There’s no easy way to tell you this: We’ve entered the disco era. I know, I know. These are trying times. I’ve managed to keep 1976’s list disco-free, though I had to break my “try not to repeat the same bands over and over” rule. It’s either that or…

  This is technically a special edition of RIFF Rewind because this week I’m coming to you live from Chicago! Land of nonstandard pizza, wind way too cold for a lifelong Californian, and a disproportionate number of people named Frank! I guess that requires some explanation: One of those…

Things are getting sparse, you guys. Oh I found some good songs, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t easy. This is Gordon Lightfoot‘s prime and Bowie and Queen had hits, after all. But a novelty disco hit made the honorable mentions so the drop-off is steep. Music shouldn’t have used…

So you know how when I started this endeavor I set rules? Five songs per year, one song per band, qualifies in year of release, listed in chronological order? Pretty straightforward, right? For 1970 I’m breaking that first one. I didn’t realize it until this exercise but 1970 was…

If you’re like me—and odds are either you are or you aspire to be—you don’t really want to be associated with Valentine’s Day. Some people spend weeks festooning everything in cutesy red hearts and some spend those weeks raging against the mere concept with songs about getting dumped. But not people…