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In 1974, Rufus and Chaka Khan released a song that is still, decades later, a timeless earworm. The track, “Tell Me Something Good,” was famously performed on iconic TV program Soul Train—and it has the same effect on listeners then and now. What once could instantly make you stop and want to bust a move is still driving folks to the dance floor.

Written by a 24-year-old Stevie Wonder specifically for Khan’s powerhouse voice, it became a funk soul smash. The hit was included on the album Rags to Rufus, released in June 1974. It raced up the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 3 on Aug. 24. Making it to the same position on the R&B chart, it pushed the songstress directly into the spotlight, paving the way for her to soon become a standout solo artist.

The tune went on to earn a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus in 1975.

Rolling Stone named the “mind-blowing” performance of the track one of Soul Train‘s best musical moments, writing, “Rufus’s singer was a shockingly young Chaka Khan, seen here in a sparkly purple tube top, looking shy but visibly gaining confidence as the performance builds up steam and her band makes some classic funk.”

According to American Songwriter, Khan actually co-wrote the song, admitting in several interviews that she never asked to receive credit for writing contributions. “In a 2020 interview for the Vlad TV YouTube channel, Khan said she didn’t realize that she should have received a writing credit, and she was too overwhelmed by Wonder’s presence to bring the issue up with him,” the outlet noted.

Fifty-two years later, “Tell Me Something Good” remains a timeless classic. At the time of writing, the song had racked up over 55 million Spotify streams.

Next, ’70s Rock Legends From the South Ranked the No. 2 ‘Greatest Duo of All Time’

Lacey Chabert has made a name for herself as a bona fide rom-com queen, from playing iconic teen Gretchen Wieners in the 2004 hit Mean Girls to starring in 45 Hallmark Channel movies since 2010.

Though romances and cozy mysteries are Chabert’s bread and butter, the Party of Five alum also has a side gig many fans don’t realize. She’s been regularly recording voice-overs for animated movies and shows since the late ’90s, and there’s a good chance you know many of the cartoon characters she brings to life.

Which Cartoon Characters Does Lacey Chabert Voice?

In addition to the long list of Hallmark movies and shows Chabert has appeared in, including her new Hallmark+ series Paris Is Always a Good Idea, she has an equally long list of voice-over projects under her belt, lending her distinctive voice to well-known animated characters.

After spending several years landing smaller voice-over gigs, Chabert landed her breakthrough role, starring as Eliza Thornberry in the beloved Nickelodeon series The Wild Thornberrys from 1998 to 2004 and animated movies about the zany family of wildlife experts.

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From there, Chabert was landing roles left and right, including playing Kaycee in the Bratz movies, series, and video games. In 2008 and 2009, she played Gwen Stacy in The Spectacular Spiderman series, Meg Griffin in the first season of Family Guy, Mako in the Star Wars: The Old Republic video games, Coorah in Kulipari, Dani Burns in Transformers: Rescue Bots, Xiao in the Kung-Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny series, and Zatanna in the Young Justice franchise.

Chabert’s favorite moment as a voice-over artist, however, was when her daughter Julia was little and recognized her mom’s voice on the TV as she played Zeta on Nick Jr.’s Shimmer and Shine.

“The best moment was when she was two,” Chabert told Pop Culture Planet during an interview posted on August 12. “I was on a show called Shimmer and Shine at the time and she watched, and she looked at the TV, and after a couple of episodes, she goes, ‘Mama’s voice! Mama’s voice!’ And it was the best.”

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Chabert told the outlet, “I love doing voice-over work. It’s something I still do and pursue.” Noting that she was made fun of in school for her “really, really high-pitched voice,” Chabert said things eventually turned around as she landed gigs.

“All of a sudden, I turned something that was a bit of an insecurity when I was younger into something that I could express myself creatively (with),” she said, “so it’s actually been such a blessing, and I do, I really love it.”

If you live somewhere cold, chances are there’s not a whole lot to do to keep yourself entertained while you’re stuck at home all winter—that is, until now. These 75 winter trivia questions (and answers) can put your seasonal knowledge to the test in a fun, gamified way. By the time it gets warm again in the spring, you’ll be a winter expert—whether you actually live in the cold or you just love looking at the snow from afar via movies or social media posts.

The trivia is broken down into several categories, so you can go through all of our winter-themed questions at once or separate them by the themes you’re most interested in. There are trivia questions about winter sports (including the Winter Olympics), winter animals, winter geography, food, movies and more. And even kids can play with several age-appropriate questions they’re sure to know the answers to—like a Frozen question, because nothing says winter like a queen whose power revolves around ice… and powerful songs.

With this list, you can quiz your friends, family or even play on your own. You’ll feel extra cool (pun intended) whipping out all your brand-new winter knowledge at your next dinner party or event.

Related: Between Winter Woes and Wonder, We Cover It All With the Greatest 125 Winter Quotes

75 Best Winter Trivia Questions and Answers

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Question #1: When does winter officially start?
Answer: The winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year, marks the start of winter. It’s typically Dec. 21, but it can also fall between the 20th and 23rd, depending on the exact amount of time it takes the Earth to rotate around the sun that year.

Question #2: How thick does ice need to be to walk on?
Answer: Four inches.

Question #3: What’s the polar vortex?
Answer: A low-pressure area of circulating cold air that can extend south from the North Pole to bring freezing temperatures to many US states during the winter.

Question #4: What qualifies as a blizzard?
Answer: A snowstorm that lasts at least three hours with winds over 35 miles per hour and reduced visibility.

Question #5: How many sides does a snowflake have?
Answer: Six.

Question #6: At what temperature does snow form?
Answer: 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

Question #7: At what age does it get more dangerous to shovel snow?
Answer: Those over 45 should be careful shoveling snow—especially dense, wet snowfall. The mixture of exertion and cold air can sometimes to lead to heart attacks, especially in those with high blood pressure or other cardiac issues.

Winter Trivia for Kids

Question #8: What are snowflakes made of?
Answer: Ice crystals.

Question #9: For how many months does winter last?
Answer: Three.

Question #10: What color is a snowy owl?
Answer: White.

Question #11: What’s the reindeer’s name in Frozen?
Answer: Sven.

Question #12: What’s the name of the sloth in Ice Age?
Answer: Sid

Question #13: What vegetable is usually used for a snowman’s nose?
Answer: Carrot.

Question #14: How many snowballs are used to make a traditional snowman?
Answer: Three.

Question #15: What winter sport uses two pieces of wood strapped to your feet to go down a snowy mountain?
Answer: Skiing.

Question #16: What’s the difference between gloves and mittens?
Answer: Mittens have one large pocket for your fingers, and gloves have individual pockets for each finger.

Related: Avoid Going Stir-Crazy With 125 Indoor Activities To Do Even When It’s Cold Outside

Winter Olympics Trivia

Question #17: Where were the first Winter Olympics held?
Answer: In Chamonix, France.

Question #18: When did the first Winter Olympics take place?
Answer: Technically, in 1924, though the event was then called International Winter Sports Week and wasn’t renamed the first Olympic Winter Games until two years later.

Question #19: Which new sport was added to the 2026 Winter Olympics?
Answer: Ski mountaineering or “skimo.”

Question #20: What is ski mountaineering?
Answer: A sprint and mixed relay event that mixes cross-country, climbing and downhill skiing portions.

Question #21: How many sports are included in the Winter Olympics?
Answer: There are eight total sporting categories—skiing, skating, biathlon, curling, bobsleigh, ski mountaineering, hockey and luge. Those categories are broken into 16 disciplines.

Question #22: How many Winter Olympic gold medals does the US have?
Answer: 126.

Question #23: Which country has the most gold medals at the Winter Olympics?
Answer: Norway, with 166.

Question #24: Who is the most decorated Winter Olympian in the US?
Answer: Apolo Ohno, with eight total medals in short track speed skating.

