Music videos are the perfect bastard child of art and commerce, even more than pop music itself. A promotional visual accompaniment to a popular song doesn’t need a coherent narrative (although on rare occasions, they do). It just needs to suit the song, sell the record, and possibly make the artist look cool. But since […]
Name Gary Kemp Best known for Songwriter and guitarist for Spandau Ballet; Sy Spector in The Bodyguard; Ronnie Kray in The Krays; guitarist and singer in Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets. Current city London. Really want to be in A concert hall full of beautiful folk watching a show. I may or may not be […]
Three of the 100 are in this picture! The Rolling Stones, in 1964, from left to right: Bill Wyman, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Brian Jones. The problem with lists like this is they are invariably bullshit. So our prime objective was to make sure we didn’t do a bullshit list. I’m not saying we did a scientific one […]
The concert industry exploded in the 1970s, and the live album, a stopgap project once reserved for only the biggest artists, became a compulsory ritual and a pivotal moment for many artists. Live albums captured legendarily loud bands like The Who and The Ramones in their natural element. Once obscure regional acts like Bob Seger, […]
Name Neil Finn Best known for Having a full head of hair and spectacular calf muscles. Current city Auckland, NZ. Really want to be On a balcony in my pajamas on a Greek Island with freshly baked bread, olive oil, local honey and espresso or on the top of Mount Everest having not had to […]
Bristol, UK-based producer and songwriter Laura Kidd—a.k.a. Penfriend—is either a shapeshifter or one of the most multitalented people we know. Or both. In her early years as a bassist and vocalist for hire, she appeared on Top of the Pops with such artists as Tricky, A-ha, and Viv Albertine of The Slits. She even sang […]
The fourth show in David Bowie’s ongoing, comprehensive Brilliant Live Adventures will be Look At The Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival 97). The set features previously unreleased rarities, including a cover of Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman,” which the band played at their secret show as ‘The Tao Jones Index’ at the festival the previous day. Recorded at The […]
If you’ve been hungry like the wolf for new Duran Duran in your life, the cover and video of David Bowie’s “Five Years” will satisfy. “My life as a teenager was all about David Bowie. He is the reason why I started writing songs. Part of me still can’t believe in his death five years […]
It’s become a cliché, even for post-Baby Boomers, to look back wistfully on the early ’70s as some kind of untouchable golden age for popular music. But when you survey all the era’s best albums in list form, it’s hard not to trust that instinct. I mean…holy shit. In 1971, the psychedelic era hadn’t completely […]
Last night, some of the many musicians inspired by David Bowie joined forces to celebrate the Thin White Duke. Curated and hosted by Bowie’s longtime collaborator Mike Garson, A Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day! was highlighted by Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan singing “Space Oddity” and Trent Reznor, joined by his Nine Inch Nails bandmate Atticus Ross and […]