Off The Records started life in the Covid lockdown of 2021 as a Substack newsletter called This Week In The 90s. The concept was to look at the UK Top forty from 30 years ago, and dig deeper into some of the songs.
The goal was to write about the whole of the 90s. In the end, I made it to the middle of 1994 before several factors made me rethink the project. Off The Records relaunched in 2024 with a new brief:
- Try to tell interesting stories
- About records that have appeared in the UK Top 40
- Between 1975 and 1999
Sometimes the stories might only be tangentially related to the records. But I’ll always try to make them interesting.
I love content that explores music history in a structured way, such as looking at old charts. I wish I could find more!
Good news! There are some excellent blogs, podcasts and newsletters that dig through the history of music. Here are a few of my favourites:
Writing
- Popular: Every UK Number One
- The Number Ones: Every US Number One
- Irish Number Ones: Every Irish Number One
- The Run-Out Grooves: Specifically looking at closing tracks on classic albums
Podcasts
Videos
- One-Hit Wonderland and Trainwreckords, both by Todd In The Shadows
- New British Canon