Covering—the musical practice of one artist recording or performing another composer's song—has always been an attribute of popular music. In 2009, the internet database Second Hand Songs estimated that there are 40,000 songs with at least one cover version. Some of the more common variations of this "appropriationist" method of musical quotation include traditional forms such as patriotic anthems, religious hymns such as Amazing Grace, Muzak's instrumental interpretations, Christmas classics, and children's songs. Novelty and comedy collections from parodists such as Weird Al Yankovic also align in the cover category, as does the "larcenous art" of sampling, and technological variations in dance remixes and mash-ups. Film and television soundtracks and advertisers increasingly rely on versions of familiar pop tunes to assist in marketing their narratives and products. The cover phenomenon in popular culture may be viewed as a postmodern manifestation in music as artists revisit, reinterpret and re-examine a significant cross section of musical styles, periods, genres, individual records, and other artists and their catalogues of works.The cover complex, with its multiple variations, issues, contexts, and re-contextualizations comprises an important and rich popular culture text. These re-recordings represent artifacts which embody artistic, social, cultural, historical, commercial, biographical, and novel meanings. Through homage, allusion, apprenticeship, and parody, among other modes, these diverse musical quotations express, preserve, and distribute popular culture, popular music and their intersecting historical narratives. Play it Again represents the first collection of critical perspectives on the many facets of cover songs in popular music.

In 2010, Alan Rusbridger, the editor of the Guardian, set himself an almost impossible task: to learn, in the space of a year, Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 – a piece that inspires dread in many professional pianists. His timing could have been better. The next twelve months were to witness the Arab Spring, the Japanese tsunami, the English riots, and the Guardian’s breaking of both WikiLeaks and the News of the World hacking scandal. In the midst of this he carved out twenty minutes’ practice a day – even if that meant practising in a Libyan hotel in the middle of a revolution as well as gaining insights and advice from an array of legendary pianists, theorists, historians and neuroscientists, and even occasionally from secretaries of state. But was he able to play the piece in time?

What if Ty Cobb and Shoeless Joe Jackson had stood side by side in Cleveland's outfield? What if integration had taken place in the major leagues before 1947? Who would have won the World Series had a strike not shortened the 1994 season? In this compilation of fantasy scenarios, the history of baseball from 1869 to the controversial 2003 playoffs is literally rewritten by fifty journalists, historians, authors and former baseball players. Topics include playing for pay, Merkle's Boner, rival leagues, the 1919 Series, Mickey Owens and the dropped strike, and integration. Chronologically organized, the experts take up the major events of each era and speculate on the long-and short-term outcomes had history followed a different, but still likely, course. The book concludes with an appendix in which the panel members hold forth on general-interest topics such as star-crossed players who might have gone on to Hall of Fame careers, the greatest big-game players, and World Series pairings.

Did you use to play the piano? Would you like to play again? This is the first of two books of Play it again: Piano. It will reunite you with the keyboard using real pieces from the piano repertoire to teach specific techniques and tips, to get you playing fluently once again. The level of pieces in this first book progresses from around UK grades 1 to 4 (elementary to intermediate). "I used to play the piano..." Aimed at 'returning' players who have spent some time away from the keyboard, Play it again: Piano gives you the confidence to revisit this fulfilling pastime and go beyond what you previously thought you could achieve. Each of the 28 pieces in Book 1 is accompanied by two full pages of easy-to-understand practice tips, all designed to get your fingers speeding comfortably across the keys once again! There are more comprehensive Piano Technique and Theory sections at the front and back of each book, so you can also delve deeper to regain a fuller understanding of music and technique. A refresher course for all abilities Each book is arranged in 4 progressive sections, with Book 1 moving from 'Elementary' to 'Intermediate', and Book 2 taking you from 'Late Intermediate' to 'Late Advanced'. Dip in and out wherever your level of playing suits: this two-book course starts with simple and elegant miniatures and concludes with the famously showy Prelude in C-sharp minor by Rachmaninoff! Confident pianists could start with Book 2, but there is a wealth of delightful repertoire and valuable practice tips in Book 1 – it's always useful to go 'back to basics'. From Schumann to shuffles Baroque, Classical and Romantic works sit alongside Jazz, Ragtime, contemporary or traditional pieces at every level, so each lesson brings something different and you'll learn to play in a range of styles, some of which may be new to your fingers. If you often find yourself saying "I used to play the piano..." but wish you still did, then Play it again: Piano is the resource for you!

Sam Schoenfeld was a basketball wizard! He was one of the most outstanding basketball players of his generation, and was compared favorably to Nat Holman, who was considered the very best. He became one of the top high school basketball coaches in New York City history, and then went on to become one of the best college basketball officials as well. This book details the unlimited passion that Sam had for the game of basketball and of his impressive contributions and achievements in it. The reader is taken along for an exciting ride through the short but full life of an extraordinary man!

Dogs can smell electricity. Cats can heal bones by purring. Kittens can contact their mothers via a secret, ultra-sonic language. Dogs can understand a vocabulary of 200 human words. Every day, it seems, new scientific discoveries are fuelling the age old argument about which of man's two best friends really is the superior species. Augustus Brown fans the flames further with this collection of the weirdest, most wonderful and downright incredible of these truths about cats and dogs. Did you know, for instance, that dogs can see moving objects 900 yards away, and that cats can sense earthquakes coming? Or that dogs prefer Bach to Britney, while cats prefer drugs to chocolate? Fascinating, funny and provocative, his book may not settle the debate once and for all. But it is certain to set cat and dog lovers arguing like, well you know what...

When Amy Marsh hears her sons song being played on the radio, she is caught off guard. Not only has he been dead for over twenty years, but his music was never aired. So why, on his birthday, twenty-one years after his death is someone else singing his haunting melody? Shes about to find out. As a retired journalist, she and her husband, ex-building contractor Daniel, have retired from the Midwest to the sunny coast of Carmel, California. As Amy uses her past writing experience to extract an article from the supposed singer/songwriter, she takes her entire family on a spiritual journey that will change their lives forever. Daniels gruff nature struggles against his wifes softness and willingness to accept this new young singer into their family, but in the end, even her sons ex-band mates will have to concede, theres something unique and special about Jonah. Play It Again is a heartwarming story that will make you laugh, cry, and wonder, if you havent already, what happens to our spirit when we die?

The closer you get to discovering why Amanda left, the more you realize that nothing about her is what it seems. . . . Hal, Callie, and Nia are more determined than ever to figure out who Amanda really is, especially after the vice principal was attacked and they spotted a note from Amanda in his car. Clues are pouring in to www.theamandaproject.com, but some of them lead to more questions than answers. When the three friends find a locked, carved box they're sure it holds the key to Amanda's secrets. If only they could get it open! As they begin to unravel the tangled web of Amanda's life, Hal discovers a strange list with their names on it, and he suspects it means any one of them could be the next target. One thing's for sure: In the search for Amanda, no one can be trusted.