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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: rock and roll

rock and roll stories: 61 news summaries

1 - 20 of 61 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>

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MOVIE REVIEW

 Pirate Radio Rocks 
 on Good Tunes, Cast 

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

Nov 13, 09 8:56 AM CST
(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
... More »

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entertainment • music • film • movie review • rock and roll • Britain • Philip Seymour Hoffman • 1960s • rock music • Pirate Radio • Richard Curtis • Bill Nighy • Rhys Ifans • January Jones

 Santa Cruz Seeks 
 Deadhead Archivist 

UC offers $70K for job made in hippie heaven

Nov 11, 09 3:03 AM CST
(Newser) - Far out. The University of Santa Cruz is seeking an archivist to help handle its horde of Grateful Dead material—for a very un-hippie-like $70,000 salary, plus benefits. The school is seeking a "creative" professional with a master's degree, and preferably "expert knowledge" of the "history... More »

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music • California • rock and roll • University of California • Santa Cruz • Grateful Dead • Jerry Garcia • UC Santa Cruz • Bob Weir • David Grisman • archives

NOT-SO-SWEET EMOTION

 Steven Tyler Quits 
 Aerosmith: Band 

Move follows missed tour dates and apparent dissension

Nov 9, 09 11:36 AM CST
(Newser) - Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has left the band, according to rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford and lead guitarist Joe Perry, who have suggested that they're looking for a new singer. The news comes after a disastrous summer tour in which Tyler broke his shoulder in a stage fall and canceled many... More »

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entertainment • rock and roll • rock music • Aerosmith • Steven Tyler • bands • quitting • Joe Perry • falling out

meditatION

Rock Legend Chuck Berry, Top-Notch Short Story Writer

"Memphis, Tennessee" shows Berry's sociological side: Klinkenborg

Nov 2, 09 5:30 PM CST
(Newser) - The original Chuck Berry version of “Memphis, Tennessee” isn't as well known as some others—by Johnny Rivers, say, or Buck Owens. But the real star is the tune, first released in 1959, which Verlyn Klinkenborg suspects is the “best short story in the form of a song... More »

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entertainment • music • Tennessee • rock and roll • Memphis • cover song • Chuck Berry • songwriter • short story • Johnny Rivers • Buck Owens

OPINION

 Pearl Jam  
 Via Target? 
 It's a Brave  
 New World  

'The Fixer' is their best song in years, however you come by it

Sep 9, 09 7:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - Pearl Jam has been proudly iconoclastic for years—releasing records on vinyl, eschewing music videos, “bootlegging” concerts, and fighting Ticketmaster—but they’re getting old. So it surprises Jonah Weiner that The Fixer, the single from the band’s new album Backspacer, is “by far the most... More »

MORE ABOUT:
music • music industry • Verizon • iTunes • rock and roll • Pearl Jam • Eddie Vedder • Target • Jay-ZTV • Backspacer

 San Fran Returns to 
 Its Psychedelic Roots 

Not that any band there would say they knew of a scene

Sep 5, 09 9:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - San Francisco seems to have had something of a psychedelic rock resurgence, though don’t ask any of the bands involved to identify themselves that way. “People are so aware of everything and don't really separate it that much,” a man whose band has the telltale brooding drones... More »

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San Francisco • rock and roll • Grateful Dead • 1960s • bands • psychedelic • Jefferson Airplane • scene

Cops Take Another Look at
Rolling Stone Jones' Death

Hundreds of pages of new evidence dug up by journalist

Aug 31, 09 1:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - It’s been 40 years since Brian Jones’ body was discovered in a swimming pool—but police are reviewing the death of the Rolling Stones' co-founder in the wake of “new evidence” that he was murdered, the Daily Mail reports. An investigative journalist provided police some 600 pages of... More »

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music • Rolling Stones • murder • rock and roll • Britain • police investigation • Jay-ZTV • Brian Jones

movie review

 Woodstock Not Worth the Trip 

Mixed reviews for 1960s coming-of-age flick

Aug 28, 09 1:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Taking Woodstock isn’t really about the music: it’s more about coming of age on the outskirts of the festival. Critics are lukewarm about Ang Lee's latest effort:
  • “You can’t deny the smiling mood that wafts through the film like incense,” admits Anthony Lane of
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • music • film • movie review • rock and roll • Ang Lee • 1960s • Woodstock • Taking Woodstock

album review

 Arctic Monkeys Go Darker, 
 Show Staying Power 

Album maintains the 'good stuff,' tries something new

Aug 24, 09 1:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - With their latest album, Britain’s Arctic Monkeys show they haven’t let the media hype get the better of them. Alex Turner and Co. try some new directions without abandoning the “good stuff” from “their usual territory,” writes Joe Tangari for Pitchfork. Humbug is “their... More »

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entertainment • rock and roll • music review • album • Jay-ZTV • Arctic Monkeys

OPINION

 Rock's Worst Career Moves 

Bob Dylan's Christmas album is just the latest in a long line

Aug 19, 09 5:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Bob Dylan’s decision to record a Christmas album is certainly ill-advised—“fans may have stuck by him throughout the musically self-destructive late '60s, the God-bothering late '70s, and the Grateful Dead-collaborating-Madonna-imitating mid '80s, but surely even Bob's fans have a limit,” writes John Matthew Hall for the... More »