Question #25: Which US woman landed the first ice skating triple axel at the Olympics?
Answer: Though Tonya Harding was the first American woman to land the trick in general, she couldn’t complete it at the Olympic level. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Mirai Nagasu was the first female US athlete to do so.

Question #26: Where are the 2030 Winter Olympics being held?
Answer: The French Alps.

Question #27: How many times has the US hosted the Winter Olympics?
Answer: Four times. In 1932 in New York, 1960 in California, 1980 in New York again and in Utah in 2002.

Question #28: When will the US next host the Winter Olympics?
Answer: In 2034, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Winter Movies Trivia

Question #29: Which real-life event inspired Disney’s 2004 movie Miracle?
Answer: The time the US Olympic hockey team beat the heavily-favored Soviet team in 1980. It was famously referred to as the “miracle on ice.”

Question #30: Which Academy Awards did Frozen win?
Answer: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song—for “Let It Go.”

Question #31: Is Arendelle in Frozen a real city?
Answer: No, but the movie is heavily inspired by Norway, where there is a city named Arendal.

Question #32: What sport is Cool Runnings about?
Answer: Bobsled—specifically the Jamaican Bobsleigh team from the 1988 Olympics.

Question #33: Where was the March of the Penguins documentary filmed?
Answer: Antarctica

Question #34: What kind of dog was Balto in the animated movie?
Answer: In the movie, Balto was part-wolf, part-Siberian husky. In real life, Balto was a full Siberian husky.

Related: 85 Best ’80s Trivia Questions and Answers for Your Next Game Night

Winter Sports Trivia

Question #35: When was snowboarding invented?
Answer: In 1965, when Michigan engineer Sherman Poppen invented the first snowboard by attaching two skis together.

Question #36: What snowboarding trick did Shaun White invent?
Answer: The Double McTwist 1260, which is three-and-a-half twists and two flips.

Question #37: Which winter sport is the most dangerous for the average person?
Answer: Skiing. According to a 2018 study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, skiing accounted for 76,000 of the 200,000 treated winter sports injuries.

Question #38: Which Olympic winter sport is the most dangerous for professional athletes?
Answer: At the Olympic level, luge is widely considered the most dangerous winter sport because there’s low visibility and high speeds involved—and no brakes in the sled. Two of the four Winter Olympic deaths have been from luge.

Question #39: Which US hockey team has the most Stanley Cups?
Answer: The Detroit Red Wings, with 11 victories.

Question #40: When did the US get its first NHL hockey team?
Answer: 1924.

Question #41: Which NHL team was the first to be based in the US?
Answer: The Boston Bruins.

Question #42: How many hockey teams are in the NHL?
Answer: There are 32 total teams, 25 of which are US-based.

Question #43: Who was the first US team to win the Stanley Cup?
Answer: The now-defunct Seattle Metropolitans in 1917, shortly before the NHL was founded that same year.

Winter Foods Trivia

Question #44: Who invented hot chocolate?
Answer: The Mayans did around 500 BCE, though their version was on the spicier side. They reportedly used ground-up cocoa seeds, cornmeal and chili peppers mixed with water.

Question #45: What is snow ice cream?
Answer: Fresh snow is often mixed with a blend of sugar, vanilla and milk or cream. Though some people also just put maple syrup on fresh snow and call it a day.

Question #46: Are there eggs in eggnog?
Answer: Yes, and they’re raw.

Question #47: Can you still grow food in the winter?
Answer: Obviously, this depends on where you live, but yes! Many root veggies, like carrots and turnips, can grow and be harvested even into the winter.

Question #48: What’s the difference between soup, stew and chili?
Answer: Soups have enough liquid broth for the ingredients to float, whereas stews only use enough liquid to simmer the ingredients, resulting in a thicker base. Chili is technically a type of stew.

Question #49: Why is it important to eat citrus in the winter?
Answer: Citrus fruits are high in vitamin C, which can help bolster your immune system during the winter cold season.

Question #50: Who invented the gingerbread cookie?
Answer: The first recipe for gingerbread reportedly came from Greece around 2400 BCE. Centuries later, Queen Elizabeth I was credited with turning gingerbread into person-shaped cookies, reportedly modeling them after her courtiers.

Related: 80 Space Trivia Questions and Answers That Are Out of This World

Winter Geography Trivia

Question #51: What US city gets the most snow?
Answer: Valdez, Alaska, with an average snowfall of 325.3 inches per year.

Question #52: What’s the most snow a US city has ever gotten in one day?
Answer: 78 inches in Valdez, Alaska, on Feb. 9, 1963.

Question #53: What’s a “polar night“?
Answer: A period of time where the sun doesn’t rise for over 24 hours in places within the Arctic Circle.

Question #54: How long does “polar night” last?
Answer: In places like Svalbard, Norway, it’s constantly dark for over 100 days. The sun never rises above the horizon, meaning the stars and moon are the only natural light sources between November and January.

Question #55: How cold does it get in Alaska in the winter?
Answer: The coldest reported temperature was -80 degrees Fahrenheit, but the average winter lows can range from -30 to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

Question #56: How many hours of daylight does Alaska get in the winter?
Answer: Most cities get between three and six hours of daylight in the winter. Towards the Arctic Circle, they may get none for weeks at a time.

Question #57: During which months does the Australian winter take place?
Answer: Being opposite on the globe from the US, Australia’s winter season is June through August.

Question #58: Which is colder, Greenland or Iceland?
Answer: Despite its name, Iceland is warmer than Greenland. Only 11% of Iceland is covered by an ice sheet, whereas 80% of Greenland is.

Question #59: Does anyone live in Antarctica?
Answer: There are no permanent residents of the continent, but the place is inhabited by many researchers. Around 5,000 scientists live there in the summer, but that number drops closer to 1,000 in the harsh winter.

Question #60: Can you visit Antarctica?
Answer: Yes, via cruise ship. Several such vessels visit the area with tourists every year.

Question #61: Which country gets the most snow?
Answer: Japan, which can get up to 600 inches in a winter season. The combination of cold air from Russia and moisture from the Sea of Japan causes perfect snowy conditions.

Related: 38 Winter Salads To Add Brightness to the Colder Months

Winter Attractions Trivia

Question #62: When did the idea of ice hotels begin?
Answer: In the Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi, beginning in 1989. The original ICEHOTEL is built each year for visitors in the winter and melts at the end of the season.

Question #63: Where can you see the Northern Lights?
Answer: This colorful phenomenon is easier to find the further north you go—think Alaska, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, etc. But some US states like Wisconsin, Maine, Washington and more have been able to see them in rare instances.

Question #64: When did the Rockefeller Center ice rink open in New York?
Answer: It was designed to be a temporary installation in 1936 but became a permanent winter fixture in 1939.

Question #65: Which state has the most ski resorts?
Answer: New York with 52.

Question #66: What’s the oldest winter carnival in the US?
Answer: The Saint Paul Winter Carnival began in 1886 in Minnesota. It still operates today.

Winter Animals Trivia

Question #67: Which dog breed is the closest to a wolf?
Answer: Several breeds are more closely genetically linked to wolves—Shiba Inus, Akitas, Siberian Huskies, Chow Chows and Alaskan Malamutes.

Question #68: What color is a polar bear?
Answer: Not white! Their skin is black, and their fur is hollow and transparent; it just captures the light in a way that gives a white appearance.

Question #69: How long do grizzly bears hibernate in the winter?
Answer: Up to seven months.

Question #70: Are reindeer real?
Answer: Yes! They’re also known as caribou when they’re found in the wild, per PBS.

Question #71: Where do reindeer live?
Answer: According to PBS, they can be found in Alaska, Canada, Russia, Scandinavia, Iceland and Greenland.

Question #72: Where do penguins live?
Answer: There are penguin colonies all over the world, from Antarctica to Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, the Galapagos, South Africa and more.

