Take two! Apparently Gunz isn’t the only one running into technical difficulty these days. In case you’re wondering, ALTop 20 did not air as planned last Sunday. Our team of technicians have assured us that Lance Fiasco should however be making a return to the airwaves this weekend. Vote daily for your favorite songs at ALTop20.com and tune in at 5pm EST every Sunday for a weekly countdown featuring surprise guest DJs from your favorite bands.
When the culture began to change in the late 1960s – when the old one-liner comics on the Ed Sullivan Show were looking pretty tired and irrelevant to a younger generation experimenting with drugs and protesting the War in Vietnam – George Carlin was the most important stand-up comedian in America. By the time he died Sunday night (of heart failure at age 71), the transformation he helped bring about in stand-up had become so ingrained that it’s hard to think of Carlin as one of America’s most radical and courageous popular artists. But he was. Carlin started doing stand-up… Read more »
Coming this Sunday… idobi Radio’s forgotten DJ, Lance Fiasco, returns to the airwaves after a long hiatus this Sunday. Send your requests to idobi Fiasco (AIM) and tune in at 5pm EST each week. ALTop 20 is the latest unique listening experience from idobi, featuring surprise guest DJs from your favorite bands.
Listeners tuning in to Chicago alternative rock station WKQX (Q101) on August 9 heard a catchy, guitar-driven track called “The Great Divide,” followed by an announcement that the song was produced by a “mystery artist.” It quickly became the most-requested song on the station and was put into power rotation by the programming department. After three weeks of speculation, a DJ finally revealed the secret: The band behind the alt-rock hit was none other than Hanson, a trio of brothers best known for their pop-rock song “MMMBop,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in 1997. Q101 program… Read more »
British bands swept the NME music awards on Thursday, with last year’s champions the Arctic Monkeys doing it again in 2007 with two more prizes. But the United States were also honored, with My Chemical Romance taking the Best International Band category and The Killers winning Best Video for “Bones.” “This is the verdict of the real passionate British music fans, the ones who keep the music scene alive at gigs up and down the country week-in and week-out,” said NME editor Conor McNicholas. “It’s a reflection of how strong the British music scene is that there’s so much to… Read more »
On seasons four and five of “American Idol,” when the semifinals featured 24 singers, one-third of them were teenagers – eight each season. When this season’s semifinalists were named on Wednesday, only three of the 24 were in their teens: 17-year-old Sanjaya Malakar, 17-year-old Jordin Sparks and 19-year-old Stephanie Edwards. The numbers prompt the question: Is “Idol” growing up? Since raising the age limit to 28 for season four, singers approaching 30 have dominated the show, from Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry and Elliott Yamin to Bo Bice, Constantine Maroulis and Nadia Turner. And in season six, eight of the remaining… Read more »
A Sacramento area radio station fired 10 employees Tuesday, including three morning disc jockeys, in reaction to a tragedy in which a woman died Friday after an on-air water-drinking contest at the station’s studios. The hosts of the KDND-FM “Morning Rave” show – who go by the on-air names Trish, Maney and Lukas – were fired a day after the station suspended the show and said it is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death. Jennifer Lea Strange, 28, died after participating in a water-drinking contest on the hit music radio station, which calls itself — playing on the sound of… Read more »
In the world of hip-hop few music executives have more influence than DJ Drama. His “Gangsta Grillz” compilations have helped define this decade’s Southern rap explosion. He has been instrumental in the careers of rappers like Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne. He appears on the cover of the March issue of the hip-hop magazine XXL, alongside his friend and business partner T.I., the top-selling rapper of 2006. And later this year DJ Drama is scheduled to make his Atlantic Records debut with “Gangsta Grillz: The Album.” Now DJ Drama is yet another symbol of the music industry’s turmoil and confusion.… Read more »
January 16 might go down as a day of infamy on the mixtape circuit. In a major development in the Recording Industry Association of America’s quest to stop what they believe to be the bootlegging of music, the Atlanta office of mixtape king DJ Drama’s Aphilliate Music Group was raided Tuesday by police. Drama (real name Tyree Simmons) and Aphilliate partner Donald “Don” Cannon were taken into custody along with 17 other individuals Tuesday. Police seized over 50,000 mixtapes in the raid, according to reports from Atlanta’s Fox affiliate, WAGA. In addition to housing the day-to-day operations of the Aphilliate… Read more »
Following are previews of albums due out within the next few months from debut acts or under-the-radar artists due for a breakthrough. PAOLO NUTINI Scottish singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini, who turns 20 January 9, was one of the most noteworthy breakout artists of 2006 for Atlantic Records in the United Kingdom. After an appearance at South by Southwest in Austin last March, his debut single, “Last Request,” reached No. 5 in July on the British charts and also became a substantial airplay hit. His debut album, “These Streets,” subsequently opened at No. 3 with out-of-the-box sales of 35,000, according to his… Read more »
