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MUSIC

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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.

Jill Harness
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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.

Bill DeMain
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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.

Jason Plautz






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

Erin McCarthy


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1. Daniel Auber, La Muette de Portici Auber’s five-act opera (the title translates as The Mute Girl of Portici), regarded as the earliest French grand opera, was a revolutionary work in the most literal sense. It debuted in Paris in 1828, but it was its

Bill DeMain
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“Enola Gay” Written by Andy McCluskey (1980) Performed by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (better known as OMD) The

Bill DeMain




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“The Ballad of Ira Hayes” Written by Pete La Farge (1963) Performed by Johnny Cash The Music Folk singer and songwriter Peter La Farge packed a lot into his thirty-four years on Earth. The son of a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist was a Korean War vet, a

Bill DeMain




Turbo B and Penny Ford, featured performers on "The Power" On July 5, 2011, the 39-story "Techno-Mart" mall in Seoul, South Korea shook for ten minutes, causing a two-day evacuation and an investigation. The cause of the tremors? Seismic experts conclu

Chris Higgins


1. "Romeo and Juliet" – Dire Straits Dolly Parton, Steve Forbert, Elvis Costello, Michael Penn... These are just a few of many artists who've referenced the name Romeo in their songs. But this beautiful tune from Mark Knopfler stands out for its streetwis

Bill DeMain


Image credit: Daniel R. Tobias/Wikimedia CommonsI was working at Tower Records back in the late 1980s, when the compact disc started replacing the vinyl LP. Beyond the arguments over the analog vs. digital sound (which continue to this day) and the higher

Bill DeMain


REUTERS/PETR JOSEK/LANDOV

Music can cheer you up when you're sad, make you dance like a fool, and allow you to drown out the world when you need to. But music has its scientific uses, too.

Jessica Hullinger


Headshot of Johnny Cash Singing

© Chris Hoffmann/dpa/Corbis / © Jeff Albertson/CORBIS In February 1969, Johnny Cash had a party at his house in Hendersonville, TN. As the evening went on, the party turned into a guitar pull, with some of Johnny's friends trying out their latest songs.

Bill DeMain