Search Results for: Queen

Recently, Maureen Callahan wrote a piece for the New York Post about Crush Management, the NYC cadre that shepherds the careers of Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, the Academy Is … , Boys Like Girls and Armor for Sleep (or, as Callahan puts it, “basically any band that a 13-year-old girl with a blog and a Hot Topic habit obsesses over”). Aside from providing readers with some genuinely bananas quotes from songwriter/ rock-and-roll vampire Butch Walker about credibility (especially considering this is on his résumé), the article is excellent primarily because it floats the hypothesis that the artists… Read more »

Satellite radio bills itself as the Wild West of the airwaves, an uncensored outpost beyond the reach of federal regulators where expletives fly with impunity and the banter can get as raunchy as at a strip club. But the decision this week by XM Satellite Radio to suspend shock jocks Opie and Anthony for 30 days for crude sexual comments about First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Queen Elizabeth II has listeners wondering whether there’s a new sheriff in town. Some XM listeners were outraged – not at the comments but at XM’s reaction. “I signed… Read more »

It was a good, flatulent, slur-filled and sexist-gag-soaked run, but the bad boys of radio appear to be living on borrowed time. On Tuesday (May 15), XM shock duo Opie and Anthony were slapped with a 30-day suspension for last week’s gag involving a homeless character discussing his desire to sexually assault Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, first lady Laura Bush and the Queen of England. “Nobody in radio thinks they’re a shock jock; they’re entertainers. But if [the genre] isn’t dead, it’s certainly had a storm warning,” said Tom Taylor, editor of Inside Radio, citing last month’s firing of… Read more »

Rage Against The Machine played its first show in seven years last night (April 29) to close the 2007 edition of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. The foursome tore into staples like “Testify,” “Bulls on Parade,” “People of the Sun” and “Guerrilla Radio” to one of the largest main stage crowds in the event’s history. Guitarist Tom Morello was in particularly blazing form on “Know Your Enemy,” and the band grooved in lockstep throughout, as if no time had passed since it was last active. Rage has thus far only scheduled four other shows in… Read more »

Damon Albarn has confirmed he is concluding his animated pop act Gorillaz later this year with a feature-length send off. Rumours had been circulating throughout 2006 as to the band’s demise, particularly with Albarn focused on his musical work with side project The Good, The Bad and the Queen, and his return to the new Blur album, and speaking to BBC Radio last week, the singer/songwriter confirmed an animated film and accompanying film score would be the band’s swan song. “We’re trying to make a film next, starting in September hopefully,” said Albarn, commenting that they had approached famed Monty… Read more »

Young indie rockers Arctic Monkeys, who made history with Britain’s fastest-selling debut album in 2006, are out to prove they are no one-hit wonders with their second record released on Monday. Critics wonder if the weight of expectation will be too much for the musicians from the northern city of Sheffield, among the first to make it big by harnessing the power of the Internet. Alexis Petridis, music critic for the Guardian newspaper, called “Favourite Worst Nightmare” arguably the most anticipated second album in a decade. Judging by early reviews and the reaction of fans at gigs across the country,… Read more »

Media industry executives and analysts have expressed surprise and alarm at last week’s decision by EMI, the record label, to start selling music videos without the protection of anti-piracy software. The decision was a little-noticed part of the company’s ground-breaking deal with Apple that made all of EMI’s catalogue available on iTunes in a format that can be copied and played on any digital device without restriction. That deal, announced with fanfare by EMI chief executive Eric Nicoli and Apple founder Steve Jobs, was hailed as ushering in a new digital music era. EMI is expected to begin announcing deals… Read more »

For then 15-year-old Travis McCoy, high school gym class was nothing more than an excuse to chat about music with buddy Matt McGinley. McCoy, who was an aspiring rapper, was the frontman for a local band, and McGinley played drums for another in their native Geneva, N.Y. The summer after sophomore year, McGinley’s band landed a party gig, and McCoy, who happened to be at the same gathering, stepped to the mic and began to rhyme along with it. Thus Gym Class Heroes was born and went on to release three independent albums before signing to Fall Out Boy principal… Read more »

What’s up with all the different versions of Avril in her new video? Or, for that matter, Christina, Ciara and Beyoncé? Everywhere you look, it seems some pop diva has replicated herself so she’s the star of her clip several times over. Multiple versions are nothing new – Mariah and Madonna are old pros by now – but the idea has been spreading like a video virus, with Avril and others just the latest to be infected. It got us to thinking – are they copying themselves or someone else? Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” Avril Lavigne gets to have it both… 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 »