I've always liked Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
A few nights ago I stumbled across Tom belting out one of his many hits on the IFC channel. Though I was about to hit the rack, I decided to watch for a bit. Four hours later I'd just finished watching the best musical documentary since
This Is
I'll let the thread do the talking.
The summer doldrums, my favorite time of the sports year. Listless, despondent, stagnant. Flavorful as Coors Light. Left open. In the sun for a couple of hours. The land of regular season baseball, Roger Federer, interchangeable Russian women playing tennis, Tigerless golf and the NBA draft, where my San Antonio Spurs will no doubt take yet another 19-year old wunderkind power forward from
Another 1950s rock and roll icon is
dead. He had an unmistakable rhythmic sound that influenced so many of the bands that came after him.
Fifties rock and roll changed everything. It was about rebellion. No longer were the kids listening to the same music as their parents. Just watch them go crazy in this clip.
I killed your baby today
And it doesn't matter much to me
As long as it's dead
Pretty hardcore lyrics. Now imagine them being sung with a catchy, almost pop chorus by a 5'3" dude who grew up reading comic books and watching horror b movies.
That was The Misfits.
They were a horror punk band from New Jersey led by lead singer Glenn Danzig. Only recording three albums before going their separate ways, they remain hugely
The other day I listened to My Bloody Valentine's
Loveless album. I've never liked them, but I keep giving them a chance. I do this every few years because people tell me how great a band they are, and the English love them so my natural cultural inferiority complex kicks in.
But I just can't do this anymore. They suck. They've
always sucked. The common response I've heard is 'You don't get it.' Fuck that.
For those of you living here in the United States of Amnesia, you probably don't remember Billy Squier. It's not your fault. The music industry is fickle, and past stars are forgotten all the time. Rick Rubin can't rehabilitate everyone.
But Billy Squier was/is a fantastic rock singer and guitarist who put out a great body of work in the early '80s. So I've put together some clips of his best songs off his first three
I was fortunate enough to have attended New Orleans' Jazzfest over the weekend, and my brain cells have finally regenerated to the point where I'm able to write about it. Three nights at the Old Absinthe House and two mornings of bloody marys at the Chartre House will have that effect on a person.
BTW, the Olde Absinthe House is the greatest bar in the world. I'm convinced of this and am not
I'm a rocker through and through. Here's a list of my favorite bands: AC/DC, Van Halen not Van Hagar, Skynyrd, Def Leppard...and now Black Tide.
They're four teenagers from Miami who are one of only a handful of new metal bands I've liked in the last 15 years. The guitars sound crisp and the drums don't sound like a machine (f Lars Ulrich for starting that trend on
And Justice For All). Most important of all