Rock

Record producer Joe Boyd has worked with Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, Richard and Linda Thompson, R.E.M. and many other musical acts. He has a new memoir, called White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s.

Singer Mary Weiss first found fame as a member of the Shangri-Las, with hits like "Leader of the Pack," "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" and "Give Him a Great Big Kiss." Now she's recorded her first album of new material since 1965. It's called Dangerous Game.

The filmmaker has released a new Valentine's Day album called A Date with John Waters. It's a compilation of love songs including Mink Stole's "Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun" and the late Edith Massey (aka the Egg Lady) singing "Big Girls Don't Cry."

Lead singer/guitarist Pat DiNizio and drummer Dennis Diken from the band The Smithereens. Their new album, Meet the Smithereens, is a track-by-track homage to the Beatles' Meet the Beatles.

Singer, guitarist, and author Alex Kapranos is the frontman for the Glasgow-based indie rock quartet Franz Ferdinand. The band, best known for its single "Take Me Out," has produced two hit CDs. Kapranos has a new book about eating on tour, called Sound Bites. The book is compiled partly from his column in London's Guardian newspaper about his gastronomic adventures.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are marking their 30th year in the business with a U.S. tour, and Petty has a new solo album, Highway Companion.

Thom Yorke is the lead singer and songwriter of the band Radiohead. Along with their longtime producer Nigel Godrich, Radiohead has released six critically acclaimed records and explored the boundaries between rock and electronic music. Yorke's new solo CD, The Eraser, is his first release without the band.

The brother-sister team of Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger has a new album called Bitter Tea, which they describe as "sissy psychedelic Satanism." Their other albums include Rehearsing My Choir, made with the participation of their 82-year-old grandmother.

Lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks, Ray Davies started The Kinks in 1964 with his brother, Dave. They are said to be the pioneers of the rowdy garage band genre of rock music. Davies is now 61 and on tour for his first solo album, Other People’s Lives.

Stuart Murdoch is the front man for the Scottish indie-pop band Belle and Sebastian. For the group's new CD, The Life Pursuit, they've broken two long-standing traditions: making quietly precious music, and refusing to embrace the media.