Analysis

Respect was recorded by soul artist Aretha Franklin on Valentine’s Day, 1967 and became her signature track. The song was written and originally performed by Otis Redding, although Aretha’s version…

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas is a classic Christmas song that just about everybody 'sort of' remembers the tune to. Why 'sort of'? Because it's a tricky tune that's hard to sing. It's also a classic example of compositions from the mid 20th century. Let's take a look.

I Say a Little Prayer was written in 1966 by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick and went to number four in the Billboard 100. The following year…

The Riddle was a hit in 1984 for UK solo artist Nik Kershaw. Superficially it is easy to dismiss it as just another synth-laden, new wave offering that now sounds a little dated in its production. But for me it is a great example of musical composition, full of inventiveness and surprise. Here's why ...

Open guitar tunings can take you to some strange places - none more so than Jack Bruce's classic track As You Said. So how does this work?

The Bing Crosby rendition of Irving Berlin's White Christmas is the best-selling single of all time and one of the world's best-recognised tunes. So what makes such a simple song so appealing? We investigate.

The brilliant new Japanese film Perfect Days features Lou Reed's 1972 song of the same name prominently. So what is it about this song that has stood the test of time?

Stevie Wonder's You Are The Sunshine Of My Life somehow manages to combine a really catchy tune with a rich harmonic structure. This is clever songwriting from one of the masters.

True Colors is one of those classic songs that nearly everyone likes. Musically it seems on the surface to be quite simple, so what is it that makes this tune so catchy?

Frank Sinatra's version of It Was A Very Good Year is about as different from modern pop music as you can get. It was released just as rock music started to take hold and change everything. Yet it can teach us so much about what makes music enjoyable.