Archives

At a time when pop was dominated by dance music and pop-metal, Guns N’ Roses brought raw, ugly rock & roll crashing back into the charts.

Boyz II Men’s rich harmonies shine on their second album, and so do their new jack swing grooves.

Few American TV series are as deeply entrenched in twentieth-century popular culture as “M*A*S*H,” a Korean War medical comedy characterized by its dark tone and finesse in tackling serious social and political issues. Author David Scott Diffrient analyzes the series’ contextual issues—such as its creation, reception, and circulation—as well as textual issues like its formal innovations, narrative strategies and themes.

At the Battle of Antietam, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and Union General George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac fight to a standstill along a Maryland creek. More than 3,600 men are killed during the bloodiest day in American history.

Hank Williams recorded professionally for about six years and left behind a catalog so emotionally rich and varied that it takes this “complete” collection to fully grasp the depths and range of his talents. Though new radio performances pop up from time to time, this contains all of Williams’ studio work and the radio performances that were known at the time of this release.

Nominated for seven Academy Awards and Winner for Best Directing, this groundbreaking film classic launched the career of two-time Oscar Winner Dustin Hoffman. Co-starring Anne Bancroft.

“The Fifth Beatle” is the untold true story of Brian Epstein, the visionary manager who discovered and guided the Beatles, from their gigs in a tiny cellar in Liverpool to unprecedented international stardom.

This Grammy-winning final album by The Police was one of the most talked about musical achievements of the 80s, delivering such classic hits as “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” “King of Pain” and “Every Breath You Take.”

“Roman Holiday” was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, and Audrey Hepburn captured one of them for her portrayal of a bored and sheltered princess that escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome. Co-starring Gregory Peck and Eddie Albert.

In 1967, Sir Francis Chichester became the first person to sail around the world solo from west to east via the great capes. Here, his entire life — including his greatest failures and successes — are told by the man who experienced it all firsthand.

The perfect collection of the Captain & Tennille’s signature hits, including “Love Will Keep Us Together,” “Musrat Love,” “The Way I Want to Touch You,” and “Shop Around.”

Robert De Niro and James Woods play lifelong Lower East Side pals whose wary partnership unravels in death and mystery. Co-starring Joe Pesci, Elizabeth Mc Govern, Danny Aiello and Tuesday Weld.

This incredible 16-track compilation features some of The Rolling Stones’ most memorable hits spanning the years 1964-1971, including “(I Can t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Under My Thumb,” “Jumpin Jack Flash,” “Paint It, Black,” “Honky Tonk Women” and more

Madonna’s “True Blue” was internationally acclaimed following its release in 1986. The set reached No. 1 in the U.S. and 27 other countries (unprecedented for a female artist at that time) and spawned five smash singles. The lead-off track, “Live To Tell,” reached No. 1 in the U.S. and was followed by four more Top 5 tracks: “Papa Don’t Preach” (No. 1), “True Blue” (No. 3), “Open Your Heart” (No. 1) and “La Isla Bonita” (No. 4).

Rudolph Valentino was the silver-screen legend who for ever changed America’s idea of the leading man: a frightened young fellow who became the cinematic idol of his day.

When astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) is forced to crash-land on a remote Pacific island, he finds a strange bottle that has washed ashore. When he opens it, out pops a genie named Jeannie (Barbara Eden), in this classic ’60s sitcom.

In a small woodsy Oregon town, a group of friends — sensitive Gordie (Wil Wheaton), tough guy Chris (River Phoenix), flamboyant Teddy (Corey Feldman), and scaredy-cat Vern (Jerry O’Connell) — search for a missing teenager’s body. Based on the novella ‘The Body’ by Stephen King.

Tom Cruise plays sports agent Jerry Maguire, who suddenly discovers his scruples and promptly loses his job. But with the help of one loyal colleague and one outrageous client, Maguire learns that loving well is the best revenge. This romantic comedy co-stars Cuba Gooding, Jr., Renee Zellweger and Jay Mohr.

One of the greatest singers in the history of country music, Patsy Cline also helped blaze a trail for female singers to assert themselves as an integral part of the Nashville-dominated country music industry.

