Like many indie pop success stories, Rogue Wave started with hooks and harmonies constantly bouncing around the head of a born songwriter. Zach Rogue in this case, a dot-com casualty who recruited a ba …

When Def Jam dealt Musiq to Atlantic for Fabolous - just in time for his career-high debut with From Nothin' to Somethin' - they did more than switch out an R&B star for a rap one. They pulled o …

If mainstream hip-hop ever held an election, Fabolous would make it to the final polls by being "the people's MC." Why? Because this Brooklyn native's never met a beat he couldn't steamroll and, more i …

While he isn't exactly belting out hardcore or leading the Kinks-y mod-punk revival anymore (see our Next Steps for a shot or two of that), Ted Leo remains one of indie rock's most potent Molotov cockt …

Catherine Wheel set its goals so high from the start that they turned down record deals from Brian Eno and Alan McGee, the Creation Records don credited for breaking such celebrated British acts as My  …

There's a reason why several Pulp songs were selected for the heroin-chic soundtrack of Trainspotting. Iconic frontman Jarvis Cocker personifies Brit-pop for outcasts and cool kids, whether chee …

Gary Allan's no-frills approach emerges two decades after George Strait and Randy Travis launched their careers, and Allan definitely owes them a debt. From the double entendre of "Nothing On But the R …

Danny Elfman traded new wave stardom in Oingo Boingo for one of Hollywood's most successful film-composing careers. His long collaboration with director Tim Burton includes such modern fantasy masterpi …

"Hail, hail rock and roll!" Chuck Berry sings on "School Day," the opening track on his 1957 debut album. And what a fine exhortation it is, coming from a giant of a man who helped introduce this rolli …