ANALYSIS
HP yanks tune by pedophile Gary Glitter
Advertising Age Oct 31, 08 3:49 PM CDT
(Newser)
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HP's decision to change an ad because it featured a song by convicted child molester Gary Glitter has Charlie Moran in Advertising Age wondering about how far we should go in drawing the line between the artist and his art. The ad for the TouchSmart PC drew complaints because it used Joan Jett’s 1982 cover of “Do You Want to Touch Me,” which was written by Glitter.
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Glossies
Lucinda Williams hits high note after giving
up 'bad boy' rockers
Rolling Stone Oct 30, 08 2:53 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Having written more than 20 songs at the end of yet another troubled relationship, Lucinda Williams had doubts when she found love with a former music executive. She worried that her songwriting skills depended on ties to bad boys, but her new disc, Little Honey , proves that fear unfounded, writes Austin Scaggs in Rolling Stone.
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19-year-olds post photos on social site after partying in St. Tropez with U2 frontman
Australia's News Network Oct 27, 08 11:48 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Sorry, Bono fans, Facebook doesn't lie. The married U2 frontman spent a night in St. Tropez partying with two 19-year-olds, Australia’s News Network reports after the girls posted pics—and details—on their Facebook pages. But Bono didn't cross the line. “For somebody who's much older than I am … no thank you,” writes American fashion student Andrea Feick.
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Coalition aims to give UK bards more control over copyright
Guardian (UK) Oct 4, 08 4:41 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Dozens of British rock stars have joined together to form an organization that seeks more control over the music they create, the Guardian reports. The manifesto of the Featured Artists' Coalition calls for bands to have much more say over copyright—one of the issues that spurred founding members Radiohead to leave their label EMI last year and release a “pay what you can” album online.
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Hollywood-raised Canadian R&B star proud his fans are 'mostly grown black women'
Washington Post Sep 29, 08 3:57 PM CDT
(Newser)
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In a society that says white men can't dance, Robin Thicke has surmounted the race barrier: His single, Lost Without U , topped Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for 11 weeks last year, outperforming songs by Beyonce, Usher, and Alicia Keys. "Eighty or 90% of my fans are African Americans, mostly grown black women," Thicke tells the Washington Post .
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Associated Press Sep 21, 08 10:07 AM CDT
(AP)
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Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM are expected to fully recover from burns they suffered in a fiery South Carolina jet crash that killed the other four people aboard, their doctor said today. The two suffered second- and third-degree burns but had no other injuries from the crash that one witness described as a fireball shooting across a highway.
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Sports scientists say they're like Olympians
Times Literary Supplement Jul 23, 08 7:05 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Sure, the lead singer gets all the attention, but how about a little respect for the drummer? Sports scientists are taking up the cause with a new study that says the rockers are as fit as Olympic athletes, the Times of London reports. The best of them lose 2 quarts of water a night, burn about 500 calories an hour, and have a heart rate that rivals a top soccer player. "You get a three-hour workout every night," says the Blur's Dave Rowntree.
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Appreciation
No moment of silence possible for rock's 'Originator'
Washington Post Jun 3, 08 12:21 PM CDT
(Newser)
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You can’t have a moment of silence for Bo Diddley, J. Freedom du Lac writes in the W ashington Post . It’s not that the music world hasn’t lost a great pioneer—it surely has. It’s that the mere mention of Diddley’s name sets your feet tapping to the “Bo Diddley beat,” the most imitated rhythm line in rock and roll: Bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp. Bomp-bomp.
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Innovator could never capitalize on his status
Associated Press Jun 2, 08 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley, who made his first recordings in 1955 and was still touring last year, died today at 79, the AP reports. The singer and guitarist, born Ellas Bates in Mississippi in 1928, not only pioneered distorted guitar tones; his bragging, syncopated style foreshadowed rap as well, Billboard reports.
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Lennon, Marley, Berry rock on
Blender May 25, 08 11:43 AM CDT
(Newser)
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"Towering natural abilities" and "exceptional creative powers" infuse the most memorable music of generations, forged by Blender's top 50 pop-music geniuses. The top 10: Bob Dylan: Each of his brave self-reinventions is "an authentic American original." John Lennon: "His drive pushed the Beatles from a covers band to the world’s best-loved and most influential pop act." Chuck Berry: His guitar riffs are still the "bedrock" of rock and roll five decades on. Bob Marley: "No one did more to define and popularize a musical genre." Mick Jagger and Keith Richards: Duo created "decade of classics."
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Adventurous instrumentalist and composer Jimmy Giuffre was a '50s jazz hero
New York Times Apr 26, 08 6:26 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The iconoclastic clarinetist and composer Jimmy Giuffre died Thursday, two days before what would have been his 87th birthday, the New York Times reports. The Texas-born jazz legend's 50-year career took him from big-band hits with Woody Herman to minimalist trios, with a stint playing in mess halls as a GI in WWII. Giuffre's experimental, blues-infused styling made him a leading figure in the '50s "cool jazz" scene.
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Gloomy balladeer hits road for first time in 15 years
Independent (UK) Mar 19, 08 5:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The man Lou Reed called “one of the most important songwriters of our time” will hit the road this summer. Leonard Cohen, 73, will kick off his first tour in 15 years in his native Canada and then head to Europe, the Independent reports. So far, there are no US dates for Cohen, who was enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this month.
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Some rockers seem to have chronic dental hygiene problems, gold grill addictions
Blender Feb 28, 08 5:07 PM CST
(Newser)
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Inspiring melodies and tongue-twisting rhymes may issue from their pipes, but for some rockers the sound passes through a terrifying portal. Blender inspects the 10 worst sets of teeth in music, starting with the bottom of the barrel. Pogues frontman Shane McGowan's utterly decomposed dents Amy Winehouse's missing canine Young David Bowie, pre-American makeover Trick Daddy's gold grill; more like precious dentures
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