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Birthdays This Week
June 8:
Alex Band (The Calling) (1981)
Nicci Gilbert (Brownstone) (1970)
Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) (1962)
Mick Hucknall (Simply Red) (1960)
Bonnie Tyler (1953)
Boz Scaggs (1944)
Chuck Negron (Three Dog Knight)
(1942)
Nancy Sinatra (1940)
June 9:
Dean Felber (Hootie & The
Blowfish) (1967)
Dean Dinning (Toad The Wet Sprocket)
(1967)
Jon Lord (Deep Purple) (1941)
June 10:
Faith Evans (1973)
Lemisha Grinsted (702) (1973)
Jo-Jo (K-Ci & JoJo) (1971)
Dan Lavery (Tonic) (1969)
Jimmy Chamberlain (Smashing
Pumpkins) (1967)
Maxi Priest (1961)
Shirley Alston (The Shirelles)
(1941)
June 11:
Dan Lavery (Tonic) (1969)
Joey Santiago (The Pixies)
(1965)
Kim and Kelley Deal (The Breeders)
(1961)
Donnie Van Zandt (38 Special)
(1952)
Frank Beard (ZZ Top) (1949)
June 12:
Robyn (1979)
Kenny Wayne Shepherd (1977)
Bardi Martin (Candlebox) (1969)
Grandmaster Dee (Whodini) (1962)
Michael Hausman ('til tuesday)
(1960)
John Linnell (They Might Be
Giants) (1959)
Brad Delp (Boston) (1951) Died March 9, 2007
Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick)
(1951)
June 13:
Raz B (B2K) (1985)
Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) (1970)
Soren Rasted (Aqua) (1969)
Paul DeLisle (Smash Mouth)
(1963)
Dennis Locoriere (Dr. Hook)
(1949)
June 14:
Billie Myers (1971)
Chris DeGarmo (Queensryche)
(1963)
Boy George (Culture Club) (1961)
Alan White (Yes) (1949)
Rod Argent (The Zombies) (1945)
June 15:
Dryden Mitchell (Alien Ant
Farm) (1976)
Ice Cube (1969)
Scott Rockenfield (Queensryche)
(1963)
Steve Walsh (Kansas) (1952)
Garry Roberts (Boomtown Rats)
(1954)
James Smith (The Stylistics)
(1950)
Russell Hitchcock (Air Supply)
(1949)
Ian Matthews (1946)
June 16:
Gino Vanelli (1952)
Edward Levert (The O'Jays)
(1942)
June 17:
Kevin Thornton (Color Me Badd)
(1969)
Paul Young (1956)
Barry Manilow (1946)
June 18:
Nathan Morris (Boyz II Men)
(1971)
Dizzy Reed (Guns N' Roses)
(1963)
Alison Moyet (1961)
Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins)
(1957)
Paul McCartney (1942)
June 19:
Brian Welch (Korn) (1969)
Brian Vander Ark (The Verve
Pipe) (1964)
Paula Abdul (1962)
Ann Wilson (Heart) (1950)
June 20:
Twiggy Ramirez (Marilyn Manson)
(1972)
Murphy Karges (Sugar Ray) (1968)
John Taylor (Duran Duran) (1960)
Michael Anthony (Van Halen)
(1955)
Cyndi Lauper (1953)
Lionel Richie (1949)
Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys)
(1942)
Gene Simmons Accused of Sexual Assault
 May 28, 2010 – How could a meeting between a make-up artist and Kiss’ Gene Simmons go so wrong? Well according to documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday the guitarist wanted more from her than she was willing to give and it didn’t involve make-up. More
Bret Michaels Didn’t Tell His Doc About American Idol
 May 28, 2010 – Didn’t Bret Michaels look healthy on American Idol on Wednesday night? There is a chance he wasn’t. More
Don’t Let Elton Cook You Dinner
 May 27, 2010 - File this under “You can’t be good at everything.” Elton John was arguably the biggest solo musician in the world in the seventies and he was easily in the top 10 in the eighties but it seems he was too busy conquering the world to learn to cook. More
Reformed Faces Set for Vintage at Goodwood Without Stewart
 May 27, 2010 – The good news is the Faces are back together but the not-so-fine print says Rod Stewart will not be in the mix. More
Only 2% Separated Final Two On Low-Rated American Idol Finale
 May 28, 2010 – “What-eva” seems to be what many are saying about Wednesday’s American Idol finale. While 24.2 million viewers checked out Simon Cowell’s swan song it was the show’s lowest rated finale since season one which could spell trouble for winner Lee DeWyze. More
Paul McCartney’s Daughter Controls his Touring
 May 27, 2010 – It sure sounds like Paul McCartney is a responsible dad. The former Beatle say he never tours when it’s his turn to look after his daughter Beatrice – his child with ex-wife Heather Mills. More
