Encore: The Stories Behind The Songs You Love

Welcome to a special episode of Encore where we take a look at some of the iHeartRadio team’s favourite Canadian songs that you may have forgotten about. We’re calling it CanConCore… get it? 

This week we have the story of B4-4’s “Get Down”!

Remember the year 2000? If we weren’t worried about Y2K and the millennium bug bringing on the collapse of society we were likely just sitting in...

Ah the many faces of pop punk… 

Here on Encore we’ve explored a wide range of songs that fall under the genre’s umbrella; from the sounds of Green Day’s Rock-Opera-Political thriller American Idiot to SUM 41’s metal-worshipping, Jackass-inspired Fat Lip, to Avril Lavigne’s quirky and jealousy ridden hand-clapping Girlfriend - Pop Punk is a big ol’ tree with a whole lotta branches.&nbs...

Céline Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' is Arguably the most iconic ballad of the past 30 years. Despite everything Céline Dion has accomplished in her incredible career, which spans 45 years, if you can believe it, 'My Heart Will Go On' is without a doubt the song that everybody knows by her - and if you can believe it - it was recorded in one take.

This is the story of Céline Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' with new...

Success in the music industry is a funny thing isn’t it? 

Whether you’re a Legendary Icon of the industry, or a One Hit Wonder, Pop Music truly feeds on a ‘what have you done for me lately’ model, where you’re almost always only as popular as your last hit.

When you hit a certain level of success as an artist and it’s time to follow that successful project up - even if you’ve blown eve...

It’s beeeeennnn… one week since the last episode of Encore, and now here we are with another one. Our 79th episode in total - yes we counted. 

Now, in music, novelty acts don’t tend to last very long. In fact, the average best before date of a novelty act lasts only about as long as a box of Kraft Dinner, sometimes less. Back when Barenaked Ladies first emerged from the depths of Scarborough, they were widel...

There are few artists that truly define ‘pop’ music and popstardom like one Ariana Grande; One of the most streamed artists of all time. She is, after all the first female artist to have no less than 20 songs hit a billion streams a pop.

Needless to say, this streaming success is not the only metric that defines Ariana Grande’s success - she’s sold an estimated 90 million+ records worldwide, and has been cel...

A great pop song can evoke a universal feeling that just about every listener out there feels. You can make a case for just about any song and any feeling, but has a song ever encapsulated the feeling of being a teenager as accurately as the Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979”?

When he wrote it, at the age of 28 mind you, frontman Billy Corgan was looking to express what he felt in his adolescence - all of the angst, pain, ...

Nostalgia is one hell of a drug - and music is the best carrier of that magic elixir directly into our brains. 

While pretty much any song can be propped up as a totem of days past - sometimes songs feel specifically engineered to bring us back to a place and time.

While many songs that we’ve covered over the course of this podcast distill the feelings high school awkwardness and teenage angst; (I’m looking at you,...

There is no mistaking Alanis Morisette for anyone else. She is the one and only Alanis - Can you even think of anyone else out there named Alanis?

Ms. Morissette also has one of the most recognizable singing voices of her generation, one that helped her sell more than 33 million copies of her album, Jagged Little Pill. Only Shania Twain’s Come On Over has sold more copies than Jagged Little Pill, making it the second best sel...

This week on Encore, we're going to talk about a bonafide sleeper hit of an album, with bonafide sleeper hit singles; a charmingly upbeat and wholesome record by a guy who surfed his way into our hearts some 20 years ago; with songs that equally resonate as much with a trip to the grocery store as a trip to the beach. But like - in a good way.

I am of course talking about Jack Johnson’s 2005 effort In Between Dreams - and its...

For 15 years, (and up until recently) Oasis were officially not a band.

In 2009, Noel quit just hours before they were set to play a festival in France. But back then, everyone just assumed Oasis would return the next week, hatchet buried, ready to pick up where they left off; If there’s one thing Oasis were known for it was regularly being on the brink of imploding.

From the very start, Liam and Noel were always squabbling o...

This episode of Encore is brought to you by All Your Friends Fest - June 28 and 29 in Burl's Creek, ON - Get Your Tickets

Formed when they were just thirteen years old by lead vocalist and guitarist Pierre Bouvier and Drummer Chuck Comeau in 1993 - it’s hard to believe that just 8 short years later Simple Plan would be signed by Major Label Atlantic Records in late 2001 - and by early 2002, their first single - the aptly name...

TLC are one of the most commercially successful GROUPS of all time. 

TLC came from out of nowhere in the early ‘90s to dominate R&B, hip-hop and pop simultaneously. They won a bunch of Grammys, had multiple #1 hits, and completely changed music in the 1990s. But unfortunately, with all of that came A LOT of drama and heartbreaking tragedy. 

This is the true story of TLC's No Scrubs, with newly unearthed audio fr...

If there’s one thing you learn about hit songs while doing this podcast it’s to ‘never underestimate the power of a good hook - at any cost’ 

From songs in our archive like LEN’s Steal My Sunshine, to Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend, and even songs we’ve covered this season like Backstreet Boys’ I want it That Way or Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit; It’s proven time and ...

In early 1990, Nirvana were ready to start working on their second album. Their label Sub Pop recommended a producer named Butch Vig, who had produced heavier underground bands like Laughing Hyenas and Killdozer. They met up with Butch at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin to begin recording, laying down eight tracks before they had to head out on tour for six weeks. When they returned home, they made the difficult decision to...

You know, one hit wonders get a bad rap. 

Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping, Crazy Town’s Butterfly, Snow’s Informer, - heck even Plain White Ts’ Hey There Delilah are just a few examples off the top of my head of gimmicky little songs that were the hottest songs in music for a number of weeks or months, from bands and artists that could have been all the rage - but fizzled out of the mainstream after ju...