Can't Get Much Higher

Can't Get Much Higher

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Guest Essay

When Did Rock & Roll Die? A Statistical Analysis
When did rock fall out of the zeitgeist, and why?
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
 and 
Daniel Parris
17
Why is Everyone Singing About Whiskey?
Pour me a double shot of whiskey
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
7
Is Hip-Hop a Young Man’s Game?
It's time for more bars about colonoscopies
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
 and 
Darius Mullin
4
In the 70s, We Got Married. In the 80s, We Got Divorced.
On the rise of the divorce ballads in the 1980s
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
 and 
Jeff Takacs
5
The Thin Side of Heavy
Journalist Tim Riley takes us on a tour of Led Zeppelin's catalog
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
 and 
Tim Riley
14
Needles in Haystacks: The Lostwave Story
In one internet subculture, people desperately try to find the origins of songs without attribution. Sometimes they strike gold. Sometimes they get lost…
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
13
Hey Jude, Are Song Titles Showing Up Later?
Chris Gunther stops by to investigate an unexpected song-titling trend
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
11
Why Archival Releases Fascinate Me (and Should Fascinate You Too)
Reveling in the buried treasure of outtakes, studio chatter and other previously-unreleased goodies
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
 and 
Robert C. Gilbert
2
Why AllMusic Broke Up with Bryan Adams
Trying to determine exactly why Bryan Adams no longer has a presence in the all-encompassing music industry database AllMusic.
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
 and 
Ernie Smith
10
Record Store Chafes
Because the customer isn't ALWAYS right
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
 and 
Dan Epstein
8
How Have One-Hit Wonders Changed Over Time?
Daniel Parris returns to Can't Get Much Higher for a deep dive on one hit wonders.
 • 
Daniel Parris
8
Avril Lavigne and the Future of Musical Translation
In 2007, Avril Lavigne released her hit song "Girlfriend" in 7 languages. George Ball chronicles how this might have been a harbinger for a larger…
 • 
George Ball
14
When Jessica Simpson Said My Name
In a bizarre marketing scheme, Jessica Simpson once released 500 versions of her song “A Public Affair.” Two decades later, they can't be found…
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
14
Every Song Bob Dylan Has Ever Played Live
I worked with Ray Padgett of Flagging Down the Double E's to analyze every Bob Dylan setlist in the last 60 years.
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
The Medium is the Message: Changes in Popular Music Since the 1950s
Stat Significant takes over Can't Get Much Higher to show us how radically popular music has changed over the last few decades.
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
5
Pirouettes Like Jagger: The Weird World of Ballet Hits
Upon taking up dance, guest writer Catherine Sinow learned of a little-discussed genre known only to ballerinas
 • 
Chris Dalla Riva
© 2025 Chris Dalla Riva
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