List Of The Day
  • There was a running joke in my house where my long-suffering girlfriend and I would suggest songs that Bruce Springsteen might sing when doing his Okie-folkie thing. It was difficult to tell which ones he'd actually done -- "Old Dan Tucker," yes, "The Caissons Go 'Rollin' Along," no -- but now with Neil Young announcing his new album, Americana, which according to the track listing contains Young and Crazy Horse rocking out many of the tunes we once thought Bruce would conquer, well, all bets are off. I may just get that scintillating version of "Happy Birthday (To You)" that I've always wanted.

    Here's your chance to play a little game. I've listed ten songs and your job is to determine who's covered it. Your choices will be: Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen or No One.

    Read More »from Americana! — Let’s All Go Back To Grade School!
  • Tupac Hologram [Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella]The recent success of the Tupac Shakur Hologram performance has all the music world buzzing with opportunities. Why celebrate obscure living musicians when we can pay tribute to dead ones? If I were a struggling living musician, I'd fake my own death in order to get some respect. Because the music biz sure isn't going to spend the time and money necessary to make anyone a star who isn't on American Idolatry!

    Now, sure, sure, the obvious candidates have had their estates notified, I'm sure. I can only imagine the battle royal over at Cobain, Inc. Roll over Bon Scott and tell Janis Joplin's family the news!

    If I'm Pete Townshend, I'm learning all I can about bringing Keith Moon and John Entwhistle back for one more "farewell tour" -- and then the subsequent tours that follow, of course.

    Read More »from Holograms! The Secret To Eternal Life
  • Leafing through New York magazine, I came across an excerpt from Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone, likely the book of the season for old punks not yet dead. Featured alongside the excerpt was a sidebar where Johnny rated the Ramones albums as he heard fit, with a few comments as well. You'll have to buy the book to read Johnny's thoughts, but I have included his grades here, along with my own feelings about each album, which are less biased, since I never had a falling out with Joey Ramone.

    I never had a falling in with him either, so my professional distance is assured.

    It should also be noted that Joey Ramone passed away 11 years ago this past April 15. May all the Ramones who have passed rest in peace and may those still alive live peacefully.

    Listening through, especially to those in the lower depths, I'm struck by how listenable and likable most of it is. Truthfully, I'm more inclined to listen to those much-maligned albums than the classics at the top of the list. Only because the early records are worn out on my brain like so many old Rolling Stones albums. Let that be a lesson kids! Don't wear your records out. Ration your listening pleasure! Or else!

    Read More »from Rating The Ramones: Could Johnny Ramone Be Right?
  • [Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images]Levon Helm, the founding drummer of the Band, died Thursday, April 19 at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York at the age of 71. The Arkansas-born musician was the lone American in The Band, surrounding himself with Canadians for no discernible reason. His autobiography, This Wheel's On Fire, is a must-read for anyone who enjoys hearing how much Helm disliked Robbie Robertson.

    While history will surely remember Helm for his role as the drummer for Bob Dylan's first electric tour and for his portrayal of Loretta Lynn's dad in Coal Miner's Daughter, Helm should also be remembered for the fine solo work he released near the end of his life, for which he won numerous awards.

    Here are ten tracks that you could say were helmed by Levon!

    Read More »from Levon Helm — Ten Places To Begin Appreciating The Man At The Helm of The Band!
  • Brian Jones, 1968 [Photo: Chris Walter/WireImage]While I've previously alerted the public to the musicians who are turning 70 this year and still going strong, it's time now to reflect on those who didn't make it to 70. It's an unlucky 13, though one could argue it's not the quantity of life lived but the quality and surely spending years taking in the adulation of fans across the globe counts for something, especially compared to working for the big boss man here at Y! Music, who doesn't allow his employees to wear pants.

    Let's not get too down about this. Instead, let's break out their fine records, grab our dearest loved one and a case of Schlitz! If I'm not making much sense by the end of this, you'll know I forgot my safe word!

    Read More »from The Unlucky 13 — Musicians Who Would’ve Been 70 This Year
  • It eventually had to happen. No one stays young forever. That said, a list of musicians turning 70 is supposed to be a list of guys from the Swing Era. But now rock 'n' rollers are turning the Senior Circuit into a place where you no longer have to hike your pants up to your nipples. While I'm personally disappointed that my dream of being "The Waver" when I get old, sitting on my front lawn in plaid slacks and waving to traffic is now considered that of a bygone era, it's probably all for the best.

    With that in mind, though, Frank Bonner -- Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati -- who valiantly stood for the suits in The Suits vs. The Dungarees battle on the show, turned 70 on February 28. Howard Hesseman and Richard Sanders, who played Johnny Fever and Les Nessman respectively, turned 70 in 2010! All my heroes collect Social Security!