Question #73: Can penguins fly?
Answer: No, but they use their wings to swim quickly underwater.

Question #74: Are narwhals real?
Answer: It may surprise you how many people think narwhals are just a mythical as unicorns, but narwhals are in fact real animals. They live in Arctic waters.

Question #75: How long is a narwhal’s horn?
Answer: The pointy tusk, which is just an overgrown tooth, can get up to 10 feet long.

Related: 75 Greek Mythology Trivia Questions for Kids and Adults To Test Your Knowledge

Country icons Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash had a love story so legendary that it has lived on decades after both country icons died, even resulting in an Oscar-winning portrayal of their lives, with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon taking on the famous couple in 2005’s Walk the Line.

During the early days of their relationship in the 1960s, Cash put his feelings for his future wife into words that most fans wouldn’t lay eyes (or ears) on for decades.

The Man in Black penned an unpublished love poem for Carter titled “Let’s Put It To Music,” essentially calling for their private romance to be turned into a song. More than half a century later, that’s exactly what has happened — just not in a way Cash could have envisioned.

Related: Dolly Parton Made Her Film Debut in ’80s Hit Comedy ‘9 to 5’—But She Had One Condition Before Saying Yes

The legend died less than four months after June Carter passed away in May 2003, almost as if he couldn’t bear the heartbreak of living without her.

But now his words live on through the voice of Alex Orbison, son of one of Cash’s famous pals, Roy Orbison, as “Let’s Put It To Music” is now an actual song more than half a century after Cash first put pen to paper.

The connection runs even deeper. Johnny and June were Alex’s godparents, making the opportunity to sing hand-written words written by Cash especially personal.

While the poem began as Johnny’s declaration of love to June, Alex found a way to make it his own by recording the song with his wife, Erika Orbison.

Related: Beach Rock Icon Jimmy Buffett’s New Album Spans 20 Years of Unreleased Songs, 3 Years After His Death

According to Noise11, singing Cash’s decades-old sentiments to Erika allowed Alex to express his own feelings for his wife.

Released August 28, “Let’s Put It To Music” is now the third single from Alex’s upcoming fall album, Love And Loss.

In 1976, the Bee Gees were on the verge of becoming the biggest names of the disco era, but they weren’t there quite yet.

The brothers had revived their career a year earlier with Main Course, which produced the No. 1 hit “Jive Talkin'” and the No. 7 “Nights on Broadway.” The album also marked an important evolution in their sound, with Barry Gibb beginning to explore the falsetto that would soon become one of the group’s trademarks.

Their next single pushed that transformation even further.

“You Should Be Dancing” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 50 years ago, becoming the Bee Gees’ third chart-topper. It was also their first No. 1 featuring Barry’s increasingly distinctive falsetto on lead vocals.

And tucked into that landmark recording is an unexpected contribution from another rock legend: Stephen Stills.

Stephen Stills Played Drums on ‘You Should Be Dancing’

The Bee Gees recorded “You Should Be Dancing” across several sessions at Miami’s Criteria Studios in early 1976.

As luck would have it, Stills was working at the same studio on Long May You Run with Neil Young. That put the future Rock & Roll Hall of Famer in the right place at exactly the right time.

Stills joined the Bee Gees’ February sessions, playing timbales, the shallow drums commonly used in Latin and Afro-Cuban music. The album credits list Stills on additional percussion, alongside Joe Lala and George Perry.

The unusual cameo wasn’t the only ingredient that gave the record its sound. Keyboardist Blue Weaver recalled that Maurice Gibb created the bass line and sang parts to the brass players, while Barry sang musical ideas for Weaver to reproduce on keyboards. Guitarist Alan Kendall added the brief, surprisingly hard-rocking guitar solo during the instrumental break.

The Bee Gees Had to Move On Without Arif Mardin

“You Should Be Dancing” also came at a moment of uncertainty for the brothers.

After Main Course returned them to the upper reaches of the charts, the Bee Gees intended to make their follow-up with producer Arif Mardin. But a change in record-label distribution meant Mardin was no longer available to work with them.

Instead, engineer Karl Richardson and arranger Albhy Galuten joined Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb as producers on Children of the World.

Related: 1975 Hit, Written by Neil Young for an Album He Shelved, Became a Top 5 Hit for a ‘Dynamite’ Young Singer

As music historian Fred Bronson quoted Maurice as saying in his “Billboard Book of Number One Hits,” “We were a little scared because we were so used to working with Arif. Now I’ve got great respect for Albhy and Karl as well. The things Arif brought out in us, they have perfected… to a better point and improved it more. We never used to experiment before … We’re mad perfectionists, and Albhy and Karl are both perfectionists as well. I don’t think there’s anyone who can beat them yet.”

The gamble worked.

“You Should Be Dancing” entered the Hot 100 in July 1976 and nine weeks later became the Bee Gees’ third No. 1. It also topped the U.S. dance chart and reached No. 4 on the soul chart.

“The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll” describes Children of the World as continuing the Miami rhythm-section sound of Main Course, with “You Should Be Dancing” becoming its No. 1 centerpiece.

‘You Should Be Dancing’ Helped Set the Stage for ‘Saturday Night Fever’

The Bee Gees couldn’t have known just how important their new sound was about to become.

A year later, “You Should Be Dancing” was included on the blockbuster Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, alongside the new Bee Gees songs that became inseparable from the movie and the disco era.

The song also accompanied one of John Travolta’s signature dance sequences in the film. Interestingly, the Bee Gees hadn’t even been involved when filming began. Travolta later recalled that he had originally danced to music by Stevie Wonder and Boz Scaggs before the soundtrack took shape in post-production.

By then, however, “You Should Be Dancing” had already proved the brothers’ disco transformation was no fluke.

Fifty years after it reached No. 1, the record captures the Bee Gees at the precise moment their most recognizable sound was clicking into place, with a little rhythmic assistance from Stephen Stills along the way.

Related: 1975 ‘Comeback Song,’ Written in One Night, Was No. 1 51 Years Ago Today

Remember when you could walk into a dollar store and know exactly what you’re paying at the register — you know — a dollar?

Those days seemed to be over once Dollar Tree flipped the script with its $1.25 model and 99 Cents Stores going kaput.

Dollar General is turning back the clock and helping out shoppers when they need savings most as recent reports show both consumer confidence is down — and prices remain 3.4% higher than they were a year ago.

Related: McCormick’s Launches 3 New Seasoning Blends Perfect for Summer Cookouts

The good news is you can walk into a Dollar General store and already find approximately 2,000 items marked for just $1 —the price you expect for dollar store shopping. But with popular competitor Dollar Tree now promoting $3 and $5 sections, Dollar General may be the big winner, especially with the impending holiday season that we all know kickstarts with Halloween decor.

The discount chain will soon offer 800 more new items for $1. According to Instagram’s popular The Freebie Guy page, boasting over 4 million followers, that means “$1 food, household essentials & bargain finds heading into the holidays… with even bigger plans for 2027!”

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And shoppers appear to be eating up the bargains.

Dollar General’s bargain-packed Value Valley section saw sales soar more than 16% during the second quarter, far outpacing the brand’s overall same-store sales growth of 3.5%.

Related: McDonald’s Is Adding Name-Brand Energy Drink to Its Menu for the First Time Ever

Better yet, this isn’t just a holiday-season gimmick. CEO Todd Vasos says the company has “real plans” to expand the $1 price point even further in 2027, meaning old-school dollar store shopping may finally be making a comeback after all.

Now, which gas station is going to go rogue?

In 1993, Clutch released their debut studio album, Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes and Undeniable Truths, but mainstream success didn’t exactly follow.

That is, until adult cartoon Beavis and Butt-Head gave the band a major dose of exposure by featuring the music video for album opener “A Shogun Named Marcus” on the show.

