In the mid-Sixties, a country newcomer named Doug Stone warmed up for Loretta Lynn. But instead of immediately reaping the success surely coming to an unknown who’d opened for a legend, Stone quickly dropped out of sight. The fledgling singer vowed never to give up on his career, though, and…
Tracy Chapman is not black for the same reason New Kids on the Block are black. In the music industry, cigar-chompers, not chromosomes, decide the ebony-or-ivory question. They’ve determined that R&B–yes, even New Kids’ R&B–is black and that contemporary folk is “un-black.” Of course, if Chapman were to change her…
A mere two months after the release of her debut album, Tracy Chapman snapped a stadium full of people to attention at a Nelson Mandela tribute concert in England. But not long before Chapman sold the first of her fourteen million or so records, Phoenician Rick Cyge says, the folkie…
Where the Heck Is Mr. Fun? (Or Up and Down the Donut With Frank) (Local tape) Galen Herod has always come off like a lovable spaz on stage, regaling audiences with herky-jerky post-new-wave songs and bad jokes. Where the Heck Is Mr. Fun? is a take-home version of Herod, packing…
When Thin White Rope visited the Soviet Union in late 1988, the band brought back more than caviar and a photo of the Kremlin. It experienced firsthand the early rumblings of a revolution. Rock ‘n’ roll imitated life when young Lithuanian rebels went wild at the Rope’s shows, even stage-diving…
A couple of weeks back, a strange new noise infiltrated unsuspecting suburban homes all over the country. Every household with a television tuned to America’s favorite post-prime-time talk show heard it: A dorky duo banging out frighteningly original accordion-embellished pop songs. That’s right, They Might Be Giants had invaded The…
The tour itinerary could belong to any struggling bar band. Nine dates, banged out on a typewriter, covering the entire month of April–a small club gig in Tulsa, a county fair in San Bernardino, a college gig in Douglas, Arizona. The trip culminates, promisingly enough, with a one-night stand-in beautiful…
Besides trading lines with R&B singers and jazz trumpeters, hip-hop acts have been joining up with blues crooners, punk poets and yes, art-rock bands. It was Kane’s ability to hold his own against all those jazz greats that proved hip-hop could compete with any musical form. The primary hip-hop rite…
If today’s rock ‘n’ roll philosophy of sight over sound and style over substance has taught bands anything, it’s the art of shocking symbolism. Heavy-metal bands like Iron Maiden define their identities with slobbering, monstrous mascots, and rap groups like Public Enemy hire henchmen to parade about sporting combat fatigues…
Baby boomers and Paul McCartney go way back. The billionaire Beatle has convinced the Now Generation to buy Fab Four Beatles albums by the trillions, grow their bangs long, drop acid, smoke pot, buy Beatles CDs by the trillions to replace their Beatles albums, and apply for Visa cards. But…
Nobody stops Bob Hope when he makes one of his famous unannounced “walk-ons” in the middle of whatever talk show he happens to be taping a special next door to. Not even David Letterman bars Bob from playing through. Nosiree, when Hope deems it appropriate to drop in on the…
Celebrities, smoke and sweat clog the Hole in the Wall, a tiny bar just up the road from the legendary Antone’s in Austin, Texas. The Cowbillys, whose members hail from places like Tempe and South Phoenix, are playing the most important gig of their lives–an upwardly mobile showcase at a…
It was just a quick postshow breakfast for Eric Martin and some fellow Vegas entertainers. A chance to wolf down some grub and talk shop with about half the cast of the Imperial Palace’s Legends in Concert extravaganza before calling it a night. None of the performers were household names…
During the past thirty years, everyone from Elvis to the Rolling Stones has acknowledged rock ‘n’ roll’s debt to Willie Dixon, recording his classic tunes and bringing them to mass audiences. But it wasn’t until years later that many in the record industry who’d profited from his songs began to…
No matter what the American Express ads or the Nashville Network might tell you, there isn’t really a person named Randy Travis. Sure, there is something out there called Randy Travis. It’s taking the country by storm, playing rootsy country music and bringing home the kind of figures that make…
Listen to people like Chick Corea or Keith Jarrett long enough and you start thinking avant-garde jazz is either an assortment of outer-space explorations or introspective therapy sessions. Go to extremes like the wigged-out Corea or the self-indulgent Jarrett and you lose the music in a tidal wave of notes…
It was supposed to be a fun postconcert gathering of friends and groupies. Caterwaul had just finished playing two shows to enthusiastic crowds at the Mason Jar last Sunday, and now the Phoenix-turned-L.A. band was surrounded by nothing but faithful fans. Or so it thought. “This guy came to our…
FRANK STALLONE never had a problem with it. “Rocky’s kid brother?” Hey, absolutely. Shaun Cassidy stepped happily into his TV star brother’s spotlight. Kid Partridge? Sure. Hold a seat on that Day-Glo bus. While the latest actor-turned-singer wails the blues (probably off-key) about the problems of being taken seriously in…
Almost three decades ago, Delbert McClinton showed John Lennon the harmonica licks for the No. 1 Beatles hit “Love Me Do.” McClinton was in England to play harp for an obscure figure named Bruce Channel, and the way he tells it in a recent phone interview, the meeting seemed anything…
It’s not your average pop band that writes heartfelt paeans to Karen Carpenter, chronicles the traumas of “Teen-age Dogs in Trouble,” or sings the joys of “Beer Money.” But on the Young Fresh Fellows’ first few albums, the Seattle trash-meisters proved themselves to be anything but average. Maybe early YFF…
Dear Boss, I’ve gone through an awful lot to get this story for New Times, but what happened to me this morning is the last straw. As you recall, you wanted me to write something about State Senator Jan Brewer’s bill forbidding the sale of record albums with dirty lyrics…
Don’t expect to see bleached-blonde bimbos in black-leather microskirts bouncing their curves across the TV screen if Nomeansno ever makes a video. This Vancouver hard-core outfit just may be the world’s first all-male feminist three-piece. For somewhere near seven years, the Wright brothers, drummer Rob and bassist John, along with…
