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After five decades of pop hits, Neil Sedaka is preparing for a Carnegie Hall concert of Yiddish music. NPR's Scott Simon talks with the entertainer about his lengthy career and return to his musical Jewish roots.

We continue our summer reading series with a profile of musician Aimee Mann. In the 1980s, she fronted the pop group Til Tuesday. Her haunting ballad "Save Me," from the 1999 film Magnolia earned her an Academy Award nomination. Before she kicked off her summer concert tour, she spoke about the kind of books she'll pick up before leaving town.

Critic Bob Mondello reviews the film "I Shot Andy Warhol," opening this week. The movie tells the story of outlaw lesbian feminist Valerie Solanus [suh-LAHN-us], who, in addition to shooting the pop artist, promoted a radical manifesto for doing away with all men. (3:30) FUNDER 0:29 CUTAWAY 0:59 =========================SECOND HOUR======================= BILLBOARD :59 NEWS 2:59 NEWS 1:59 THEME MUSIC 0:29 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2A 9. POLITICS THIS WEEK - Noah talks to NPR's national political correspondent Elizabeth Arnold about the efforts by Republicans to repeal the gas tax, efforts by Democrats to raise the minimum wage, and the passage of the immigration bill in the Senate this week.

His new biography of Bing Crosby is called, Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams--the Early Years, 1903-1940 (Little Brown and Company). From 1930s to the 50s, Crosby was a pop culture icon, dominating American entertainment with his hit records and movies. In this first volume of the biography, Giddins chronicles the rise of Crosbys career. Giddins may be best known as a jazz columnist for the Village Voice. He won the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award for his book Visions of Jazz. He was one of the experts featured in Ken Burns Jazz series on PBS.

The number one song in Britain is sung by a cartoon character, his name is Bob the Builder and his show appears on the BBC. The song shot to the top of the charts in Britain during the holiday, surpassing Scottish boy-band Westlife and Eminem's "Stan". The cartoon series -- and the song -- will be coming to the States next month. Linda talks with David Sinclair, pop music critic for the Times of London, about the sensation created by the Bob the Builder. (3:30) Bob the Builder is written by Paul Joyce, voiced by actor Neil Morrissey. The Audio CD is "Bob the Builder," from BBC Worldwide Music; ASIN: B00005244T Catalogue Number: WMSS60372.

Singer Tift Merritt's latest CD has a hefty dose of alt-country sound, but she's branching out to blues, rock, pop — and even some Memphis soul. The North Carolina-based singer talks with Sheilah Kast about Tambourine.

Forty years ago, four wacky moptops called The Monkees bounced onto the nation's TV screens and into the hearts of generations of teenage girls. The band made a brief comeback in the late 80s when reruns of their TV show popped up on MTV. That's when producer Petra Mayer became a lifelong Monkee-maniac.

Norah Jones, the 24-year-old jazz-pop singer who two years ago took home eight Grammy awards for her debut album, releases her second CD, Feels Like Home. The music features the same understated playing and soulful inflections, but with a more down-home feel. NPR's Michele Norris interviews Jones.

Dave Smith, a pioneer of the synthesizer, revolutionized pop music in the 1980s. David Bowie and Madonna are among the legions who used his Prophet 5 synthesizer. Smith died last week at age 72.

The Edmonton band mines the built-in tension between its many sources of effervescence and the darker shading in its words and backgrounds.