On This Date in 1940: 'I'll Never Smile Again,' by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, with Frank Sinatra on lead vocals, is the first song to reach No. 1 on Billboard's new singles chart.

The Almanac Advises for July 20: "Having a No. 1 hit single is no guarantee of continued success. The annals of popular music are rife with acts that, after having reached the top of the charts, are never to be heard from again."

Neil Diamond has been holed up at the Arc Angel, the L.A. studio he's called home for more than three decades, working on his new album, 'Home Before Dark.' Before he plays it across the U.S., Diamond has an unlikely engagement: A two-night appearance on 'American Idol.' The show will introduce the songwriter behind the Monkees' 'I'm a Believer,' UB40's 'Red, Red Wine' and Urge Overkill's 'Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon' (not to mention his own 'Sweet Caroline' and 'I Am...I Said)' to a new generation of music devotees.

The release of the sublimely intimate, Rick Rubin-produced 'Home' -- which features a duet with the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines -- reminds us where else fans should be able to catch a glimpse of Diamond: In the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Spinner caught up with the legendary singer-songwriter to talk about everything from Frank Sinatra to the mysteries of songwriting.

How was working with Rick Rubin for the second time different from the first?

It was pretty easy both times, although it was probably more [a process of] getting to know each other the first time. Maybe I was a little more nervous the first time working with these musicians, the first time working with Rick. You put yourself in somebody's hands and you really don't know what they're going to do. But as it progressed, it became apparent that it was going to be comfortable and it was going to be good. This one was a lot easier. There were less songs. I knew the musicians. We'd done an entire album together. You get to know people pretty good working that close.

Did that relaxation influence the album?

It did influence the writing, but I'm not really sure how. See, I hadn't written an original album .... I started really with the 'Tennessee Moon' album, co-writing all the songs. It was intentional to work with a lot of different writers in Nashville. I had a lot of fun. That started to get the barnacles and rust off of my writing chops. Then, 'Three Chord Opera' was maybe all mine. That continued that process of the rust falling off. And '12 Songs' took me just a little bit further. I was flying with this one. It's about as good as I can get as a writer. I was in the groove. I knew what I wanted and when I heard something that I liked, I knew when to follow up on it.

What's the sound of the city? The great ones should come with a soundtrack. Chicago has the electric blues; San Francisco has psychedelic rock. New York is Gershwin, or the Ramones. Even long-suffering Detroit remains defined by the Motown sound.

But what about states? Can any American state, as vast and diverse as most of them are, claim a distinct, easily identified contribution to pop music? If Louisiana gave us jazz and Hawaii sounds like the ukulele, what about, say, Ohio?

In 'Hang On Sloopy: The History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ohio,' rock writer Nick Talevski makes a case that the Buckeye state, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Toledo Mud Hens, is an underrated source of great pop and rock. The Pretenders, Devo, the O'Jays, Dean Martin, Macy Gray, Marilyn Manson: Like the notion of Middle America, which Ohio epitomizes every election cycle, the writer points out that the state's musical output has something for everybody.

But it would be a frightening world indeed if you could call the intersection of Dean Martin and Marilyn Manson a real pop watershed. New Jersey, on the other hand – now there's a place with a song in its heart.

That song is most likely by Frank Sinatra or Bruce Springsteen. Either way, according to several Joisey-ites interviewed by the Star-Tribune in Minneapolis (where the Broadway hit 'Jersey Boys' is set to open), it does in fact represent a distinctive sound.

The Garden State's ubiquitous smokestacks instill a sense of blue-collar pride, as one native notes, and its ethnic mix of Italian, black and Jewish – all significant pieces of the rock 'n' roll puzzle – makes for "a very potent combination in popular music," as Springsteen chronicler Robert Santelli observes. As Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers told the Star-Tribune, the "armpit of America" (as Jersey is so fondly known) is actually "the muscle of America." And we wouldn't want to arm-wrestle him.