Before Family Guy, Beavis and Butt-Head developed a cult-like following for its similarly offbeat sense of humor, but with a twist: both characters were raging metalheads obsessed with rock music.

Related: ’70s Rock Band, Now Led by Vocalist Who Played Janis Joplin, Releases New Music and Extends Tour

Clutch had such an original sound that listeners couldn’t help but take notice—and the MTV spotlight helped put the otherwise little-known band on the map.

“Getting validation from Beavis And ButtHead was much more gratifying. It showed that people do like this band even if your sales may not reflect fame and fortune,” said Clutch vocalist Neil Fallon.

Fast forward more than 30 years later, and Clutch is still going strong with the same four original members who recorded their 1993 debut album, making not only the band’s unique sound instantly recognizable, but the fact they’ve stuck together all these years something of a unicorn in the rock world.

For the first time in 4 years, fans can sink their teeth into Clutch’s new music as they recently released “The Drifter Returns” and Fallon’s powerhouse vocals come roaring in from the jump.

Fallon, who gives the band its unmistakable edge, spoke with Metal Hammer last winter teasing new songs with no official timeline, so this week is the big week fans have been waiting for.

“We’d rather wait and make it as good as it can be. That’s where we are at. There are a number of songs in the can, but I’m not going to predict when it might be released.”

Related: ’90s Metal Band, Led by Pantera’s Vocalist, Announces First New Album in Nearly 20 Years

Not only is there a new banger, Clutch is hitting the stage beginning September 12, with a monthlong gap between shows before picking back up October 16:

• Sep. 12 – Timonium, MD @ Maryland State Fair
• Oct. 16 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
• Oct. 17 – North Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues Myrtle Beach
• Oct. 18 – Jacksonville, FL @ FIVE
• Oct. 20 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Ybor
• Oct. 22 – New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
• Oct. 23 – Robinsonville, MS @ Bluesville at Horseshoe
• Oct. 24 – Fort Worth, TX @ Sick New World Texas
• Oct. 25 – Fayetteville, AR @ Ozark Music Hall
• Oct. 27 – West Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom
• Oct. 29 – Green Bay, WI @ EPIC Event Center
• Oct. 30 – East Moline, IL @ The Rust Belt
• Oct. 31 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Andrew J Brady Music Center
• Nov. 1 – Fort Wayne, IN @ Clyde Theatre
• Nov. 3 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
• Nov. 5 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
• Nov. 6 – Wilkes-Barre, PA @ F.M. Kirby Center
• Nov. 7 – Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa

Foreigner was one of the biggest rock bands of the late 1970s, but they weren’t immune to controversy. The band’s third album, Head Games, featured a catchy title track, but it and other songs from the album were banned in certain parts of the U.S.

Written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, “Head Games” opens with a killer guitar riff with keyboards and ’70s-style synthesizers, leading into lyrics about psychological games and mixed signals in a relationship. The song became a hit for Foreigner, reaching No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1979. But some radio stations weren’t helping it along.

In an interview with Classic Rock Revisited, Gramm revealed that the Head Games album cover, which featured teen model Lisanne Falk in a men’s bathroom, didn’t fly in some cities.

“The song ‘Head Games’ was banned by a lot of radio stations after the cover of the album came out,” Gramm said. “Today, that would not have even been a problem.”

“In the Bible Belt, the cover of the cute little girl in the boy’s bathroom erasing her number off the wall… they didn’t see the humor in that,” he shared. “It wasn’t supposed to even be sexy.  … She was cute.  It was just the time and the place of what she was doing that was supposed to leave the impression.  She was erasing her phone number off the wall of the boys’ bathroom, and that’s all it was.  A big deal was made out of that, and it really hurt our sales.”

Speaking with Smashing Interviews, Gramm noted that the album itself was banned in Boston as well as “a whole slew of stations in the Bible Belt.”

“They thought the Head Games album cover was way over the line of good taste,” the Foreigner legend shared.

Despite the controversy, the song “Head Games” became a pivotal chart hit for Foreigner. Jones told Ultimate Classic Rock the title track was written in his apartment, and that it was based on a two-fingered riff.

“I had just bought a piano, and Lou had a keyboard at his place, and he would play two-fingered riffs – and it kind of worked with me because they were in the black keys, which I always wrote on anyway,” Jones shared. “He kind of put this sort of rough idea of the chords of that riff at the beginning, and it sounded pretty mean with an electric piano – like almost like clavinet sounds – and we blended that in with the guitar sounds and that’s what gave it a bit of a unique sound.”

He also compared the song’s sound to one of the band’s first major hits.

“In a certain way, it was a bit of a connection there with ‘Feels Like the First Time,’ as far as being a Foreigner sort of riff,” Jones said. “And that’s probably the song that, with ‘Feels Like the First Time,’ represented what people sort of tended to think was the Foreigner sound.”

Despite the controversy over the album, nearly 50 years after its release, “Head Games” remains a defining part of Foreigner’s early sound and a favorite among many fans.

Related: ‘70s Teen Model Reveals the Real Story Behind Her Controversial Foreigner Album Cover

It’s been 49 years since Sonny and Cher said goodbye to variety TV. The former couple ended their CBS variety series, The Sonny & Cher Show, on August 29, 1977—for the second time.

The series featured sketches, songs, and guest stars galore. A synopsis for the final episode teased a look back at the season with an awards show spoof in which Sonny Bono and his ex-wife Cher presented a variety of tongue-in-cheek awards.

The couple also performed “The Beat Goes On,” “All I Really Want To Do,” and “Laugh At Me,” ending the series with their signature duet, “I Got You Babe,” which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in August 1965.

RELATED: 1962 No. 1 Hit Song Was an Iconic TV Theme—But It Almost Didn’t Happen

According to a recap on Cher Scholar, the couple performed their final medley of songs wearing 1960s-style bellbottoms, fur boots, and banged wigs, making it a truly full-circle moment. While singing “I Got You Babe,” Sonny made fun of his ex-wife’s hair flipping, and she told him he was “still a clown.”

It was the last time the exes would perform “I Got You Babe” on one of their own TV shows.

CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images

The Sonny and Cher reboot came two years after The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour had a successful four-season run, from 1971 to 1974.

The original series ended due to the duo’s real-life divorce and attempts at two solo variety shows—The Sonny Comedy Revue (1974) and Cher (1975)—which failed. But the magic of the bickering duo wasn’t the same during the second go-around, which debuted in February 1976, a little more than six months after Cher wed Greg Allman. The Sonny & Cher revival ended after two seasons on that August 1977 night.

Decades later, Cher still looked back fondly at the old variety shows she did with her ex.

“I loved them,” she said in an interview, per The Television Academy. “I think they’re funny. I think people like times that were simpler, and things that are historic always seem simpler. But our stuff was just funny, and it took your mind off of everything, and the family could watch and everybody got something out of it.”

“There was something for everybody,” Cher continued. “Plus, we had the top stars on it every week — and more than one.”

The music legend also noted that “the funniest pieces” came when Sonny ad-libbed his lines.

Ten years after The Sonny & Cher Show series finale, the former couple thrilled fans when they spontaneously performed “I Got You Babe” on Late Night With David Letterman. The 1987 late-night show appearance marked their final public performance of the song together.

Sonny Bono died in 1998 at age 62.

Related: 1965 No. 1 Hit Ranked Among the ‘Greatest Duets of All Time’ Became a Pop Culture Phenomenon—But Superstar Singer Hated It at First

If you’ve kept your finger on the pulse of European travel lately, you know that Portugal has evolved from an “under-the-radar” gem into one of the most beloved destinations on the continent.

Between its warm hospitality, world-class gastronomy, incredible safety rankings, and slower pace of life, it has become a particular favorite among women travelers and vacationers over 50 looking for culture and relaxation without the frantic crowds of the French Riviera or Amalfi Coast.

