Search Results for: DEVO

For a certain generation who grew up with Commodore 64s and Apple IIcs, downtime in computer class was spent obsessing over one primitive yet lovable educational video game: Oregon Trail. Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz was one of the floppy disc’s biggest devotees as a kid, so he was willing to dedicate a “retarded” amount of time to helping build the band’s own version of the game: Fall Out Boy Trail. The online game, which has clocked more than 250,000 plays since its launch on Mar. 3, is a survival exercise like the original. But instead of helping your caravan… Read more »

It’s early January, and occasional downpours drench thousands of fans as they file into Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium for Sound & Speed, an annual event featuring country stars and NASCAR drivers. Camo-clad devotees and their children, some dressed in miniature racing suits, line up for an autograph and a picture. The event is the perfect mix for those who consider autographs from Dierks Bentley and Dale Earnhardt Jr to be treasured booty. NASCAR fans and country music fans are eager to rub elbows with drivers and artists alike, something both circuits are eager to take advantage of. The 2009 race season… Read more »

Google  entered the radio advertising business with grand ambitions three years ago. On Thursday, those ambitions fizzled. Google said it was ending its radio project, Google Audio Ads, because it had failed to live up to expectations. Up to 40 people are expected to lose their jobs. It was the second time in two months that Google had killed a program meant to expand its advertising business offline, suggesting that the appeal of Google’s automated model for selling ads may be far more limited than the company once hoped. The company had planned to revolutionize the way radio ads were… Read more »

In between the raunchy humor and nudity, Blink-182 managed to make a huge impact on other bands and devoted fans. Perhaps without even knowing it – and definitely without ever really trying – Blink-182 have somehow become one of the most influential bands of the past 20 years. This might seem like a bit of a stretch. After all, aren’t these the same guys with the discography of di– jokes? The ones who gave their albums titles like “Enema of the State or Take Off Your Pants and Jacket?” Well, yes. But they’re also the same guys who featured Robert… Read more »

The Zune, Microsoft’s portable music player that attempted to wrestle away some of Apple’s digital music dominance, may be ready to “throw in the towel.” The Financial Times spoke to Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, who said the company might discontinue the device after it failed to achieve a fraction of the popularity the iPod has attained. Instead, Bill Gates and co. will focus on developing a “general purpose” device, kind of like an iPhone or that Blackberry we see so many commercials for. The Zune arrived with high hopes in November 2006, boasting Wi-Fi capability and FM radio –… Read more »

Four years after a stroke, Dick Clark is relishing the prospect of another New Year’s Eve celebration determined to appear for his 36th year in Times Square And he’s hardly surprised by the current state of the music industry he helped build – he predicted this, after all. Clark, who turned 79 last month and has been in front of the cameras for 61 years, said in a recent interview by e-mail that his involvement in “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009,” diminished though it may be, is a labor of love and “not really a… Read more »

Brandon Flowers is having trouble explaining himself. Maybe it’s because nothing about him adds up: a couture-wearing synth-pop fanatic who wants to be Bruce Springsteen; a devout Mormon who sings in a decadent Las Vegas rock band. Maybe it’s because when Flowers talks, he tends to get in trouble – like when he bragged that Sam’s Town, the previous album from his band, the Killers, was “one of the best albums in the last 20 years” before anyone heard it. Or maybe it’s because, as the Killers prepare to release their third album, Day & Age, he’s still not sure… Read more »

Last week, at the mtvU Woodie Awards, former Blink-182er (and current member of +44) Mark Hoppus spoke about his best friend and bandmate Travis Barker, who is recovering from second-and-third degree burns suffered in a September 19 plane crash that killed four people and seriously injured DJ AM. And this week, Hoppus kept on talking – er, blogging – only this time it wasn’t just about about Barker, but former Blink bandmate Tom DeLonge, too. Seems that, for the first time since Blink went on “indefinite hiatus” in February 2005, all three members have been spending time together … which,… Read more »

Rolling Stone magazine is shrinking with the times. After more than four decades of standing out with a larger format than other magazines, it will step back and look like everyone else starting with the Oct. 30 issue, due out this week. The adoption of a standard format could boost single-copy sales and reduce production costs for advertising inserts such as scent strips and tear-out postcards. The magazine says any cost savings, though, will be offset by the inclusion of more pages and the shift to thicker, glossier paper. Like other devoted readers, Eddie Ward, 35, said he will miss… Read more »

Hard rock band AC/DC has extended its Black Ice tour of North America into early 2009. New dates begin December 20 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and run through January 31 in Nashville. Tickets go on sale Saturday. Eighteen previously announced shows have already sold out, according to the band’s label, Columbia. The tour is in support of a new album of the same name, due October 21 exclusively via Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores and AC/DC’s Web site. “Black Ice” won’t be the only AC/DC title available exclusively at Wal-Mart. In November, the retailer will be the only U.S. source… Read more »