When recording was more art than science, regional music centres flourished. From the 1940s to the 1970s, before corporate take-overs quieted their distinctive sounds, regional cities turned out hundreds of hits, from "My Guy" to "Five O'Clock World." Paying tribute to these neglected treasures, journalist and record producer Randy McNutt travels to Norfolk, Cincinnati, Muscle Shoals, Bakersfield, and beyond to seek the creators of hits and myths. Singers, songwriters, disc jockeys, producers, and session players eagerly discuss their communities and seminal hits that continue to influence musicians today.