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Curated playlist

United States National Recording Registry recordings

  • All Things ConsideredIn its first week, All Things Considered could not be aired live. Stations could only record the NPR show for later.
  • Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club BandThe Beatles played Sgt. Pepper from a Chelsea window at six in the morning. Neighbors listened without complaint.
  • OthelloOthello's deadly plot hangs on a handkerchief. Shakespeare's tragedy turns on Iago's forged proof of an affair.
  • Bohemian RhapsodyKenny Everett promised not to play Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and then played it fourteen times in two days.
  • Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)Only six Wu-Tang members, in stocking masks, appear on the cover of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).
  • Pet SoundsPet Sounds, a 1966 Beach Boys album, used bicycle horns and Coca-Cola cans. It cost more than any earlier rock album.
  • Straight Outta ComptonThe FBI sent a warning letter over one song on N.W.A's album Straight Outta Compton.
  • I Have a DreamMahalia Jackson called out from behind King, and he left his script during "I Have a Dream."
  • The Message (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five song)The group behind "The Message" did not want to record it. They were used to party raps, not songs about poverty.
  • The ChronicDr. Dre's album The Chronic spent its first eight months entirely in the Billboard Top 10.
  • The Dark Side of the MoonThe Dark Side of the Moon is the 1973 album by the English band Pink Floyd. As of January 2026 it had charted for 996 weeks on the US Billboard album chart. Records rarely last that long, and this one did not set out to be comfortable…
  • Ready to DieThe album Ready to Die opens with a baby being born and ends with a fading heartbeat.
  • IllmaticNas was twenty when his debut album Illmatic came out, and he began its lyrics at sixteen.
  • Rapper's DelightNile Rodgers threatened legal action over "Rapper's Delight" after hearing it in a club.
  • I Will SurviveSession musicians had only thirty-five minutes to record "I Will Survive" without knowing its title.
  • Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point gameWilt Chamberlain's 100-point game was played on the 2nd of March 1962 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Warriors beat the New York Knicks 169-147, and Chamberlain scored 100 of those points. It remains the single-game scoring…

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