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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 28, 2026
STORY · Pop
Hilary Duff: The Teen Idol Who Outgrew the Script
Hilary Duff, born in Houston in 1987, rose from Disney's Lizzie McGuire to a diversified career in film, television, and music. Time recognized her in 2026.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Rock
How Kris Kristofferson Made Country Music Get Honest
Kris Kristofferson traded an Army captain's uniform for a songwriter's honesty. He helped launch the outlaw country movement of the 1970s with songs like 'Me and Bobby McGee.'
4 min read
Foto: Stefan Brending , Lizenz: Creative Commons by-sa-3.0 de, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Why did Black Sabbath's last Ozzy album almost fall apart?
Black Sabbath's Never Say Die!, released September 29, 1978, was made with a returning Ozzy Osbourne who refused most songs, forcing drummer Bill Ward to sing.
4 min read
Cover of “Never Say Die!” by Black Sabbath. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Folk
Víctor Jara: The 44 Bullets That Made a Symbol
Víctor Jara, born in 1932, rose from child labor in Chilean fields to become a leading figure of Nueva canción chilena before his murder in 1973.
5 min read
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5 min read
STORY · Other
Why Did Sylvia Kristel Keep Returning to Emmanuelle?
Sylvia Kristel became an erotic icon in 1974's Emmanuelle. She returned to the franchise five times across nearly two decades despite escaping it for Hollywood roles.
3 min read
Unknown author, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
STORY · Hip-Hop
A Judge Gave Him Two Options and Berlin Got Bushido
A Berlin judge's ultimatum sent a teenage Anis Ferchichi into a painter's course, where he met Fler and became Bushido, reshaping German hip-hop.
4 min read
© Superbass / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · World
Why Did Tim Maia Turn Brazilian Soul Into a Religion?
Tim Maia, born Sebastião Rodrigues Maia in 1942, brought soul to Brazilian music with a force that reshaped the country's sound. His catalog became a lasting legacy.
4 min read
SONIA D'ALMEIDA, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Rock
The Police: How a Teacher Story Became a UK No. 1
The Police took a taboo classroom scenario, wrapped it in reggae-tinged rock, and pushed it to the top of the British chart on 28 September 1980.
4 min read
Ceescamel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Nirvana: How a $65,000 Record Ended Glam Metal
Nirvana's Nevermind, recorded for $65,000, arrived in September 1991. Within months, it unseated the biggest rock bands and dragged alternative music into the mainstream.
4 min read
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4 min read
September 27, 2026
STORY · Metal
Cliff Burton: Why His Bass Still Haunts Metal 40 Years On
Cliff Burton's four years in Metallica redefined what a bassist could do inside a thrash band. His effect-pedal solos on Kill 'Em All and his final show in 1986 still haunt metal.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Rock
Randy Bachman at 83: Why 'American Woman' Still Rips
Randy Bachman, born September 27, 1943, in Winnipeg, built a career split between The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. His guitar experiments produced 'American Woman' and other rock staples.
4 min read
Randy_Bachman_in_2009.jpg : B Stahls derivative work: Tabercil ( talk ), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Mark Calderon: Why Color Me Badd Still Matters in 2026
Mark Calderon, born September 27, 1970, turned teenage harmonies into Color Me Badd. Their tenor-driven sound defined 90s radio and still resonates in 2026.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Pop
Barbara Dickson: How a Scottish Folk Voice Went Pop
Barbara Dickson, born on 27 September 1947, moved from Scottish folk clubs to the West End stage and an Olivier Award, collecting chart hits along the way.
4 min read
Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Greg Ham: The Flute That Made Men At Work Famous
Greg Ham, born September 27, 1953, gave Men At Work their signature sound. A flute phrase from a children's campfire song became one of pop's most recognizable melodies.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Alternative
Why did R.E.M. plug in and turn Monster up this loud?
R.E.M.'s 1994 album Monster traded mandolins and strings for loud, warped guitar tones, and the shift was a deliberate break from the band's quieter early-nineties records.
