Walk on By: The Story of Popular Song2001

Jon Pareles:
Max Martin knows what he's doing. He has studied Abba who in turn studied every pop model they could get their hands on from Phil Spector to The Beatles. Who in turn studied, you know, Little Richard and Irving Berlin and Hoagy Carmichael who in turn probably studied Stephen Foster who in turn studied, you know, whatever the farm heads on his neighborhood farm was singing. You know, there's always continuity here.