music news stories on Newser

Google Moog Doodle Wows

Rob Quinn — Wed, 23 May 2012 00:01:00 CDT

Google has honored synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog with a doodle fans are calling its best ever. To mark what would have been Moog's 73rd birthday, Google's homepage features a fully playable version of his famous synth, complete with 19 knobs and a recording device. "We had a terrific blueprint," chief...

Loud Music Linked to Risky Behaviors

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:36:05 CDT

Just like your parents always feared, listening to loud music may actually be bad for you. A new study finds that teens and young adults who use ear buds to listen to music at the "risky" level of 89 dBA for at least an hour each day were nearly twice...

What You Didn't Know About Donna Summer

Matt Cantor — Fri, 18 May 2012 09:29:05 CDT

The passing of Donna Summer has inspired a range of thoughtful retrospectives ; now ABC News points out a few little-known facts about the Queen of Disco. She stopped singing the orgasmic "Love to Love You Baby" in 1979 as she re-devoted herself to Christianity. "If I were to do that...

Donna Summer Was 'Queen of Pop'

Matt Cantor — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:10:37 CDT

Following today's news of Donna Summer's death, critics and fans are lining up to pay their respects to the Queen of Disco. A few highlights from around the Web: Queen of Disco? "A more appropriate title would have been Queen of Pop," writes Melinda Newman at Hitfix . "The musical style...

'Godfather of Go-Go' Chuck Brown Dead at 75

John Johnson — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:46:56 CDT

Chuck Brown, who created the "go-go" genre of funk in DC in the 1970s and remained a mainstay of black Washington's culture ever since, has died at age 75, reports the Washington Post . A snippet from the paper's obituary, by Chris Richards: "Like a DJ blending records, Mr. Brown used...

One of Louis Armstrong's Final Concerts Made Public

Dustin Lushing — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:38:54 CDT

One of the final live performances by Louis Armstrong will be released to the public for the first time. The recording is of a concert on January 28, 1971, at the National Press Club in Washington. The legendary trumpeter was a featured act at the concert, held less than six...

40K Norwegians Sing Song Breivik Can't Stand

Matt Cantor — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:09:05 CDT

Anders Behring Breivik hates the Norwegian song "Children of the Rainbow"; he says it's a Marxist anthem. So 40,000 Norwegians, inspired by an Internet campaign, gathered in rainy Oslo today to belt out the tune near the courthouse where Breivik is being tried, AFP reports. The brightly-clad protesters carried...

America's Trend-Setter in Music: Atlanta

Matt Cantor — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 10:16:58 CDT

Researchers have combed online data to determine which cities set the trend for music listeners—and the results are surprising. In North America, Atlanta residents are ahead of the curve with their playlists for new music overall and hip-hop in particular, while Montreal is tops for indie tunes, Time reports....

Marley Doc Offers Personal Perspective

Matt Cantor — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:20:31 CDT

A new documentary about the life of Bob Marley is an "exemplary music documentary in almost every way," writes Dana Stevens at Slate : It's "thoughtful and leisurely paced," it's positive without fawning, and it gives an in-depth look at Marley the youth, Marley the father, and Marley the musician. Stevens...