(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SAY IT AIN'T SO")
WEEZER: (Singing) Say it ain't so.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
That's music from Weezer's 1994 "Blue Album." It's one of 25 new additions to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress. Others added this year include music from Ray Charles, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Reba McEntire and the video game Doom. NPR's Elizabeth Blair tells us about some of the other selections to be preserved for future generations.
ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: It's an eclectic mix. There's Ruth Brown's 1950 recording of "Teardrops From My Eyes."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TEARDROPS FROM MY EYES")
RUTH BROWN: (Singing) Every time it rains, I think of you.
BLAIR: The Byrds' 1965 single "Turn! Turn! Turn!"
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TURN! TURN! TURN!")
THE BYRDS: (Singing) To everything - turn, turn, turn - there is a season - turn, turn, turn.
BLAIR: And "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels band from 1979.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA")
THE CHARLIE DANIELS BAND: (Singing) And if you win, you get this shiny fiddle made of gold. But if you lose, the devil gets your soul.
BLAIR: Defining sounds of American history and culture is how the Library of Congress describes the National Recording Registry. In the early 1980s, the carefree Go-Go's captured the MTV generation's party vibe.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OUR LIPS ARE SEALED")
THE GO-GO'S: (Singing) Can you hear them? They talk about us.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BELINDA CARLISLE: We felt like we were going to conquer the world as kids.
BLAIR: Lead singer Belinda Carlisle told the Library of Congress she is thrilled the Go-Go's have a spot on the National Recording Registry, especially for people who visit the site a hundred years from now.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CARLISLE: I know I would love that a hundred years from now, looking back and seeing how, you know, how the personality of the band that was so important and the music that was so important at that time.
BLAIR: This year's only nonmusical addition to the registry is from 1971, the Mutual Broadcasting System's coverage of the so-called fight of the century between boxing heavyweights Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MUHAMMAD ALI: Well, you tell Joe he can come out smoking 'cause I ain't going to be joking. I'll be pecking and a-poking.
BLAIR: Ali lost to Frazier that day, but went on to win their next two matches. The Library of Congress says all of the additions to the National Recording Registry are treasures worthy of preservation for all time. Now, some of the additions by megastars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé might not seem to be at risk of disappearing.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SINGLE LADIES (PUT A RING ON IT)")
BEYONCÉ: (Singing) If you like it, then you should've put a ring in it. (Vocalizing).
BLAIR: But a library spokesperson says, as digital formats change over the next 100 years, digital data can be lost if we don't update the format or make sure there's a way to play it back. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SINGLE LADIES (PUT A RING ON IT)")
BEYONCÉ: (Singing) Don't be mad once you see that he want it. If you like it, then you should've put a ring on it. I got gloss on my lips - lips - a man on my hips... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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