Music

May 21, 2018 8:57 AM

Getting 'Too Close' to the top of the charts

The song about the effects of slow dancing was the best-selling single of 1998. It's one of the top five best-selling singles of all time by a Minnesota artist.

by MPR News Staff

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May 18, 2018 9:40 AM

Ranky Tanky celebrates Gullah culture

The debut album by Ranky Tanky shot to the top of the Billboard jazz chart after the band was featured on Fresh Air in December.

by MPR News Staff

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May 16, 2018 8:58 AM

Twin Cities radio helped launch Hall and Oates' career

Hall and Oates were relatively unknown when their second album "Abandoned Luncheonette" came out in 1973. That album did not produce any national hits.

by MPR News Staff

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May 11, 2018 9:36 AM

Hear Judy Garland sing about Minnesota at centennial

More than 20,000 people attended the event at Memorial Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus.

by MPR News Staff

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May 9, 2018 10:19 AM

Ry Cooder's new album reimagines old songs

Like much of Ry Cooder's work over the years, his new album "The Prodigal Son" draws inspiration from old songs, often by long-forgotten artists.

by Cathy Wurzer

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May 8, 2018 8:24 AM

Donald Glover's 'This Is America' holds ugly truths to be self-evident

NPR Music's hip-hop journalist Rodney Carmichael breaks down the political and racial nuances of Donald Glover's new video.

by Monika Evstatieva and Audie Cornish

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May 7, 2018 8:27 AM

How Elton John got his name

Fifty years ago, the British blues band Bluesology was on a flight home from a gig and keyboard player Reginald Dwight was trying to come up with a stage name for his nascent solo career.

by MPR News Staff

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May 4, 2018 9:55 AM

Melvin Carter sings 'Brown-Eyed Mayor'

The St. Paul mayor played the piano and sang his own rewrite of Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl." Carter turned it into a humorous take on what it's like to be the first person of color elected the city's mayor.

by MPR News Staff

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May 3, 2018 9:10 AM

Cuban singer Dayme Arocena performs Thursday in Minneapolis

The show was originally scheduled for last November but Arocena's tour was postponed because of what she calls "unexpected changes at the U.S. Embassy in Havana."

by MPR News Staff

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May 2, 2018 8:55 AM

The forerunner to Alvin and the Chipmunks

Sixty years ago "Witch Doctor" by David Seville was No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart.

by MPR News Staff

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