They’ve put the wigs in a closet and kept the mini-Stonehenge in storage, but the members of Spinal Tap are back onstage. Not in character as the comical and perpetually washed up metal act, but as themselves: actor-musicians Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, together performing an acoustic “Funky Sex Farm,” adding vocal grunts and heavy breathing between lyrics. “Getting out my pitch fork/ Poking your hay …”
It’s part of a medley of tunes at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California, on Monday to announce what amounts to a busy year in 2009, with a 30-city “Unwigged & Unplugged” tour beginning April 17th in Vancouver. The trio is also finishing a new Spinal Tap album, combining studio re-recordings of songs from the original film and brand new material.
Even though it seems like Barenaked Ladies has run its course, the news that lead singer Steven Page has left the band is still a little surprising.
Singer-guitarist Steven Page said a big reason he decided to leave the Barenaked Ladies was he felt his songwriting voice was occasionally being squeezed out as a result of being in a five-member band.
A day after he announced on the band’s Web site that he was leaving the group, Page said the Barenaked Ladies has so many songwriting voices that he’s looking forward to a future as a solo artist.
“Frankly, the band itself was a five-way democracy and one of the great things about it is that it’s been about the five-way collaboration, but it’s also one of the things that’s made me decide to be a solo artist,” he said Thursday.
BNL just seemed like one of those bands that would be together forever.
With Barack Obama in the White House, we have a president who doesn’t go to bed at 9:30 with a glass of warm milk. President Obama and Michelle Obama like to have fun, and Stevie Wonder rocked the White House the other night.
The East Room of the White House, normally a place for staid presidential news conferences and other Washington happenings, was switched into a nightclub Wednesday night as Stevie Wonder stepped inside and rocked the house.
Wonder was the winner of The Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize, which was bestowed on him by President Obama.
In a celebration to be broadcast on PBS Thursday night, Wonder serenaded the first couple, kicking things off with a version of “Sir Duke” and later Wonder classics like “Isn’t She Lovely” and “Superstition.”
But the night was also a tribute to Wonder. Tony Bennett, Paul Simon, Will.i.am and Martina McBride all paraded though, each with their own rendition of Wonder’s hits.
President Obama and Michelle Obama, in an elegant emerald gown, along with Vice President Biden and his wife Jill, took in the show from the front row.
To coincide with Black History Month, our friends at Red Music have launched Red Urban Music, a new site that covers exactly what you think it covers: their urban artists. They just rolled the site out, meaning it’s not exactly swarming with content yet (a temporary problem, we assure you), so they did what all awesome web sites do in order to attract attention: they’re giving away cool stuff.
What kind of cool stuff, you ask? How does a digital camera, an iPod and a USB turntable grab you? If we weren’t forbidden from entering the contest, you can bet that we’d be going for that USB turntable so we can convert all of our old wax. Entering the contest will also net you some new tunes, so whatcha, whatcha, whatcha waiting for? Go here and get yourself a USB turntable.
Why, yes, they are still around…although to be fair, they hadn’t been around for a very long time until recently.
The Blow Monkeys are generally remembered for their 1986 single, “Digging Your Scene,” which was their lone entry into the Billboard Top 100. That it was a one-off was a little surprising, given that it made it into the top 20, but Americans just weren’t buying what the Blow Monkeys were selling. Their ’86 album, Animal Magic, made it into the top 40, but the follow-up, 1987’s She Was Only A Grocer’s Daughter, only made it into the Top 140 (at #134), and by the time Whoops! There Goes The Neighbourhood emerged in 1989, the band no longer had a record deal in the States. After one final release (1990’s Springtime for the World), they gave up the ghost, and the band’s lead singer, Doctor Robert, dived headlong into a very enjoyable – if not necessarily all that commercially successful – solo career. (Seriously, you should check out his stuff. Just start with his debut, Realms of Gold, and if you like that one, you can’t go wrong with any of the subsequent releases.)
In November of 2007, however, it was announced that the band would be getting back together…and, in an interesting move, declared that they would record and release a new album if the fans were willing to purchase copies in advance to pay for the cost; in turn, they would not only get an autographed copy of the album but, indeed, a thank-you in the liner notes. I admit: I signed up immediately, and I reaped the benefits, just as the Blow Monkeys promised. And the album, Devil’s Tavern, finds the band offering up a more mature version of their old sound, with the good Doctor still in fine voice…as you can clearly hear when you watch the video for “Travelin’ Soul,” which is one of the album’s eleven tracks.
The Spinal Tap gang is back.
