Search Results for: This Wild Life

The San Diego rock group Switchfoot are continuing to make an extraordinary impact with their Columbia/RED Ink debut “The Beautiful Letdown.” The album debuted on the Billboard Top 200 at #85 the first week of its release and is still currently on the chart at #187, with sales nearing the 100,000 mark. Switchfoot have embarked on a U.S. headlining tour over the last three months, selling out nearly every show well in advance, in top markets including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Chicago, Nashville and recently in Los Angeles at both The House of Blues on June 13th as well… Read more »

Ruben Studdard outsang Clay Aiken to become the new “American Idol.” The cuddly mountain of soul aced out his lanky, spikey-haired rival for the title in viewer voting. The results were announced during Wednesday’s conclusion of the wildly popular Fox amateur hour. “I feel great, man! Thank y’all!” said Studdard, 24, of Birmingham, Ala. Then, filled with emotion, he sang a song of gratitude, “Flying Without Wings,” as the crowd roared “RUU-ben, RUU-ben!” As expected with the two highly appealing performers, the margin dividing them was slim. Of 24 million phoned-in votes, 50.28 percent were for Ruben, putting him 130,000… Read more »

An environmental group plans to grow a forest in honor of the late Clash singer-songwriter Joe Strummer’s efforts to counter global warming. Future Forests, a group Strummer helped found in the 1990s, asked fans to donate to help create the living memorial on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. “Joe said, ‘Bands must be contributing to global warming by their buses, equipment trucks and the diesel used to power the stages,’” the spokesman said on condition of anonymity. “‘Can you imagine how much carbon dioxide the pressing and the distribution of a CD creates? What shall we do about it?’”… Read more »

The lyrics to the song “This Is My Life Story” by MXPX run through my head as I hopelessly scramble to the very back of the line. I left later than I had hoped, got caught up in D.C. traffic, and arrived about 5 minutes before doors were scheduled to open. Once inside, I rush to get as close to the stage as I possible. While mashed between about five teeny boppers and their “boyfriends,” anticipation runs through my bones as I eagerly await the first performance. First up is Further Seems Forever. I was a little skeptical about this… Read more »

The story of Napster, the failed online song-swapping service, always promised the kind of larger-than-life elements Hollywood thrives on – corporate intrigue, a nail-biting court battle and a young hero. Now comes Napster, the movie. Cable network MTV on Wednesday said it has reached a deal for the exclusive rights to the life story of Shawn Fanning, who created the controversial and wildly popular file-sharing program in 1999 while he was a 19-year-old student at Northeastern University in Boston. The movie, tentatively scheduled to air in 2003-2004, may even star Fanning, now 21, as himself. “Anything is possible and the… Read more »

Some popular online services are using a new kind of software to divert sales commissions that would otherwise be paid to small online merchants by big sites like Amazon and eToys. Critics call the software parasite-ware and stealware. But the sites that use the software, which is made by nearly 20 companies and used by dozens, say that it is perfectly legal, because their users agree to the diversion. The amounts involved are estimated by those in the industry to have mounted into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and are likely to continue to grow – in part because… Read more »

Forty-six years after Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps helped define the rockabilly sound with their signature hit “Be Bop a Lula,” Vincent’s first two records, 1956’s Bluejean Bop! and 1957’s Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps, will be re-released with bonus tracks on September 17th. Vincent himself died in 1971 at the age of thirty-six from a ruptured stomach ulcer, but bassist Jack Neal – one of two surviving members of the group, along with drummer Dickie Harrell – still remembers the early recording sessions vividly. “It was great to go ahead and cut a record where all the… Read more »

Age brings change, but the changes were decidedly for the better Tuesday when the Rolling Stones kicked off their Licks World Tour, named for an upcoming compilation that marks the British supergroup’s 40th anniversary. On their ’90s tours, the Stones had largely become a grizzled stadium jukebox. On this trip, however, in addition to mixing stadium, arena, theater and club dates – often in the same city – the band is taking new liberties with its set lists. Tuesday’s two-hour-plus tour opener at the FleetCenter included its share of rarely and never-played nuggets that thrilled and puzzled the arena crowd.… Read more »

From Run-DMC bragging about “My Adidas” to Foxy Brown touting “Foxy’s Bells,” hip-hop has always been a haven for men and women (but mostly men) with healthy egos and plenty of stories to tell about, well, themselves. After all, if P. Diddy didn’t have himself and his diamond-studded life to boast about, what would be left? The collapse of WorldCom? But when it comes to morbid self-obsession, Eminem has mad psyche. Just look at the chorus to his hit single “Without Me” for the evidence: “Now this looks like a job for me So everybody just follow me Cuz we… Read more »

They get mocked as the Strolling Bones but the Rolling Stones don’t give a damn – they are still rocking just as hard as they did 40 years ago on Day One. That was July 12, 1962 when the founder members launched into a chorus of “Kansas City” at London’s Marquee Club. Their fee for the night was 25 pounds. Now, four decades on, the elder statesmen of rock are ready to “Start Me Up” all over again with a round-the-world tour that will put yet more millions in their coffers. The Dinosaurs of Rock are in no danger of… Read more »