Who doesn’t love a good feature track?

There’s something special that happens when two (or more) artists respect each other enough to get into the studio and hash out some music that inspires them - and their respective fanbases - it’s even better when the song becomes a MASSIVE hit!

Now usually, when a collaboration effort is released - it’s because the artists in question are undeniably hot acts in their own right.

Think of tracks from Maroon 5 and Cardi B, Post Malone and Swae Lee, The Chainsmokers and Halsey, Rihanna and Calvin Harris, or Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes - each artist’s popularity helped bring the other to a whole new level.

Of course, this makes sense, after all - Pop music is SUPPOSED to be popular, so whether the genre mashups are a match made in heaven, or even a little off the beaten path - the equation is simple - Hot Artist PLUS Hot Artist EQUALS Hit, Baby!

But what if I told you that one of the biggest collab tracks in Billboard history (and the first of the millennium) was made by an old school guitarist who hadn’t released a hit single in over 15 years, and an alt-pop soft rocker who had never actually released music outside of the comforts of his (admittedly quite popular) band?

Let’s Don’t Forget About It! - This is the Story of Santana and Rob Thomas’ ‘Smooth’ with newly unearthed audio from Santana and Rob Thomas himself!

There aren’t many pop artists who are at the top of their game 40 years into their career. Let’s be real here, pop music is often considered a young person’s game, one that generally favours younger artists.

As we’ve witnessed here on Encore with Justin Bieber, Destiny’s Child, Britney Spears, Usher and others, careers can start in an artist’s pre-teen years, but they often slow down as the decades go by.

But there are always anomalies, and that’s where Kylie Minogue comes in. Making her first musical appearance back in 1985 at the age of 17, Kylie Minogue - or simply Kylie, sans last name - has officially been in the music industry for 40 years now. Of course, that’s not any kind of record - Tony Bennett had an 85-year career! - but when it comes to consistently maintaining relevance in pop music, Kylie might be in a league of her own.

This is the story of Kylie Minogue's 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' with newly unearthed audio from Kylie Minogue herself.

Before being known as one of the greatest guitarists of modern times - John Clayton Mayer was just a kid from Connecticut who was obsessed with three things:

Canadian Actor Michael J. Fox in his Iconic role as Marty McFly in the 80s sci-fi adventure romp Back To The Future.

The Blues.

And of course - the instrument that tied those other two obsessions together - The Guitar.

And, by the way - I don’t use the word obsession lightly - According to John, this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill relationship with the instrument that many a teenage boy find themselves enamoured with - John was so single minded with becoming a guitar virtuoso his parents actually took him to be psychologically evaluated over his commitment to guitar playing - it was the only thing he ever wanted to do - like… ever.

After high school, John Mayer had hoped to skip college completely to become a full time independent musician - but he was convinced by his parents to seek further education, and enrolled in the lauded Berklee College of Music at age 19.

At Berklee, Mayer met eventual Zac Brown Band musician Clay Cook, who swiftly convinced him to… Drop out of Berklee after only two semesters. By 1999, John would package up his 9 best songs for his debut EP Inside Wants Out as a companion record to all of his touring - and by the year 2000 - with the help of a lawyer, he would sign with small label Aware Records, who would fund the original recording of an internet-only release of his debut record Room For Squares.

Although it was originally a bit of a slow-burner, Room For Squares would spend 95 weeks on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, eventually going platinum off of the successes of No Such Thing and Grammy-Award Winning Follow up single ‘Your Body is A Wonderland'.

Just like Room For Squares before it, Mayer’s virtuosity in both guitar playing and songwriting got him over the line with discerning pop music fans; his followup, Heavier Things would debut at Number One on the Billboard 200 - and with the success of single 'Daughters', would beat Squares’ 95 week run with a 98 week sprint on the chart.

But, after three big hits that launched him into the ‘sensitive songwriter guy’ stratosphere, John Mayer was ready to break the space-time Continuum.

This is the story of John Mayer's Waiting on the World to Change, with newly unearthed audio from John Mayer himself.

How do we determine what the biggest song is in an artist’s catalogue? A few decades ago it was generally decided based on sales and airplay, but then along came digital downloads, followed by YouTube views and finally, streams across the various platforms out there.

