The word “timeless” comes up a lot. It can reference many different things. Those hardwood floors are timeless. That man’s traditional clothing is timeless. If it keeps on going and it never really gets old, then I guess you could call it “timeless”. When thinking about things in that nature, the first thing that comes to mind is music. I mean, why not, right?

Recently I fell in love with the television show Weeds. It makes me wish that I had a mother who sold pot. It makes me wish that I liked pot. It makes me wish that I had thought of the idea before Jenji Kohan and dropped out of school to write such a great show. But I didn’t.

Some of you might know where I’m going with this. The theme song for the first season of the show is an extremely timeless song. The fact that every season after the first has someone else covering the original track pretty much proves my point.

That’s the original track played in the opening credits that is performed by Malvina Reynolds, who is an American folk/blues songwriter.

Now, when you see her you automatically think that she’s some deranged old bitty that smells like Scotch Guard, dinner mints, and plays Bridge with your grandmother on the weekends. I’m not really sure she fits into any of those categories but think what you will.

Now, I’m not going to bore your with cold hard facts. I’m not going to tell you that she played violin in a dance band in her twenties, or that she studied Music Theory at Berkeley, or that her most famous song “Little Boxes” was inspired by what he mother saw when looking at the homes in California. Because if you’re interested enough, you’ll Google everything you need to know. But, all I’m going to say is that this lady was a prime example that talent comes in all shapes and sizes. I mean, who would think that someone such as Malvina Reynolds could be featured on a show like Weeds?

At what point can a song from such a different time and style, when compared to today’s music, be featured on a hip television show? It’s talent such as Reynolds’ that becomes timeless and shared for other generations to appreciate.

Times are tough. We all know that. When you can’t be 100% sure if your job at McDonald’s is secure until the end of the week, you know that times are tough. This woman’s music is fitting for today. What better place to turn to other than your grandparents, right? I mean, they’re the ones who have seen worse than us, right? Right.

This is the stuff that good music is made out of, I’m sure.

We’ve all seen it a hundred times over: awkward teenage boys sitting together in garages across America, writing uncomfortable love songs, daydreaming of girls shrieking wildly while lifting their shirts over their heads to expose their girly parts. (Actually never mind “shrieking wildly.”) Some of those boys become accountants. Some of those boys become awkward men sitting together in garages across America, writing uncomfortable love songs, daydreaming of girls lifting their shirts to expose their girly parts. And some of those boys may be lining themselves up to be the next Leiber and Stoller.

After meeting in Los Angeles in 1950 and bonding over their mutual love for blues and R&B, Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber began writing music together while still in their teens. In 1953 their song “Hound Dog” was recorded by Big Mama Thornton (which was re-recorded three years later by Elvis Presley and remained the number one pop song for eleven weeks straight in 1956.)

That same year and at the age of twenty, Leiber and Stoller created their first record label, Spark Records. Spark was later bought out by Atlantic Records, where Jerry and Mike were then signed as independent producers. During their time with Atlantic, the duo moved their offices to the famed Brill Building in New York City and wrote and produced hit songs such as “Yakety Yak” for The Coasters, “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King, and “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley, among others.

In 1964 and after years of success with Atlantic, Mike and Jerry eventually cut ties with the label to launch Red Bird Records. As was the case with their first label, Leiber and Stoller experienced success with Red Bird Records, having released hit songs such as “Chapel Of Love” by The Dixie Cups and “Leader Of the Pack” by Shangri-Las. Only two years later, in 1966, Leiber and Stoller sold Red Bird to George Goldner and began working independently.

The duo continued to work intermittently throughout the 1970s and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987. In 1995 the musical Smokey Joe’s Cafe premiered on Broadway. The show was based around their work and featured songs from the Leiber and Stoller songbook. The soundtrack, Smokey Joe’s Cafe: The Songs Of Leiber And Stoller, won a Grammy in 1995, and the show received numerous nominations for a Tony award the same year.

The ASCAP Foundation Leiber & Stoller Music Scholarships program was founded in 1992. The scholarship offers financial aid to aspiring singers, songwriters. Two awards are given each school year.

Mike Stoller currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Jerry Leiber died in Los Angeles on August 22nd, 2011.

Best known for his radio work in Ohio during the 1940s and ’50s, disc jockey Alan Freed has been credited with introducing the world to the term “rock n roll.” In an attempt to break down the racial barriers between black R&B and a white audience, it has been said that Freed began using “rock n roll” to describe the up-tempo, soul music that became popular during the late ’40s.

Noticing a shift in record sales amongst the white teenage community, the Ohio DJ realized that times were changing and the tastes of music’s primary consumer were changing with them. After adopting the moniker Moondog, and experiencing wide success with his radio show Moondog’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Party, Freed became widely embraced as an unofficial promoter of the rock n roll genre.

After years of success in the music industry as well as the fight to end racism, Alan “Moondog” Freed became one of the primary DJs cited in the payola scandal of the early 1960s. With 29 counts of commercial bribery against him, Freed pleaded guilty. Though he received minimal punishment for his crimes, his career endured a massive blow and never truly recovered.

Alan Freed died in 1965 at the age of 43. In 1986 he was one of the first people to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 1991 he received a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. While his career ended on a low note, his influence on the music industry was powerful and continues to be felt today.