Next: Jamming Is Dreamy

"I am a thing of beauty."
-- Frank Sinatra

The Rules for Battle: Each week, we pit versions of the same song by two different artists in a head-to-head death match for musical supremacy. (Sometimes it will be the original recording vs. a cover version; other times it will be two different covers.) Then it's up to you to decide: Listen to and vote on which version you think should emerge victorious and which should be sent packing. May the best band win!




The Song: 'New York, New York'

The Contestants: Frank Sinatra vs. Cat Power

In This Corner -- Frank Sinatra: The Chairman of the Board took on the song in 1979, which was originally titled 'Theme From New York, New York' for the Martin Scorsese-directed film. Although it was written for Liza Minnelli, who performed it in 'New York, New York,' it had become one of Sinatra's signature songs, with his version serving as the closing theme for all New York Yankees home games.

Frank Sinatra, 'New York, New York'

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In This Corner -- Cat Power: Also known as Chan Marshall, the queen of Southern melancholy indie rock, who is well known for performing songs associated with artists ranging from Pavement to Bob Dylan. On her eighth album, 'Jukebox,' her second album of other people's songs, Marshall opens with a somber and uniquely bluesy take on the tune made famous by Ol' Blue Eyes.

Cat Power, 'New York, New York'

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James Taylor has often told stories through his songs, but now he's literally telling stories about them. On his newly released live CD/DVD set, 'One Man Band,' the celebrated singer-songwriter, equipped with just his voice, a guitar, some piano accompaniment and 40 years of his music and his memories, acts the raconteur, sharing the tales behind his deep musical catalog. On the collection, his repertoire spans early numbers like 'Something in the Way She Moves' through his most famous songs, such as 'Fire and Rain' and 'Sweet Baby James,' to newer ones inspired by his life as a recent father and grandfather as well as the current political climate.

Presently on tour with his full-size band, the 59-year-old Taylor takes the time to converse with Spinner about being the latest artist on Starbucks' label, in addition to the wider variety of options older performing artists have to get their songs across in the digital age. He also talks about his namesake nephew and inspiration for 'Sweet Baby James,' who has so far avoided the Taylor family business of music-making, as well as why it's tough being a member of Red Sox Nation now that his favorite baseball team has transformed itself into a winner.

What inspired you to do the 'One Man Band' concept -- just your voice, a guitar and some keyboards?

It's one of the ways that I have of playing. I have a sort of a large band, which has developed over the years, and I've written more and more music to be played by a dozen players and singers. But I also have a small-band version that we take into new territories, so we travel light and fast. And then I have an orchestral gig that I can play, too, with symphony orchestras that have large arrangements and a sort of core rhythm section. And then, finally and originally, what I do is just get up onstage with a guitar and a few songs and perform. That's how I started out, and it's good to go back there every once and a while. It somehow puts things in focus in a different way. It had been too long a time, I just needed to get back out and play small again.

And also, it's one thing to play for forty minutes on a stage, just piano, voice and guitar. If you want to do two one-hour sets, you need to start throwing in some other elements in order to make it work, or else it gets too monotonous. So I devised this idea of having one-half of the stage being me and [keyboard player] Larry [Goldings] in this comfortably lit, warm context. And then the other side of the stage just being empty except for a screen, and using the screen for a number of different things: old snapshots, family footage, pictures of Nixon resigning the White House.... I recorded and filmed a choir singing 'Shower the People' and a new song of mine called 'My Traveling Star.' They appear, also out of the blackness, on the other side of the stage and accompany me. So, basically, all of these things were ways of expanding the essential -- just piano, guitar and voice -- show that Larry and I had worked out.

