Sound + Vision | The Blog

  • Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell's DUELING BANJOS

    by Frank Shankly
    DUELING BANJOS was not always haunting. Initially composed in 1954 by Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith as a banjo instrumental, he called it FEUDIN’ B...

  • A Haunting Song

    by Frank Shankly
    Country music has a long tradition of murder ballads and stories of mystery and imagination, but it doesn’t get much creepier than the B-side to Po...

  • R.I.P. Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley

    by Frank Shankly
    1951-2025.

  • A Recent Rare Arrival

    by Frank Shankly
    Remember those The Gap television commercials that featured Gen X dancers Lindy Hopping in their baggy khakis to Louis Prima? Well, Frank got his m...

  • Now That Summer's Over

    by Frank Shankly
    A recent warm spell here has us remembering the pleasures of last summer. So why not look back with us at our favorite 45s of Summer 2025? Here are...

  • More Than Five Facts About Taffy Nivert

    by Frank Shankly
    A few weeks ago, we stumbled upon a sizable stash of John Denver 45s, mostly from Denver’s mid-70s classic era. Unfortunately, most had too much su...

  • More Medleys, Pts. 1 & 2

    by Frank Shankly
    Beginning in the late 1980s, a Brit novelty group, Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers, had several hit singles using the same format as Stars on 45. T...

  • R.I.P. Sonny Curtis

    by Frank Shankly
    9 May 1937 - September 2025.

  • Bootleg vs. Soundalike | Stars On 45

    by Frank Shankly
    Back in 1980, while visiting a record store, Willem van Kooten, the managing director of the music publishing company Red Bullet Productions, notic...

  • And He Can't Take That Away

    by Frank Shankly
    The dissolution of federal funding for the arts has Frank thinking about the amazing work of Smithsonian Folkways. A part of the Smithsonian's Smit...

  • Charlie Rich

    by Frank Shankly
    For whatever reason, Frank has been thinking about the wave of '90s nostalgia and revivalism happening in the music world.This somehow led him to r...

  • Sad Songs

    by Frank Shankly
    We love you and want you to be happy. But, life isn't always that way. So, Frank has compiled a list of his favorite sad songs. They might be your...