List Of The Day
  • The Smash Hits of 1993!

    I've previously looked at the albums of 1993, but now it's time to look through the most successful singles of the year, which include plenty of songs that got their start in 1992 but truly flourished the following year. That's just how things work.

    1993 was also a year where we said goodbye to Frank Zappa, GG Allin, Mick Ronson, Sun Ra and Arthur Alexander, who'd just gotten around to making his first record since forever.

    But let's get the party started with the songs that the Billboard magazine says were popular with the people.

    25) Two Steps Behind -- Def Leppard: From their Retro Active album of mostly b-sides and leftovers, the song was more importantly featured on the Last Action Hero soundtrack and everyone knows that's the way to get people to know your song, since what the hell is a radio, right?

    24) If I Ever Lose My Faith

    Read More »from The Smash Hits of 1993!
  • While I've kinda somewhat semi-successfully discussed the 'alternative' bands of 1993, I now must turn my attention to the 'mainstream' acts who were either dominating the charts or who were too old and straight to be part of a cutting edge. I still have the bonafide hits of the era to discuss, but for now...

    Ah, you hate these intros as much as I hate writing them. Let's just get to the list!

    Read More »from 1993 – The Mainstream View
  • By 1993, Alternative Rock, that dumbest of musical labels -- second only to what it was called before that: "New Music" -- became as natural and accepted as any music that got measured airplay and wasn't aimed at the lowest common denominator could become. It was still a big improvement over the 1980s when the music was COMPLETELY IGNORED in mainstream markets.

    The awkwardly labeled "Generation X" (no thanks!) never had the numbers to kick the baby-boomers out of power, but it didn't help that many from the youthful ranks were still listening to the boring-est ends of "classic rock" and those with a clue had no interest in standing up and being counted and all that nonsense.

    But with the success of Nirvana and the subsequent rush jobs of Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Hard Rock disguised as Alternative Rock was on its way to dominating the vernacular. But that didn't mean some cool stuff didn't sneak past the gatekeepers!

    Today, The Breeders are out there touring Last Splash!

    Read More »from 1993 — The Alternative Revolution In Your Mind
  • No one pushed the myth of the Doors and of Jim Morrison, Shaman harder than Ray Manzarek, who just died of bile duct cancer at the age of 74. He reminded me of Allen Ginsberg in this way, just with fewer friends to peddle.

    He hadn't been sure to how to take it when I told him that I'd had a 'Manzarek' bumper sticker personally made for my car in the mid-1980s. At the time, Morrison bumper stickers were common and I thought it would be both funny and appropriate that someone recognize another member of the group. We agreed that 'Manzarek' sounded like someone running for county freeholder more than a rock musician with 100 million records sold.

    On a reflective day, I'm inclined to think of The Doors as anything but a rock 'n' roll band. Sure, they played the blues and a couple R'n'R standards, but they did something far beyond what people think of as rock 'n' roll.

    In all my years of writing around music -- I count 25 or so -- no band has generated the bi-polar love and rage that is an average discussion about the Doors. All I can say to people who think they were undeserving of the good words written about them: well, you're wrong.

    Here are 25 songs that I associate with Ray Manzarek and his organ-y and piano-y skills.

    25) Close To You: It

    Read More »from Ray Manzarek -- The Organ Master
  • Jeff Hanneman [Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images]Keep this date: The Jeff Hanneman Memorial Celebration will take place on Thursday, May 23 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles from 3:30 - 7:30PM.

    The Memorial Celebration will be free and open to the public on a first-come, first-in basis (subject to venue capacity). All ages are welcome, and paid parking will be available around the venue.

    Jeff Hanneman's death at 49 puts a serious crimp into the fortunes of his band Slayer. The band managed without him the past few years by relying on substitute guitar players for their live performances. However, with one-quarter of the band's militia down for the final count, it remains to be seen how the band will proceed. Surely, the 'songs about nazis' will see a serious drop. Also, the band's new material could become less frequent, as by most accounts and evidence, Hanneman was the main writer in the group, with Kerry King coming in a distant second and Tom Araya clearly third.

    It's said that Slayer's first album Show No Mercy initially

    Read More »from The Final Frontier: The Ultimate Slayer!
  • Photo: Evening Standard/Getty ImagesSports, the 10x Platinum album from the unusually straight and athlete-conscious Huey Lewis and the News band, is receiving an accountant-friendly '30th Anniversary Edition' to celebrate the album's 30th birthday. The original album will be remastered and a second CD of live versions of the songs is said to be included in this now-common exploitation come-on where record labels try to rectify their short-sightedness with modern music by convincing old music fans to simply buy their old albums yet again!

    Kids today think music should be free, man. But you bought the album! You bought the CD! You bought the 1999 expanded edition! It's my hope that this new reissue will feature that awful super-hot remastered sound that has fans at audio discussion boards fuming over other reissues. But as someone who never bought the album in the first place, I'll just have to wait and read what the label did for this new reissue!

    While in the past I pulled out all the good stuff that was often lost in

    Read More »from Flashback! 1983 — The Hits From 30 Years Ago!
  • [Photo: Douglas Mason/Getty Images]Most people knew Richie Havens as the guy in the Woodstock movie that plays a modified version of the old blues "Motherless Children" as "Freedom" to an audience young enough to think sitting in a huge field for three days is a good idea.

    While the "Woodstock" sales pitch lingered for years after the date, the various performers went on to live out different fortunes. Crosby, Stills, Nash and sometimes Young became superstars. Tim Hardin, who tragically didn't appear in the film, struggled with personal demons and writer's block. Jimi Hendrix died soon after. The Who sold their songs to anyone who would buy them.

