Search Results for: decade

Green Day has been delivering power-punk to the mainstream  since Billie Joe Armstrong clutched a monkey in “Longview” nearly 15 years ago.   The trio has done it all with one foot firmly entrenched in its hometown East Bay punk scene, stating its allegiance to gutter punks and Gilman Street at every possible chance. It’s been both a blessing and a curse, eternally indebted to the past, but inching ever closer to the future. With the reigning punk royalty out of the picture the past couple years, the number of punk releases declined sharply. Anyone hoping Green Day would bring… Read more »

The early word on Green Day‘s 21st Century Breakdown is that the album somehow marks a seismic shift for the band, and with its windmilled guitars, climbing musical interludes and piano-driven ballads, it’s not difficult to see why. “Oh yeah, that’s ground zero for us,” frontman Billie Joe Armstrong smiled. “Coming from Gilman Street, we saw the most creative people I’ve ever seen in my life. There was a band called Schlong, and they did ‘West Side Story,’ and they called it ‘Punk Side Story.’ And then there’s bands like NoMeansNo, [who made] a record like Wrong that’s completely insane.… Read more »

Over the last few decades, a veteran music act’s best shot at platinum magic usually consisted of pairing up with younger hitmakers (a la Santana) or covering treasured classics (like Rod Stewart. These days, another kind of vehicle has become a path to best-selling success – teaming up with box store chains. Garth Brooks ‘ started the trend in earnest back in 2005, with an exclusive Wal-Mart deal, and the Eagles and AC/DC had multiplatinum-plus success over the last two years by exclusively selling new CDs at Wal-Mart. Guns ‘N Roses sold about a million copies with a special Best… Read more »

NEW YORK –  Longtime New York radio newsman  George Weber  was found stabbed to death in his  Brooklyn  apartment Sunday morning, cops said. The bloody body of Weber, a passionate fan of the city who spent a decade doing local news on WABC morning radio, was found just after 9 a.m. when he didn’t show up for work. “I used to hear his voice in the top and the bottom of the hour. It’s a voice New Yorkers know. Now that voice has been silenced,” said  Aaron Katersky, 33, an ABC colleague who found himself covering a friend’s murder. Weber,… Read more »

Christopher Hicks has been appointed Executive Vice President, Def Jam Recordings, it was announced today by Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group.   In his new position, Mr. Hicks will assume overall responsibility for the acquisition and develop ­ment of new talent, overseeing producers and guiding the creative vision and brand recognition of the legendary Def Jam label as it celebrates its 25th year anniversary in 2009.   Mr. Hicks will report directly to Mr. Reid, and to Steve Bartels,   President & COO, Island Def Jam Music Group, on operational matters.   Mr. Hicks will be… Read more »

It’s early January, and occasional downpours drench thousands of fans as they file into Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium for Sound & Speed, an annual event featuring country stars and NASCAR drivers. Camo-clad devotees and their children, some dressed in miniature racing suits, line up for an autograph and a picture. The event is the perfect mix for those who consider autographs from Dierks Bentley and Dale Earnhardt Jr to be treasured booty. NASCAR fans and country music fans are eager to rub elbows with drivers and artists alike, something both circuits are eager to take advantage of. The 2009 race season… Read more »

There is no chance that Axl Rose and his former Guns N’ Roses bandmate Slash will reunite. One of the pair will “die” before such an event could occur, Axl Rose said. The frontman told Billboard that the dispute between the pair would never be healed. He went on to say that Guns N’ Roses in its current guise, could tour in the near future. “In regards to Slash,” he said, “I read a desperate fan’s message about, ‘What if one of us were to die, and looking back I had the possibility of a reunion now.’ My thoughts are,… Read more »

Katy Perry opened the set to the prerecorded strains of Queen’s “Killer Queen” and covered that band’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” as an encore. During her 75-minute homecoming set Saturday night at the Wiltern Perry revealed that she’s also royalty of some sort: She’s the queen of putdown pop. Pop music’s It Girl sang of boys who aren’t men but “manikins,” run “hot and cold” and are “so gay.. but don’t even like boys.” The young sold-out crowd ate it up, thinking it was not only catchy but also edgy pop with an attitude. Those with a bit more experience,… Read more »

Brandon Flowers is having trouble explaining himself. Maybe it’s because nothing about him adds up: a couture-wearing synth-pop fanatic who wants to be Bruce Springsteen; a devout Mormon who sings in a decadent Las Vegas rock band. Maybe it’s because when Flowers talks, he tends to get in trouble – like when he bragged that Sam’s Town, the previous album from his band, the Killers, was “one of the best albums in the last 20 years” before anyone heard it. Or maybe it’s because, as the Killers prepare to release their third album, Day & Age, he’s still not sure… Read more »

Photo: Getty Paul McCartney has revealed more about the Beatles’ lost song “Carnival of Light,” a 14-minute track the band recorded in 1967 but never released. While McCartney wants people to hear the track, which he has described as a “happening,” he recommends fans keep their expectations in check. “People are thinking there’s another ‘Strawberry Fields’ somewhere [and] you know, this is more plinky-plonky,” McCartney told the Times U.K.. “I mean, I like it, but it’s not to everyone’s taste.” The song was apparently not for George Harrison’s taste either, since the guitarist blocked “Carnival” from appearing on the Fab… Read more »