The Specials – Sound of ska rebellion
Jerry Dammers assembled The Specials in Coventry in 1977 with a multiracial lineup, a checkerboard label, and a sound that put British working-class anger on a Jamaican beat.
AC/DC – Shoot to Thrill
Shoot to Thrill, from AC/DC's Back in Black (1980), is Brian Johnson's first-era sprint after Bon Scott — lean riffs, Compass Point punch.
Björk – Born of ice and sound
Björk recorded in a Reykjavík studio at eleven. The voice already cut sharp and refused to sit still.
Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy
Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy (London, May 1984) put an openly gay leaving-home story on daytime radio over Mike Thorne’s synth-pop pulse.
Sign ☮︎ The Times – Prince
Prince’s March 1987 Sign “☮” the Times distilled Dream Factory, Camille, and Crystal Ball sessions into a Warner Bros. double album after The Revolution split.
Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Texas Flood (Epic, 1983) revives Larry Davis’s 1958 blues with a hot Strat cut in three days at Jackson Browne’s studio.
Afterlife Interview with George Michael
On a London rooftop, Riffs and Beats finds George Michael in a leather jacket, Walkman still warm.
Human Traffic
One Cardiff weekend of clubs and comedown: Kerrigan's 1999 film scored with late-90s dance records that still date the friendship.
Sheryl Crow – Strong Enough
Sheryl Crow’s Strong Enough, from Tuesday Night Music Club, is an acoustic ballad from the Bill Bottrell sessions that peaked at US No. 5 in 1995.
Public Enemy – A siren in the national ear
Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad made It Takes a Nation of Millions a dense political record you could still dance to.