Now, Portugal’s most exclusive coastal enclave—often dubbed the “Hamptons of Europe”—is getting a massive luxury upgrade.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Portuguese developer Coporgest have officially announced plans for Park Hyatt Comporta and Park Hyatt Comporta Residences, slated to open in 2029. Marking the very first Park Hyatt property in Portugal, the resort will bring the brand’s signature residential aesthetic and personalized service to the pristine Alentejo coast, located just under an hour south of Lisbon’s international airport.

Related: Lisbon Is the Perfect European Escape for Solo Women Over 50

Why Comporta Is the Ultimate Chic, Low-Key Escape

Park Hyatt

Unlike high-glamour, yacht-heavy European hotspots, Comporta has long been cherished by artists, designers, and discerning travelers for its barefoot luxury vibe: endless stretches of white sand beaches, fragrant pine forests, wild rice paddies, and thatched-roof fishing cabanas.

“This location for a Park Hyatt hotel feels like a perfect match. Comporta has a rare combination of relaxed beach living, protected nature and creative spirit, with a sense of calm that has remained wonderfully intact. It’s a natural home for the understated, highly personal approach to luxury Park Hyatt hotels have been shaping for nearly half a century,” said Tamara Lohan MBE, Global Brand Leader—Luxury at Hyatt.

The new property will feature 58 intimate guest rooms and suites, along with six two-bedroom private villas and 22 fully serviced branded residences. Guests and residents will have access to sweeping swimming pools, a dedicated wellness and fitness center, a padel court, a kids’ club, and a collection of destination dining venues.

For golf enthusiasts, the resort sits right alongside the Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed Troia Golf Course—an 18-hole, par-72 links course boasting dramatic views of the Arrábida Mountain and the Atlantic—with four additional courses located within a 20-minute drive.

Related: Hyatt’s Global Summer Sale Offers Up to 25% Off the Ultimate ‘Euro-Summer’

Why Portugal Keeps Winning Over Women and Travelers Over 50

The arrival of a brand like Park Hyatt in the Alentejo region underscores why Portugal continues to top travel wish lists, particularly for women traveling solo or in small groups, empty nesters, and retirees:

• Unmatched Safety and Peace of Mind: Portugal consistently ranks among the safest countries in the world. For solo women and mature travelers, the ease of navigating walkable cities, quiet coastal villages, and pristine beaches with complete confidence is a massive draw.
• Accessibility to Lisbon: At under 60 minutes from Lisbon’s airport, Comporta offers an effortless transition from historic city tours and Fado clubs straight to coastal tranquility.
• Wellness and Nature-Forward Living: Rather than high-stress sightseeing itineraries, travelers are actively seeking restorative getaways centered around fresh Atlantic seafood, farm-to-table dining, local Alentejo wines, and tranquil ocean breezes.

As Sérgio Ferreira, CEO of Coporgest, noted: “Bringing the Park Hyatt brand to Comporta reflects the shared ambition between Coporgest and Hyatt to create a landmark luxury destination. We have really valued Hyatt’s collaboration in bringing this project to life and can’t wait to open in this exceptional coastal enclave. Park Hyatt Comporta will combine a beautiful beachfront location, distinctive architecture and outstanding quality, reinforcing Portugal’s and Comporta’s ability to attract the world’s leading luxury hospitality brands.”

While opening day is set for 2029, Comporta’s quiet rise is proving that the future of luxury travel is all about understated elegance, wide-open spaces, and room to breathe.

Related: The Algarve Is Getting a Glamorous New Five-Star Sanctuary—Here’s a First Look

Long before he became one of France’s most celebrated directors, Luc Besson was a lonely teenager filling notebooks with an entire imaginary universe.

Besson started writing what would eventually become The Fifth Element at just 16 years old, using the project as an escape from an unhappy home life. Rather than sketching out a screenplay, he built an elaborate, futuristic world from scratch, inventing the characters of Korben Dallas and Leeloo largely to keep himself company during a difficult stretch of adolescence.

It would take more than two decades for that teenage daydream to reach the screen. Besson returned to the material roughly a decade after first writing it, eventually reworking his novel-like concept into an actual film. French studio Gaumont optioned the project and spent nine years developing it, during which Besson made three other films before ever picking up a camera for this one. By the time The Fifth Element premiered in 1997, Besson was 38 years old.

The finished film starred Bruce Willis as Korben Dallas, alongside Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm and Chris Tucker. Besson brought in comic book artists Jean “Moebius” Giraud and Jean-Claude Mezieres, whose work had originally inspired parts of his teenage vision, to design the film’s look, while fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier handled costumes. With a $90 million budget, it was the most expensive European film ever made at the time.

That investment paid off in a major way. The Fifth Element pulled in roughly $263 million at the global box office, becoming the highest-grossing French film in history, a title it held for 16 years until The Intouchables overtook it in 2011.

Nearly three decades later, the film remains one of the most visually distinctive entries in the sci-fi genre, built almost entirely from the imagination of a bored, isolated teenager.

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Looking for effortless pieces to give your home a refresh doesn’t have to be a daunting task. In fact, you can use Martha Stewart’s expertise to craft an exceptional living room. The television personality may not be able to come to your place directly, but she does have a highly-curated home line at Wayfair that’s accessible and budget-friendly. We’re currently shopping for the Martha Stewart Lily Pond Kenna Fluted Coffee Table, while it’s 57% off.

The furniture initially cost $460, but has been marked down to $199 during an early Labor Day sale. The piece is 18 inches tall, 23.75 inches wide, and 44 inches long, which is the perfect standard size for those who have been searching for a rectangular coffee table. It weighs around 50 pounds though, so it’s likely that you’ll need some assistance maneuvering it. 

Martha Stewart Lily Pond Kenna Fluted Coffee Table, $199 (was $460) at Wayfair

Courtesy of Wayfair

Shop at Wayfair

You will have to assemble the table when it gets delivered, but shoppers said that assembly was “a breeze” and only took around ten minutes. The design is made of solid and manufactured wood with natural wood grain color variation, which means it will be dark brown but may vary slightly in coloring with each order. It has four legs and tapered block feet for extra stability, so you can place bulkier decorative pieces on it. There’s even gliders on the legs to protect your floors when you move it! 

What we really love about this coffee table is that it includes two fluted drawers with brass-toned metal knobs that are so vintage-looking. Plus, the drawers add additional storage space, which is especially helpful for those in small apartments and homes who need to stay organized. The overall design is super classic, which is perfect for renters and owners who enjoy coastal- and farmhouse-inspired pieces. 

Over a dozen customers already have their eye on this coffee table, with reviewers describing it as “gorgeous,” “stunning,” “pretty,” and of “excellent quality.” One customer wrote that as soon as they added some decor, the table brought “even more elegance and coziness to the room.” Since the furniture is “sophisticated,” “warm,” and “highly functional,” it’ll upgrade your home instantly, even without coffee table books and faux plants. 

Shop More Deals 

• Martha Stewart Perry Street Sadie Round Coffee Table, $238 (was $400) at Wayfair
• Lark Manor Mayall Coffee Table with Shelf, $165 (was $194) at Wayfair 
• Ebern Designs Positano Area Rug, $158 (was $281) at Wayfair 

This beautiful Martha Stewart table allows you to stow away your items while making your space look effortlessly chic. It’s one of those pieces that will catch your eye as soon as you enter the room. Shop it now, before this 57% off Wayfair deal disappears! 

Related: Add Modern Farmhouse Style and Storage With Wayfair’s ‘Sturdy’ 5-Drawer Cabinet, Now 85% Off

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The Savannah Bananas brought Bananaball to Gillette Stadium on Friday night, but the biggest surprise came in the sixth inning when Keith Urban walked onto the field with a guitar.

The country music star, who was watching from the stands, joined the Bananas and Loco Beach Coconuts during a break in the action and performed “Long Hot Summer” as players from both teams danced along.