A band like Weezer is a good example of this, considering they have had multiple hits throughout multiple decades. But chances are different fans have different ideas of what song is considered their biggest. Is it “Buddy Holly,” their 1994 breakout with the mind-blowing, award-winning music video directed by Spike Jonze?

Or maybe it’s “Beverly Hills,” the gimmicky earworm that has divided Weezer fans for two decades now? How about their more recent cover of Toto’s “Africa” that became a surprise chart-topper? Or perhaps it is “Island in the Sun,” the laidback jangle pop song that has become a beloved anthem and streaming sensation over time.

This week, join Myles Galloway as he tells you how Island in the Sun became the most successful tune Weezer has ever written. With newly unearthed interviews with Weezer themselves!

Formed over 30 Years ago - back in 1993 - Jimmy Eat World was founded by Frontman Jim Adkins and his good friend since toddler-dom, drummer Zach Lind in Mesa, Arizona. The band toiled on the local indie scene as a sort of scrappy skate punk band for the better part of two years, self-releasing and split-releasing their own music with other bands before being discovered by a talent scout from the world famous Capitol Records.

Jimmy Eat World’s Major Label Debut ‘Static Prevails’ was released in July of ‘96 to… mixed results. Despite their limited success - Capitol decided to give Jimmy Eat World another go, and the band would produce their second effort on the label; the album Clarity in February of 1999.If you’re a Jimmy Eat World mega-fan - you are likely aware of Clarity’s retrospective Cult Status as one of the most important emo records of all time, so of course - within six months of the release of the masterpiece that is Clarity - Jimmy Eat World was dropped by Capitol Records altogether in August of 1999.

Quite literally back at the drawing board, the band members had to temporarily take part time jobs to keep the dream of Jimmy Eat World alive. Piece-by-painful piece, Jimmy Eat World slowly began working on their followup to Clarity - recording just the minimum viable product for each song idea - not letting a dollar go to waste.

This is the story of Jimmy Eat World's 'The Middle', with newly unearthed audio from the band themselves!

How many songs can you recognize by hearing the very first note?

Just one note, nothing more. Usually when radio stations play that game where they will give you a prize if you can recognize a quick snippet of a song, they give you at least a few notes, even a few seconds. But there is one song out there, and maybe the only one that immediately comes to mind, where if you know that first note, you’d guess it every time. If you’re near a piano or keyboard try playing a G note. What immediately comes to mind?

If you thought of My Chemical Romance's 'Welcome to the Black Parade' - you're in for a treat - because the season finale of Encore is all about their 2006 hit - with newly unearthed audio from MCR!

Before Sabrina Carpenter became one of the biggest artists of 2024... She dropped a Christmas Album, naturally.

This is the story of Sabrina Carpenter's 'Fruitcake' from our sister podcast Behind The Christmas Hits with Drew Savage!

A song - any song - when done right - can transport you to a different time, a different place, and take you on an emotional rollercoaster.

It’s an exhilarating feeling isn’t it? Whether you’re driving down the highway, volume cranked - singing along, or maybe you’re doing chores at home, and the music transforms the mundanity into something worthwhile. Maybe it’s a killer headphone session with a perfectly curated playlist - by you, or any of the playlist geniuses that work at iHeartRadio Canada - wait - who wrote that??

Dog Days are Over by Florence + the Machine, is just intrinsically just one of those great songs… a slow build with almost timid instrumentation, followed by a heartwarming and gentle voice taking you out on the quiet melodic waters - transporting you away to your own little musical island - when all of the sudden it crescendos with the power and soul of a voice so uniquely resonant, I might even argue that there hasn’t been another voice so special since the song was released into the wild over 15 years ago.

This is the story of Florence and the Machine’s “Dog Days are Over”

Contains interview footage from the following outlets:

RTE2 Ireland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e_Uvj0iCbc

ALT 98.7 LA (courtesy iHeartRadio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJIwK7btO6Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyTYcgC7nLU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkjKxxEWy8I

KROQ LA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdyYdhG44zk

Contains a clip from 'Glee' S02 E09 'Special Education' (2010)