• 5 Great Rock Docs Focusing on UK Acts and The '70s: David Bowie's 'Cracked Actor,' 'The Kids Are Alright' and More

    David Bowie has had several documentaries made about his legendary and varied career but none have come close to the original: Cracked Era, which debuted on the BBC during 1975 and caught the vocalist following the release of Diamond Dogs and his preparation for the tour in support of the album. More relevantly, it caught Bowie at the peak of his addiction to cocaine and gave viewers a look at the paranoia and mental exhaustion it caused him. Bowie was far from the only British musician from that era to be captured on film. Here are five other documentaries (some mad during the decade and some made later looking back) that give viewers a new understanding of that period in UK music history.

  • The 13 Songs of D'Angelo's 'Voodoo': Ranked for its 15th Anniversary

    Today, Jan. 25, marks the 15th anniversary of D'Angelo's classic sophomore album, "Voodoo," which combined R&B, funk, soul and hip-hop in such an experimental and masterful way that it came to be seen at the crowning achievement of neo-soul, a movement which also included artists such as Lauryn Hill, The Roots and Erykah Badu. In celebration of this incredible album, here are its 13 songs ranked, from weakest to best.

  • 5 Songs Banned in Sports: "CoCo" by O.T. Genasis, "Dixieland Delight" by Alabama, "Sweet Caroline and More

    Klay Thompson went HAM this week when his Golden State Warriors faced the Sacramento Kings last week: The shooting guard scored 37 points during the third quarter, setting the record for scoring in just one period, along with the record for most 3-pointers during one quarter. The team probably wanted to sing after finishing the game with a 25-point win, but alas the NBA and team executives have requested the team stop posting videos of the team singing its trademark song. Here are five songs that have gotten banned in sports and how they offended (meanwhile you can also check out a shortened video of Thompson's performance here via Sports Illustrated).

  • Australian Music Festival Fails: 5 Events Suffering Bad Luck and Bad Organization in Memory of Sunbury

    Australia is one of the toughest places to stage a music festival due to its relative isolation from the rest of the world. There's plenty of fans to provide funding for a limited number of events but it's still tough to draw (and pay) huge acts for traveling so far for what's most likely to be just on appearance (versus a longer tour scenario, where headliners such as Katy Perry can make oodles of cash). Here are five festivals that have undergone downsizing down under recently.

  • LCD Soundsystem's Debut Album: 9 Songs Ranked for Its 10th Anniversary

    Today, Jan. 24, marks the 10th anniversary of LCD Soundsystem's self-titled debut album, which saw DFA Records founder James Murphy combining the seemingly disparate worlds of punk and dance music into a distinctly '00s sound oozing with New York cool. In celebration of this incredible album, here are its nine exclusive songs ranked, from weakest to best.

  • Barack Obama, David Cameron and Narendra Modi: Guessing at 6 World Leaders' Favorite Performers

    The favorite music of the world's most powerful people is often kept a secret, as one controversial faux pas could be the death of a political career. Things have started to warm up however, as the leaders of the free (and less than free) world have taken to filling the general public in on their Facebook favs. David Cameron told the world this week that he preferred Bryan Ferry over Jay Z, and even Vladimir Putin has warmed enough to inform his constituents that he was "a Russian man and I listen to Russian music." French President Francois Hollande used "Niggas in Paris" as part of a campaign commercial during 2012 (although we doubt he personally is a fan of Jay and Kanye).

  • No Offense to LL Cool J, but 5 Other Options for Grammy Hosting: Beyoncé, Steven Colbert, Blake Shelton and More

    Today the Recording Academy confirmed that LL Cool J will be the host at The Grammys when they go down on February 8. It was hardly a surprise to anyone who's paid attention in recent years: The emcee has hosted the event every year since 2012. That said, it's tough to blame the Academy and CBS for not wanting to shake things up: Although the performer will have now hosted 10 times, the recent results don't lie. The previous three years have featured, respectively, the no. 1, 3, and 2 highest viewerships since the '80s (the 2012 edition got a boost from those tuning in after Whitney Houston's death).

  • 10 Artists Whose Debut Singles Were Covers: Nirvana, Rush, And More

    Signing a brand new and therefore untested artist can be a risky move for most labels, so in order to get around this, some labels push their new artists to record cover songs for their debut singles as a sort of test run. Here are 10 artists who recorded cover songs for their debut singles.

  • The Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man" at 50: Ranking The Original (Bob Dylan) and Covers (Stevie Wonder, William Shatner, More)

    On this date 50 years ago The Byrds recorded "Mr. Tambourine Man." That band wasn't the first to do it—Bob Dylan wrote the original version of the song and recorded it just five days prior to The Byrds entering the studio with it—but it would end up that the latter ended up more famous than the first. The song reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been cited as the birthplace of "folk rock" (fans of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and everything to follow are thankful). Many acts have gone on to cover the track (aside from The Byrds) so Music Times gathered a few of the more famous versions and ranked them accordingly.
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