Contains “old” categories from before website rebuild.

Hela, Heba Helloa, Everybody

Forty-five years ago today, The Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye" was the number one song in America. For me, the best part of the tune is the sing-along ending coda, "hela, heba helloa." I just love the way it chug-chugs along. (Those words, written by Paul McCartney, mean absolutely nothing in any any foreign language, by the way). "Hello, Goodbye" was the first Beatles single to trick us with a fake ending, then restart with a completely different rhythm. The band referred to the coda as the Maori Finale, due to its tribal sound.

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Selling Mick to Pay Con Ed

On this date in 2012, a set of 10 love letters that Mick Jagger wrote to his one-time paramour Marsha Hunt were auctioned off for £187,250 ($305,929). Hunt, a singer, novelist and model who appeared in the original London production of "Hair," met Mick in 1969. The couple secretly dated and produced a love child - Karis - born in 1970. She is the first of seven children that Mick fathered with four different women. Just how does he find the time for all these family affairs?

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Scott Joplin and the Meaning of ‘Ragtime’

Composer and pianist Scott Joplin, The King of Ragtime, was born on November 24, 1868. Most people know his music from the 1973 movie "The Sting," which featured his tunes as interpreted by the late pianist Marvin Hamlisch. The film created a resurgence in the popularity of Ragtime music. But do you know how the genre got its name?

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