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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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September 30, 2026
STORY · Pop
Why did Miley Cyrus trade acting for Bangerz in 2013?
In 2013, Miley Cyrus left acting behind to release Bangerz, her first album on RCA Records. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 and earned triple platinum certification.
4 min read
Cover of “Bangerz” by Miley Cyrus. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Why Did Testament's Low Sound So Different in 1994?
Chuck Billy's newly introduced growl on Testament's sixth studio album, Low, marked a deliberate rupture from The Ritual. The record was released on October 4, 1994.
4 min read
Cover of “Low” by Testament. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Jethro Tull: The Christmas Album That Ended an Era
Jethro Tull's 2003 Christmas album, built around a birthday card lost in holiday wrapping, became the band's final studio record for nineteen years.
4 min read
Cover of “The Jethro Tull Christmas Album” by Jethro Tull. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Folk
Nebraska: The Bedroom Tape That Changed Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, recorded alone on a four-track in a Colts Neck bedroom, was released as the final album on September 30, 1982. Its stark sound still feels like a dare.
3 min read
Cover of “Nebraska” by Bruce Springsteen. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Signify: The Album That Made Porcupine Tree a Band
Porcupine Tree's 1996 album Signify was the first recorded by the full group. Its fragmented sessions and solitary writing left a tension that still defines the band.
3 min read
Cover of “Signify” by Porcupine Tree. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Pop
Fossora at 4 and the Sound Björk Dug Up From Grief
Four years after its release, Björk's tenth studio album Fossora remains a deliberate descent into soil, roots, and the silence that follows loss. The record was shaped by lockdowns and grief.
4 min read
Cover of “Fossora” by Björk. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Slipknot Closed a 28-Year Chapter in Under an Hour
The first fragment of 'The Chapeltown Rag' surfaced on a cryptic website in November 2021, and within days Slipknot fans were dissecting every distorted second.…
4 min read
Cover of “The End, So Far” by Slipknot. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Pop
How Basia turned Polish beat clubs into global jazz-pop
Basia, born Barbara Stanisława Trzetrzelewska in Jaworzno, turns seventy-two today. She sold two million copies in the US with her first two solo records.
4 min read
Henning Simalla, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Why did Udo Jürgens walk away from schlager?
Udo Jürgens, born in 1934 in Klagenfurt, rose from a Carinthian castle to become a defining figure of German-language pop. He reshaped schlager with jazz and chanson influences.
4 min read
Unknown author, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How Forty Licks United the Stones' Split Catalog
In 2002, Forty Licks became the first Rolling Stones compilation to merge the band's Decca-era recordings with its post-1970 output. It bridged a catalog split since 1970.
3 min read
Cover of “Forty Licks” by The Rolling Stones. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Jazz
Buddy Rich: Why His Hands Were Faster Than Thought
Born in Brooklyn in 1917, Buddy Rich went from a vaudeville child act to the drummer whose technique functioned at the speed of thought.
6 min read
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6 min read
STORY · Jazz
Buddy Rich: The Drum Prodigy Who Never Learned to Read Music
Buddy Rich, born Bernard Rich in 1917, became one of jazz's most influential drummers despite never learning to read music. He relied instead on memory and natural talent.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Pop
Why Did Cissy Houston Give Away Midnight Train to Georgia?
Cissy Houston, born Emily Drinkard in 1933, recorded the original 'Midnight Train to Georgia'. She spent decades as a gospel, soul, and pop voice before her death in 2024.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Opeth's Sorceress Splits Its Own Sound Apart
Opeth's twelfth album Sorceress, released on September 30, 2016, channels Mikael Åkerfeldt's divorce into its heaviest music since Watershed. Ornate keys wrap around bruising riffs.
4 min read
Cover of “Sorceress” by Opeth. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Johnny Mathis: How a 25-Dollar Piano Led to a 490-Week Album
A 25-dollar family piano and a father's advice steered Johnny Mathis away from athletics. That decision produced the first greatest-hits album, which spent 490 weeks on the chart.
