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Great songwriting and musicianship does not guarantee that a song will be a hit, so it is wonderful when a recording artist uncovers a musical gem by, well… covering it. When a cover song becomes a hit, the original artist benefits. Often there is a renewed interest in the original artist’s work and hopefully (depending [...]

They say behind every great man, there is a woman holding him up. That may be true.  It has certainly been true in the case of many musicians, especially rock musicians.  Following are some of the greatest women of rock and roll history – not performers, but the women who inspired the songs we all [...]

Everyone loves a good tale of murder. From “Stagger Lee” to “John Hardy” the American songbook is full of scoundrels, cheaters and unrepentant murderers. Quite often the origin of these songs is pretty hard to track. As most songs are decades, if not centuries old, and passed down in the oral tradition, the murderers’ boasts [...]

When playing an instrument, being able to see is definitely helpful, right? For anyone who has fumbled about with a guitar, learned their first chord, their second, even a third and then given up when it came time to put all three together, imagine doing all that again, only without the help of the sense [...]

10. First Synchronization of Sound and Film The Photo-Drama of Creation (1914) The Photo-Drama of Creation was an eight hour long film that documented the Christian creation story. Funded by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, the film depicted Christian history until the supposed end of Christ’s 1,000 year reign. Taking two [...]

A format war occurs when two incompatible versions of a similar technology begin to compete against one another in the market.  In almost every case, one of the two formats wins out in the end, either because of a better marketing strategy or a superior product, leaving groups of unlucky consumers with an obsolete technology [...]

There are lots of great songs about money. There is ‘Money’ by Pink Floyd, ‘Money, Money’ by Liza Minnelli and even ‘Money Money Money’ by Abba. The list could go on: Can’t Buy Me Love, If I Had $1,000,000, Take the Money and Run, The Gambler, Money for Nothing, Money Talks… …all great songs about [...]

In popular culture a “sex symbol” is a person that is admired for their sex appeal.  Most of these individuals are famous actors, musicians, or models that have an extensive media following.  During the 1950s and 60s a generation of people began to question and challenge the traditionally accepted cultural norms.  The relatively conservative ideals [...]

There are certain moments in musical history when we wish we could say I was there (although not in some cases). Here is a list, in time order, of some of those events, the controversial, the groundbreaking, the political, the tragic, and the wonderful. David Tudor (composer – John Cage) August 29, 1952 – Maverick [...]

The evolution of the music industry has been astounding, traveling from the time of Elvis to Beatlemania, The Supremes, the British Invasion, and The Rolling Stones–Michael Jackson, Run DMC, Nirvana, Enya, Justin Timberlake and Linkin Park.  Yes, Linkin Park has sold more albums then any other band during the last ten years.  Unfortunately, in modern [...]