Slash Yawns at New Rock Scene
 May 27, 2010 – Slash says he’s not holding his breath for the next big thing in Rock. In fact the former Guns N’ Roses guitarist is disappointed in the current Rock scene. More
Jones Experimenting With Summer Festivals
 May 18, 2010 – Norah Jones says she hasn’t done too many festivals in the past because her music was too “intimate and quiet.” More
Phil Collins, Huge Alamo Fan
 May 11, 2010 – The name Phil Collins reminds us of countless hits, huge arena tours and complicated drumming. How about the Alamo? More
Sting Says Legalize Marijuana
 April 5, 2010 – Sting seems to be fed up with our paradigms around pot! The singer says we, as a society, spend too much time putting marijuana users in jail when legalizing the substance could feed the hungry of the world. More
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Where’s My Teeth? Led Zeppelin Reunion, Non-Story of 2008, Now Lets Talk Dirt
 Jan. 7, 2009 – Would 2008 have been any better if Robert Plant just played along? Maybe, if he stopped thinking about himself for a minute and gave us what we wanted, we’d be looking forward to 2009 just a tad more. After all, with half of Americans losing their savings there’s a possibility we’ll all look as unkept as Plant and Page did in the seventies anyway. Think of the Zep merchandising opportunities? When the dust settles I still believe that Plant will rejoin Page, Jones and Bonham for a reunion. In all fairness he’s earned the right to do it when he wants to. Just not in 2009.
The urgency of a Zeppelin reunion was accentuated by the passing this year of Richard Wright, who easily brought Pink Floyd 40% more fans than they would have had without him. As strong as David Gilmour and Rogers Waters were, Floyd would not even have gotten to flying pigs and insanity gigs without him. Don’t get me started on Syd Barrett.
Rock’ n Roll got a little lighter in 2008 with the passing of Bo Diddley who earned bragging rights a long time ago for building the foundation of this crazy past time of ours. The seriously underrated Jeff Healey is probably on some main stage in Rock’n Roll heaven telling Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Not bad buddy, but I can do it with my eyes closed.” Isaac Hayes’ days of turning 3 minute songs into groovy, hypnotic epics also came to an end. He will be forever known as the voice that forced us to never multi-task in his presence. George Carlin also went to the other side and though much of his belly-aching comedy was long behind him, Carlin had turned into even more of a philosophical thinking mans comedian, which I guess he always was. It’s just that as I laughed less I heard more. He was another great inventor of new boundaries. Also a man who could actually keep up with Hendrix, drummer Mitch Mitchel passed in 2008. Let’s also tip the hat to Frankie Kerr of Teenage Head and Kenny McLean of Platinum Blonde. Almost making the list in 2008, former Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and pal DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) who, cheated the hangman by walking out of a crashed burning plane. |
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In 2008, the music biz was still over-populated by celebrities who should, for all intents and purposes, be pushing flap-jacks at I-Hop or at least selling knock-off bling in the parking lot. Alicia Keys’ duet with Frank Sinatra at the Grammy’s was as cringe inducing as it was laughable. I’m still waiting for the spoof on the Family Guy. The folks at the Grammy Crisis Centre probably missed my cry for help following Beyonce’s narcissistic fuck-tard spaghetti stringed tribute to Tina Turner at the Grammy’s. Let’s make Tina Turner’s whole career about you Beyonce? Or should we call you Sasha Fierce. The rip-off factor on her pretentious, ill thought out concept album was higher than being kidnapped by Dr. Phil’s wife and son each weekday afternoon. Beyonce, please get Verizon Wireless, next time you won’t miss the warning from Garth.
