Chief Justice Roberts (mis)quotes Bob Dylan* in his dissent on Sprint Communications Co. v. APCC Services, Inc., making this the first known time that a Supreme Court Opinion has used a "rock song to buttress legal opinion," according to Alex B. Long of the University of Tennessee. Mr. Long knows a thing or two about this**, having authored [Insert Song Lyrics Here]***, a Washington & Lee Law review Article on the subject of Pop Music in legal writing. The article is funny†, insightful, comprehensive in its musical background††, and surprisingly knowledgeable about good taste in writing.†††
posted on Jun 30, 2008 - View this thread

Tourists black out reflective retinas in snapshots before printing them, and millions of people refer to strangers they’ve never spoken to as friends, because they’ve connected through a social-networking platform. [...] It should come as no surprise, then, that singers sometimes choose to correct recorded flaws in pitch with modern software, like Antares’s Auto-Tune.

Sasha Frere-Jones on auto-tuning, in The New Yorker.
posted on Jun 10, 2008 - View this thread

Songwriter and producer Bob Crewe is one of those behind the scenes guys who was seemingly everywhere during the rock era. Records written and/or produced by Crewe charted over a twenty year period, including My Eyes Adored You and Lady Marmalade, both in 1975.
posted on Apr 25, 2008 - View this thread

Here is an alphabetical list of the most popular music stars real names.
posted on Jan 30, 2008 - View this thread

The best/worst in Lithuanian music: the catchy Otter in Love, DJ Dago's rave music, Suopis ir Rambynas' folk music and Mr Valdas Karklelis and his creepy and [NSFW] pervy writhing .
posted on Jan 22, 2008 - View this thread

The 25 Best Pop Song Opening Lyrics, like EVER - a spinner.com 'hit list', complete with wry commentary and abruptly cut-off audio clips. Bonus: 25 more, suggested by people who don't work for the webside.
posted on Sep 6, 2007 - View this thread

Five For Fighting (John Ondrasik) is pretty cool and has some good music (enbedded audio). This video, created by school kids, really rocks. You can watch and submit your own home vids for in support of some good charitable causes.
posted on Apr 20, 2007 - View this thread

“We consider the 'primitive' music of blues singers such as Leadbelly to be more authentic than that of the Monkees. But all pop musicians are fakes . . . Hugh Barker and Yuval Taylor . . . have turned out their personal record collections to produce a persuasive defence of inauthenticity as the defining characteristic of great popular music[.]” (via)
posted on Apr 20, 2007 - View this thread

Waaaaaah! was an early 90's indie label of with an ever-changing number of a's in it's name. The owner of the label has put the entire catalog onto his site for download in mp3 format. He indicates which songs he likes the best by putting a very, very tiny picture of a kitten next to the songs. Artists include The Field Mice, White Town, They Go Boom, BMX Bandits, Dufflecoats, The Bedfloweres and Strawberry Story. You can see pictures of the bands on the site. If you spent your youth saying things like "this is pure, perfect pop music, why isn't this on the radio" then you've probably already clicked the link.
posted on Apr 3, 2007 - View this thread

Salegy is Malagasy pop music. Upbeat and lively. Sometimes dramatic. Jaojoby is the legend and Wawa are the young guns!
posted on Nov 24, 2006 - View this thread

The limits of pop music, and Marxist critical theory, by way of the Gang of Four.
posted on Sep 10, 2006 - View this thread

One of the great virtues of the internet is the manifold ways in which it has revolutionised the arts. The postmodern works of contemporary artists Pomme & Kelly (Google Video), when viewed together in context, form a striking example of a well-placed critique of popular culture, and modern living at large. The zeitgeisty meta-irony of their seemingly content-free interpretations of popular songs are only enhanced by the fact that, in a clever keeping with style, they blog about it as well.
posted on Feb 28, 2006 - View this thread