    And Richie Havens played dinner theaters where he could count on $45 a head from a well-heeled crowd who remembered their time in the mud of Woodstock, whether or not they were actually there. Havens wrote a few songs of his own, but mostly depended on an ear that knew the kind of song he could sing. Pop music moved away from folksingers and Richie flirted with

    Read More »from Richie Havens -- Greenwich Village Folksinger, Woodstock Icon, PBS Tote Bag Warrior!
  • [Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images]What do I mean by 'The Last Country Star,' you ask? I mean, nothing. It's just one of those stupid titles you give things because it sounds important and definitive. Try it for dinner. 'Hot Dogs -- The Last Supper!' Or for breakfast. 'Jolt Cola -- The Final Drink!'

    Fact is, George Jones is one of the very few musicians you can wing superlatives at and never overstate your case. His early manager and "producer" Pappy Daily sent him into the recording studio the way young parents send their kids into the bathroom. If Jones wasn't in the studio making hits, he was out on the road telling everyone about what he just did.

    While this meant the quality of his records were hit and miss, it also ensured that he was never out of the public eye for very long. In an age when musicians take years to make a single 11-track album, Jones recorded 151 tracks in two years at United Artists in 1962-64 and then went to Musicor Records where he recorded nearly double that in seven more.

    This list is obviously

    Read More »from George Jones -- The Last Country Star!
  • I'm amazed to report that by April 7, I had a solid 25 albums to bring to your attention. Usually I don't get here until late June, so either my standards are completely crap and I'm getting soft and stupid in my old age or the decline of the music industry and its butchering at the hands of the entertainment industry is actually a very good thing for musicians. Once you assume you cannot crossover to people who don't already like your kind of music, you stick to doing what brings you pleasure and it shows. Though I also fear by that measure that artists will become too complacent and play to the prejudices of their cult, this year it seems to be working.

    To scare you further, the weeks following April 7 have brought me even more interesting albums, but I shall hold them for when I have another full 25 and can make it the blog of the century!

    Ahh, what can you do? Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

    Read More »from The Best of 2013 Thus Far!
  • Minor Threat [Photo: Malco23]Note: I'd like to dedicate this column to Sean Ison, a friend and fellow writer who shared music and his thoughts with me on a regular basis. Sean was just about to set me straight on Johnny Thunders and I was looking forward to hearing what he had to say. Best of all, we could disagree on things and still understand and respect where each other was coming from. It's with heavy heart that I say goodbye to my friend. Save me a seat, Sean. We'll catch up one day and compare notes once again.

    Punk rock -- soon to be, if not already, post-punk -- soldiered on into the 1980s. Hardcore sped things up to the speed of light and made the funny, sarcastic, brilliant lyrics sound like one long yell into the abyss. If you didn't sit home and memorize the lyric sheet -- on your own time!!! -- then you were just left to slamdance as long as your young, stupid body allowed and know in your heart that you were standing up for something surely righteous.

    To go along with the new youth movement, there were the weird offshoots from old punks who kept their names in the ring by releasing something and while there's a good chance that I'm overrating a few things, it's also likely that so is everyone else. Punk rock was provincial and the alternative scene was as much what you heard as what existed. The network was up and running but the glitches were fatal for some groups. Who knows how hard they rocked in the outskirts of Lawrence, Kansas.

    Read More »from 1983 — The Great College Radio Rock Craze Turns 30-Something, Punk-Style! (pt. 2)

Pagination

(593 Stories)

News for You

  • Mom: RI theater threw out disabled girl over noise

    NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — A woman says she and her 5-year-old developmentally disabled daughter were thrown out of a theater during a "Beauty and the Beast" performance because the girl was making giggling and humming noises she makes when she's happy.

  • Family tweets indicate Kim Kardashian gives birth

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — It looks to be a baby girl for Kim Kardashian and her rapper boyfriend Kanye West. Or does it?

  • 'The Voice' Winner: Who Did the Experts Choose?

    By Jethro Nededog LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - NBC's "The Voice" will crown another winner on Tuesday night's finale. Season 4's three finalists - Daniellle Bradbury, Michelle Shamuel and The Swon Brothers - battled it out for the title on Monday's performance finale episode. Before the performances, coaches Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Shakira and Usher performed The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends." The Top 16 then got together for the second group performance of the night on Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros' "Home. ...

  • Jenner: Kim Kardashian 'thrilled for the new baby'

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kris Jenner says her daughter Kim Kardashian is thrilled to have a new baby girl.

  • Miss Utah latest beauty queen to botch answer

    LAS VEGAS (AP) — Miss Utah Marissa Powell is the latest beauty queen to trip on national television, not over her gown, but during the interview segment.

  • Saatchi admits assault on wife Nigella Lawson

    LONDON (AP) — Prominent British art collector Charles Saatchi has admitted assault and accepted a police caution after published photos showed him grasping the throat of his wife, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson.

TOP VIDEOS

  1. Blurred Lines
    1.Robin Thicke, (f/ T.I., … | VEVO
  2. 2.Macklemore & Ryan …
  3. 3.Daft Punk, (f/ Pharr …
  4. 4.Justin Timberlake
  5. 5.Florida Georgia Line, …
  6. 6.Imagine Dragons
  7. 7.P!nk, (f/ Nate Ruess …
  8. 8.Selena Gomez
  9. 9.Ariana Grande, (f/ Mac …
  10. 10.Icona Pop