Category: News (Page 104 of 136)

Welcome to the National Recording Registry, Mr. Zappa!

April 11, 2006 / Will Harris

It was announced today that 50 new records are being added to the National Recording Registry, and, in the article on Yahoo! News, particular note is made of the inclusion of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Are You Experienced, Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, and B.B. King’s Live at the Regal. What’s mentioned far more casually, however, is the much more interesting news that among those 50 records are Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation, We’re Only In It For The Money, by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, and the Firesign Theater’s brilliantly titled Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers.

To see the whole list and a brief description of the importance of each entry, click here.

Alternative, Artists, News, Pop, Rock

“The Parent Trap:” A white trash remake

April 11, 2006 / Deb Medsker

Oh, those rascally Covington twins! They must be Lindsay Lohan fans, as they recently pulled off a caper cribbed straight from the script of the teenage drama queen’s star-making gem, “The Parent Trap.” Seems Rocky got himself into a bit of a fender-bender while driving Bucky’s pickup truck, which wouldn’t have been such a problem were it not for Rocky’s pesky suspended license and DUI citations. Thus, while the police were en route to the scene of the accident, Rocky phoned identical twin brother Bucky (he of the spotless driving record), and pulled a wacky switcheroo.

It all worked out just fine, until the twins’ co-conspirator in the shamockery, one Ryan Roller, confessed to his father–and subsequently the police–what had transpired. Of course, Roller’s courtroom testimony against the twins turned out to be less than optimally effective, since he incorrectly identified Bucky as the driver of the offending vehicle. All charges were dismissed, leaving both twins free to forever taint your memories of a dozen classic pop songs on “American Idol.”

Hey, you name your kids Bucky and Rocky and buy them pickup trucks, you gotta expect trouble of some kind. Now will someone please get these inbred redneck halfwits off my TV screen and whisk them back to the run-down doublewide from whence they came?

American Idol, News

It ain’t east coast, and it ain’t west coast…

April 11, 2006 / Will Harris

…but Detroit is the latest locale for a rapper to meet his untimately demise.

Proof, member of D12 and the best man at Eminem’s wedding, was shot to death in a nightclub on Eight Mile Road early this morning. Detroit police would neither confirm nor deny Proof’s death, only saying that two individuals had been shot in the head – one fatally – at the CCC nightclub, but a publicist at Interscope Records, D12’s label, confirmed that the news was true, adding, “Memorial service arrangements are still being made, and his friends and family would appreciate privacy during this difficult time.”

News, Rap

His Royal Badness keeps his credibility

April 10, 2006 / Will Harris

Prince is apparently not going to make an appearance on “American Idol”…though, apparently, folks at his label tried to get him to appear on the show in order to continue the promotional machine for his latest disc, 3121. The show’s producer, Nigel Lythgoe, sneered, “He did not want to talk with the kids and did not have the time.”

Get real, guy. Are you really surprised…? This is Prince. This is a guy who’s recorded albums and filmed videos and, instead of releasing them, let alone turning them in to his label, he just puts them in a vault. He does what he wants to do, when he wants to do it…like when he did “Muppets Tonight.” If he did “American Idol,” it’d be because it amused him…not because his label thought it was a good idea.

American Idol, News, Pop

The Return of the Living Dolls

April 10, 2006 / Will Harris

I’d love to take credit for that headline, but I borrowed most of it from an album New York Dolls released in the ’80s (Night of the Living Dolls). In this case, though, it’s even more accurate now than it was then, since the last two remaining living Dolls – singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain – are releasing a new album.

The line-up is fleshed out by second guitarist Steve Conte, bassist Sam Yaffa (late of Hanoi Rocks), and drummer Brian Delaney, who’d already worked with Johansen for several years prior to the Dolls reuniting for the 2003 Meltdown Festival in London, and the album is produced by Jack Douglas, who engineered the band’s debut LP back in the ’70s.

Will the record be any good…? Based on the performances the band’s been giving lately, it has a real shot at greatness…but only time will tell.

Alternative, Artists, News, Rock