It was just one of several unexpected moments that turned the Savannah Bananas’ Gillette Stadium debut into more than a baseball game, with the night also featuring appearances from New England Patriots legends David Andrews and Willie McGinest, former Red Sox star Shane Victorino and Patriots captain Hunter Henry.

On the Bananaball scoreboard, the Savannah Bananas came out on top, defeating the Loco Beach Coconuts 6-2. But the score seemed almost beside the point as the teams packed the night with entertainment and Boston sports tributes.

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Fan reaction was just as enthusiastic, with many praising the surprise appearance and the overall Bananaball spectacle. “I was not expecting Keith Urban,” one fan wrote on the Savannah Bananas Instagram post, while another called the performance “a cinematic masterpiece.” Others went even bigger, declaring the Savannah Bananas are “healing our country” and saying they would choose Bananaball over the Super Bowl.

Of course, Urban’s appearance is just one in a long line of surprises fans can expect at a Savannah Bananas game. Kristen Bell previously stunned fans at a Denver game, joining Derek Klena for a surprise Frozen performance before the pair even recreated the iconic Dirty Dancing lift. The Bananas called it “the mashup we never knew we needed.”

Other surprise celebrity appearances have helped make Savannah Bananas games as unpredictable as they are entertaining. The team has welcomed stars from across the worlds of music, sports and entertainment, including rapper 50 Cent and WWE star and actor John Cena. The musical guests have been just as varied, with country star Riley Green, Train frontman Pat Monahan, members of The All-American Rejects and pop group Big Time Rush among the artists who have performed or made appearances at games.

Brad Paisley shocked fans by delivering a raw, emotionally heavy live performance of “When I Get Where I’m Going,” paying a beautiful tribute to his legendary duet partner, Dolly Parton, following the tragic news of her recent passing.

The country music world was plunged into deep mourning when the iconic “Queen of Country” passed away, prompting an unprecedented outpouring of grief from millions of fans, family members, and fellow artists globally. Paisley, who scored one of the biggest hits of his career alongside Parton with their 2005 chart-topping spiritual ballad, took to social media and the stage to share his absolute devastation. “I never imagined this day would come,” Paisley shared in a heartbreaking statement dedicated to his late friend. “Getting to know Dolly was life-changing… She seemed immortal”.

A video of his live musical tribute posted to TikTok quickly amassed millions of views, as fans noticed the immense emotional toll the loss took on the singer. Audience members pointed out a striking, tragic detail from the venue’s performance layout: from certain angles, it appeared as though a microphone had been left deliberately empty on the stage right next to him, subtly honoring Parton’s presence and sudden absence.

Listeners flooded the comment section, deeply moved by the absolute vulnerability of the performance. “The shakiness in his voice… her loss is hitting him hard,” one viral comment noted. Another fan who has seen the artist live multiple times remarked, “He doesn’t sing off-key like that. Ever. This was fully him crying the whole time he sang,” emphasizing how the crowd wept along with him.

The performance solidified the incredible, lasting legacy of goodness, charity, and unparalleled artistic brilliance that Parton leaves behind. While the country music community continues to process the monumentally sad news, Paisley’s fragile, tearful rendition offered a sense of comfort to a grieving global fanbase, ensuring that the spirit of their timeless, record-breaking collaboration remains truly immortal.

By 1975, John Denver was dominating the charts. Defined by his signature wire-rimmed glasses, easygoing grin, and a voice custom-built for transistor radios, he was riding an unprecedented wave of pop and country crossover success.

Yet even after a string of massive acoustic hits, nothing quite prepared audiences for the foot-stomping juggernaut he unleashed that year. When Denver released his live recording of “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” it didn’t just climb the charts; it blew them wide open.

However, casual listeners don’t know the song has a fascinating twist. One of the two songs that defined Denver as an artist (the other being 1971’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads”), wasn’t written by him at all!

“Thank God I’m a Country Boy” was actually penned by Denver’s fiddle player, John Martin Sommers. According to American Songwriter, Sommers wrote the song on Denver’s 30th birthday, December 31, 1973, during a road trip.

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Though Denver originally included the track on his 1974 studio record Back Home Again, it was actually a live recording from the following year that turned it into a runaway smash, reported Songfacts. The song was recorded at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles for his ABC television special An Evening With John Denver. Subsequently, the song was included on Denver’s double live album of the same name.

Ironically, the song wasn’t included in the television special. However, it was released as a single, and it was that version that shot straight to the top of the charts.

“Thank God I’m a Country Boy” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June of 1975. The song was so popular that it charted a total of 19 weeks.

The song continues to find an audience with listeners fond of nostalgic tunes and happy-sounding music. In 2026, American Songwriter ranked the tune on their Top 5 list of No. 1 songs from 1975.

Additionally, veteran newsman Dan Rather discussed the song in a Substack post. He wrote, “Denver was one of the most popular and best-selling country and folk singer-songwriters of the 1970s. AllMusic has called him “among the most beloved entertainers of his era. Thank God for John Denver, and I too am thankful for growing up a country boy [Rather grew up in Houston, Texas].”

In July 2026, John Denver earned top honors on Colorado’s list of the state’s 25 legendary cultural pathmakers, taking the No. 1 spot for his impact on the Centennial State. The website wrote, “Born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., the beloved singer-songwriter adopted his stage name from Colorado’s capital. ‘I liked it because my heart longed to live in the mountains,’ he said. He lived in Aspen and was named the state’s poet laureate in 1974.”

Nearly fifty years after its release, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” remains a beloved staple of 1970s music, even if the man who made it famous didn’t write a single word of it.

Related: John Denver’s Misunderstood 1972 Folk Classic Was Banned For All The Wrong Reasons

Dolly Parton knew how to handle people who underestimated her, and a 1978 interview with Barbara Walters offered one of the clearest examples.

Walters confronted the rising country star with a particularly patronizing question about her roots, invoking the “hillbilly” stereotype associated with Parton’s upbringing. Rather than bristle at the label, Parton embraced it, turning what could have been an insult into a statement of pride in where she came from.

“Dolly, where I come from, would I have called you a hillbilly?” Walters asked Parton during the interview.

Parton answered with the self-deprecating humor that became one of her trademarks.

“If you had have, it would have been something very natural, but I would have probably kicked your shins or something. No, actually,” she said with a laugh.

But Parton quickly turned serious, explaining why the label didn’t diminish her or the people she came from.

“The people that grew up where I was were the ones that you would consider the Little Abner people, Daisy Mae and that sort of thing,” Parton said. “They took that kind of thing from people like us. But we were very proud people, people with a lot of class. It was country class, but it was a great deal of class.”

She acknowledged that many of her relatives and neighbors lacked formal education, but said that had little to do with intelligence.

“Most of my people were not that educated, but they are very, very intelligent,” Parton said. “Good common sense, horse sense we called it.”

Walters wasn’t the only one who used the term to describe Parton’s background. Decades later, Parton made clear that she had never viewed “hillbilly” as an insult.

In a 2014 interview with Southern Living (via ABC News), Parton called the label “a compliment,” explaining that she really was a mountain person who grew up in poverty.

“We were really redneck, roughneck, hillbilly people. And I’m proud of it,” she said.

Parton went even further, pushing back against another label that might have been intended as an insult: “white trash.”

“People always say, ‘Aren’t you insulted when people call you white trash?’” she said. “I say, ‘Well it depends on who’s calling me white trash and how they mean it.’ But we really were, to some degree. Because when you’re that poor and you’re not educated, you fall in those categories.”

Rather than run from her past as her fame grew, Parton repeatedly returned to it—and made it part of her strength.

“I’m proud of my hillbilly, white trash background,” she said. “To me that keeps you humble; that keeps you good. And it doesn’t matter how hard you try to outrun it. If that’s who you are, that’s who you are. It’ll show up once in a while.”

