Hit Parade: The Rogue DJ Edition
A new podcast about how that song you love—or hate—became a smash.
In this debut episode, Chris Molanphy tells the story of “Red Red Wine,” a song written in the 1960s by a certain journeyman singer-songwriter who loves a Hot August Night. Improbably, it became a reggae song, before the ’60s were even over—and then, even more improbably, in the 1980s it was transformed into a lilting, toasting reggae-pop global smash. And it would have been a flop in America if it hadn’t been for an enterprising DJ who ignored the record labels and picked his own hits. With this song, he even started a two-year fad and a radio mutiny.
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Twitter: @slatecultfest
Podcast production by Steve Lickteig.
Content retrieved from: http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/culturegabfest/2017/04/how_red_red_wine_by_ub40_became_an_unlikely_hit.html.