Hey fans,
2024 has certainly been quite a year. Quite a year of music documentaries that is. Here are my top music documentaries I watched in 2024.
- Stax: Soulsville USA: This three-part docu-series is all about the history and impact of a record label in Memphis, Tennessee called Stax Records. Stax released popular music from black artists like Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes.
- Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza: This is a three-part docu-series about the Lollapalooza festival. Lollapalooza is a big punk and rock festival that used to be a huge touring festival, but now only happens in Chicago.
- Listening to Kenny G: This is a documentary about Kenny G, and it tries to figure out the mystery of why everyone hates his music so much. Fun fact: Kenny G grew up in Seattle and went to the same elementary and high school as I do.
- Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary: This one is all about a genre of music out of California called Yacht rock. Yacht rock groups include Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers and Toto.
- Gimme Danger: My dad and I watched this documentary on The Stooges after hearing about it on the first episode of my favorite podcast The Cobain 50. It goes deep into the very influential Detroit punk band.
- Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis: This is about the famous duo Storm and Po, known as Hipgnosis, who designed some of the most famous album cover art. They designed the iconic cover of Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, the cover for Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin, and many more.
- Quincy: This is about a famous music producer named Quincy Jones, who worked with people like Michael Jackson, Harry Belafonte and more.
- Fanny, the Right to Rock: We always love a good documentary about a cool rock band that has been lost to history. Fanny, a 70s all woman rock band whose story is told in this documentary is certainly one of those bands.
- The Shield Around the K: This was also recommended to us by the Cobain 50 podcast. It’s about an influential record label in Olympia, Washington called K Records. K Records is run by Calvin Johnson, who was also part of a band called Beat Happening.
- Wham!: This is about the history and huge popularity of the ‘80s band Wham! It talks about the duo’s music as well as George Michael’s personal struggles.
Those are just ten of the great music documentaries I watched this year. I hope you check some of them out, or even make it a New Year’s resolution to watch some of these in 2025. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year. See you then (on HBW at least.) 😊.
You are becoming a true connesieur of rock music! It’s way cool that your dad is also into it.
My budget doesn’t allow for cable or streaming services, but I have a good friend who might be interested in the one about the artists, and she has almost everything. I’m going to ask her if we can watch it. Thanks for the recommendation!