Music

The 1962 movie Goldie Hawn considers the greatest ever made: “It’s my favourite film”

• Hawn considers *To Kill a Mockingbird* her favourite film.
• She praised its craft and its ability to teach as well as entertain.
• Russell said Atticus Finch helped inspire a character he played.

In 2005, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell hosted a charity screening of *To Kill a Mockingbird* in Aspen, Colorado. Hawn called the 1962 film her favourite, praising its acting, direction and music, and its ability to entertain while addressing racism. The adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel stars Gregory…

Colourful white dwarfs discovered as Fury storms Netflix

The streaming hit leads a bulletin on the science behind stars’ vivid hues, Rocky Horror’s comfort around grief and identity, and concerns that AI tools could weaken independent thought and learning.

In 1994, Alanis Morissette was robbed at gunpoint. The next day she met Madonna

• Morissette was robbed at gunpoint in Los Angeles.
• The thief left her early *Jagged Little Pill* material.
• She met Madonna and signed with Maverick Records the next day.

Alanis Morissette was robbed at gunpoint shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 1994, but the thief left behind her backpack, including early lyrics and recordings for what would become *Jagged Little Pill*. The following day, she met Madonna at Maverick Records and was encouraged by the pop…

Five Frank Zappa songs that were too weird, even for him

• Zappa’s experimental style produced music that could test even devoted listeners.
• One track used bursts of coloured noise from a homemade distortion device.
• “Rat Tomago” received a 1980 Grammy nomination but did not win.

The article highlights five Frank Zappa songs it considers unusually strange, even by the standards of a musician known for rejecting convention. It presents his self-taught approach as both a source of adventurous experimentation and a reason listeners may see his work as unpredictable. The examples in the…

The two 1966 songs so good they “overwhelmed” Glenn Frey: “Inspirational”

• Glenn Frey called *Pet Sounds* sophisticated and inspirational.
• His favourite tracks were “Caroline, No” and “God Only Knows”.
• Paul McCartney said the album influenced *Sgt Pepper*.

Glenn Frey praised The Beach Boys’ 1966 album *Pet Sounds*, saying its sophistication overwhelmed him and calling it inspirational. He singled out “Caroline, No” and “God Only Knows” as his favourites, and recorded “Caroline, No” for one of his own albums. The article argues that *Pet Sounds* shaped…

Punk was protest. Grunge was angst. What if we’ve had them both wrong?

• Punk combined protest with raw emotion.
• Grunge reflected its musicians’ own surroundings.
• The article challenges a simple distinction between the two.

Johnny Rotten argued that American fans and bands often mistook punk’s style and anger for its purpose: the Sex Pistols, he said, emerged from the injustices facing Britain’s working class. The article questions the familiar division that casts 1970s punk as political protest and 1990s grunge as personal…

In 1965, Bob Dylan played a daring anthem at Newport Folk Festival. Pete Seeger wanted to pull the plug on it

• Dylan’s electric set at Newport in 1965 divided the folk audience.
• Seeger said the sound was distorted, not that Dylan went electric.
• His axe remark helped fuel a lasting myth.

Bob Dylan’s 1965 Newport Folk Festival performance, where he played both acoustic and electric sets, became a defining moment in his move towards rock music. The electric set provoked boos and jeers from parts of the folk audience, reflecting a divide over whether folk musicians should embrace electric…

In 1964 The Beatles visited the USA for the first time. Charles Mingus was not impressed

• Mingus objected to The Beatles profiting from Black American musical influences.
• The band covered American blues, R&B and Motown songs.
• They acknowledged those influences, but Mingus remained critical.

Charles Mingus criticised The Beatles for making money in the United States from music rooted in Black American blues, R&B and soul. His complaint, voiced during the band’s first US visit in 1964, raised questions about who benefited financially when Black musical traditions shaped the sound of hugely…

In 1986, a host no-showed ‘Saturday Night Live’. The problem was they had no idea they were supposed to be hosting

• Morgan Fairchild was booked to host SNL without being told.
• She found out from her mother just days before the show.
• A film shoot abroad meant she could not make it.

Morgan Fairchild was scheduled to host Saturday Night Live in 1986, but nobody told her. She learnt about the booking from her mother, who had seen it in TV Guide, just days before the broadcast. Fairchild was filming in another country and could not leave the production in…