5 min read
Cover of “Monster” by R.E.M.. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
5 min read
STORY · Pop
Very by Pet Shop Boys 33 Years On and Still Number One
Pet Shop Boys' fifth studio album Very, released on 27 September 1993, became their only UK number one album. Its toy-like orange packaging hid the most confrontational pop record of the year.
4 min read
Cover of “Very” by Pet Shop Boys. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Folk
Leonard Cohen: The Album That Buried Phil Spector's Chaos
Leonard Cohen's 1979 album Recent Songs marked his deliberate retreat from the chaos of Phil Spector's production. Released on Columbia Records, it returned to acoustic folk.
4 min read
Cover of “Recent Songs” by Leonard Cohen. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Folk
Prairie Wind: How a Brain Aneurysm Shaped Neil Young's Album
Neil Young's twenty-eighth studio album, Prairie Wind, was written after a brain aneurysm diagnosis. It was released on September 27, 2005, through Reprise Records.
3 min read
Cover of “Prairie Wind” by Neil Young. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
Why Did Rammstein Cut 6 Songs From Reise, Reise?
Rammstein's 2004 album Reise, Reise cut six of seventeen recorded songs, and those leftovers became the basis for the follow-up Rosenrot.
3 min read
Cover of “Reise, Reise” by Rammstein. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Peter Gabriel Followed So With an Album of Fractures
Peter Gabriel's sixth studio album Us arrived on 28 September 1992. It is a fractured follow-up to So that maps his divorce and family distance through seven-minute songs.
3 min read
Cover of “Us” by Peter Gabriel. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Pop
Why did Lady Gaga call Harlequin vintage pop?
Lady Gaga's 2024 album Harlequin blends jazz standards with rock, soul, gospel, and doo-wop. It uses vintage pop to explore Harley Quinn's fractured psychology.
3 min read
Cover of “Harlequin” by Lady Gaga. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
Why did Gojira leave Mars for Sirius in 2005?
Gojira's 2005 album From Mars to Sirius turned environmental collapse into a concept album. It forced metal critics to reconsider what extreme music could carry.
4 min read
Cover of “From Mars to Sirius” by Gojira. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Meat Loaf: The Cop's Son Who Sold 100 Million
Meat Loaf, born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas in 1947, sold over 100 million albums worldwide, led by the enduring success of Bat Out of Hell.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Jazz
How Bud Powell turned bebop piano into a right-hand riot
Born September 29, 1924, Bud Powell turned bebop piano into a right-hand-driven style, reshaping jazz piano after a rent party in Harlem.
4 min read
Distributed by the Gale Agency in New York. Photographer uncredited and unknown., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Mitski's Graduation Project Became a Global Soundtrack
A college senior in upstate New York sits in a practice room, layering guitar feedback over a melody she wrote for a grade. The assignment was a senior project …
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Metal
Mastodon's The Hunter Debuted at No. 10 Fifteen Years Ago
Fifteen years after its release, Mastodon's The Hunter remains a pivot point. Born from grief and recorded at Sound City Studios, it was their first album to crack the American top ten.
3 min read
Cover of “The Hunter” by Mastodon. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Alternative
Lil Wayne: the nine-year-old who signed to Cash Money
In 1993, an eleven-year-old from Hollygrove named Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. signed to Cash Money Records after Birdman spotted him rapping on a New Orleans street corner.
4 min read
Chris Allmeid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Marty Balin Leave Jefferson Airplane in 1971?
A kid from suburban Ohio singing folk harmonies in a San Francisco club hardly screams acid rock architect. Yet Marty Balin — born Martin Jerel Buchwald on Janu…
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Pop
How Ani Lorak turned a TV character name into 4.5 octaves
Ani Lorak, born Karolina Kuiek in 1978, commands a 4.5-octave range and built a career from Ukrainian pop to Russian citizenship, ending with sanctions in 2022.
4 min read
Okras, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Donald O'Connor's Most Dangerous Dance Move
Donald O'Connor, born in Chicago in 1925, survived a car crash that killed his sister. He later turned his athleticism into the unforgettable 'Make 'Em Laugh' number in Singin' in the Rain.
4 min read
Studio publicity still., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read