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A bipartisan group of five female South Carolina state senators have banded together to fight the passage of a near-total ban on abortions in a special session that's now underway.

Karen Michel reports on a collection of music from former Portuguese colonies in Africa assembled by David Byrne, a former member of the 70's art-rock band Talking Heads. The common thread throughout the music is beauty, sadness, and political content. The music is also connected BECAUSE of Portuguese colonization. For example, the Angolan "semba" in the collection bears a striking resemblance to Brazilian "samba". (STEREO)

Commentator David Greenberger says that with the passage of time and the release of the Beatles Anthology, future generations will piece together the career and music of the Beatles in a manner far removed from his own. He bought each Beatles LP as it was released and grew up with the imprint of that order overlaying the music itself. His daughter started with Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and thus her listening will forever be colored by that. We hear cuts from the Anthology albums as Greenberger talks about how the Beatles affected generations of listeners.

Big Sandy is the lead singer of the Fly Rite Boys a band that combines rockabilly, western swing, and hillbilly boogie sounds. They are currently on tour and have a new album Night Tide. With it, theyve taken a darker more personal bent. Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys have been making music together since 1988 and have recorded seven albums all told, including Big Sandys solo do-wop tribute, Dedicated to You.

The saxophonist, flautist and bandleader has been traveling to Cuba and performing its music for over 30 years.

We remember Consuelo Velazquez, whose song "Besame Mucho" became a standard in many languages and styles of music. Velazquez died Saturday in Mexico City at the age of 84. "Besame Mucho" became a big band hit during World War II and was later recorded by many artists over the years, including the Beatles and Nat King Cole.

The New York band The Sharp Things employs a long list of instruments. Strings, wind, and brass contribute as much to their music as guitar, bass, and drums. Their debut album is Here Comes The Sharp Things. Chris Nickson reviews.

The outer bands of Hurricane Isabel sweep along the coast of North Carolina and Virginia as the storm nears landfall. Tens of thousands of people have evacuated, and tens of thousands of homes are without power. Forecasters says the storm will bring heavy rain, damaging gusts and potential flooding to several mid-Atlantic states. Hear NPR's Adam Hochberg.

Fountains of Wayne is the New York City-based power-pop band anchored by the singer-songwriter duo of Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger. Schlesinger is best known as the author of the title theme to Tom Hanks' 1996 rock 'n' roll movie That Thing You Do!

Franz Ferdinand is the name not only of the assassinated Archduke of Austria, considered the trigger for World War I; Franz Ferdinand is now a Scottish band that has made it big in Britain. Reviewer Mikel Jollett thinks the reason they've succeeded is that the group bridges the distance between headphones and dance floor.