Anyone who listens to classic rock radio will instantly know the mournful, organ-drenched ballad "Whiter Shade of Pale" from 1967 and likely also "Conquistador" from 1972, both mega-hits from famed British prog rockers Procol Harum, who continue to tour.
The band has just been forced to cancel the remainder of its "British Invasion Tour" of South Africa along with the Moody Blues and 10cc after founder and frontman Gary Brooker injured himself. The fall came on Brooker’s 67th birthday (May 29).
Anyone who saw the 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster knows Metallica have a highly developed whiny side, a collective trait that also spurred their embarrassing and ultimately pointless assault on file-sharing company Napster at the dawn of the 00s. But this latest claim will strike most folks as beyond the pale even for the Bay Area rock brawlers.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, guitarist Kirk Hammett claims the quartet can't afford not to tour because they don't make enough money from royalties. Hammett added that, although the band would like to be able to spend more time with their families, they simply can't afford to.
It was only a matter of time before the bright lights over at Funny or Die got around to skewering the celebrity judges on American Idol, The Voice and X Factor. But who knew they'd command such talent to do it?
Witness as classic rocker Meat Loaf, alt-rockers Perry Farrell (Jane's Addiction) and Serj Tankian (System of a Down), pop stars Debbie Gibson and Natalie Imbruglia and YouTube phenom Rebecca Black poke fun at Steven Tyler, Randy Jackson, Adam Levine and the rest.
If old age was created for nurturing regrets, then Irish-born musician and activist Bob Geldof is well on his way to embracing his destiny.
The 61-year-old former Boomtown Rats crooner and Live Aid founder says he is convinced he could have enjoyed a solo career on the scale of Sting and Paul Weller if his commitment to fundraising hadn't got in the way.
Boy, that Shirley Manson sure is something. Not only is the Garbage leader a fantastic vocalist and performer and a serious looker, she also is an outspoken advocate against violence towards concert-goers. And she can swear like a sailor.
Manson's impressive command of profanity was on full display last Friday in Atlantic City where the quartet was performing. The uber-fashionable 45-year-old singer stopped the show to call out a fan in the audience who had apparently smacked a woman. Fan footage of the event is below; the action happens around the 40-second mark.
File under ‘duh.’ Former Sex Pistols singer, current Public Image Limited frontman and budding movie producer John Lydon has slammed music reality shows, labeling both The Voice and American Idol as "humiliating."
I suppose shooting fish in a barrel was just too easy.
Even now, some 35 years after his death, Elvis Presley – or more specifically, memorabilia connected to him - continues commanding big dough from fans and curiosity-seekers… especially morbid curiosity-seekers. Witness: The original crypt in which Presley was interred is going up for auction.
Sigh.
The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II is leading to all kinds of oddball events – Prince Charles scratching wax in the T-dot, the Dukes of Kent and Gloucester respectively visiting Uganda and Malta (er….OK) and now, curmudgeonly Canuck roots-rocker Neil Young covering “God Save the Queen” - the UK’s national anthem, NOT the rip-snorting Sex Pistols anthem.
Yes, you read that headline right. The five corn-fed, church-going superstar brothers, who, along with the Jackson 5, made the 1970s infinitely more enjoyable for teenage girls across the planet, appear to have snuck a Led Zeppelin platter into the family’s Utah homestead.
What began as tragic is fast becoming heartbreaking as a libel lawsuit filed by Boston guitarist/songwriter Tom Scholz against newspaper the Boston Herald unfolds in court. Scholz sued the Herald over three 2007 columns Scholz claims blamed him for driving singer Brad Delp to commit suicide, an allegation the Herald denies.
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April 2012
