Pop
Here you'll find album stories, birthdays, and anniversaries from pop artists across the decades, along with news of vinyl reissues as titles return to print. Pop built much of its early history on the 7-inch single, the format that carried hit songs into homes and jukeboxes long before albums became the main event, and that legacy still shows up in picture sleeves, colored pressings, and singles boxes collectors look for today. The stories here follow how specific songs and albums came together, the writers and producers behind them, and why a particular reissue or pressing still catches a collector's eye.
379 STORIES
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
John Denver Died at the Controls of His Own Plane
John Denver died on 12 October 1997 when his Rutan Long-EZ ran out of fuel near Monterey Bay. The singer behind Take Me Home, Country Roads was alone at the controls of a plane he had built himself.
· 4 min read
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
How Enhypen Turned a Dilemma Into a Million-Selling Debut
On 2 September 2021, five members of the South Korean group Enhypen tested positive for COVID-19. Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon and Jungwon were all confirmed o…
· 3 min read
Donna Summer's Four Seasons of Love at 50
In October 1976 Donna Summer released Four Seasons of Love, a four-track concept album made with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. Each season became a number one dance hit.
· 3 min read
How Did Amr Diab Conquer the World with One Song?
Amr Diab, born in Port Said on 11 October 1961, turned Nour El Ain into the first Arabic pop record to travel far beyond the Arabic-speaking world.
· 4 min read
Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down: Five Singles, One Empire
Lionel Richie's second solo album Can't Slow Down, released on Motown on 14 October 1983, turned eight songs into five American top-10 singles.
· 3 min read
Why Did Jean-Jacques Goldman Walk Away?
Jean-Jacques Goldman, born in Paris on 11 October 1951, went from a rejected debut album to rewriting French pop. He walked away from performing after a final concert in 2004.
· 4 min read
ABBA's Arrival: The Boogaloo That Became Dancing Queen
ABBA's fourth album Arrival, released on 11 October 1976, grew out of a disco experiment called 'Boogaloo' that became 'Dancing Queen'.
· 3 min read
Why Was Bae Suzy Rejected Before She Got Famous?
Bae Suzy was eliminated in the preliminary round of a 2009 TV talent audition. A JYP Entertainment scout spotted her anyway, and she became one of South Korea's most bankable stars.
· 3 min read
Arthur: The Kinks' Album That Outlived Its Cancelled TV Play
The Kinks wrote Arthur Morgan's story for a Granada Television play that was cancelled before filming, and the 1969 album it became outlived the broadcast.
· 3 min read
How The Beach Boys Built a Pocket Symphony
Brian Wilson spent seven months and four Hollywood studios assembling 'Good Vibrations', the 1966 Beach Boys single he called a 'pocket symphony'.
· 3 min read
Why Did Introspective Make Pet Shop Boys Break Their Own Rules?
On 10 October 1988, the Pet Shop Boys released Introspective on Parlophone. Every track on the third album ran six minutes or more, with the long version coming first.
· 3 min read