Mother Nature

Much has been written about the brutal crimes of Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, and – thirty-five years after he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of thirteen women – scarcely a week goes by without some mention of him in the media.

Don McLean released his debut album, Tapestry, at the dawn of the 1970s when the hangover haze of the 1960s still lingered strongly in the air. McLean specialized in that netherworld between '60s coffeehouse folk and '70s introspection, navigating the distance between confessional singer/songwriter and MOR pop. He'd never abandon this aesthetic, crafting a handsome, modest body of work over the course of nearly five decades, but he'd always be known for "American Pie," his fluke 1971 chart-topper. A long, winding elegy for rock & roll, "American Pie" spent four weeks on the Billboard charts but that smash success was eclipsed by its enduring afterlife in the culture, where it served as the fodder for nostalgia and parodies for decades, eventually earning entry into the National Recording Registry in 2017. So strong was the allure of "American Pie" that it suggested McLean only had one charting hit, which isn't true: its follow-up, "Vincent," peaked at 12, and throughout the '70s he was a mainstay on Billboard's adult contemporary charts, culminating in his final crossover hit in the form of a 1980 cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying." McLean faded from the charts not long after that, but he'd keep touring and recording all the way into the 2010s, relying as much on affection for his entire catalog as he did on "American Pie."