Loner Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) enters Officer Candidate School to become a Navy pilot and in 13 tortuous weeks he learns the importance of discipline, love and friendship. Louis Gossett, Jr. won an Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of the tough drill instructor who teaches Zack that no man can make it alone. Co-starring Debra Winger.

Author Ruthie Knapp crafts a fascinating look at the disappearance of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911 — retold from the point of view of the painting.

In the summer of 1963, innocent 17-year-old Baby (Jennifer Grey) vacations with her parents at a Catskill’s resort. One evening she is drawn to the staff quarters by stirring music. There she meets Johnny (Patrick Swayze), the hotel dance instructor, who is as experienced as Baby is naive. Baby soon becomes Johnny’s pupil in dance and love.

Kenny Rogers has a voice that communicates honesty and trust, whether he’s gleaning life advice from poker on “The Gambler” or cherishing love’s lasting bonds on “Through the Years.” This collection of chart-topping hits finds the country star as comfortable with jaunty sing-alongs as with smoldering ballads.

This special effects-driven tale follows Keanu Reeves and Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-nominee Laurence Fishburne on an explosive futuristic sci-fi adventure about a man who comes to believe that his everyday world is the product of a complex computer-driven digital matrix that feeds on humans. Co-starring Carrie-Anne Moss.

The last album recorded by The Beatles but released before the temporarily shelved “Let It Be,” “Abbey Road” captures a briefly reinvigorated group trying one last time to pull it all together.

A trio of sisters with a strong gospel base, the Emotions were one of the leading female R&B acts of the ’70s. This compilation features their Grammy-winning pop/R&B smash, “Best of My Love.”

“A History of Communications” advances a new theory of media that explains the origins and impact of different forms of communication — speech, writing, print, electronic devices and the Internet — on human history in the long term.

One of history’s greatest mountaineers, a man who pushed back the frontiers of the possible for a whole generation of climbers, shares details about his Himalayan conquests as well as his treks across Tibet, the Gobi, and Antarctica — and even discusses his five-year-stint as a member of the European Parliament and more.

Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon star in this modern-day fairy tale in which an entire fictional town is granted a chance to experience the comedies and dangers of real life when two late 20th Century teenagers accidentally bring living color to a mysterious suburb trapped in a black-and-white ’50s utopia, and set off a revolution.

Mark Wahlberg stars in this inspirational docudrama exploring the remarkable rise of Massachusetts-born lightweight title winner “Irish” Micky Ward. A determined pugilist whose career in the ring was shepherded by his loyal half-brother, Dicky (Christian Bale), a hard-living boxer-turned-trainer whose own career in the ring was nearly sent down for the count due to drugs and crime.

This is the movie that captured the astonishing moment when The Beatles officially became the singular, irreverent idols of their generation and changed music forever. Directed by Richard Lester and featuring a slew of iconic pop anthems, this entertaining romp reconceived the movie musical and exerted an enormous influence on the music video.

Renowned for the R&B hits “Just to Be Close to You,” “Easy” and “Brick House,” to name a few, The Commodores were one of the top bands during their long tenure at Motown. The group is credited with seven No. 1 songs and a host of other Top 10 hits on the Billboard charts.

The man who transformed IBM into the world’s largest computer company reflects on his lifelong partnership with his father and how their management style and shared dedication to excellence united to create a unique corporate culture that became the blueprint for the entire technology boom.

Isaac Merritt Singer patented the sewing machine, but his true genius was in the advertising, service with a smile, installment plans, and marketing gimmicks he used to get the sewing machine in homes and sweatshops all over the world. This fascinating and detailed biography provides an insightful and provocative look at the American entrepreneur.

No one knows the writer’s Hollywood more intimately than William Goldman. The Academy Award-winning screenwriter and the bestselling author of “Marathon Man,” “Tinsel,” “Boys and Girls Together” and other novels, Goldman takes you into Hollywood’s inner sanctums.

You can practically see the smiles exchanged between Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins as they trade licks on this 1990 collaboration. These two guitar giants meet as peers and friends, finding common ground in a mutual love of old-time country, classic pop and vintage jazz.

