Sound

NEW YORK - The songs are among the most popular of the baby boom era - "My Girl," "I Want You Back," "Dancing in the Streets. " They may be the staple of oldies radio; they haven't been part of a big Broadway musical. Now "Motown: The Musical" is about to become this season's big bet on the drawing power of the jukebox. The show will tell the real story that "Dreamgirls" was merely based on: the life of producer Berry Gordy, a onetime boxer who founded the Motown record label and signed some of the decade's biggest R&B stars, including the Supremes, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Smokey Robinson, the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.

Herbalife maintained that its financial statements are sound and reliable amid news that its auditor is in the middle of an insider-trading investigation. Scott London, 50, a senior partner with KPMG, was ousted by his company after it learned the Department of Justice was investigating him for providing privileged non-public information to a third party who used it to make stock trades. “Herbalife's Audit Committee and management continue to believe that the company's financial statements covering the referenced periods fairly present, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the company,” the weight loss and nutrition company said.

Whether you're seeing it for the first time or revisiting an old favorite, Fritz Lang's "M" in its new digital restoration should not be missed. Few films are gripping and effective 82 years after their original release, but this one surely is. Looking impeccable in its fresh digital sheen and graced with improved subtitles, this most-complete-ever version of "M" clocks in at 111 minutes. That's considerably longer than earlier prints of Lang's taut masterpiece of a city obsessed with the hunt for a frightening child murderer.

This Coachella edition gathers new music by lesser-known artists gigging this weekend's music festival as well as one epic reissue by a recently reunited group. If you haven't the desire, money or constitution to spend three days surrounded by so many humans under the desert sun, you can find comfort in the tracks (and watch the whole event live online). Kurt Vile, "Wakin on a Pretty Daze" (Matador). The Philadelphia singer and guitarist's new record is a guitar rock gem of the classic variety.

Even before the release of her debut album, the English singer Jessie Ware was attracting next-big-thing buzz with appearances on tracks by cutting-edge dance-music artists such as SBTRKT and Joker. But she wasn't born hip. "Growing up, I was the person told about things by other mates - the tastemakers," Ware admitted recently, adding that she also discovered music the way many teenagers did in the pre-YouTube era: through pop radio and MTV. "I copied every move from Jennifer Lopez's videos and studied every breakdown in Montell Jordan's songs," she said, referring to the R&B singer who hit No. 1 in 1995 with "This Is How We Do It. " "I wasn't at the forefront of new,  new  music.

The hypnotic pull of Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho's remarkable, award-winning "Neighboring Sounds" - one of the strongest feature debuts of the last decade - is in its mysterious density of techniques. Set in seaside Recife on street of high-rises occupied by wealthy owners, well-off renters and the underclass that cleans for them, the film dips in and out of their lives and gender, race and socio-economic issues. There's the dissatisfied housewife who smokes pot, the sugar magnate's grandson who amiably oversees the patriarch's properties, the maid who likes to tryst in a day-vacated condo.

That Phil Ramone was a musical force in the recording studio is undeniable, and the evidence lies in the range of his accomplishments. For example, within one three-year period in the early 1960s, Ramone mixed Lesley Gore's smash hit "It's My Party," recorded Marilyn Monroe seducing President John F. Kennedy in song on his birthday and engineered essential double-quartet recordings by jazz innovators Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy. Ramone, who died Saturday in his late 70s or early 80s, depending on sources, would have been only around 30 at the time.

After two days of arguments on same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court seemed poised to give gays and lesbians a major legal victory but probably not the immediate right to marry in all states that many of them had hoped for. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's questions during Wednesday's oral arguments suggested that he was leaning toward joining the court's four liberals in taking an important but limited step to strike down federal discrimination against...

A California Assembly bill that would require anyone who videotapes, photographs or records incidents of animal cruelty to turn over the evidence to authorities within 48 hours - or be charged with an infraction of the law - sounds like a tough new measure to crack down on abuse. It's not. In reality, it's one of a crop of disturbing "ag-gag" bills being introduced across the country. Although AB 343 is not as bad as some others that ban outright recording and videotaping at animal facilities, it would effectively hamper animal welfare undercover investigators and employee whistle-blowers who are collecting information on systemic animal cruelty at meatpacking plants, slaughterhouses, livestock ranches and farms.

Hollywood again sounded off on same-sex marriage Tuesday, as many celebrities took to Twitter -- and went to Washington -- in anticipation of the Supreme Court hearing on California's Proposition 8. Actor-director Rob Reiner was the first person in the public line to go into the courtroom, saying afterward in a statement that Tuesday was a "historic day for all those who believe in freedom and equality. " "I'm proud of the powerful argument presented today by our legal team, and the courage and perseverance displayed by our plaintiffs over these last four years," the statement said.