The city school board has voted to fire eight part-time school police officers, including four who were moonlighting as bodyguards for rapper Snoop Dogg when an unknown gunman shot at his convoy in April. After a four-hour closed session, the board voted 4-1 to fire reserve officers Leslie Gaulden, Randy Robinson and Kenny Archer, all of whom worked for the rapper. Officer and Snoop Dogg bodyguard Marcus Thompson, arrested on weapons charges after an incident at the BET Awards show in Hollywood, was fired last week. Board members declined to comment on the decision, but interim school police chief Wesley… Read more »
From rampaging bikers at the Rolling Stones’ infamous Altamont show in 1969 to deadly stampedes by fans of the Who and Pearl Jam, the most notorious rock concert tragedies have generally been linked to the biggest names in the business. That is, until Great White took the stage of a tiny Rhode Island nightclub Thursday night. The heavy metal “hair” band, which reached the brief apex of its career in the 1980s, will now be forever remembered for a devastating fire that stands in a class by itself as the deadliest episode in the annals of rock ‘n’ roll mayhem.… Read more »
Investigators were at the scene all day Monday and planned to return Tuesday. Hamilton’s home, which was undergoing extensive renovations, was destroyed by a fire that began around 7 p.m. Saturday. Minutes later, a second fire was reported at a barn about a mile away; about a dozen horses were rescued before flames engulfed the building. “My family and I are grateful for all the calls and support we have received,” Hamilton said in a statement. “We are relieved that our neighbors are safe and that no firemen or police were hurt while trying to save our home. We love… Read more »
You don’t have to be old to be funky, as Snoop Dogg and Lil’ J can attest. The two young’uns share space on the “Undercover Brother” soundtrack with ’70s artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire; Kool and the Gang; and the Commodores. Snoop Dogg & Friends contribute an updated version of Parliament’s signature tune “Give up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)”, retitled “Undercova Funk (Give up the Funk),” as the first single off the album, due May 21, according a Hollywood Records spokesperson. The song, which counts former Parliament bassist Bootsy Collins as one of Snoop’s… Read more »
While it took more than a decade for Jane’s Addiction to decide to work on a fourth proper studio album, after less than one month of recording together the LP is nearly completed. “It’s going tremendous,” Jane’s frontman Perry Farrell said Sunday. “In three weeks’ time, we’ve recorded eight songs. The only reason we stopped was we had to break down for [Coachella]. And they’re just rockin’, rippin’ songs, too.” The band’s unusually rapid pace has – at least in part – inspired the album’s title, Hypersonic, which Farrell defined as “the ability to go coast-to-coast in a half-hour.” Jane’s… Read more »
Will U2 find what it’s looking for on Wednesday, when it competes for eight Grammy Awards at the music industry’s biggest bash of the year? Or will the Irish rock quartet be rattled by folk musicians, soulful R&B divas and tireless troubadour Bob Dylan? Nothing is ever certain about the Grammys, whose industry voters frequently stun music fans with oddball choices, including last year’s album of the year prize to semi-retired jazz-rock recluses Steely Dan. In the past few years the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, which organizes the event, has tried to improve the awards’ image by… Read more »
Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF) founder Maurice White celebrates his 60th birthday today (December 19). Although his battle with Parkinson’s disease has kept him off the road, White has never stopped working with his bandmates, and he continues to write and produce EWF recordings. In October of this year, White surprised fans and joined his former bandmates on stage at a concert in Los Angeles, performing “Keep Your Head To The Sky” as a tribute to Americans following the horrific events of September 11. White, a former session drummer for Chicago-based labels OKeh Records and Chess Records, founded the ’70s… Read more »
A fire erupted Tuesday afternoon (October 9) at the building housing Hit Factory Recording Studios, birthplace of records by artists ranging from John Lennon to Notorious B.I.G., causing an unknown amount of damage. No one who worked in the building was hurt in the blaze, according to police on the scene, though the section of the building that faces West 54th Street appeared severely damaged. The fire was contained chiefly to the fourth-floor offices of SESAC, a performing-rights organization representing songwriters and publishers that leases space in the building, according to Hit Factory executive Troy Germano. The Hit Factory has… Read more »
Irish boy band Westlife will rock Indonesia’s capital on Thursday under heavy security as police take no chances following the death of four fans in a stampede when another band toured Jakarta in March. Organizers said 2,000 security personnel including police would guard the 15,000-seat concert stadium in central Jakarta, along with 200 paramedics backed up by a number of ambulances and fire engines for the late afternoon event. Bands such as the chart-topping Westlife are hugely popular with Indonesian teenagers, but visits have become less common since the country sank into crisis in the late 1990s. The British boy… Read more »
The Hopeless Records’ 30th Anniversary celebration rolls on, and this time with Pinkshift at the helm. The Baltimore-based punk rockers unleash a mesmerizing reimagined rendition of Illuminati Hotties’ “Knead.” The track is on the forthcoming Hopelessly Devoted To You tracklist. Illuminati Hotties dropped “Knead” in 2021, which was featured on the Sarah Tudzin-led full-length record, Let Me Do One More. While Pinkshift stays true to the original’s quirky charm, they elevate it with their own raw intensity, breathing rejuvenated energy into the song. The band’s reinterpretation supercharges the track with jet fuel, adding an infectious urgency that complements Tudzin’s vision.… Read more »