Throughout their half-century tenure as one of pop’s most bountiful acts, the Bee Gees adapted their sound with the changing eras for consistently magical results. This album captures all of that with no less than 21 tracks that will have you dancing and reminiscing.

Elton John and Kiki Dee commandeered the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1976 for four weeks with this smash that also became the duo’s first No. 1 single in the U.K., where it remained a chart-topper for six weeks.

Never before has the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum published a complete registry of inductees with plaques, photographs, and extended biographies. In this unique, 75th anniversary edition, read the stories of every player inducted into the Hall, organized by position.

On August 7, 1974, a vivacious young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged a quarter mile above Manhattan between the World Trade Center’s twin towers. After dancing on the wire for nearly an hour, he was arrested and taken for psychological evaluation. This documentary incorporates Petit’s footage to show the extraordinary challenges he faced in completing the artistic crime of the century.

Ralph Bunche was instrumental ― sometimes at great personal risk ― in finding peaceful solutions to incendiary conflicts around the world, while at the same time he was never far from the realities of racial prejudice. Bunche rose from modest circumstances to become the foremost international mediator and peacekeeper of his time, winner of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize and key drafter of the United Nations charter.

When Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) returns to her hometown in Northern Minnesota after a failed marriage, she needs a good job. A single mother with two children to support, she turns to the predominant source of employment in the region — the iron mines. Co-starring Frances McDormand.

This album captures The Beatles at their peak of creativity, with surprising shifts in mood, ranging from the bright positivity of “Good Day Sunshine” to the paranoia of “She Said She Said.” The balance of pure harmony (“Here, There and Everywhere”) with jangling electric guitar (“And Your Bird Can Sing”), orchestral character portraits (“Eleanor Rigby”) and brassy soul (“Got to Get You Into My Life”) is seamless.

Stimulated by the pulse of late-1970s Manhattan, The Rolling Stones dove into the city’s musical subcultures with “Some Girls” and emerged with takes on disco (“Miss You”), punk (“Shattered”) and even country (“Far Away Eyes”).

An unforgettable book that will redefine one of the greatest icons of the 20th century and that, nearly 60 years after her death, will definitively reveal Marilyn Monroe’s humanity.

In the movie that launched Tom Cruise to stardom, a high school senior is tired of being Mr. All-American and facing such traumatic decisions as which Ivy League college to attend. His life gets turned around when he meets a sexy call girl who transforms his house into a brothel while his parents are away. Co-starring Rebecca DeMornay and Joe Pantoliano.

Benedict Cumberbatch shines as real-life war hero and pioneer of modern-day computing, Alan Turing, who saved millions of lives by cracking Germany’s so-called unbreakable code during WWII. Co-starring Keira Knightley and Mark Strong.

Looking for a high-energy crash course on the New York trio that bridged rap to rock like no one before? “Solid Gold Hits” is a digitally remastered tour of the Beasties’ brashest anthems.

This compilation of 18 Bobby Lewis favorites features the classic “Tossin’ and Turnin’,” which topped both the pop and R&B charts in 1961.

Super-size your music library with this double-album featuring such Rolling Stones classics as “Time is On My Side,” “Satisfaction,” “Get Off Of My Cloud,” “Ruby Tuesday” and “Jumping Jack Flash.”

A real-life courtroom drama plays out as high school science teacher John Scopes stands trial for teaching his students about evolution.

Explore key milestones in the American space program, including the Mercury tracking program and satellites such as Vanguard, Explorer, Pioneer, Tiros, Telstar, Relay and Syncom.

Laughs are guaranteed when you watch this TV comedy series set in a detective squad room in a rundown precinct house in New York’s Greenwich Village, starring Hal Linden, Ron Glass and Abe Vigoda.

Your best friend’s star is rising in Hollywood and there’s only one thing to do: join his entourage. Meet Eric, Turtle and Johnny Drama — three guys from Queens dedicated to helping their film-star buddy, Vincent Chase, navigate the absurdities of modern-day Hollywood.