Also in the ‘Is This Even Music Anymore’ category - Britney Spears. Ok, she’s hot, really hot, really. I thought she was hot when she was chubby. I got a chubby when I waited for the sex tape. I’m a guy, the only reason I ever paid attention to her was because she’s hot. Poor girl has a worse voice than Nancy Reagan at a Jack Klugman sing-a-long. |
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As crappy as Britney’s pipes are, Jennifer Nettle of Sugarland has to win the prize for ‘The Twang That Makes it Ok to Store Your Bullets in Your Eye Sockets.” I would rather be Star Jones’ toilet than ever listen to ‘All I Want to Do’ again. Easily the most annoying song in the history of music. Not far behind in the ‘Country toiletries’ category comes ‘Elvis – Christmas Duets.’ Just when you thought "The King" couldn’t be bastardized anymore, along comes Martina McBride pretending she and Elvis shared kung-fu and amphetamines on her shameless video of ‘Blue Christmas.’ Hey, Martina, what did Elvis’ corpse look like when you asked him for permission to superimpose yourself in his classic video? Dishonourable mentions also go out to Anne Murray, Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes, Wynonna Judd, Sara Evans, Amy Grant and Gretchen Wilson for their ability to speak, or rather sing with the dead. I hope a few of them checked in, for at least a second, to ask themselves, “Does this dead guy make my ASS-inine career blunder look big?” |
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Never being a Guns’ N Roses fan I tried listening to ‘Chinese Democracy’ like a card carrying, braided, bandana wearing drunken sailor - just to be fair to Axl. It almost worked. Too much build up for something that sounded like a solo past time attempt from a lead singer waiting for his ‘bread and butter’ lead guitarist to come crawling back. Slash, please come home. To be fair, listening to Guns has always been like spotting a gorgeous woman who is completely not your type. I always see great talent in Axl, I just don’t want it.
Now for the good stuff. Coldplay might spend more time in court than Casey Anthony in 2009 for allegedly ripping off Joe Satriani but the ‘Viva La Vida’ album stood in no ones shadow. Taking a slight step back from their commercial past, Chris Martin and the boys’ weirdly crafted orchestral pop sounded more U2 this past year but it still all made sense. Also props to lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, I still hear David Gilmour haunting riffs in his mix. This guys guitar work makes me feel funny but better. It’s no surprise that Martin says, “There would be no Coldplay music without Jonny Buckland.” |
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Vampire Weekend has been described as afro-preppy party music which helps me here because I don’t know what the hell they are. The four Columbia University grads made me wonder what Genesis would sound like if Steve Hackett had found rockabilly as his religion. Their appearance on Saturday Night Live literally woke me up – infectious, intellectual and fun.
Easily the most underrated female singer on the planet for the past 10 years, Jonatha Brooke returned in 2008 with ‘The Works.’ Her tall task was putting music to lost Woody Guthrie lyrics. Kind of like trying to finish a Beatles tune. Interestingly, Brooke found herself again in this mans words. The prolific folk icon, who died in 1967, felt an urgency to promote the good in people and that brotherly love was like going back to church for Brooke. ‘All You Gotta Do is Touch Me.’ her duet with Keb' Mo' is like reconnecting to the juice that made music our God during those pimple faced prepubescent years. This album is truly a classic. Pick up her CD ‘Plumb’ while you’re at it. This one has been in my top 10 for years. |
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For a guy who I really want to punch in the face, Kanye West continues to show that he might actually spend more time in the studio than in the mirror. ‘808's & Heartbreak,’ his fourth album was built around TR-808 drum machine beats. Stephen Colbert said, “You don’t have to go out and buy Kanye’s new album just put a tin can to your ear and lean against a Pac-Man machine.” For a narcissistic bastard, Kanye, to his credit, does the impossible musically – he comes across like he cares about what he’s singing about. Though not as brilliant as he is ‘880’ still stands out as one of the best for 2008.
The Killers ‘Day & Age,’ John Mellencamp’s ‘Life, Death, Love and Freedom’ and James Taylor’s ‘Covers’ were weaker incarnations from these boys but brilliant none the less. Then there was Paul McCartney. The ex-Beatle has been hogging all the “I married a dirty rat-bitch” headlines since meeting Heather Mills in 1999. He wrote the big check, felt like a new man and met Nancy Shevell, who has tons of cash and might even be with Paul because she thinks he’s a cool guy! Good for him.
Let’s move on. 2009 promises goodies from Eminem, U2, No Doubt, Bruce Springsteen and Green Day. Let’s row forward! – by John Beaudin ---- Comment on this article ------ |
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Retro Review: Linda Ronstadt - The Very Best of -Sept. 24, 2002 - In high school my best buddy John Scott could never understand how I, a rocker, preferred Barbra Streisand over Linda Ronstadt. |
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Retro Review: Bruce Hornsby - Spirit Trail- Oct. 16, 1998 - No one could ever accuse Hornsby of not paying attention. Every lyric on 'Spirit Trail,' his sixth album, describes his unquenchable thirst to understand what were all doing here. |
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