John Schaefer grew up on the Stones; he shares five pivotal memories of Mick and Keith and the band.

This Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones’ first gig, which took place at London’s Marquee Club on July 12, 1962. While the band celebrates yet another milestone in its sprawling career, Soundcheck wants you to join us in an alternate universe and answer the question: What if the Rolling Stones – like the Beatles – had called it quits in 1970? John asks music critic and author Anthony DeCurtis how music history would be different without mid- and late-career Stones? We want you to weigh in: Leave a comment below.

Dirty Projectors is an art-pop band led by singer, songwriter, composer, and lefty guitarist (which seems relevant somehow) David Longstreth. They headlined a triple bill last night at Celebrate Brooklyn; and while I missed openers Purity Ring, I made sure to catch Wye Oak, in the middle of the lineup. The Baltimore duo has done some terrific work (check out "Civilian" if you haven't already heard it on TV - it was used in the zombie series The Walking Dead), and I was eager to see them live.

A free download from a Boston band takes us back to the years when Addis Ababa was called “Swinging Addis.”

It’s called “Mick: the Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger.”  But what we’ve seen so far is all wild life and precious little genius. 

It’s like the stuff of science fiction: An audio historian at Indiana University has figured out a way for us to hear the world’s oldest gramophone recording – even though the disc and the player have long since disappeared.

A new film about Jimi Hendrix will not include any of his songs.  Neither does this list of great Hendrix performances. 

At the end of the year, I will do what everyone else in the music biz professes to hate so much, but never misses an opportunity to do: create a top-10 list of the year’s best music.  Since the year’s only halfway gone, though, I’m going to limit myself to 5 current faves for now. 

The mastermind behind the popular indie band Spoon has always juggled other projects.  With no new Spoon material in sight, we check out his other band, Divine Fits. 

Download the collaborative Joe Jackson-Iggy Pop track, "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing." 

Last week we talked about - and asked you for - the worst band names.  Now SPIN is offering a list of the Best Band Names – and we are not impressed.  

Last night, passersby at Times Square were treated to the sight of close to 200 people standing in the middle of the plaza singing classical choral music. (Soundcheck’s technical director Irene Trudel was one of the sopranos.) Our friends at NPR Music had asked Philip Glass to turn his song "New Rule," originally for soprano solo and instrumental ensemble, into a choral piece. That version had its premiere, right there in Times Square.

But it’s what happened after the Glass premiere that made this event so memorable.

Summer’s coming, and the battle for Song of the Summer isn’t far behind. In fact, this year, it may already be over.

Enjoy three Webcasts of the New York Philharmonic's ground-breaking CONTACT! new music series with works by Elliott Carter, Michael Jarrell and Pierre Boulez. Tuesday at 3pm, Wednesday at 7pm and Saturday at 10am.

A preview of a big, brassy, surprising project. 

It’s hard enough to come up with a good band name. It’s even harder to come up with one that’s memorable – for the right reasons, anyway. But sometimes, a band name just stinks. We want to hear the worst of 'em!

When it comes to band names, there’s a fine line between Creative Thinking and Desperate Disaster.

One punk icon acknowledges another, even more extreme one.

Three new songs you should know about, from John Schaefer.

Patti Smith’s latest album, Banga, is her first since winning the 2010 National Book Award for her acclaimed memoir, Just Kids. Now, reaching out to a far larger potential audience than any she’s had before, the original High Priestess of Punk returns with an album that’s full of poetic invention, allusions to explorers and journeys both literal and metaphysical, and a surprising amount of pop culture references.