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Media shorthand has reduced the music of the '80s to a set of telltale signifiers: big hair, skinny ties, and so on. But a few surviving documents, among them Richard Barone's fantastic Cool Blue Halo, demonstrate that the era was fruitful for classic pop.

The Serious Monkee had chops as a songwriter, as well as an unusual sound: a glossy merger of country and rock that took what The Byrds had been doing a step closer to pop. Magnetic South foreshadows the country-rock of The Eagles, whose debut arrived two years later.

Years before Dr. Spock and other child-rearing gurus, a renowned pediatrician in Poland pioneered the field by advocating that parents simply trust their instincts. He was executed by the Nazis, along with the orphans he cared for in a Warsaw ghetto.

For some musicians good song writing is elementary. For others it's elementary school. A CD called Kid Pan Alley collects tunes created in classrooms around the country and recorded by top Nashville artists, including Amy Grant.

Lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Colin Meloy is part of the indie pop quartet The Decemberists. The group hails from Portland, Ore. Meloy is known for using "10-dollar words" in his songs, and for "creating character studies that wouldn't sound out of place in a Victorian novel."

The Puppini Sisters have a new CD out called Betcha Bottom Dollar. Marcella Puppini talks about some of the music on the British trio's new album.

Combining traditional Irish music with non-traditional instruments such as guitar, banjo and bouzouki, the Celtic-music quintet has helped breathe life into the Irish/Celtic folk scene. The band performs a concert from WXPN and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

LCD Soundsystem's new album, called Sound of Silver, broadens the project's sound to make singer-writer-producer James Murphy's rhythms even more accessible.

The Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter crafts emotional, compelling songs on his new CD If the Ocean Gets Rough. Mason got his big break when Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst signed him to his label and released his 2004 debut.

Beach House's sleepy "Saltwater" never feels weary or tiresome. Instead, it floats along in a wispy haze of skittering drumbeats that rise and fall like heartbeats. As Victoria Legrand sings, "Love you all the time / even though you're not mine," her voice sounds powerful and stripped bare.