Happy 100th to the Man Who Changed Rock

Door's open: 'anything possible' before Crist leaves office

(NEWSER) - His Senate bid may have failed, but outgoing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist may still make his mark ... on rock and roll history: He’s considering pardoning Jim Morrison for indecent exposure charges at a 1969 concert. “It's something I’m willing to look into in the time I have left,” Crist told the Hill . “Anything is possible.” Doors fans have long sought vindication for their hero. More»

Playful 60s love/music comedy is more party than plot

(NEWSER) - Critics agree that the soundtrack of Pirate Radio can't be beat, and the top-notch cast is a joy. So when it comes to the shaky plot and pacing, some can turn a blind eye:

• "There’s no denying the comic energy of the cast," Peter Travers writes in Rolling Stone. "Couple that with blasts of Brit rock from the Beatles and the Stones to Dusty Springfield and David Bowie, and the ship is unsinkable."

Queen guitarist, 60, submits astronomy thesis after 36 years

(NEWSER) - Queen guitarist Brian May dropped his academic pursuits to tour the globe as a young rock star, but after 36 years he has finally handed in his PhD thesis, which he began researching in 1972. The 60-year-old aspiring astrophysicist delivered a 48,000-word study on "zodiacal dust clouds" to Imperial College in London today, the BBC reports. More»

Obscure recording made during 1997 student radio session

(NEWSER) - Elliott Smith fans are in for a treat: The singer-songwriter, who died in 2003 and now has a strong cult following, has a new song available. It’s a rarely-heard tune from a 1997 session at the University of Maryland’s student radio station. Called “Misery Let Me Down,” it’s just two minutes long, the Washington Post reports. A former DJ for the station realized in May he had the recording when he found it on a MiniDisc player he was selling. More»

'Soul Kitchen' lets customers work for their dinner in New Jersey

(NEWSER) - At Jon Bon Jovi’s new restaurant, you can get “cornmeal crusted catfish with red beans and rice” or “grilled salmon with soul seasonings” without paying a cent. The restaurant aims to feed the hungry—but that doesn’t mean the meal is totally free, the Christian Science Monitor reports. You can offer a donation, or “you can bus tables, you can wait tables, you can work in the kitchen as a dishwasher or sous chef,” the rocker says. More»