Soul
Here you'll find album stories, birthdays, and anniversaries from soul artists and the labels that shaped the sound, plus vinyl reissue news as it happens. Soul's history runs largely through the 7-inch single: Motown, Stax, and Atlantic all built their reputations one 45 at a time, and that format still drives a dedicated collector scene built around rare singles and label variants rather than albums alone. The stories here cover how specific records were written, arranged, and recorded, the house bands and producers behind the sound, and why particular pressings remain sought after by people who collect soul on vinyl.
141 STORIES
Why Did Paul Simon Call Himself Crazy in 1975?
Paul Simon released Still Crazy After All These Years on Columbia Records on October 25, 1975. The ten-track solo album was built with jazz players, gospel singers and a Muscle Shoals rhythm section.
· 4 min read
Why Did The Rolling Stones Risk Ed Sullivan in 1964?
On October 25, 1964, The Rolling Stones played The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. The band was betting that raw blues could survive prime-time television.
· 4 min read
How James Brown Bet His Own Money on Live at the Apollo
James Brown paid for the Apollo recording himself after King Records refused, and the 1963 album went on to spend 66 weeks on the Billboard chart.
· 4 min read
Toni Braxton's Snowflakes: R&B Christmas on Thin Ice
Toni Braxton released Snowflakes on Arista Records on October 23, 2001, her first Christmas album. It mixed five original R&B songs with carols and a Shaggy guest spot.
· 3 min read
How Adele's Hello Broke Every Record That Mattered
Adele's 'Hello' arrived on XL Recordings and Columbia Records in October 2015. It became the first song to sell over a million downloads in a single week in the US.
· 4 min read
The Who and Keith Moon's Last Stand in Toronto
Keith Moon collapsed in Boston and nearly bled out in his hotel before The Who reached Toronto. There, on October 21, 1976, he played his final public concert with the band.
· 4 min read
Snoop Dogg Turned a Local Tape Into a Hip-Hop Empire
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. cut a four-song demo at VIP Records in Long Beach that reached Dr. Dre and led to Death Row, Doggystyle and a career of more than 35 million records sold.
· 4 min read
Amy Winehouse's Frank: The Debut She Refused to Hear
Amy Winehouse released Frank on Island Records on 20 October 2003. The debut, named for blunt honesty and Frank Sinatra, was a record she later said she had never heard all the way through.
· 4 min read
Why Did Prince's Second Album Turn Him Into a Star?
Prince's self-titled 1979 album sold three million copies and gave him his first Billboard Hot 100 entry, powered by the single 'I Wanna Be Your Lover'.
· 4 min read
Lisa Stansfield's All Around the World at 37
Lisa Stansfield's 'All Around the World' turned a casual piano riff into a global soul hit. Written with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, it was released in 1989.
· 4 min read
The Jackson 5 Christmas Album Turned a Chart Ban Into Gold
The Jackson 5 Christmas Album arrived on October 15, 1970, as the group's first holiday collection. It was barred from the main Billboard chart for its entire original run.
· 3 min read
Why Did Berry Gordy Almost Bury Stevie Wonder's Hit?
In 1967 Stevie Wonder cut "For Once in My Life" as a fast soul track and Berry Gordy shelved it. Billie Jean Brown pushed until the single came out on 15 October 1968.
· 4 min read
Tito Jackson, the Guitarist Motown Wouldn't Let Play
Tito Jackson, the third of ten Jackson children, was the guitarist whose secret practice on his father's guitar set the family on its path to Motown fame.
· 4 min read
Jessie Ware and the Heart-Shaped Record That Started It All
Jessie Ware was born in Hammersmith on 15 October 1984 and grew up in Clapham. She sang backing vocals on tour with Jack Peñate before her own records reached the UK top five.
· 4 min read
Otis Redding's Dictionary of Soul at 60
Otis Redding's fifth studio album arrived on 15 October 1966. Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul split one side of covers against one side of his own songs.
· 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
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
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
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
Konstrakta: The Architect Who Outweirded Eurovision
Serbian architect Ana Ignjatović, known as Konstrakta, turned a hand-washing routine about health insurance into a Eurovision moment in 2022. She finished fifth in Turin with 'In corpore sano'.
· 4 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
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
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
Thug Life, Volume I: The Album That Wasn't Supposed to Be
Thug Life, Volume I arrived on 26 September 1994 as a ten-track record. It was trimmed down from a much larger project that 2Pac had planned with Interscope Records.
· 4 min read