The Simpsons‘ 30 Best Musical Cameos: 15 – 1

Yesterday we got the ball rolling on our picks for the best musical cameos from The Simpsons’ first 25 years on the air, in honor of the show’s ongoing marathon of 552 episodes on FXX. We went through the first half of our list of 30 episodes, meaning it’s time…

The Simpsons‘ 30 Best Musical Cameos: 30 – 16

Can there be too much of a good thing? Perhaps. Fans of The Simpsons have likely been asking themselves that question for years now, given that the beloved Fox TV show has been on the air for 25 years now and, arguably, past its best for quite some time. But…

“Smooth” is the Greatest Song of All Time

A great moment in music history. By Diane Martinez This summer marks the fifteen-year anniversary of the greatest song of all time. I KNOW. I couldn’t believe it either, but fifteen years have come and gone since the first time you heard “Smooth” by Santana, featuring Rob Thomas. FIFTEEN. YEARS…

Country Music’s 10 Biggest Pop Crossover Successes

The line that designates what is and is not country music is muddier than most of us are willing to admit. What is abundantly clear, though, is that country music appeals to more people than just rednecks and sappy beer drinkers. Taylor Swift may think she’s reinventing the wheel in…

Heart of Clay

In President Obama’s 1995 autobiography, Dreams from My Father, one passage describes a day when he is still a kid in Indonesia, walking down a road with his Indonesian stepfather. His stepfather asks him how much money he has in his pocket. Then the stepfather asks how many beggars he…

The Story in Ferguson, Missouri, Hits Close to Home

Something in the Ferguson, Missouri, story I keep looking for, waiting. My dad’s family is from St. Louis. Sorta. So anyway today I found an op-ed piece in The New York Times that maybe gets to part of it or somewhere in that general direction. Jeff Smith, a professor of…

10 Reasons 1994 Was Pop Music’s Greatest Year

Courtesy of the label By Art Tavana Was 1994 the best year for pop music in history? Quite possibly. Sure, some of it was terrible, but overall it was amazing: Nordic black metal, Britpop, pop punk, trip hop, and the best R&B of the ’90s (Boyz II Men were peaking)…