A seminal yet controversial figure in the annals of punk rock, former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren died in Switzerland on April 8th, after succumbing to cancer.
Best known for managing the aforementioned Sex Pistols, McLaren previously ran an infamous clothing store and punk rocker hangout called Sex, with then-girlfriend Vivienne Westwood. He also managed both Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow, and later embarked on a music career as an artist, with several albums and two Top Ten UK hits, "Buffalo Gals" and "Double Dutch" to his credit.
Malcolm McLaren was 64.
4/08/2010
4/01/2010
The Last Time: Stones 2010 Tour a Farewell?
Stop me if you've heard this one before: The Rolling Stones' upcoming massive world tour may be their last hurrah together. According to the folks at Glorious Noise:
Which is pretty interesting since they did not tour behind 1986's Dirty Work, at the time deepening a developing rift between Jagger and Richards. But ostensibly, the dead giveaway is the announced on stage guest appearances by bassist Bill Wyman--who left the band in 1992--and tributes to Ian Stewart, Mick Taylor, and of course, Brian Jones. Hmm...
At a hastily assembled press conference today, the Rolling Stones announced that they are planning another major tour which very well may prove to be the biggest tour of their storied career and perhaps the greatest tour of all time. With some of the details just now coming to light, many fans are speculating if the magnitude of it may signal that it will be their farewell tour.While many details are still in the development stages, one item that is finalized is the setlist. At the press conference, the band appeared together and told a room full of reporters that they would be following a similar pattern as many other bands are following recently: playing one of their classic albums in its entirety.
“We took a look at all of the albums that we felt fans would most enjoy hearing,” declared an energetic Mick Jagger, “and we’ve decided to do the ‘Harlem Shuffle’ across North America!” The band will be performing Dirty Work in its entirety for the first set of their show.
Which is pretty interesting since they did not tour behind 1986's Dirty Work, at the time deepening a developing rift between Jagger and Richards. But ostensibly, the dead giveaway is the announced on stage guest appearances by bassist Bill Wyman--who left the band in 1992--and tributes to Ian Stewart, Mick Taylor, and of course, Brian Jones. Hmm...
3/24/2010
RIP: Jim Marshall
Legendary rock photographer Jim Marshall died in his sleep on March 24th in a New York City hotel room. No cause of death has been announced.
Marshall, an iconic artist whose career spanned 50 years, is credited with some 500 album covers. His best known images include Jimi Hendrix setting fire to his guitar at the Monterrey Pop Festival in 1967, Johnny Cash giving the finger at San Quentin Prison in 1969, and the cover of The Allman Brothers' Fillmore East album.
A California resident, Marshall was in New York City at the time of his death for a photography-related event. He was 74 years old.
Marshall, an iconic artist whose career spanned 50 years, is credited with some 500 album covers. His best known images include Jimi Hendrix setting fire to his guitar at the Monterrey Pop Festival in 1967, Johnny Cash giving the finger at San Quentin Prison in 1969, and the cover of The Allman Brothers' Fillmore East album.
A California resident, Marshall was in New York City at the time of his death for a photography-related event. He was 74 years old.
3/17/2010
RIP: Alex Chilton (1950-2010)
Singer, songwriter, guitarist Alex Chilton, best known as a member of of '60s pop-soul group The Box Tops ("The Letter") and leader of power pop cult favorites Big Star, died on the evening of March 17th in New Orleans, of a possible heart attack. News of Chilton's death was confirmed by his Big Star band mate, drummer Jody Stephens.Despite never being a household name, Chilton's music did garner some mainstream exposure late in his life: the theme song to That '70s Show was a reworking of Big Star's "In The Street", performed by Cheap Trick; Gilmore Girls featured the band's "Thirteen", and an exclusive prep school attended by one of the show's main characters was named Chilton Academy. His career both as a solo artist and with the aforementioned Box Tops and Big Star--each of which he rejoined in he mid-'90s--spanned 5 decades and influenced a score of artists including Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, Teenage Fanclub and latter day Big Star band mates Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies.
And of course, there's The Replacements, whose Paul Westerberg wrote "Alex Chilton", which contains a line both author and subject will always be remembered for:
"I never travel far / without a little Big Star"
Alex Chilton was 59 years old.
Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) pays tribute to Chilton on the floor of the US House of Representatives: "His music will live on forever...He is an embodiment of Memphis music: hard, different, independent, brilliant, beautiful. We're lucky he came our way."
[Alex Chilton photo: Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty Images]
3/10/2010
Best. Simpsons. Ever.
Well, at least it's our favorite ever: "Mother Simpson," the eighth episode from The Simpsons' seventh season, first aired in 1995 and it's a great one.
After faking his death to avoid going to work, Homer goes to the Springfield Hall of Records to clear things up. There he discovers that his mother, who he thought had died when he was a child, is in fact alive. A visit to Mona Simpson's grave reveals it is actually Walt Whitman's; when Homer accidentally falls into his own freshly dug grave, he is berated by a lady who claims he is in her son's final resting place. Homer puts two and two together and, after 27 years, is reunited with his mom.
We won't give away any more of the plot, but "Mother Simpson" manages to be both funny and touching, and along the way, reveals little mysteries, such as the reason for Lisa's intelligence. It also has, arguably, the most poignant finale of any Simpsons episode. A classic.
