in 1962, then lost the film version of the role to a white actress. She answered Hollywood by leading the NBC sitcom 'Julia'.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Jazz
Art Farmer and the Quiet Trumpet
Art Farmer, the jazz trumpeter who died on October 4, 1999, built a career on a warm, rounded tone instead of speed and flash. His path ran from Council Bluffs to Vienna.
4 min read
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4 min read
September 28, 2026
STORY · Rock
How John Entwistle Turned Scraps into Odds & Sods
In 1973 John Entwistle of The Who assembled Odds & Sods from studio outtakes while his bandmates worked on the Tommy film. The record reached the Top 10 in Britain.
3 min read
Cover of “Odds & Sods” by The Who. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
October 4, 2026
STORY · Pop
How Katy Perry's Last Teenage Dream Single Almost Won
Katy Perry's 'The One That Got Away' was the sixth and final single from Teenage Dream, released on Capitol Records in autumn 2011. It peaked at number three on the Hot 100.
4 min read
Cover of “The One That Got Away” by Katy Perry. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Mikolas Josef: From Street Corners to Eurovision
Czech pop singer Mikolas Josef went from busking in Prague, Oslo and Vienna to finishing sixth at Eurovision with 'Lie to Me'. It remains the best result any Czech entry has achieved.
3 min read
Wouter van Vliet, EuroVisionary, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
STORY · Classical
Glenn Gould Gave Up the Stage and Changed Classical Music
Glenn Gould played his final public concert in Los Angeles at 31. He then walked away from the stage for good and spent 18 years building a reputation on recordings alone.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Pop
How Shontelle Turned a Joke Into a Debut Album
Shontelle's debut album Shontelligence began as a studio joke and was finished in just six months, arriving in November 2008 on Motown.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Metal
Why Did Dio's Angry Machines Fail So Hard?
Dio released Angry Machines in October 1996, a darker, slower record that became the last studio album for drummer Vinny Appice and guitarist Tracy G.
4 min read
Cover of “Angry Machines” by Dio. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Why Did Mercedes Sosa Sing When the Guns Were Out?
In the city of La Plata, a concert was underway. On stage stood Mercedes Sosa, the Argentine folk singer known to millions as la Negra, a nickname that came fro…
3 min read
Presidencia de la Nación Argentina, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
STORY · Pop
How Lil Mama Turned a Viral Hit Into Staying Power
Lil Mama, born Niatia Jessica Kirkland in Harlem, turned a viral hit into a career spanning music, television and acting. Her debut album VYP reached number 25 on the Billboard 200.
3 min read
drivingthenortheast, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
October 3, 2026
STORY · Rock
How Lindsey Buckingham Joined Fleetwood Mac on His Own Terms
Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac only after refusing to be separated from Stevie Nicks. That condition shaped everything that followed.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Folk
How Did Woody Guthrie Become the Dust Bowl Troubadour?
Woody Guthrie earned the nickname Dust Bowl Troubadour from his 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads. The songs were drawn from the hardest years of the Great Depression.
4 min read
Al Aumuller/New York World-Telegram and the Sun (uploaded by User:Urban), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How Ashlee Simpson's SNL Stumble Changed Everything
Ashlee Simpson walked off the Saturday Night Live stage when the wrong backing track played. The moment reframed a career that began at the School of American Ballet.
3 min read
LGEPR, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
STORY · Alternative
How Sinéad O'Connor Tore Up Her Own Career on Live TV
Sinéad O'Connor tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live. She had just sung Bob Marley's 'War' a cappella, changing one word to accuse the church of child abuse.
4 min read
Photographer unknown. Distributed by Chrysalis Records ., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Chubby Checker's 'The Twist' Top the Charts Twice?
Chubby Checker's 'The Twist' reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in two separate years. It first topped the chart in September 1960 and returned to number one in early 1962.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Classical
How Carl Nielsen Turned a Village Fiddle into a National Voice
Carl Nielsen was born into a poor farming family on Funen. He rose from a failed shop apprenticeship and an army band to become Denmark's most original symphonist.
4 min read
L.C. Nielsen (1871-1930), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Soul
India.Arie and the Night the Grammys Got It Wrong
India.Arie's "Video" arrived on March 27, 2001, as the lead single from Acoustic Soul, and the Grammys that followed turned a seven-nomination shutout into the night's defining performance.
4 min read
ultra 5280 from Denver, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Pop
How Gwen Stefani Became the Queen of Confessional Pop
Gwen Stefani went from sharing a microphone in her brother's Fullerton ska band to a solo career that Rolling Stone labelled the queen of confessional pop.
3 min read
Lorie Shaull, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
3 min read