Uncharacteristically for a hip-hop star, Jay-Z has been quite boastful lately. In predicting the chart debut position of his just-released 'American Gangster' album, he has been quoted as saying, "I've got this Elvis thing going on right here." He's not talking about matching the achievements of three-time world figure-skating champion Elvis Stojko. No, no, no, no, no -- this is a reference to the statistical fact that if the tenth album by the coolest record-label president since Frank Sinatra ran Reprise reaches the No. 1 spot, as did Hova's previous nine, he would be tied with Memphis' Hillbilly Cat himself for the most chart-toppers by a solo artist. Well, well, looky there -- a quick eyeball of the charts clearly shows 'American Gangster' languishing at a lowly No. 36, with 21,000 sold. Shoot, even Elvis Perkins can do better than that!

Psych! It's the 'American Gangster' soundtrack that's stinking up the heinie end of the Top 40! In truth, Jay-Z did tie Elvis Presley's chart record after all, moving a hunka hunka burning compact discs indeed, specifically 426,000 copies in just its first week. Very impressive indeed, Mr. Shawn Carter, but give us a call when you pop a cap in your television's ass while gorging on fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches along with so many pills your body is reclassified as a Rite Aid franchise. Now that's OG!

Jessica Simpson does her best impression of Britney Spears. [Egotastic]

He retires, he retires not. [PopEater]

Justin Timberlake is a total camgirl. [Celebitchy]

Jennifer Lopez continues to antagonize PETA. [Hollywood Rag]

Kelly Osbourne attempts to break the record for most jelly eaten via chopstick. WTF? [DListed]

Chris Tucker is set to star in Brett Ratner's upcoming Frank Sinatra biopic. Confused yet? [Defamer]

"I'm just a singer. Elvis was

the embodiment of the

whole American culture."

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Oakland, Calif., 1988: That's the last time they were ever onstage together -- when they did their reunion tour in '88. It's probably the last time that Frank goosed Dean as well. Dean seemed pretty dazed, and Frank fired him the next day. My picture editor at PEOPLE, M.C. Marden, used to say, "Sometimes a picture of somebody's back is more interesting than a picture of their front." It's one of those happy accidents that you can never prepare for, but if you keep your eye on the ball and your finger on the trigger, you can hit it out of the park.



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'In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning'
Frank Sinatra (1954)

The Breakdown: Ol' Blue Eyes parlayed his painful divorce from movie star Ava Gardner into a career makeover: the lonely guy at the end of the bar.

The Waterworks: "You'd be hers if only she would call."

Casualty Count: One Hollywood marriage, countless nights of sleep.

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Listen to 'In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning'

Buy it on iTunes

'When Love Breaks Down,' Prefab Sprout
From 1985's 'Two Wheels Good'

As I was sitting in the theater watching 'Music & Lyrics,' awash in '80s pop nostalgia (Hugh Grant plays a mean Andrew Ridgeley, and that 'Pop Goes My Heart' is one catchy tune), I flashed back to Prefab Sprout. God, I remembered how much loved them and I wondered if their stuff would hold up after 20 years . . . or would they be ripe for a not-so-flattering reassessment?

Well, I'm here to tell you that Prefab Sprout -- and specifically 'When Love Breaks Down' -- are indeed ready for rediscovery. In fact, they are one of the most criminally overlooked pop bands in music history. Not pop like Avril, Christina, Maroon 5 . . . we're talking real pop . . . timeless pop . . . transcendent pop.

When Paddy McAloon, Prefab Sprout's lead singer and wounded soldier for love, whispers his introduction, "My Love and I, work well together" at 0:15 that's the stuff of Cole Porter: He's just starting his story, setting up his tale. When he plays off the guitar fills and tells you at 1:15 about the "sweet September rain, rain on me like no other until I drown," he's Bryan Ferry and Smokey Robinson rolled into one. And, most of all, when Paddy hits that final note at the 3:36 mark -- and Thomas Dolby expertly echoes and sustains it synthesizers all aglow -- well, that's Sinatra my friend, walking straight away, alone, trench coat slung over his right shoulder.

Hear the song after the jump.