Before the tour van and the record deal, before the girls begging for autographs, they were middle school mall rats who made a terrible racket practicing in their parents’ homes.
INDIO, California – Perhaps it was a sign that the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arcade Fire and Hot Chip were sharing the same bill. Whatever the case, Saturday was certainly one of the most scorching Coachella afternoons ever, with temperatures into the100s for hours on end. That meant the tented stages provided plenty of shadowy solace, while pre-sunset outdoor acts were playing to their diehards and suffering while doing it. (Let’s just say there were multiple hipster rockers quoting Lil Jon’s infamous sweat-dripping lyrics.) Still, Peter Bjorn and John and the Decemberists wore their suits and the Sahara tent was… Read more »
Like Al Pacino in “The Godfather Part III,” just when eco warrior Al Gore thinks he’s pulled himself free of Washington, D.C.’s partisan politics, he gets pulled right back into the muck. Former Democratic Vice President Gore, one of the organizers behind the July 7 global-climate-crisis-awareness concert Live Earth , has run into opposition from Senate Republicans over his plans to have one of the eight worldwide shows take place in D.C. And, depending on who you believe, the objection to the concert is either a matter of simple parliamentary procedure or just politics as usual. Oklahoma Republican Senator James… Read more »
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame swung open its doors Monday night to the latest batch of acts ticketed for music immortality, with the Georgia alt-rock icons and the dysfunctional Pasadena party band leading the way. They were joined by ’70s punk pioneer Patti Smith, ’60s girl group the Ronettes and the first hip-hop act to crash the party, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The 22nd annual induction ceremony–which per tradition was held at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel–felt like an I Love the ’80 special, thanks to its two biggest inductees. R.E.M. received a warm introduction… Read more »
Among the legions of acts booked for this year’s South by Southwest Music and Media Conference and Festival March 14-18 in Austin, here are 10 that people will be talking about. THE PIPETTES Sure, the Pipettes revel in the ’60s girl group sounds of the Ronettes and the Shangri-Las. And yes, they even conjure up cool memories of British sister-in-song, the beehived Mari Wilson, who covered similar musical ground in the ’80s. Still, the trio, who hail from the British seaside town of Brighton, manage to make songs like “Pull Shapes,” “Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me” and “Dirty Mind”… Read more »
“We have been wrestling with the issues around interoperability for some years and have concluded that it is not so much a technology problem as a business problem,” wrote the consortium to Jobs. No kidding? And all along the world at large thought downloading DRM-free MP3 files presented huge technical issues. Seriously though, late last year Apple itself gave a few of us media folk a glimpse of why record companies fear the computer turned consumer electronics company. At the Apple Australia Christmas party in Sydney, a young band treated us all to a couple of songs. They were pretty… Read more »
Starbucks Entertainment announced today that it will release a CD of 15 original tracks by Starbucks partners (employees). The first-of-its-kind compilation is the result of a company-wide contest that invited Starbucks partners to submit original solo or band recordings. “Off the Clock Vol. 1: New Music from Up & Coming Starbucks Artists” will be available exclusively at Starbucks Company-operated locations in the U.S. and Canada beginning April 3, 2007. This newest venture continues Starbucks unwavering support of new talent — in this case, from within its own family of partners.”Off the Clock Vol. 1: New Music from Up & Coming… Read more »
During the first two weeks in January, the most popular album in the country was the soundtrack to “Dreamgirls.” But that statistic was less impressive than it might have been, because for those two weeks, “Dreamgirls” sold around 60,000 copies each week, which made for the two lowest totals for a #1 album in the history of the SoundScan era, which began in 1991. Granted, January is always a pretty slow month for album sales and releases. But around that same time, the new Fall Out Boy album, Infinity on High, leaked online and was one of the most eagerly… Read more »
Festival Preview LLC announces the launch of a music festival news, opinion and community website serving “involved” festival-goers, those that attend multiple festivals each year. Demand for the site is indicated by soaring attendance in recent years at North American festivals of every musical genre. “Hanging with your friends and favorite entertainers at live music events is more than a hobby–it’s a lifestyle,” says Festival Preview founder and publisher Dan Ruby. “A community service like Festival Preview is a prime example of how the Internet can enrich people’s lives and give them more of what they want. Covering all music… Read more »
Denny Doherty, one-quarter of the 1960s folk-rock group the Mamas and the Papas, known for their soaring harmony on hits like “California Dreamin’” and “Monday, Monday,” died today (Jan. 19) at 66. His sister Frances Arnold said the singer/songwriter died at his home in Mississauga, a city just west of Toronto, after a short illness. The group burst on the national scene in 1966 with the top 10 smash “California Dreamin’.” The Mamas and the Papas broke new ground by having women and men in one group at a time when most singing groups were unisex. John Phillips, the group’s… Read more »
