Category Archives: Music History

White Paper: The Quiet Weight Beneath the Piano: Melancholy as a Structural Thread in the Lyrics of Billy Joel

Posted on December 18, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Billy Joel is often remembered for buoyant melodies, radio-friendly hooks, and a public persona associated with wit, storytelling, and New York bravado. Yet beneath this accessible surface lies a persistent, carefully managed melancholy that runs through his lyrics … Continue reading →

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White Paper: Curated Memory vs. Measured Success: What Bread’s Compilations Reveal About Popularity, Taste, and Soft-Rock Canon Formation

Posted on December 14, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Bread’s legacy is unusually shaped by compilation albums rather than by sustained attention to their original studio LPs. By comparing The Best of Bread (1973), a comprehensive view of Bread’s singles output, and later greatest-hits collections, this white … Continue reading →

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White Paper: A Short History of Boy Krazy

Posted on December 12, 2025 by nathanalbright

Boy Krazy (sometimes mis-remembered as “Boy Crazy”) are one of those small but revealing footnotes in pop history: a short-lived New York girl group whose one big hit arrived two years late, whose album was largely built from repurposed Kylie … Continue reading →

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White Paper: The Paradox of Obscurity: Why “Babe, What Would You Say” Became a Forgotten Hit

Posted on December 8, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary “Babe, What Would You Say”—released in late 1972 and rising to major chart success in early 1973—is a classic example of a song whose momentary popularity failed to translate into long-term cultural memory. Despite reaching the Top 3 … Continue reading →

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Album Review: Hits (Mike & The Mechanics)

Posted on December 1, 2025 by nathanalbright

Hits, by Mike & The Mechanics In looking at an album like this one has at least two questions to answer. Are the songs any good and are they actually hits? Released in 1996 after the band lost two of … Continue reading →

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White Paper: The Neglected Production of Phil Collins

Posted on November 25, 2025 by nathanalbright

Phil Collins is usually remembered as the voice behind “In the Air Tonight,” the drummer-frontman of Genesis, and the pop superstar who dominated 1980s radio. What tends to be forgotten is that he was also a remarkably busy and influential … Continue reading →

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White Paper: The Role of Modal Interchange in Songwriting for Capturing Complex Emotional Resonance

Posted on November 15, 2025 by nathanalbright

Abstract Modal interchange—the borrowing of chords from parallel modes or tonal centers—has become one of the most effective tools for contemporary songwriters seeking nuanced emotional expression. By strategically stepping outside a song’s native diatonic palette, modal interchange enables composers to … Continue reading →

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White Paper: The History of City Pop and Its Global Cultural Impact

Posted on November 15, 2025 by nathanalbright

Abstract City Pop—an umbrella term for a wide range of urban, cosmopolitan Japanese popular music from the late 1970s through the 1980s—has undergone one of the most striking afterlives in modern musical history. Once considered a niche domestic genre reflecting … Continue reading →

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White Paper: Understanding the Difference Between Best Of, Greatest Hits, and Singles Albums

Posted on November 9, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Within the recording industry, compilation albums serve different artistic, commercial, and archival purposes. Yet terms such as Best Of, Greatest Hits, and Singles Album are often used interchangeably—causing confusion among listeners, collectors, and even within label marketing departments. … Continue reading →

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White Paper: Band Dynamics and Stability of Lineups for Bands Named After a Member of the Band

Posted on November 4, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary This paper examines the sociological, economic, and psychological dynamics of musical groups that bear the name of one of their members—whether the titular figure is a solo founder, a symbolic leader, or merely the most marketable face of … Continue reading →

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