One of Deep Purple’s earliest hits was a cover of a Neil Diamond song—and it was so different from the original that the songwriter couldn’t hold back when asked for his opinion.

The song, “Kentucky Woman,” appeared on Deep Purple’s second album, The Book of Taliesyn, and became a Top 40 hit, reaching No. 38 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in December 1968.

But while Diamond’s original 1967 version of the song was an acoustic, country-tinged folk-pop ballad, early Deep Purple bandmates Rod Evans, Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Nick Simper and Ian Paice put a hard rock spin on it one year later with a roaring guitar solo, pounding drums, and intense vocals.

When asked about the hard rock version of his song, Diamond told Rolling Stone, “Deep Purple’s heavy-metal version of ‘Kentucky Woman.’ It’s pretty radical for that song. It’s good. It’s their thing.”

Diamond once revealed that he wrote “Kentucky Woman” while on the road in Kentucky.

“I wrote “Kentucky Woman” in the back seat of a car outside of Paducah, Kentucky,” the music legend told Murray the K in an interview. “I was touring and I was just dead tired, and I probably needed some kind of companionship and that’s what I thought about, Kentucky women and unfortunately there weren’t any around or available at that time. Probably wouldn’t have written the song if there were.”

“But I wrote it in the back seat of a car, and we had just pulled into Kentucky, and my organist was driving and I said, ‘Hey Max, you gotta dig this’ and I played him the song and he said, ‘Outta sight.’ Diamond continued. “And there was ‘Kentucky Woman,’ she shines with her own kind of light.”

Diamond’s “Kentucky Woman” went to  No. 22 on Billboard.

The following year, Deep Purple’s cover came at the suggestion of Lord as the record company pushed the British rock band to do covers.

“Jon suggested Neil Diamond’s ‘Kentucky Woman,'” Deep Purple bassist Simper said in an interview. “Ritchie and I both had reservations as it was a bit folky, until I suggested giving it the Mitch Ryder treatment. I had purchased several records by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels and was impressed with the aggressive drive and sheer excitement. As I outlined my idea as to how a folk song could be made to rock, the others soon latched on, and soon we had cut our next single, complete with Ron Hire and his young daughter helping out with hand claps.”

In a blurb in the Something Has Hit Me fanzine, Simper described Deep Purple’s cover of “Kentucky Woman” as “bloody good.”

Nearly 60 years later, “Kentucky Woman” is an example of how a song’s identity can completely change in another artist’s hands.

Related: The Monkees’ Biggest No. 1 Hit Was Written By a Music Legend You’d Never Expect

When The Bobby Fuller Four recorded “I Fought the Law” in 1965, even the song itself was getting a second chance.

Written by Sonny Curtis, “I Fought the Law” had first been recorded several years earlier by The Crickets, the band once fronted by Buddy Holly.

“It was some time during the summer of 1959, and I would have been about twenty-one at the time,” Curtis told Classic Rock. “It was a real windy day, which happens a lot in west Texas. The sand was blowing outside. I picked up my guitar, and I can’t imagine where the idea came from, but I just started writing this song, ‘I Fought The Law.’ It only took about twenty minutes. You can tell that it didn’t take a rocket scientist to come up with those lyrics. But it’s my most important copyright.” 

The Crickets’ version attracted little attention, but Bobby Fuller heard something in its tale of crime, consequences, and defeat. His harder-driving rendition would turn it into a rock ’n’ roll classic.

Fuller had grown up in El Paso, Texas, where he developed a sound heavily influenced by Holly and the West Texas rock scene. After relocating to Los Angeles with his band, he signed with Mustang Records and revisited “I Fought the Law,” which he had previously recorded with an earlier incarnation of his group.

The new version changed his career.

Released by The Bobby Fuller Four in late 1965, “I Fought the Law” climbed to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. Fuller’s urgent vocal, jangling guitar, and the song’s instantly memorable declaration, “I fought the law and the law won,” gave the recording an energy that belied its story of resignation.

Tragically, Fuller had little time to enjoy his newfound success.

He was found dead inside his mother’s car in Los Angeles in July 1966, at just 23 years old. His death was ruled a suicide, although its unusual circumstances have fueled questions and speculation for decades. “I Fought the Law” consequently became inseparable from his brief career and remains The Bobby Fuller Four’s defining hit.

More than a decade later, the song found another ideal home.

The Clash recorded “I Fought the Law” after guitarist Mick Jones encountered Fuller’s recording while the British punk band was working in San Francisco.

“At the Automat in San Francisco, when we were working on Give ‘Em Enough Rope, they had a fantastic jukebox with ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay,’ Bobby Fuller Four ‘I Fought the Law,’ and all that,” guitarist Mick Jones wrote in the liner notes for Clash on Broadway. “Joe [Strummer] and me had a great time listening to it, it made a great impression on us. … A lot of the tunes that we did of other people’s stuff were just the tunes we liked and were listening to at that moment, and we started doing them.”

Their version first appeared on the 1979 EP The Cost of Living and was subsequently included on the U.S. edition of The Clash.

The Clash brought punk ferocity to the song without losing the irresistible simplicity that made Fuller’s rendition work. Their cover became a favorite in its own right and helped carry Sonny Curtis’ composition into another musical era.

“I’m really proud they cut my song, and I love that version of it,” Curtis said. “It just had the feel.”

Sixty-one years after The Bobby Fuller Four released their version, “I Fought the Law” still sounds tailor-made for reinvention. Fuller made it a ’60s hit, The Clash made it a punk standard, and its defiant hook has kept it alive for generations.

Related: 1966 Iconic Ballad, Covered by Elvis Presley, Is Still a Beloved Hit 60 Years Later

Keeping up with home decor trends can be tricky—especially in the kitchen, where remodeling and redecorating can be extra expensive. Because of that, it’s easy for a kitchen to start looking dated sooner than you were expecting.

In fact, there’s one fixture that can instantly make a kitchen look dated—and if your kitchen was last renovated between the 1950s and 1990s, there’s a good chance you have this item.

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To learn more, we spoke with two interior designers: Victoria Fioravanti, Creative Director of Showcase Kitchens and Showcase Tile & Stone on Long Island; and Catherine Shuman, the founder and principal designer at The Intentional Design Studio in Georgia.

Keep reading for Fioravanti and Shuman’s insights on the one item that can instantly date a kitchen, their suggestions for classier alternatives and a few other items that can make a kitchen look dated.

Related: 5 Outdoor Lighting Mistakes Designers Say Can Make Your Home Look Worse

The Kitchen Item Instantly Dates Your Home, According to Designers

Both Fioravanti and Shuman agree that nothing dates a kitchen like Formica countertops.

What are Formica countertops?

Formica, a trademarked name by the Formica Corporation, is a laminated plastic material often used to make countertops and tabletops. Per Britannica, Formica is made of bonded sheets of paper, synthetic resins and sometimes metal, finished with a top sheet and then attached to a packing such as plywood.

Formica countertops, also known as laminate countertops, became incredibly popular in the 1950s, per Portland Monthly, appealing to customers because of its low price and durability. The 1950s is also when the corporation’s popular Boomerang Formica pattern came out, but as the decades went on, Formica has evolved and often is designed to imitate marble or wood.

MCT / Getty Images

Why Formica Countertops Date a Home, According to Designers

To Fioravanti, the most egregious iteration of Formica countertops are “the solid colored ones from the 1970s and 1980s … an era when kitchens were tucked-away spaces and their design was given less consideration.” Formica from this era in particular dates a home “because the top sheets on Formica countertops in that era were thin veneers that tended to show seams and warp.”

And though Formica countertops have evolved since then, Fioravanti is still not a fan of the material’s modern iterations.

