Top Stories
Stories in Beat that you’ll love, handpicked by our team.
Spotify Wrapped 2023
Y'all it's that time of year, anticipated by many a Spotify user. Wrapped first started in 2016, although a less developed version "Year in Music" had been premiered the year before. Wrapped gives users a look at the music they listen to from January 1st to October 31st, which, at least for me, is usually a moment to be surprised (or not).
Alexandria StanwyckPublished a day ago in Beat
Rate-O-Rama: Crazy
Welcome to Rate-O-Rama If you wish to receive a notice when the next Rate-O-Rama post is published please mention that you would like a notification in the comments section.
Rick Henry ChristopherPublished 5 days ago in Beat
Rate-O-Rama: Hallelujah
Scroll down to see the new Rate-O-Rama Raffle Winner for October 2023. If you wish to receive a notice when the next Rate-O-Rama post is published please mention that you would like a notification in the comments section.
Rick Henry ChristopherPublished 19 days ago in Beat
The Gift of Our Aging Rock Stars
Back in 1990 at OSU, I asked my roommate Beth if it would be okay to put a Depeche Mode poster up in our college dorm room. It was from the Violator tour, and had all four men crowded in: Martin Gore's blonde trademark curls, David's sexy pout. All had sunglasses on if I recall correctly. As it turned out, the poster was oversized and was more like wallpaper. One could look up at Taylor Tower from the side street and know that it was Depeche Mode. I told her I was sorry, but did she have a smaller Queensryche poster to hang up?
Jennifer L OsbornePublished 20 days ago in Beat
That Was Then But This Is Now
Introduction This is for Phil Flannery's Musical Challenge in VSS which you can read about below. The prompt is: I have written this as a challenge for the Vocal Social Society. Feel free to share the songs that you loved as a child but were unaware of their meaning until much later.
Mike Singleton - MikeydredPublished 24 days ago in Beat
The Sensual World
I have often wondered, how many songs I listened to growing up, that were either sexually suggestive or outright raunchy, that I didn’t realise at the time, either because I was too young to understand the love language they were using, or it was cheekily hidden from me. To give you some idea of my naivete, I was shocked when as a 12-year-old, I heard Supertramp singing ‘right, you’re bloody well right’, (sorry for the language). AC/DC were singing about being your backdoor man, which in the 70’s meant something different to today.
Phil FlanneryPublished 26 days ago in Beat
A Devilish Playlist For Halloween And Bonfire Night
Introduction This week we have Halloween on Tuesday and Bonfire Night on Sunday. I always think the Devil is given a bad rap. Think about it, in the Bible God is the one who punishes everyone and forces them to do terrible things, including the genocide caused by the flood. He cast out Adam and Eve because they tried to find things out, turned Lot's wife into salt, told Abraham to kill his son, and the list goes on.
Mike Singleton - MikeydredPublished about a month ago in Beat
Heavy Metal Cheese
Yeah, heavy metal is dark, spooky, and undeniably the TOOL OF SATAN to ensnare young people and get them to grow their hair out, wear denim vests, and not bathe as frequently as they once did. Some metal, however, not having got the memo from Central Casting, goes above and beyond the call of duty, taking the infernal into the realm of the comical.
Separating the Art From the Artist
Recently, Jann Wenner, the co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation member, released a book entitled “The Masters”. This book featured his interviews with rock legends who have become his friends. There is no arguing the influence the subjects of this book have had on Rock music. However, when questioned why there were no Blacks or women, his flippant, obnoxious, and frankly stupid response negated two demographics of rock 'n' roll's history as if they did not matter. He took his experience, privilege, and influence to brush off legends - whether he chose to acknowledge them or not - that built his career. It was an unfortunate reminder of how someone we hold in high regard can disappoint us in such a poignant and profound way.
Lynn JordanPublished about a month ago in Beat
Rate-O-Rama: Don't Be Cruel
Rate-O-Rama : Songmania is a reader participation game. Every Sunday I will publish a Rate-O-Rama article which will feature three versions of a popular song.
Rick Henry ChristopherPublished 2 months ago in Beat
Sure Plays Mean Pinball
I've seen the Who's rock opera Tommy, directed outlandishly and lavishly by Ken Russell, so many times the movie is permanently recorded in my subconscious. Be that as it may, yesterday I rewatched it at four in the morning and was surprised that it didn't honk off the neighbors. You want to avoid that, pinball wizard or not.
'Searows' Sends us Soul-Searching
Listen, I'm always a sucker for sad music, but Searows' discography offers so much more than that. In fact, it feels like a disservice to pigeonhole the Oregon-based folk singer's storytelling as simply 'sad music.'
