Ocean State Libraries

There's a reason hit songs offer such guilty pleasure--they're designed that way. Over the last two decades a new type of hit song has emerged, one that is almost inescapably catchy. Pop songs have always had a "hook," but today's songs bristle with them: a hook every seven seconds is the rule. Painstakingly crafted to tweak the brain's delight in melody, rhythm, and repetition, these songs are highly processed products. Like snack-food engineers,...

"From journalist Peter Ames Carlin-the New York Times bestselling music biographer who chronicled the lives and careers of Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, the Beach Boys, and Paul Simon-Sonic Boom captures the rollicking story of the most successful record label in the history of rock and roll, Warner Bros Records, and the remarkable secret to its meteoric rise"-- The roster of Warner Brothers Records and its subsidiary labels reads like the roster...

"This time the search for a rare record ensnares our hero in a mystery with its roots stretching back to the Second World War. Three young RAF airmen played in a legendary band called the Flare Path Orchestra. When a precious record of their music turns up in the most unexpected place, the Vinyl Detective finds himself hired to track down the rest of their highly sought-after recordings. But, as he does so, he finds that the battles of the last World...

"When a music industry legend is found dead in his office on Nashville's famed Music Row, the list of potential suspects is long. And the more detectives Henry Gray and Brett Kennedy investigate, the longer it gets. Allegations of infidelity, incest, and theft are just a few flies in the ointment they'll encounter as they try to close the case. Add in the fact that the victim was a close personal friend of the chief of detectives and the pressure...

"The cassette tape, as we know it, was originally released in 1968, it was the perfect combination of versatility, high quality & small size. A whole new generation of portable pocket-sized audio & video gadgets had cropped up to take its place, such as CD players, mp3 players and blue tooth devices. The sales of pre-recorded cassette tapes dropped off significantly in the early 1990s, but surprisingly as of recently, cassette tapes sales have been...

"Tells the story of the landmark label's rich history as it interweaves threads of technical and social change with the emergence of an amazing stable of artists and the creation of some of the greatest recordings ever made"--P. [4] of cover.

"A narrative history of the Motown music label covering the historical context, personalities, and ongoing legacy of the 'sound of young America'"--