Behind the Hits

BEHIND THE HITS  written by
Bob Shannon
and John Javna

is the original and definitive presentation of the inside stories behind many of the biggest hits of all-time, as told by the people who made the music: the artists, songwriters, producers and musicians.
Since its publication in 1986 the book has inspired numerous "borrowed" versions of the concept, starting with VH1's Behind The Music. The Food Network is offering Behind the Bash and Behind The Eats.   Telecharge.com has Behind The Curtain while Heroes Behind The Hits is a Nashville-based show heard on XM Satellite. Countless others are also featuring "Behind the..." and "inside stories" but it all began with the authentic BEHIND THE HITS.

 
The Dancing Inmates Tribute To Michael Jackson
A tribute performed by 1,500 CPDRC Inmates on June 27, 2009 in memory of Michael Jackson.
Completed in 10 hours after receiving word that the King of Pop passed away. May he always be remembered. ...

Behind The Hits Specials

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Times Square Records
  
Tribute site
   Order book and CD
Second Hand Songs
  
Cover songs data base
Dick Rosemont's Originals Project
  
Oldest versions of hit songs

Click for Book Club
Featuring Sounds Like Teen Spirit by Timothy
English
BUY NOW


Recommended online reading:
Slate.com
A  brief history of the spoken-word pop hit

Douglas Wolk with an informative and very entertaining look back on these "Flukes Of The Universe"

 

 
Behind The Hits Videos

 


Living With
Michael Jackson Pt. 1
 **************

A documentary in which British journalist Martin Bashir interviewed Michael Jackson over a span of 8 months, from May 2002 to January 2003. It was shown first in the UK on  February 3, 2003 and in the US three days later on ABC, introduced by Barbara Walters.


Living With
 Michael Jackson Pt. 2
 **************

Michael Jackson felt betrayed by Martin Bashir and complained that the film gives a distorted picture of his behaviour and conduct as a father. He claims that Bashir, in the final version of his interview, used only that material which supported his opinion of Jackson, which was not a favorable one.
Jackson's lawyers claimed in a British High Court case against Bashir and Granada TV that the documentary was a breach of contract and breach of confidence.

  You Tube Behind The Hits

 


 
THE STORY BEHIND BEHIND THE HITS

Behind The Hits book cover

When I first met John Javna we quickly discovered that we shared two loves: one for pop music and the other for a good story.

We decided to put them together in the form of definitive stories about pop's greatest hits. We also decided that the stories had to be told not by us but by the music makers themselves. There had been up to that point many attempts to chronicle the history of rock and roll, but often the information in even some of the most-read books was inaccurate.

By relying on the artists, songwriters, producers, session musicians and engineers who were actually
there
when these records were made, we insured that the stories we presented would take the reader behind the hits.

Hmmm...a catchy title for a book, eh?

And so, these many years later, the narratives in that book have withstood the test of time -- and imitation of our original efforts (the sincerest form of flattery but no royalties, sad to say. Our lawyers are working on that).

A sample of the book's stories are here for you to enjoy. We hope to add more -- including new stories of songs that have become hits in the 20 years since the book was written.

The original Behind The Hits brand will move into the future by archiving the  past, and always from the words not of us, but of those who made the hits that keep on comin'.   

--Bob Shannon

 

 

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