    Here's a list of 25 Musicians still living (as of this blogging) who turn 70 in 2012! Barbra Streisand turns 70 on April 24 but she does not rock, so is excluded from this list. Same for Wayne Newton, whose 70th birthday was this April 3. What exists in Vegas, stays in Vegas. And/or in Branson.

    Read More »from 70 — The New 65?: Musical Artists Turning 70 This Year!
  • While the 8-Track was mighty popular for a time, it turned out to be one great way to pick up albums on the cheap. I remember around 1980 or so being able to buy relatively new albums on 8-Track for a dollar, in the discount bin at the local Two Guys department store! Of course, I no longer have those tapes, while the vinyl I paid a few dollars more for sits in my basement in brand new bins I just bought for them, so even if I never get around to listening to vinyl anymore, I can scan through my collection like I'm in a record store of old!

    Chances are you re-bought these on CD at some point and now are being asked to put them away and join the download age where everything once again sounds worse! Yahoo! Progress!

    Read More »from 1977: Can You Copy This 8-Track For Me?
  • 1977. While the punk rock was increasing in power and frequency, mainstream rock acts weren't going away either. It wasn't as if the presence of angry young youth was going to scare away the established stars from their drugs and their money.

    Here in our beautified, revisionist world that dovetails nicely into the Internet age where everything is permitted and available 24/7, 1977 takes on a less annoying presence, since with eyes moist from joy and sorrow at just how freakin' long ago everything good actually is at this point and how good it actually was, even if we didn't know it then, we no longer feel 1977's pain. All that remains are our golden memories.

    Read More »from It Was 35 Years Ago This Year! 1977, A Year of Twelve Months, Part One!
  • With so much punk rock around, it's time to compile a list of 25 albums that should be in any sincere punk rocker's collection. One album per band, in order to spread the wealth around and to throw in a few "influences", though I passed over early touchstones like The Stooges' Fun House and Raw Power, the MC5's Kick Out The Jams and the Shaggs' Philosophy of the World to make more room for albums that happened during the late 1970s-early 1980s when the music was in its "golden age."

    There are still plenty of bands missing and more albums to collect, for sure. Some punk bands weren't good for more than a single or two, or never released a definitive album during their brief -- or not too brief -- careers. Most great punk rock was done by single, however, the truly great bands did manage at least one album.

    Read More »from 25 Essential Punk Albums
  • Back in the 1980s, before they discovered the joys of young people living together in various cities, in Winnebagos and on the Jersey Shore, MTV played music videos -- all the time. They even advertised it as 24 hours around the clock.

    Reading through I Want My MTV, a recent book by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum, I learned that being an MTV Executive was nearly as much fun as being an actual rock star. While MTV turned an audio medium into a visual one, they managed to alert young people to the fact that there were new bands out there, something the kids wouldn't learn from commercial radio where it wasn't unusual to feel like you'd stumbled into a world where stations were apparently designed to make you hate music.

    Read More »from In Memory of the MTV 1980s

Pagination

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News for You

  • Actress Bynes accused of bong toss out NYC window

    NEW YORK (AP) — Actress Amanda Bynes appeared disheveled in a long blond wig and sweats Friday in a criminal court where she was charged with reckless endangerment after police said she heaved a marijuana bong out the window of her 36th-floor Manhattan apartment.

  • Latest 'Bachelorette' won't say if she's engaged

    NEW YORK (AP) — ABC's newest "Bachelorette," Desiree Hartsock, says it's not hard to keep the details of her experience on the show a secret from her friends.

  • Jersey shore reopens for 1st post-Sandy summer

    SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey rolled out some of its big guns Friday to proclaim that the shore is back following Superstorm Sandy, using Gov. Chris Christie and the cast of MTV's "Jersey Shore" to tell a national audience the state is ready for summer fun.

  • Takei says Cho good choice for latest 'Star Trek'

    SINGAPORE (AP) — Portraying USS Enterprise helmsman Hikaru Sulu in the latest "Star Trek" movie comes with big shoes to fill, but the man who played the part in the TV series and six films has given his blessing to the actor currently playing the role.

  • Rare Superman comic found in house insulation

    MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — It's considered the Holy Grail of comic books: Action Comics No. 1 from 1938, featuring the debut of Superman. And David Gonzales found one mixed in with old newspapers insulating a house he was renovating in a small town in Minnesota.

  • Actress Bynes arrested in NYC on marijuana charge

    NEW YORK (AP) — Police say actress Amanda Bynes has been arrested in midtown Manhattan after she heaved a marijuana bong out of a window.

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