MUSIC

Happy Birthday, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

11 Awesome Musical Performances from NBC's Late Night with David Letterman

With recent changes announced in the late night talk show landscape we figured this a good time to look back at what was, and forever will be, the greatest late night program of its kind in this or any other world: NBC's Late Night with David Letterman.

A Sea Lion that Dances to the Backstreet Boys

UC Santa Cruz researchers say Ronan is the first mammal to successfully get funky

Fans Pulled Onstage to Rock

"Song of Bernadette"

One of the great overlooked albums of the 1980s, Famous Blue Raincoat by Jennifer Warnes features the singer covering the songs of Leonard Cohen. Warnes even ended up co-writing one of the album's tracks, based on the life of a modern-day Catholic saint.

Incredible Infographics for Beatles Enthusiasts

Fifty years ago today, the Beatles released their first LP, “Please Please Me”—and the rest, as they say, is history. To celebrate this milestone, Pop Chart Lab has created three incredible infographics that break down the instrumentation of the Fab Four’

Farewell, Jason Molina

"Black Friday"

With songs about everything from flashy drug czars to downtrodden jazz musicians, Steely Dan have always cast their lyrical net far from the usual romantic fare of pop music. On one of the standout tracks from their 1975 album Katy Lied, they dug back to

Happy Birthday, Nat "King" Cole!

How Dan Rather and a Homicidal Time Traveler Inspired R.E.M.'s "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"

It makes sense that R.E.M., a band whose lyrics are often cryptic, would find inspiration for a song in the mysterious circumstances surrounding a physical attack on newsman Dan Rather.

11 Musicians Who Had Hits with Two Bands

Swissted: Punk Rock Gig Posters Reinterpreted in Swiss Modernist Style

On the surface, it might not seem like punk rock and Swiss modernism have much in common—but pick up Mike Joyce's book Swissted, out tomorrow, and you'll see that the music and art movements blend beautifully.

"Ruby's Shoes"

When singer-songwriter Lori McKenna’s son was in second grade, he did a book report on Ruby Bridges, the African-American elementary school student who famously crossed the desegregation lines in 1960. To help her son, McKenna came up with a song about Ru

A Song of the South, Born in the North

While “Dixie” (you know, “Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton/Old times there are not forgotten…”) might seem as inseparable from the South as collard greens and barbecue, the song was actually written in New York by an Ohio native.

Parrots and Horses Reveal their Musical Preferences

From classical and country to dub step and smooth jazz, humans have some drastically different opinions on music. But when it comes to animals, it seems that birds of a feather tend to rock together—or at least they tend to agree on what they hate.

"Shipbuilding" by Elvis Costello

Stuck for suitable words to his tune, Clive Langer played it for his friend Elvis Costello. Within a few days, Costello had written a poetic and emotional lyric about the Falklands War.

See What Beatboxing Looks Like from Inside the Vocal Tract

When University of Southern California researchers Michael Proctor, Shrikanth Narayanan and Krishna Nayak wanted to know what beatboxing looked like from inside the vocal tract, they decided to do something no one had ever done before: Put a performer in

11 Original Songs That Were Cut From Their Movies

Maybe they didn't fit the tone of the film they were supposed to appear in. Maybe the director just couldn't find a place for them. Whatever the reason, these 11 songs never made it into the movies they were intended for.

11 Obscure References in Classic Songs— Explained!

We've all heard these classic pop and rock hits a thousand times. But even if you know all the words, do you know what they were about?

Music History #16: "Nothing Has Been Proved"

“Nothing Has Been Proved” Written by Neil Tennant & Chris Lowe (1989) Performed by Dusty Springfield The

10 Facts About Your Favorite Christmas Carols

By Glen Gower,

"A Nun Suit Painted on Some Old Boxes" and 71 Other Great Frank Zappa Song Titles

The late Frank Zappa would have turned 72 today. Even if you don’t know much about Zappa, you may be aware of his penchant for creative naming. He famously named his four children the following: - Moon Unit - Dweezil - Ahmet Emuukha Rodan - Diva Thin Muf

6 Memorable Movie Musical Moments That Were Recorded Live

Much ado is being made about the fact that the movie musical version of Les Miserables, out December 25, did not use pre-recorded vocals. Instead, the actors sang live to a piano track played through earpieces; the full orchestra was added in post-product

5 Things You Didn't Know About "The 12 Days of Christmas"

by Scott Meslow With only 12 days left 'til Christmas, we're in the heart of caroling season — and few songs would seem more appropriate than "The Twelve Days of Christmas." (Listen to the carol below.) But no matter how many times you've sung it — or

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