He was the patriarch of the British Invasion. In 1962, he released Britain's first blues album. Before they hit it big, the Rolling Stones opened for him. He was on the Beatles first television special. Later, he was in the memorably-named band The Hoochie Coochie Men with Rod Stewart on lead vocals. His next band, Bluesology, featured one Reginald Dwight, who later changed his name to honour his mentor. Moving to Canada in the 1970s he eventually settled in Vancouver, where he died today after suffering from a chest infection. Ladies and gentlemen: "Long John" Baldry has passed.
posted on Jul 22, 2005 - View this thread

Can Ashlee Simpson get any worse? Who knows? But it appears that at least one critic has had it with her lack of talent. Because this is America, we have dueling petitions seeking to encourage her to continue or push her off the stage for good.
posted on Mar 18, 2005 - View this thread

Pop Vultures, perhaps the freshest show to grace our radio airwaves in recent years has been cancelled. Host Kate Sullivan and a collection of friends mused on pop music and associated pop culture with passion, a strong does of "um" and "uh, like" and an always great soundtrack. You can listen (for the moment anyway) to the archives . R.I.P.
posted on Dec 16, 2004 - View this thread

A Bigger Splash: What Sunny California Did To Miserable Manchester Man Morrissey. His new album, "You Are The Quarry", is released on May 17th in the U.K. and the next day in the U.S. But the problem is: does anyone still care? I do! [More inside.]
posted on Apr 26, 2004 - View this thread

onehitwondercentral.com I just discovered a song that I haven't heard in twenty years over there: pac-man fever, by Buckner and Garcia. What long-lost tune do you need to remember?
posted on Jan 19, 2004 - View this thread

Every American #1 pop hit since 1950, reviewed, in order. (Start at the bottom of the page and work up.) Great blog project! (blogject?)
posted on Oct 6, 2003 - View this thread

Take off your shoes. Look out folks, we have a new candidate for worst song of the summer.
posted on May 30, 2003 - View this thread

Guillermo, it was really nada. Back in my day, Morrissey's fans were closeted gay boys, the girls who loved them, and oddly, Mormons. Now, he's the idol of Latinos, especially in LA. Is it a cultural connection with melodramatic poetry or artistic narcissism? Is it identification with Morrissey's lyrics of disenfranchisement, or a rebellion against traditional Latin machismo? Is it the hair?
posted on Mar 18, 2003 - View this thread

break/doWn: translating the hits for the masses. Spent any sleepless nights wondering what those pop songs stuck in your head are really all about? Well, music-critic.com has done the work for you. For instance, did you know that when Britney sings "I know I may come off quiet, I may come off shy/But I feel like talking, feel like dancing when I see this guy" she's saying "I've spent the last three years carefully crafting a "good girl" image of myself for the public/But I'm ready to throw it all away for a one night stand with that guy over there." break/doWn has 13 "hits" translated just for you! (scroll down the the bottom of the page for other songs)
posted on Aug 2, 2002 - View this thread

For the first time in forty years, there is not a single UK act on the Billboard top 100 singles chart. A lot of people argue that it's because manfactured crap is interchangable, so there's no need to import it, but plenty of American artists still make it in the UK, so I'm inclined to believe there's something else at work here. Any ideas as to what that something might be?
posted on Apr 24, 2002 - View this thread

Tiffany goes Topless 80's teen pop sensation Tiffany will appear in a photo spread in an upcoming issue of Playboy. She says "it's time the world realizes she's no longer 18 but a wife and mother."
posted on Feb 6, 2002 - View this thread

oasis i was listening to morning glory this morning :) and was wondering what was up with oasis. i knew they'd toured with the black crowes, but hadn't really heard much about it. so did a little searching and i dunno, this review made me feel pretty good. anyone going to the glasgow concert this weekend?
posted on Oct 12, 2001 - View this thread

All my life, people have been studying the hidden (sometimes very well hidden) profundities of pop-music lyrics. You know, however, that 99.99% of it is mundane and not worth studying. Wrong!.
posted on May 9, 2001 - View this thread

Britney's Battle Plan? Leaked document or Internet bs, you make the call...
posted on Apr 6, 2001 - View this thread