Hilly Kristal, owner of famed New York City punk club CBGB’s, has finally decided to give up his battle to keep the club open…but, as a concession, he’s re-opening it in Sin City.
Kristal said he intends to take the spirit of the club with him as well, adding that the new location “won’t be the same size or the same shape, but I am going to have all the things that matter there.”
Yeah, but, y’know, it’s still not going to be the same.
The Onion’s A.V. Club has put together a list of their 15 True Comeback Albums, giving everyone something to complain about.
Some of the selections are on the money, like Lou Reed’s New York, Johnny Cash’s American Recordings, or Steely Dan’s Two Against Nature…but putting John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy on the list seems iffy; it was a huge hit, but most critics complained that it was lackluster. Same with the B-52’s Cosmic Thing, despite being a gargantuan hit. Still, kudos for including Electric Light Orchestra’s 2001 album, Zoom, which was great, even if it was a commercial flop.
A few selections which deserved to be included but weren’t are Paul McCartney’s Flowers in the Dirt, Echo and the Bunnymen’s What Are You Going To Do With Your Life?, the Bee Gees’ This Is Where I Came In, Willie Nelson’s Across the Borderline, and, dammit, I stand by Rick Springfield’s Karma. I’ll even throw ABC’s Skyscraping into the fray, as well as Tears For Fears’ Everybody Loves A Happy Ending.
…and Rivers gotta get the hell outta Weezer.
Okay, it’s not like he’s making a mad dash for the exit or anything, but in an interview with MTV, River Cuomo – the frontman and songwriter behind Weezer – said there’s been no discussion about the band returning to the studio “Really, for the moment, we are done,” he said. “And I’m not certain we’ll ever make a record again, unless it becomes really obvious to me that we need to do one.”
Perhaps it’s for the best. 2005’s Make Believe was alright – in particular, “This Is Such A Pity” made my list of Best Songs of the Year – but it was ultimately underwhelming and in no way the stick-to-your-ribs kind of tastiness the band provided with their self-titled “Green” and “Blue” albums. A rest might do Cuomo’s songwriting some good.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s gone through a cut-out bin or sale bin in the past and bought an album simply because A) it was cheap, and B) it looked like it would sound good.
I know, there’s no sense to that, really, but sometimes an album cover just has a cool look about it, and, as a result, it leads to suspect that if it looks cool, then there’s at least a halfway decent chance that it sounds cool. And then, when you consider that you haven’t actually heard of the artist before makes you wonder, “Have I discovered some heretofore-unappreciated gem…?”
Enter Dave Adams.
I’d never heard of the guy before, but to be painfully honest, I bought his cassette because the picture of him on the cover made him look like Feargal Sharkey (late of the Undertones)…and I thought, “Well, I like Feargal Sharkey.” And, for 99 cents, I rationalized that the mere fact that he LOOKED like someone whose music I liked was enough to make it a worthwhile purchase.
So I bought it, opened it, popped it into the cassette player…and heard “Tears.”
For my money, it’s one of the greatest lost ’80s pop songs of all time. See what you think; it’s only a two-minute clip, but it spotlights both the verse and chorus, and that’s more than enough to get the gist.
Ian Curtis, lead singer of seminal British band Joy Division, hung himself on the eve of the band’s first American tour, and, as history records, his bandmates went on to form New Order and live happily ever after (even if poor old Ian didn’t).
Now, however, the life of Curtis is coming to the silver screen – entitled “Control” – and what better person to create a dark mood than famed photographer / Depeche Mode video director Anton Corbijn? (Indeed, he’s the photographer of the above shot.) “If I only ever make one movie,” said Corbijn in a press release, “‘Control’ would have to be that. I simply feel that as Joy Division and Ian Curtis played a big part in my life, I cannot think of a better combination of subject and director.”
The film is based upon and expands on the 1995 book Touching From a Distance written by Curtis’ widow, Deborah, as a personal account of her life with the singer; she serves as a co-producer on the film as well, along with Factory Records founder Tony Wilson. Matt Greenhalgh wrote the script for “Control,” talking to those closest to Curtis, including Honore, who previously remained silent on her relationship with him. Ian will be played by Sam Riley, who has some experience playing alternative rock legends; he portrayed Fall frontman Mark E. Smith in “24 Hour Party People.”
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