Songs Archive

All 9 songs posts, newest first.

Freddie Mercury performing live in November 1977, the year Queen released We Will Rock You
Songs

We Will Rock You: How Queen Built a Stadium Chant

The real story behind We Will Rock You: the crowd that inspired it, the drum-riser recording trick, and how Queen built rock's biggest stadium chant.

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ABBA in the snow beside a large snowman, promoting Chiquitita for the 1979 Music for UNICEF Concert, the same year Gimme Gimme Gimme was recorded
Songs

Gimme Gimme Gimme: The ABBA Song America Never Got

Gimme Gimme Gimme hit number one in five countries in 1979. Atlantic Records canceled its US single release outright. Here's the real reason why.

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ABBA photographed during a 1974 Dutch TopPop television appearance, the group behind the mamma mia song that would knock Bohemian Rhapsody off the UK's number one spot two years later
Songs

Mamma Mia Song: The Story ABBA Almost Gave Away

The mamma mia song almost went to another band, then knocked Bohemian Rhapsody off the UK's number one spot. Its real US peak tells a different story.

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The Route 66 marker, flatbed Ford truck, and corner statue at Standin' on the Corner Park in Winslow, Arizona, built around a single line from the take it easy song
Songs

Take It Easy: The Song Jackson Browne Couldn't Finish

Take it easy started as Jackson Browne's unfinished song. Glenn Frey completed it, and one line built a real park in Winslow, Arizona.

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ABBA photographed in the Netherlands in 1976, the year Dancing Queen was released
Songs

Dancing Queen: The Song ABBA Played for a King First

Discover the real story behind Dancing Queen: the secret royal wedding premiere, the year-long wait, and how it became ABBA's only US #1.

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The Eagles photographed in 1975, the year before they recorded Hotel California
Songs

Hotel California: What It Really Means (And What It Doesn't)

Discover the real story behind Hotel California: what Don Henley actually says it means, and why the Satanism theories are wrong.

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Queen photographed in 1975 for A Night at the Opera, the album that includes Bohemian Rhapsody
Songs

Bohemian Rhapsody: The Song Nobody Wanted to Release

Discover the real story behind Bohemian Rhapsody: the label that refused it, the DJ who leaked it, and the four hours that made the video.

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Don McLean photographed in 1976, five years after he wrote American Pie
Songs

Don McLean American Pie: The Real Story Behind It

Discover the real story behind Don McLean American Pie: the 1959 plane crash, the joke he told for decades, and what he finally revealed.

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Black-and-white photo collage of five 70s chart-topping artists: Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Elton John, the Bee Gees, and Debby Boone
Songs

Best Songs of the 70s: The Ultimate Decade Ranking

Discover the best songs of the 70s, from Debby Boone's record-breaking ballad to the Bee Gees' nine number-ones and disco's commercial peak.

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