Ron Hart

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Prince Collaborators Reflect on 1987 Opus ‘Sign O’ the Times’

By the mid-80s, Prince was a global superstar thanks to the worldwide success of 1984’s Purple Rain. So when he started work on his…

Ron Hart / September 25, 2020

Features

Credit: Light in the Attic / Craft Recordings

The Reissue Section: September 2020

The whole reissue concept didn't come across my obsession desk until my first tour of duty at SPIN as an editorial intern in…

Ron Hart / September 18, 2020

Oral History

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Time’s Up at 30: Living Colour Reflect on Prophetic Second LP

By 1990, New York City’s Living Colour were one of the hottest new rock bands in America following the success of their debut LP, 1988’s…

Ron Hart / August 28, 2020

Lists

Credit: Record Store Day

10 Best Finds for the First Record Store Day Drop Event

After COVID-19 pushed back the festivities twice this year, Record Store Day 2020 will be fragmented into three separate events starting this Saturday. The proposition…

Ron Hart / August 28, 2020

Lists

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The 5 Best Covers of Fleetwood Mac Peter Green-Era Songs

Few figures in English rock exhibited a scholarly grasp of North American blues quite like Peter Green, the co-founding singer-guitarist of Fleetwood Mac who died…

Ron Hart / August 27, 2020

Interviews

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Patty Smyth Talks Doing the Theme Song for a Show She’s Never Watched

There isn't anything quite like hearing a radio hit from one's youth revamped as the theme to a hit TV show. Yet that is what…

Ron Hart / July 24, 2020

Oral History

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Don’t Give Me Your Soul: The Oral History of Sonic Youth’s Goo

By 1990, Sonic Youth no longer belonged to the cool kids. Before Goo was released that June, they were a band you had to read…

Ron Hart / June 26, 2020

Lists

Pale Saints' The Comforts of Madness reissue

The 10 Best Reissues of 2020 (So Far)

The record shops might have been closed up for the last 10 weeks (and plenty are reopening as I write, for better or worse). But…

Ron Hart / June 17, 2020

Features

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Return of the Justice Keepers: Bad Brains’ God of Love at 25

It should have made headlines all over the American music press, from CMJ to Raygun. After spending the first half of the decade apart, the…

Ron Hart / May 27, 2020

Lists

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9 Little Richard TV Appearances That Changed Everything

Without Little Richard, there would be no James Brown. No Elvis. No Beatles. [ed. note: deep breath] No Stevie Wonder. No New York…

Ron Hart / May 10, 2020

Lists

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The 10 Most Essential Was (Not Was) Tracks

Since David Weiss and Don Fagenson christened themselves the Brothers Was and formed Was (Not Was) in 1979 Detroit, a ridiculous number of great musicians…

Ron Hart / May 7, 2020

Lists

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Fiona Apple’s 10 Best Songs

Fiona Apple's music isn't pretty -- it's real. Though more folks appeared to have concentrated on her looks than her actual music, her 1996 debut, Tidal,…

Ron Hart / April 21, 2020

Lists

Quarantined Strings: Watch YouTubers Tackle Classics in Their Own Tune

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no shortage of guitarists, bassists and other string musicians playing recitals, offering tutorials or just plain shredding for…

Ron Hart / April 20, 2020

Features