The Buzzcocks revisit their classic albums with new reissues and a tour ... by Brian Baker ... Punk fans are well aware of the Buzzcocks' significance. Have been for years — ever since the band released its monumental singles collection, Singles Going Steady, in 1979. But unlike fellow punk icons the Ramones, Sex Pistols, and the Clash, they're not Rock and Roll Hall of Fame famous. Though they're getting there. "We played a festival in California in February, and it was quite a shock because
When the Jeopardy answer is “The best boogie-woogie piano player this side of Jerry Lee Lewis, with a dirtier mind than Prince ever imagined,” the question has got to be, “Who is Commander Cody?” The Commander, born George Frayne, found his calling at the 88s early in life. In 1967, as a student at the University of Michigan, he assembled a crack band of loose-limbed players that he christened the Lost Planet Airmen, all of whom were equally at home with western swing, rockabilly, R&B
The O'Jays won't even smile in your face ... When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum announced that it was devoting February — Black History Month — to the Philadelphia International Label and its lush soul sound that dominated the ’70s, there was a glaring omission in its jam-packed programming schedule: Where were Northeast Ohio’s O’Jays, who scored huge hits with masterpieces of Philly soul like “Back Stabbers,” “Love Train,” “Usta Be My Girl” and “For the Love
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its induction class for 2010, and it's pretty much as we expected ... Leading the list is Genesis, reformed prog-rockers who turned into a smarmy pop-music machine in the '80s, and the Stooges, Iggy Pop's proto-punk band, before he became boring and started believing his own myth ... Swedish pop monsters ABBA also made the list. We'd give them a place just for "Dancing Queen," one of the all-time greats ... Rounding out the list is reggae star Jimmy Cliff
Anyone else tired of all this Aerosmith he-said-she-said shit as I am? ... First, singer Steven Tyler twirled his old ass off a stage and injured himself, which led to the band canceling the rest of its summer tour ... This came on top of several other band members' injuries over the past few months (most classic: Guitarist Brad Whitford bumped his head on his Ferrari and missed some shows). Then there were numerous delays on their new album, until it was eventually pulled off the schedule.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s From Songwriters to Soundmen: The People Behind the Hits program returns at 7 tonight with pioneering indie-label head Joe Bihari. The presentation will be structured as an interview, conducted by author John Broven, and will include an audience Q&A opportunity ... Joe Bihari, now 84, is the youngest of four brothers who formed the seminal blues/R&B label Modern Records in Los Angeles in 1945, and several similar subsidiaries in the ’50s, at a time
A chance meeting led guitarist Sam Andrew to form a band with Peter Albin more than 40 years ago. After all these years, Big Brother and the Holding Company are still around. “It was one of those aimless things,” says Andrew. “If I had turned left instead of right, it might have never happened. I was walking down Page Street [in San Francisco], which is parallel to Haight, and I heard him playing a John Lee Hooker guitar style, which he could do really well. I was like, ‘We should form a
Showing no signs of wear after having flown to Cleveland on a red eye from Las Vegas (where he celebrated his 47th birthday, no less), Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee stopped by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Saturday for a brief press conference before taking a tour of the exhibits ... In town to judge the Fortune Battle of the Corporate Bands, Lee got a kick out of the Les Paul experimental guitars hanging on the walls of the room where he was sequestered in front of a slew of news
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame foundation may be dicking over Cleveland, but Rolling Stone is looking out for us ... The magazine is giving away tickets to the HOF's 25th Anniversary Concerts at Madison Square Garden on October 29 and 30 ... You can enter here ... Be sure to enter both drawings, since winning tickets doesn't mean you'll be going both nights. You don't want to get stuck coming back to Cleveland talking about how you missed U2 and Metallica and how awful Crosby, Stills and Nash
Clevelanders might not get to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th Anniversary Concerts in person — unless you're planning a trip to New York, of course — but that doesn't mean you won't get to see some of the action from the comfort of your comfy couch ... HBO will broadcast the all-star concerts on November 29, a month after the two concerts take place at Madison Square Garden on October 29 and 30 ... So that means you'll get to see old-school (and old) rockers like Eric Clapton, Paul