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Curated playlist

Number-one singles in New Zealand

  • Something (Beatles song)The Beatles song "Something" once had a hole in its second line. At a rehearsal being filmed for a documentary, George Harrison could get as far as the words "Attracts me" and no further. John Lennon offered a stand-in phrase, "like a…
  • Roar (song)Katy Perry wrote "Roar" right after therapy sessions. She was tired of keeping feelings inside and not speaking up.
  • Let It Be (song)The Beatles song "Let It Be" debuted at number 6 in 1970, higher than any song before it.
  • Bohemian RhapsodyKenny Everett promised not to play Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and then played it fourteen times in two days.
  • Eleanor RigbyThe Beatles song "Eleanor Rigby" hit number one without a single Beatle playing an instrument.
  • Paperback WriterPaul McCartney wrote "Paperback Writer" after his Aunt Lil asked why he never wrote about anything but love.
  • Get BackPolice arrived mid-song as the Beatles played "Get Back" on a London rooftop. Harrison turned the amps back on.
  • Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-DaA recording engineer quit the Beatles after fights over "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da."
  • Revolution (Beatles song)Was John Lennon for the revolution or against it in the Beatles song "Revolution"?
  • Golden (Huntrix song)"Golden" is a pop song sung by Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, yet the group credited on the record does not exist. Huntrix is a fictional K-pop girl group from the 2025 animated film KPop Demon Hunters, and the three singers voice its…
  • Hey JudeJohn Lennon told Paul McCartney that "Hey Jude" line he wanted to cut was the best in the song. McCartney kept it.
  • From Me to YouFrom Me to You is a 1963 song by the Beatles, and Paul McCartney once said a milkman proved it had caught on. He was lying in bed one morning when he heard a man whistling the tune outside. That was the first time he thought the band had…
  • Love Me DoRingo Starr arrived to record the Beatles' "Love Me Do" and was handed a tambourine.
  • Mull of Kintyre (song)Insects nearly ruined the open-air recording of "Mull of Kintyre." The song still became a UK record seller.
  • Penny LanePaul McCartney found the Penny Lane trumpet sound while watching Bach on television.
  • The Fate of OpheliaThe Fate of Ophelia, a single by Taylor Swift, became the first song to collect 30 million streams on Spotify in a single day. It borrows its title from a doomed woman in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, then gives her a rescue where the play…

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