5 min read
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5 min read
STORY · Pop
How Johnny Mathis Turned a $25 Piano Into a 73-Album Legacy
A twenty-five-dollar upright piano, bought secondhand by a domestic cook in San Francisco, became the unlikely launchpad for one of the most durable careers in …
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Pop
Tom Tom Club's 'Genius of Love': Why Hip-Hop Kept Sampling It
A bassline played by a man asleep under the mixing desk became the backbone of one of the most sampled hooks of the 1980s. Tom Tom Club released 'Genius of Love…
5 min read
Cover of “Genius of Love” by Tom Tom Club. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
5 min read
STORY · Classical
How Valentyn Sylvestrov Stopped Writing New Music
Valentyn Sylvestrov, the Ukrainian composer born in Kyiv in 1937, has spent decades insisting he never writes new music. His method reclaims tonal and modal techniques modernism left behind.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Classical
Aida Garifullina: From Kazan to the World's Opera Stages
A thirteen-year-old girl walks onto the stage of the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, accompanied by the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarsta…
4 min read
Gil Zetbase, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Robby Takac: The Goo Goo Dolls Bassist Who Built a Scene
Robby Takac, born September 30, 1964, rose from Buffalo punk bands to become the rhythmic anchor of Goo Goo Dolls. He then built a nonprofit festival and record label.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Rock
Abbey Road: Why the Beatles' last session became their goodbye
The Beatles' 1969 Abbey Road sessions doubled as a farewell no one was allowed to announce, as John Lennon had already quit the band in private.
4 min read
Bob Gruen; Distributed by Capitol Records, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Classical
How David Oistrakh Redefined Violin Sound
David Oistrakh, born in 1908 above a bakery in Odessa, became a Soviet violinist whose broad sound and dedicated concertos redefined violin performance.
4 min read
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4 min read
September 29, 2026
STORY · Metal
Les Claypool: Why the Primus Bassist Walked Away From Metallica
Les Claypool, born September 29, 1963 in Richmond, California, walked into a Metallica audition in 1986. He lost it by being 'too good,' freeing him to build Primus.
5 min read
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5 min read
STORY · Rock
Prince's Let's Go Crazy: How the Purple Rain Opener Hit #1
On September 29, 1984, Prince and the Revolution took Let's Go Crazy to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The single confirmed his shift from underground eccentric to mainstream pop star.
4 min read
Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Led Zeppelin Live: How One 1971 Set Rewired Rock
On September 29, 1971, Led Zeppelin played a set in Osaka that captured the band's live power months before their fourth album became an institution.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Pop
Bros: How a Surrey band nearly broke Oxford Street
In September 1988, Bros drew such a crowd to an HMV autograph session on Oxford Street that police closed the road. It capped a year of chart success for the Surrey trio.
5 min read
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5 min read
STORY · Folk
Gene Autry: Why a Telegraph Job Led to 640 Recordings
Gene Autry, born in 1907, went from a fired railroad telegraph operator to 640 recordings and 100 million records sold. He later owned the California Angels.
5 min read
Harry Warnecke / Robert F. Cranston, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
5 min read
STORY · Classical
Why did Václav Neumann twice refuse the Czech Philharmonic?
Václav Neumann, born in Prague in 1920, twice declined the Czech Philharmonic's top post. He accepted in 1968 and led the orchestra for twenty-two years.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Alternative
Red Hot Chili Peppers: The Album All Four Founders Made
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, released September 29, 1987, is the only Red Hot Chili Peppers studio album with all four founding members. Kiedis, Flea, Slovak, and Irons never shared a studio again.
3 min read
Cover of “The Uplift Mofo Party Plan” by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Why did TAYANNA walk away from the accordion at eight?
TAYANNA, born Tetiana Reshetniak in Chernivtsi in 1984, abandoned the accordion at eight and built a career in electronic music, folk rock, and soft rock.
4 min read
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