Before “Pulp Fiction,” “Miserlou” Had Its Roots in Mediterranean Music

An ancient folk song from the other side of the world morphed into a rock and roll surfer tune.

by Rich Watson 

In the book Quentin Tarantino: The Cinema of Cool by Jeff Dawson, the film director has said about “Miserlou,” the surf-rock anthem he used in the opening credits to his 1994 crime movie Pulp Fiction, “To me it just sounds like rock and roll.”

Many would agree, but the 1963 instrumental is based on a much older song, one with origins far from the land of surfboards and sun tan lotion.

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Telstar: The Satellite That Inspired a Pop Song

The game-changing satellite lead to a number-one song composed by an innovative producer.

by Rich Watson 

When AT&T created Telstar, the communications satellite, in 1962, it brought the world closer together. After its launch, more people could see images and hear events from across the planet than ever before.

Its manufacturers probably never imagined it would inspire a hit song.

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Five Sounds and Instruments Heard in Herbie Hancock’s Hip-Hop/Jazz Amalgam “Rockit”

This electric eighties jam from a jazz veteran helped make hip-hop mainstream.

by Rich Watson 

The song “Rockit” by Herbie Hancock came around the time when hip-hop music was still new and unfamiliar to mainstream audiences. By combining the art of “scratching” vinyl records with a jazz sensibility, it helped legitimize the sound born of DJ house parties and inner city streets.

Hancock used more than scratches and samples on the song, though.

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