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Soundcheck

Wednesday, July 11, 2007
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  • A Year To Remember

    Forget 1967 and the summer of love. The most important year in music might have occurred just 10 years ago. Today on Soundcheck, find out how 1997 changed the music industry forever. And, violinist Lara St. John compares two very different compositions and offers her fresh take on the classical music world. Plus, a look at Prince's latest (and certainly not last) controversy.

Nostalgia for '97

In the summer of 1997, Hanson heated up the charts with "MMMBop," the Spice Girls were at the peak of their stardom, and the music industry was flush with money. Ten years later, albums barely sell a quarter of what they did back then. The Spice Girls are reuniting. And the Hanson brothers have gone indie. Journalist and author David Browne joins us to revive that summer and to explain why the industry went downhill in 1997.

Are you nostalgic for 1997? Has music improved or gotten worse? Tell us why in comments:

Lara St. John

If you think Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" is overdone, wait until it’s mixed with "The Four Seasons Suite" by Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla. Violinist Lara St. John offers a fascinating comparison between the two. And, she talks about moving beyond a "classical babe" after arriving on the scene 10 years ago posing "topless" with just a violin on her album cover.

Lara St. John's website

Still the King of Controversy

Prince is giving away free copies of his new album "Planet Earth" in the Mail on Sunday newspaper and to fans who attend the 21 live shows he’s in London next month. The move has infuriated British retailers, and Sony/BMG is refusing to distribute "Planet Earth" in the UK. We’ll talk to Wired magazine columnist Eliot Van Buskirk about Prince’s history of often-prophetic professional decisions.

Eliot Van Buskirk's Wired column on Prince

audience

Soundcheck Smackdown: When Contemporary Met Classical

Soundcheck

Like vegetables stuck into a delicious meal, contemporary classical music is forced on concert audiences before they are allowed to enjoy their Brahms. So says humorist, critic and author Joe Queenan. Today, Queenan and John Berry, Artistic Director with English National Opera, join us for a Soundcheck Smackdown debate on the merits of contemporary music.

musical clouds

You Are What You Hear

Soundcheck

Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi takes us through some of the most famously botched song lyrics in rock history. We’ll explore why the words we make up are usually more interesting than the real version. Then, listeners confess their favorite and most embarrassing reinvented lyrics.

Leave a comment: Give us your favorite set of misheard lyrics! Were you disappointed when you learned the actual words?

Rosanne Cash and Mark O'Connor

Soundcheck

For her, he was a father. For him, he was a boyhood hero. For the nation, he was an icon. Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash and composer and violinist Mark O'Connor join us to talk about how Johnny Cash has inspired their musical collaboration. And they will play live.

Katy

Soundcheck's Summer Song Poll

Soundcheck

Every year, popular and critical opinion somehow converge to settle on a "summer song." In 2007, it was Rihanna's "Umbrella." The year before, it was "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. The practice stretches back to the very dawn of pop radio. Yet defining the essence of a "summer song" is a bit elusive. We enlist the help of Blender editor at large Lizzy Goodman -- and of our Soundcheck listeners, in an online poll.

Cast your vote: Soundcheck's Summer Song Poll 2008

Can't decide? Check out audio and video clips of the contestants here.

Our blog: John Schaefer asks what makes a good summer song,

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