The familiar adage, oft-repeated by musicians who have had hits and those who long for one, says that if anyone knew what exactly constituted a hit single, that formula could be repeated every time.

It’s a song with almost incomprehensible lyrics, it’s been the subject of drawn-out legal proceedings, and it’s the most played record by British broadcasters over the past six decades. “Keith had ...

John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix were both fascinated by it. It was the song of the Summer of Love. It has been covered by, among others, James Last, Willie Nelson and the Everly Brothers. It went on to ...

Back in 1966, Southend-based group The Paramounts split. They’d scored a hit single in 1964 with their version of Poison Ivy while they were still all teenagers, but time was showing that was likely ...

The organ strains of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" sounded through Court 56 of Britain's High Court as the band's former organ player, Matthew Fisher, sued an ex-bandmate for a share of ...

In 2020 Prog looked back at the convoluted history of Procol Harum’s signature track and debut A Whiter Shade Of Pale, which ...