A music history take-off that reaches for a hoarse laugh as it races from the Eocene on down the ages. Representative: ""We do know, however, that the majority of Cretan compositions were sung by the women and not by the men, since the chests of the former were wonderfully developed""... ""The early streak of cruelty toward birds only grew larger as the years passed (Schubert)."" Even lid-flipped music students probably want a firmer basso continue.