“Even the newer versions that attempt to imitate the colors, patterns and finishes of granite or marble never really do,” she says. “The more contemporary Formicas are still laminates that can never replicate the organic quality and texture of real stone—or even well-made manmade materials such as quartz. Formica’s prefab rounded waterfall edges, especially when they curve upward creating a one piece ‘upstand’ with the backsplash, are dead giveaways that it is an inferior product that reads dated.”

Picture Post / Getty Images

Shuman agrees that “the older laminate styles that were designed to mimic granite or marble” majorly date a home.

“The integrated (often coved) 4-inch backsplash and rolled edge acts effectively as a timestamp for when the kitchen was first installed,” she explains. “In addition, these countertops frequently have dark, obvious seams and the patterns meant to imitate natural stone are easy to see repeating across the surface due to laminate essentially being a printed photo.”

She adds that “the way they age adds to the dated feel—they frequently peel at the seams and bubble at the sink until the particleboard underneath shows.”

Related: Interior Designers Rank the Best and Worst ’90s Decor Trends—and They Have Some Hot Takes

But above all that, Shuman (who specializes in neuroaesthetics and wellness interior design) notes that because laminate materials like Formica are synthetic, humans are naturally not as drawn to them.

“Laminate is warm to the touch, has a slick plastic feel and it sounds hollow when you set something heavy on it,” she explains. “It feels dated to us, but it’s more than a style judgement—your nervous system is recognizing that it’s missing the depth and weight that our bodies register and feel from natural materials.”

DreamMedia / Getty Images

The Best Alternatives to Formica Countertops 1. Natural stone

Tim Cree Photography

According to both Fioravanti and Shuman, when it comes to countertops, nothing beats natural stone, such as granite, quartzite, limestone and marble.

“Real stone … is always a more current and upscale option,” says Fioravanti. “The beauty and feel of natural materials cannot be replicated.”

When choosing a natural stone material for your counters, Shuman recommends going for classic rather than trendy.

“Don’t fall prey to automatically picking the stone that is trending at the time,” she warns. “Select one that relates naturally to your cabinetry, lighting, style and architecture of your home and that fits your needs. Materials like quartzite and soapstone with subtle movement are timeless and cannot be perfectly duped by manmade materials.”

2. Solid wood

RYosha / Getty Images

A butcher block or solid wood countertop is one of Shuman’s “personal favorites, especially for an island.”

“If the patina and natural wear bothers you, you can always have it refinished,” she explains. “Our bodies are wired to have a preference for natural materials and walnut and white oak are particularly timeless in my opinion!”

3. Contemporary solid color laminate

KatarzynaBialasiewicz / Getty Images

If laminate is all that’s in your budget, there are ways to make the material look more modern and less like retro Formica.

“You do not need to abandon this more affordable option in your quest to ensure your new kitchen won’t look dated in a few years,” says Shuman. “A matte solid color with a clean square edge and a separate backsplash can help keep the look modern. Choosing one with a matte finish helps as well.”

Related: 5 Outdoor Lighting Mistakes Designers Say Can Make Your Home Look Worse

Other Kitchen Items That Can Instantly Date Your Home 1. Short upper cabinets

Serenethos / Getty Images

“Short cabinets with wasted space above them is a frequent giveaway for a dated kitchen,” says Shuman. “Bonus points if someone has faux greenery across the top of the cabinets—especially ivy or grapevines. More timeless/modern kitchens run the cabinetry to the ceiling or add stacked uppers to maximize space and take away that awkward dead space.”

2. Fluorescent lighting

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Fioravanti says that fluorescent lighting was “originally a great solution to cheap, all-over lighting. However, it’s so harsh and has been known to trigger headaches, even migraines.”

Shuman agrees, calling out large fluorescent box lights in particular. “A single fluorescent ceiling light might as well be a billboard blaring dated kitchen ahead!” she jokes. “Few things make a home look more like a surgical suite than one of these!”

Instead, she recommends “multiple layers of warm light that’s both more flattering and more useful” for a kitchen.

3. Dated appliance colors

DreamMedia / Getty Images

Appliances in colors like harvest gold, avocado, almond and white can date your home, according to Fioravanti.

“You can never go wrong with today’s appliances in stainless or matte black,” she says. “Better yet, for a more seamless kitchen, opt for paneled appliances that blend into the kitchen cabinetry.”

4. Decorative ceramic tile backsplashes

Allison Hahn Smith / Getty Images

“Nothing says dated like backsplashes laden with fruit, vegetable or Tuscan motifs—especially as over the stove medallion treatments,” says Fioravanti.

“Busy glass and stone mosaics were once very popular, but now they are an instant sign of a dated kitchen,” adds Shuman. “These busy, small scale mosaics (frequently with those decorative medallions thrown in as well) come across as high maintenance.”

Nowadays, the preferred style is something more classic and simple.

“In today’s more open-plan spaces, tastes are for less “kitcheny” style and ones that blend with the surrounding spaces,” explains Fioravanti, with Shuman adding that “large format tiles and slab backsplashes read as timeless.”

Up Next:

Related: Black Kitchens Are Coming for White Kitchens—Designers Explain Why Everyone’s Making the Switch

Sources:

• Victoria Fioravanti, Creative Director of Showcase Kitchens and Showcase Tile & Stone
• Catherine Shuman, the founder and principal designer at The Intentional Design Studio
• Innovative Surfacing Solutions from Formica Corporation. Formica Corporation
• Formica. Britannica.
• 100 Years of Formica Futurism. Portland Monthly.

If you’ve ever had one of Costco’s layered cakes, you know the combination of moist cake and fluffy cream is hard to beat. Add pumpkin spice to the mix, and suddenly there’s a very good reason to start thinking about fall dessert.

And thankfully, one of the bakery’s seasonal favorites is back to deliver just that.

Laura Lamb (@costcohotfinds) shared a look at the returning Pumpkin Bar Cake in an August 25 Instagram post, showing off dreamy layer after layer of pumpkin cake and cream.

Check it out:

View this post on Instagram Costco’s Pumpkin Bar Cake Is Back for Fall Fall pumpkins

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

The Kirkland Signature Pumpkin Bar Cake is priced at $16.99 (item #2067640) and weighs approximately 2.5 pounds, making it substantial enough to serve around 20 slices.

And this isn’t simply a pumpkin cake covered in frosting. The long, rectangular dessert features layers of moist pumpkin-spice cake alternating with fluffy pumpkin mousse, topped with a smooth frosting and delicate white chocolate curls.

Lamb gave the cake a glowing review, writing, “The cake is SO moist!! 10/10 this cake screams fall.”

People in the comments were just as ready for its arrival. @rachshines declared, “ITS PUMPKIN SPICE SEASONNNNN,” while @lexi.barbieri shared, “I’m ready for all the pumpkin flavored treats.”

And @thetrinj may have come up with the ideal way to enjoy a slice, asking, “Goodness grief, could you imagine a Pumpkin spice latte with a slice of this?”

At $16.99 for about 20 servings, the cake comes out to about 85 cents per slice, making it an affordable option for fall parties, family gatherings, or any occasion that calls for dessert. And with those alternating layers of cake and cream, it looks a lot more impressive than its per-serving price might suggest.

Related: Costco’s New Seasonal Duo Is an Autumn Baker’s Dream Come True

As with most Costco finds, pricing and availability can vary by warehouse, and seasonal bakery items aren’t around forever. If this is one fall flavor you aren’t ready to say goodbye to when pumpkin spice season ends, you can also freeze the cake for later.

Rather than freezing the entire cake, cut it into individual slices or smaller portions first. Wrap each piece well and store the portions together in a freezer-safe container or bag. That way, you can pull out just enough for dessert whenever a pumpkin craving hits, even after the seasonal treats have disappeared from the bakery.

With pumpkin spice cake, creamy pumpkin mousse and plenty of frosting in every slice, this returning Costco bakery favorite might be one of the sweetest signs yet that fall is on its way.