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    Life of a Song

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    • Monday, 20 March, 2023
      Music
      Super Freak — Rick James’s irresistible bassline spawned a hit, and a lawsuit

      The 1981 track epitomised the singer’s spirit and was sampled a decade later by MC Hammer

    • Monday, 13 March, 2023
      Music
      At Last — Etta James poured her heart into this classic tune

      The singer cemented the 1941 track as a standard and dozens more covered it — including Beyoncé

    • Monday, 6 March, 2023
      Music
      Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika — hymn that was central to the fight against apartheid

      It formed part of the new South Africa’s national anthem and was adopted by revolutionaries elsewhere

    • Monday, 27 February, 2023
      Music
      How Rachmaninov came to loathe his Prelude in C sharp minor

      The composer resented its popularity — but later said he admired one of several jazz versions of the piece

    • Monday, 20 February, 2023
      Music
      In the Pines — the story behind Kurt Cobain’s howl of anguish

      Popularised by Leadbelly and Nirvana, this song of suffering has its roots in an Appalachian folk tune

    • Monday, 13 February, 2023
      Music
      Psycho Killer — Talking Heads brought artsy cool to their portrait of a murderer

      The track’s release coincided with a real-life New York killing spree

    • Monday, 6 February, 2023
      Music
      Sloop John B — the story behind The Beach Boys’ hit runs deep

      Traces of this song from the Bahamas go back to the turn of the 20th century

    • Monday, 30 January, 2023
      Music
      Whole Lotta Love — Led Zeppelin’s priapic classic has a tangled history

      The band’s singer Robert Plant admitted that the song’s lyrics were not wholly original

    • Monday, 23 January, 2023
      Music
      The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo — music hall hit was inspired by a shady character

      Fred Gilbert’s 1891 song told the story of a gambler and conman who hit a lucky streak

    • Monday, 16 January, 2023
      Music
      Cum On Feel the Noize — Slade’s hit blasted the door open for ‘hair metal’

      A cover version of their 1973 track paved the way for a new wave of bands

    • Monday, 9 January, 2023
      Music
      It Ain’t Necessarily So — the Gershwins at the top of their game

      With its brilliantly playful rhymes, Sportin’ Life’s sceptical song from Porgy and Bess has been covered and reinterpreted over the years

    • Monday, 2 January, 2023
      Music
      Life on Mars? — David Bowie’s song had its roots in another epic hit

      The 1971 track, which channelled Sinatra’s ‘My Way’, became a tribute to Bowie following his death seven years ago

    • Monday, 26 December, 2022
      Music
      A New Year Carol — how Benjamin Britten popularised a mysterious song

      The composer took the piece back to its roots in Wales

    • Monday, 19 December, 2022
      Music
      How Walking in the Air took The Snowman to great heights

      Animated film of Raymond Briggs’s picture book featured a young singer who went uncredited for years

    • Monday, 12 December, 2022
      Music
      Johnny B. Goode — Chuck Berry’s 1958 hit celebrated his own rise to fame

      Admired and covered by bands such as The Beatles, the track found new audiences thanks to ‘Back to the Future’

    • Monday, 5 December, 2022
      Music
      Only Love Can Break Your Heart — how Neil Young’s 1970 track launched a band’s career

      The singer’s plaintive ballad has been widely covered, and became the first song released by Saint Etienne

    • Monday, 28 November, 2022
      Music
      Loving Arms — in a career cut short, Tom Jans wrote one great song

      The singer’s 1973 track has been covered by greats such as Elvis Presley and Millie Jackson

    • Monday, 21 November, 2022
      Music
      Popcorn — Gershon Kingsley’s 1969 tune was a Moog breakthrough

      The songwriter used the new synthesiser as a showcase for a track that still resonates today

    • Monday, 14 November, 2022
      Music
      Girls Just Want to Have Fun — Cyndi Lauper’s breakthrough hit had unlikely origins

      The singer’s 1983 anthem to female solidarity started life in a very different milieu

    • Monday, 7 November, 2022
      Music
      Prisencolinensinainciusol — Adriano Celentano’s gibberish song lives on

      Fifty years since the Italian singer wrote it, his deliberately nonsensical track has found new life on social media

    • Monday, 31 October, 2022
      Music
      Got to Get You Into My Life — how Paul McCartney channelled US R&B

      The Beatles’ 1966 track was an outright homage to the band’s African-American heroes

    • Monday, 24 October, 2022
      Music
      The Passenger — Iggy Pop’s ode to the city had bucolic beginnings

      Co-written with David Bowie, the singer’s 1977 track emerged from a riff created by guitarist Ricky Gardiner

    • Monday, 17 October, 2022
      Music
      Back in Black — how AC/DC created the definitive hard rock song

      The track has also proved malleable enough to be covered in genres such as jazz and funk

    • Monday, 10 October, 2022
      Black History Month 2022 — celebrating creativity across the arts
      London Is the Place for Me — Lord Kitchener’s song was written on board the Windrush

      In Black History Month, the Trinidadian’s calypso tells a story of migration and apparent optimism

    • Monday, 3 October, 2022
      Music
      (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone — from kiddy pop to punk anthem

      The Monkees’ 1966 hit was malleable enough to be covered in a panoply of genres

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