As I’m sure you’re mostly aware of already - the lyrical content of Amy Winehouse's breakthrough single ‘Rehab’ is very much a true story.

Working with up-and-coming producer Mark Ronson in New York city, Amy inspired the entire production of the song simply walking down the street, telling Ronson her true ‘rehab’ story. Ronson initially thought of it as a funny little anecdote - and one worth turning into a song. Unfortunately, the tale of Rehab was far from a funny one - and Winehouse's knack of drawing inspiration from bad situations would lead to tragedy.

Amy Winehouse was a star - a breath of fresh air in the music industry that pulled the Motown sounds of the 60s into the 21st century with edginess, swagger, and admittedly - a sense of glorified self-destruction.

Released in the UK as the Album’s lead single in late October 2006, Rehab was the perfect distillation of Amy the persona and Amy the artist.

Winehouse truly had nothing to hide and she was ready to expose her talent and her scars to the world unapologetically. This is the story of Rehab, with newly unearthed audio from Amy Winehouse herself.

Also contains audio from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SBezSiJGfM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0q3Re5ksVg

Content Warning: This episode discusses themes that may be difficult for some listeners, including substance abuse, disordered eating, and interpersonal violence. Please take care while listening.

Did you hear the one about the three sons of a preacher who one day decided to start a rock band with their cousin and somehow sell millions of albums, win some Grammys and have one of the biggest crossover rock songs in recent memory?

No? Well, great! Because I’m here to tell you all about how Kings Of Leon did just that.

Nathan, Caleb and Jared Followill were three good old southern boys from a small suburb about 17 miles east of Nashville, Tennessee. Their parents were Ivan, a Pentecostal church preacher and traveling evangelist, and Betty-Ann, who ran the church worship. At first the Followills traveled across the rural South in a purple Oldsmobile, attending all-night church meetings, tent revivals and healings. The family would be on the road for the better part of the year, making it hard for them to call any place home. But when Jared was born in 1986 they settled down just outside of Memphis until he was about six, and then went back on the road after Ivan began drinking and got into some trouble.

The boys were home-schooled by their mom and given strict rules that prevented them from swimming with girls, playing competitive sports and even wearing shorts, which made water activities pretty awkward. Movies were also prohibited, the same with music other than what they heard in church. But church music was becoming a bigger part of their lives. Nathan would begin drumming on stage with a band during his father’s sermons, and Caleb followed as a singer, with hopes of becoming a pastor like his father.

The relationship between their parents, however, was heavily strained due to Ivan’s heavy drinking, and in 1997 they split up, following his departure from the church. That seemed to change everything for their three sons.

With their parents apart, the Followill brothers began to stray from their religious upbringing. Nathan and Caleb got into rock’n’roll, alcohol and weed, while Jared became a “little sh*t” with a BB gun, his brothers would tell Rolling Stone. Their cousin Matthew Followill, who lived in nearby Mississippi, was basically welcomed into the fold as an unofficial fourth brother.

Believe it or not, but Nathan and Caleb Followill were originally a country-singing duo called the Followill Brothers. They performed at open-mic nights and signed a publishing deal that helped support their weed-smoking habit. The guy that signed them, Ken Levitan, introduced the brothers to a songwriter named Angelo Petraglia, and almost immediately he became an intrinsic part of their world, tutoring them on how to write a song.

With some guidance from the younger ears of Jared and Matthew, Nathan and Caleb pivoted to rock’n’roll, writing a song called “California Waiting,” which secured them a record deal with RCA, the same label as the Strokes. There was one catch: the label wanted to put a band together for them. In a risky act of defiance, the Followills rejected the offer and instead they told the execs they would bring in their young brother and cousin and put together their own band. They told RCA to give them six weeks to put something together.

And so in 1999 the two brothers recruited their younger sibling Jared, who was only 14 at the time, to play bass, an instrument he had never ever touched. At first he wasn’t happy with the instrument assignment, thinking bass was too uncool, but he decided to give it a shot.

They also kidnapped their cousin Matthew from Mississippi, telling his mom that they’d bring him back after a week. Matthew had only taken two guitar lessons, and they had to buy him a guitar but just like they became a proper rock band. And for the next month, the Followills locked themselves in a basement, smoked a lot of weed and came up with some songs.

Of course, they still needed a name. Petraglia suggested going with one that leaned into their religious connections, like Kings Of Zion. While they turned that idea down they did come up with something close: Kings Of Leon.

This is the story of Kings of Leon leading up to their all-time classic 'Use Somebody' with newly unearthed audio from the band themselves!

There’s quite simply nothing more fascinating in pop music than the ‘sleeper hit’. I can only imagine how a band or artist feels when they introduce themselves to the world to little to no fanfare… then have to swallow their pride, keep on plugging away - and then suddenly blow up almost retroactively.

The rollercoaster ride of ups and downs that surrounded the release of their breakthrough hit 'Mr Brightside' is an example of Rock Music's greatest sleeper hits in 2003… or is it 2004? 2005? It's not that simple.

This is the true story of The Killers' Mr. Brightside, with newly unearthed audio from the band themselves, and Rob Stevenson - the man who 'discovered' the band.

Also contains references to this great oral history of the band