After faking his death to avoid going to work, Homer goes to the Springfield Hall of Records to clear things up. There he discovers that his mother, who he thought had died when he was a child, is in fact alive. A visit to Mona Simpson's grave reveals it is actually Walt Whitman's; when Homer accidentally falls into his own freshly dug grave, he is berated by a lady who claims he is in her son's final resting place. Homer puts two and two together and, after 27 years, is reunited with his mom.
We won't give away any more of the plot, but "Mother Simpson" manages to be both funny and touching, and along the way, reveals little mysteries, such as the reason for Lisa's intelligence. It also has, arguably, the most poignant finale of any Simpsons episode. A classic.
Red Hot Chili Peppers / "Magic Johnson"
50 years ago this fall, what many consider the greatest NBA franchise of all time, moved from Minneapolis to sunny southern California to become the Los Angeles Lakers. Why are bringing this up? Oh, it's just an excuse to post one of our fave tracks from the Red Hot Chili Peppers album Mother's Milk [EMI-1989]: a tribute to Lakers great Earvin "Magic" Johnson.
RIP: Corey Haim
'80s teen heartthrob Corey Haim died Wed. March 10th at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, CA. No cause of death has been announced, but Haim had been recently suffering from flu-like symptoms.
Best known for his roles in the movies Lucas (1986), and The Lost Boys (1987), the Toronto-born actor's career had been subsequently derailed by drug abuse. In recent years Haim co-starred with childhood friend Corey Feldman on the A&E reality show The Two Coreys, which was canceled in 2008 after 2 seasons.
Haim was 38 years old.
Best known for his roles in the movies Lucas (1986), and The Lost Boys (1987), the Toronto-born actor's career had been subsequently derailed by drug abuse. In recent years Haim co-starred with childhood friend Corey Feldman on the A&E reality show The Two Coreys, which was canceled in 2008 after 2 seasons.
Haim was 38 years old.
From the Vaults: The Action
THE ACTION
Rolled Gold
[Reaction-2002]
It's quite fitting that in an era of disappearing record stores we'd stumble upon this long-lost gem of mod psychedelia while browsing in a now-defunct East Village shop a few years ago. A collection of demos recorded in 1967, Rolled Gold has been compared to such classics as The Who Sell Out and it's easy to hear why.
Originally recorded for George Martin's AIR label, its distributor, EMI, inexplicably passed on the recording and the potential album was aborted. Subsequently, The Action splintered and these songs remained missing until this 2002 release. A damn shame indeed, for this collection represents some of the finest music ever to come out of the British mod movement of the '60s. Lofty praise, for sure, but one listen will confirm any doubts you may harbor regarding this unearthed classic.
While it would not be surprising that some audio sweetening took place to ready these tracks for contemporary release, the production is impeccable, considering its demo origins. (As a matter of fact, at first listen over the aforementioned record shop sound system, we were under the impression this was probably the work of some retro-minded youngsters.)
Even though 35 years passed before it saw the light of day, Rolled Gold has aged incredibly well. No, strike that: this is a batch of timeless late '60s English pop that, luckily for us, was rescued from oblivion to be enjoyed over and over again.
Highlights: Far too many to mention--there is only one weak song among the album's 15 tracks--but "Things You Cannot See", "Brain" and "Climbing Up the Wall" are just outstanding.
[Album cover art courtesy of The All Music Guide]
New Releases
Among this week's debut are:
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB Beat the Devil's Tattoo [Vagrant]+
BROKEN BELLS self-titled [Columbia]+
GORILLAZ Plastic Beach [Virgin]+
TED LEO + THE PHARMACISTS The Brutalist Bricks [Matador]+
LIARS Sisterworld [Mute]+
JOSH ROUSE El Turista [Yep Roc]+
DAVID S. WARE Saturnian: Solo Saxophones, Vol.1 [AUM]
Also, the following reissues were released this week:
RUBEN BLADES Greatest Hits [Fania]
THE FLESHTONES It's Super Rock Time!: The I.R.S. Years (1980-1985) [Raven]
JIMI HENDRIX Valleys of Neptune [Legacy]*
JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS Greatest Hits [Blackheart]
PAVEMENT Quarantine the Past: The Best of Pavement [Matador]+
*CD/DVD versions--the latter including interviews and relevant footage--of Hendrix's first three albums (Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold as Love, Electric Ladyland) plus First Rays of the New Rising Sun, were also released this week.
+ Album available in streaming audio on Spinner for a limited time.
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB Beat the Devil's Tattoo [Vagrant]+
BROKEN BELLS self-titled [Columbia]+
GORILLAZ Plastic Beach [Virgin]+
TED LEO + THE PHARMACISTS The Brutalist Bricks [Matador]+
LIARS Sisterworld [Mute]+
JOSH ROUSE El Turista [Yep Roc]+
DAVID S. WARE Saturnian: Solo Saxophones, Vol.1 [AUM]
Also, the following reissues were released this week:
RUBEN BLADES Greatest Hits [Fania]
THE FLESHTONES It's Super Rock Time!: The I.R.S. Years (1980-1985) [Raven]
JIMI HENDRIX Valleys of Neptune [Legacy]*
JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS Greatest Hits [Blackheart]
PAVEMENT Quarantine the Past: The Best of Pavement [Matador]+
*CD/DVD versions--the latter including interviews and relevant footage--of Hendrix's first three albums (Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold as Love, Electric Ladyland) plus First Rays of the New Rising Sun, were also released this week.
+ Album available in streaming audio on Spinner for a limited time.
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