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entertainment • music • Paul McCartney • Bob Dylan • Yoko Ono • John Lennon • celebrity • rock and roll • Bruce Springsteen • musician • Eric Clapton • Jerry Lee Lewis • Michael Jackson • David Bowie • Jay-ZTV

 MoMa Shines Light on 
 NYC's Punk Revolution 

Materials by Patti Smith, Ramones showcase cultural shift

Aug 19, 09 3:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - New York’s Museum of Modern Art is showcasing the gritty glamour of the city’s 1970s and early ’80s music scene, where punk, New Wave, DIY, and noise rock ruled, Rolling Stone reports. New Yorkers were feeling alienated—the city was bankrupt in 1975; President Ford told it... More »

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entertainment • music • New York City • rock and roll • Museum of Modern Art • Talking Heads • Patti Smith • Gerald Ford • punk music • Ramones • Sonic Youth • exhibition • Jay-ZTV

(Newser) - After the departure of longtime—well, come-and-go—Smashing Pumpkin Jimmy Chamberlin and the audition of 1,000 hopefuls, frontman Billy Corgan has named a new drummer, the Chicago Tribune reports. And the kid’s 19. Oregon native Mike Byrne played with local groups before receiving the honor from the Chicago-based... More »

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rock and roll • Billy Corgan • bands • Jimmy Chamberlin • Smashing Pumpkins • drummer • Mike Byrne

appreciation

 Les Paul's 
 Genius 
 Will Be 
 Missed


Aug 13, 09 3:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Les Paul's death today at age 94 has the accolades pouring in:
  • Lou Carlozo, True/Slant: "The solid-body Les Paul guitar that Lester developed with Gibson in the early 1950s is rock and roll. Like the Fender Stratocaster, its shape is so synonymous with the genre that any
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obituary • guitarist • rock and roll • guitar • Les Paul • Gibson guitar

 Best Rock Documentaries 


Aug 11, 09 2:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - In honor of Woodstock—which happened 40 years ago this weekend—and the “seminal documentary” that captured it, John Farr shares his list of the 10 best rock concert/performance films—all of which are “meant to be played loud,” he writes on the Huffington Post. “So... More »

MORE ABOUT:
music • Rolling Stones • Bob Dylan • list • documentary • rock and roll • concert • Elvis Presley • Beatles • rock bands • Neil Young • Jay-ZTV

appreciation

 Happy 100th to the 
 Man Who Changed Rock 

Leo Fender, inventor of the Stratocaster, born Aug. 10, 1909

Aug 10, 09 11:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of a man who forever changed rock and roll—even though he couldn’t play the instrument inextricably associated with his name. Leo Fender designed guitars and amplifiers that have endured for decades, including the legendary Fender Stratocaster, played by Jimi Hendrix,... More »

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music • rock and roll • guitar • rock music • amplifiers • bass guitar • Fender Stratocaster • Leo Fender

(AP) - Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler was taken to a hospital after falling from stage during a concert at a motorcycle rally in western South Dakota, the AP reports. A concertgoer told local journalists that Tyler, 61, fell while dancing around on a catwalk after the sound system failed during the song... More »

MORE ABOUT:
South Dakota • hospital • rock and roll • concert • rock bands • Aerosmith • Steven Tyler

 The Best Rock Frontmen 


Jul 9, 09 6:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - Frontmen are at the heart of rock ‘n’ roll—no matter how amazing the musicians in the band are, they still needs someone with the right mix of talent and charisma to reach the crowd. The Independent compiles the best:
  1. Johnny Rotten, Sex Pistols. Like so many other
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
rock stars • Jimi Hendrix • list • rock and roll • Mick Jagger • rock music • Iggy Pop • Iggy and the Stooges • Johnny Rotten

OPINION

 Rock's Worst Comebacks 


Jul 7, 09 3:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - Some bands just shouldn’t—or couldn’t successfully—get back together. The Independent takes a look at the 10 most ill-conceived rock reunions.
  • The Sex Pistols: Sure, the punk progenitors honestly named their 1994 comeback tour "Filthy Lucre," but still "tarnished their own lawless
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • rock and roll • Van Halen • reunion • The Doors • Limp Bizkit • comeback • Sex Pistols • bands • Smashing Pumpkins • Jay-ZTV • Motley Crue

(Newser) - Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" is 35 years old now, and in the course of its life, the song "has been an anthem, a demand, an ode to personal independence, the lamest heckle in the history of rock," writes Christopher Borelli in the Chicago Tribune. "But what it... More »

MORE ABOUT:
music • song • rock and roll • concert • Lynyrd Skynyrd • Freebird

A Little Bit Cloudy, a Little Bit Rock 'n Roll

Weather Channel abandons smooth jazz for harder-edged music

Jul 3, 09 11:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Weather Channel has ditched its familiar smooth jazz background music for the likes of the Rolling Stones—to the delight of watchers and advertisers alike. “People would have it on but they wouldn’t be watching and they wouldn’t be listening,” the exec who pushed the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • music • Rolling Stones • rock and roll • Weather Channel • smooth jazz • elevator music

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