When Pop Broke Up With Jazz
For the first half of the 20th century, Tin Pan Alley songwriters like Irving Berlin and the Gershwins dominated pop music. By the the 1950s, tastes had changed, and the music changed with them.
Music
From Prog-Rock Pioneer To Kitsch King: Remembering Demis Roussos
Greek songman Demis Roussos lived an enormously colorful life, from his start as a prog-rock pioneer to being held captive by Hezbollah terrorists. He died Sunday at age 68 in Athens.
Not My Job: We Quiz Funk Legend George Clinton On The British Parliament
Clinton, the founding father of funk, is the creator of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic. We'll ask him three questions about another kind of parliament — namely, the British Parliament.
Producer Cosimo Matassa Always Believed In New Orleans
In the '60s, musicians left New Orleans, major labels lost interest, and Motown and Memphis took over the black music charts. But one producer didn't give up.
Tom Varner's Got 'Nine Surprises' And A Big Band Is All Of Them
In 2005, jazz composer and french horn player Tom Varner left New York for Seattle, where he put together a nine-piece band of local players.
!["[Death metal] is a very passionate music. It's also really dark and gory--and I like that stuff." - John Darnielle, of the Mountain Goats.](http://wfdd-live.s3.amazonaws.com/images/story/John-Darnielle-Master-Of-Reality-379090915-1446056599.jpg)
John Darnielle: Master Of Reality
"Death metal really does come from the heart," says The Mountain Goats frontman and author of Wolf In White Van. In Durham, he plays "The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton."
NPR Music's 302 Favorite Songs Of 2014
Traditionally, the folks at NPR Music make a list of their 100 favorite songs of the year. But this time, they expanded the list to 302 songs and made a really long mix tape.
Sleater-Kinney Comes Roaring Back With 'No Cities To Love'
Few bands re-form with their power as intact as Sleater-Kinney have; fewer still brag about their power, and make the claim something more than a brag.
Kim Fowley, Producer And Rock Svengali, Dies
Checkered barely begins to describe Fowley's long, crazy career in music. He was the infamous first manager and producer of the all-girl band The Runaways.
Longtime Church Organist Keeps Traditional Hymns Alive
Churches are retiring their hymnals and organs, hoping to attract younger crowds, but at West Auburn Congregational in Maine, Charles Marshall has been playing for 70 years with no plans to retire.