In July 2021, a teenage kid tried to cut in front of me in line on Record Store Day. When I politely stopped him from doing so, he began cursing me out. When I picked up the store’s final copy of the Foo Fighters‘ Bee Gees tribute album, he lost his mind. He sent so […]
Alex Van Halen has revealed that he’s still bitter over his brother’s decision to play on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.” It was 1982 when Eddie Van Halen, guitar god for the biggest band in the world, was approached by producer Quincy Jones to play on Jackson’s song. Eddie knew that doing so would break a […]
Jake E. Lee, the guitarist best known for playing on Ozzy Osbourne‘s Bark at the Moon album, was shot Tuesday morning in Las Vegas. According to a press release issued by his publicist, the 67-year-old guitarist was shot “multiple times” and is now recovering in a Las Vegas hospital. “As confirmed by management, legendary rock […]
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released Long After Dark, their fifth studio album, in Nov. 1982. Barely two weeks after the record was out, the band was in the studio taking calls from fans to discuss the album on the syndicated radio program Rockline. With an expanded edition of Long After Dark arriving this week, […]
If you want to know who played which instruments on a Kiss album, the liner notes will probably not tell you the complete story. “A lot of the Kiss records, they way things are done is that sometimes the instruments that you think are members of the band are not members of the band at […]
Stevie Nicks appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live last night. The Fleetwood Mac singer performed her classic “Edge of Seventeen,” plus her newly-released single “The Lighthouse.” Pop star Ariana Grande served as host of the episode. You can view clips of both performances below. Nicks has been slowly working on “The Lighthouse” for several years, explaining […]
For decades, a gatekeeper determined what songs and albums were too obscene for the American public: Walmart. The company’s roots stem from the southern Christian heartland of Arkansas, and since its establishment, Walmart has continually projected itself as a “family” store. Under that guise, they established firm rules regarding what music would be available in their […]
Pete Townshend recalled the triumph and tragedy of Thunderclap Newman, the one-hit wonder band he created for three “dear friends” in 1968. In the foreword to Mark Ian Wilkerson’s new book Hollywood Dream: The Thunderclap Newman Story (via Rolling Stone), the Who guitarist outlined the bigger plans he’d had for the group known for their […]
Motley Crue took a walk down memory lane this week with their “Hollywood Takeover,” a series of club shows on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip where they got their start more than 40 years ago. The stunt took the hard-living rockers to the Troubadour on Oct. 7, the Roxy on Oct. 9 and the Whisky a Go […]
Ratt have shared “Reach for the Sky,” a previously unreleased track from their classic ‘80s era. “It took 40 years to get that song heard,” declared a post on the band’s official Facebook page, announcing the tune. “Reach for the Sky” was originally written in 1982 and was earmarked for Out of the Cellar, the […]