Riffs,
in 90 seconds.
The moments where a song opens onto something bigger, cut from the back catalogue. Every clip is labelled with the season, episode and original air date — early seasons were music-first; the show has grown since. New clips land on Instagram and YouTube first, and live here permanently.
Hendrix: genius? No notes.
“H-bombs were going off, guided missiles were flying.” That’s how guitarist Mike Bloomfield described watching Jimi Hendrix play in a room.
Full episode →MC Hammer, before the pants
The Navy, a $20,000 loan from two Oakland A’s, records sold out of a car trunk, and a $1.75 million advance. Wild arc.
Full episode →The $50 guitar solo nobody can name
A stranger wandered into George Clinton’s studio, asked for cash, and played like he was possessed. He’s uncredited on the record.
Full episode →Good poets borrow. Great poets steal.
Sting was paraphrasing T.S. Eliot — and it’s the engine of hip-hop, and of Hamilton: take something old, make it new again.
Full episode →Artist photos in the clips are used under their respective licences (Wikimedia Commons attribution shown on each post).