Michael Jackson Audio

Novelist J.D. Salinger bowed out of the literary world after achieving massive literary success in the 1950s and early '60s. But in music, the lure of reunion tours and comebacks make it tough to quit. We talk with Spin contributor and Details editor-at-large Jeff Gordinier and author and Slate.com contributor Taylor Clark about creative peaks and retirement. This is an encore edition of Soundcheck.

Country music's obsessions -- drinking, cheating, God and death -- are the obsessions of America as a whole, says author Dana Jennings . His book "Sing Me Back Home: Love, Death, and Country Music" is part memoir, part tribute to twang's golden years. He joins us to talk about the importance of classic country in his family and in the country. Our blog: John Schaefer Muses on Country Music's Appeal

The recent Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There," which features six different actors playing Bob Dylan, got Sara Fishko thinking about the problem of turning lives into art. Audio clips of "Doctor Atomic" courtesy of San Francisco Opera .

As a kid growing up in the Bronx, Joseph Saddler was fascinated by his father’s record albums and turntables. As Grandmaster Flash , he used that fascination to pioneer hip hop DJing, cutting and sound mixing. First, hip hop historian Jeff Chang talks about the legendary DJ's influence. The, the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductee himself takes us insidet he guts of a turntable and talks about his new memoir, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats. Grandmaster Flash will appear tonight at 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble-Bay Plaza , 290 Baychester Avenue in the Bronx, and tomorrow at 7 at Book Revue in Huntington, N.Y. Our Blog: John Schaefer explains why Grandmaster Flash was the soundtrack of New York in the '70s.

It's a list that only Blender magazine could dream up: 25 of music's most reprehensible liars, cheaters, scammers, and shysters. Blender.com editor Mike Errico reveals the chief offenders. Our blog : John Schaefer on music villains

Show Summary: The reporter who broke the warrantless wiretapping story; technology recommendations for the next president; Pundimonium! 24 hours trapped in the world of punditry.

Show Summary: The reporter who broke the warrantless wiretapping story; technology recommendations for the next president; Pundimonium! 24 hours trapped in the world of punditry.

A day after he was sworn in as New York’s new governor, David Paterson was quick to acknowledge that he and his wife had extramarital affairs. Today, we confess the "dirty secrets" in our pop music past -- the albums, concerts and fan letters that even our closest friends don't know about. Cintra Wilson , New York Times and Salon.com contributor, and Anne Midgette , the Washington Post's acting chief classical music critic, share their darkest musical secrets. Plus, we take your confessions …er, calls. Tell us : We all have a bad album, concert or fan letter waiting to be exposed. What's a dirty secret from your pop-music past?

Novelist J.D. Salinger bowed out of the literary world after achieving massive literary success in the 1950s and early '60s. But in music, the lure of reunion tours and comebacks make it tough to quit. We talk with Spin contributor and Details editor-at-large Jeff Gordinier and author and Slate.com contributor Taylor Clark about creative peaks and retirement.

You can call it a copy, a knock-off, an imitation, a re-creation; whatever you call it, Sara Fishko asks, can it be "original"? Can it be hazardous to your health? Here's the next Fishko Files...