In many ways, the folks who own and work in record stores are some of the most important keepers of recorded music history. Digital music helped wipe out the big chains. Thankfully we still have mom and pop indie shops. They’ve kept the torches burning for genres that predate streaming, for artists that never had […]
Most local music scenes start innocently enough, at least they did before the existence of the internet. Case-in-point, Seattle, a small city that was often skipped by touring bands in the early ’80s. If you lived there then, you would often have to drive to either Portland or Vancouver B.C. to see your favorite band […]
To understand the slippery nature of bliss, to glimpse a stress-free manifestation of fleeting euphoria, I would direct your attention to Bill Walton at a Grateful Dead concert. The ancient Buddhists called this state “the divine abode.” Modernity might consider the NBA Hall of Famer as having fallen into the zone – a serotonin-rich wonderland […]
After skipping a year due to the pandemic, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted its 2021 class with a wild, surprise-guest-filled party held in the town many argue is the ceremony’s only rightful home: Cleveland, Ohio. What a homecoming it was. Paul McCartney became a seventh Foo Fighter. LL Cool J, Eminem, and […]
Matt Sorum was sitting poolside with his wife when he got a text on his phone from legendary Motörhead bassist/singer Lemmy Kilmister. Lemmy was asking Sorum to fill in on drums for a run of Motörhead shows. In a self-conscious moment, Sorum texted Lemmy back, asking “why me.” “And Lemmy wrote back, ‘Because Dave Grohl’s […]
Sweaty little hands yearn my wife and I, with some urgency, towards the giant bouncy castle in the distance. The inflatable structure is jouncing wildly with the flailing kids inside, this, in spite of the scorching heat and smoky haze from the nearly 300 forest fires burning around British Columbia that day. Bubbles slowly drift […]
This story originally appeared in the February 1993 issue of Spin, which was partially written and guest-edited by members of the SNL cast. Read interviews and stories from comedy icons of the era–Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Tim Meadows, Lorne Michaels and others–in our package of highlighted stories from the issue. The word genius is thrown around ever so loosely nowadays, but in the case of Todd Rundgren, anyone familiar with […]
If it feels like the previous NBA season just ended, well, it sort of did. The Milwaukee Bucks triumphed over the Phoenix Suns, capturing the franchise’s second title in mid-July, and here we are in mid-October with the league ready to tipoff again. Once again, we polled music’s biggest NBA fans to give their takes […]
When Larry Cohn, 89, started collecting blues records in the 1940s and 1950s, little was written about the records, few had been reissued, and sometimes finding out what some even sounded like necessitated visiting with the owners of individual 78s—often the “only known copy.” In Cohn’s case these meetings were often with the “blues mafia,” […]
As the world looks on to see if Afghanistan is going to evolve or devolve, so far it’s not looking great, at all. Especially for girls. Under the new Taliban rule, in the past month boys were allowed to go back to school and girls from grade six and up were not. In a spirit […]