Category Archives: Music

Music sales were down last year. The RIAA blames the Internet. I’ll quote Hilary Rosen: Blah blah the Internet yak yak those damn kids! gobble gobble back in my day we had to walk uphill through the snow to pay … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A couple of headlines in the Chron today have me in a musical mood. First, there’s this story, about the 50th anniversary of the death of the great Hank Williams: MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Just before sunrise on New Year’s Day … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A rock musician named Maya rips Rolling Stone a new one for putting Britney Spears and two other pop queens whom I don’t even recognize on the cover of an issue entitled “Women In Rock”. Jewel and Mandy friggin’ Moore … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s a story about North Carolina radio station WBZB-1090 AM, which plays only local music. They don’t have much signal, but you can hear them over the web. Some snotnosed industry consultant gives them a “one in a billion” chance … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Longtime Houston country radio station KIKK has changed format to “smooth jazz”. The station was rechristened KHJZ “Smooth Jazz 95.7 The Wave” at noon Monday. Sade’s Smooth Operator was the first song played. The new station will feature Anita Baker, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Damn, damn damn. The Fabulous Satellite Lounge will soon close its doors. Soon, for the first time since 1977, the storied 3600 block of Washington Avenue will be without a live music venue. Among others, Rockefeller’s and Club Hey Hey … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via The Poor Man comes The Top 40 conservative rock songs. My initial reaction was to snark about the cheesy nature of many of the songs within, but I reconsidered. A requirement for making the list was cracking the actual … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I saw the Asylum Street Spankers last night at the Mucky Duck with Steve Patlan and Michael Croft. The show was a release party for their new CD, My Favorite Record, and as an extra added bonus the lineup featured … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s the Chron‘s full review of the Lyle Lovett/Bonnie Raitt concert from Tuesday. Reviewer Michael Clark spends a lot more time on the Lovett half of the show, par for the course when a hometown boy is playing, I suppose. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tiffany and I went to see Lyle Lovett and Bonnie Raitt last night at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion last night. It was the second time I’d seen each artist – we saw Lovett at the rodeo in March and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Michael Croft has submitted an excellent list of questions for Cary Sherman, President of the RIAA, who has agreed to be gang-interviewed by participants in Eric Olsen’s BlogCritics project. I highly recommend you read Michael’s list and ask yourself what … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ted Barlow and Charles Dodgson point to this story about how record label J Records is attempting to manufacture a new pop music sensation, a 23-year-old named Amanda Latona. Having read the article and Ted and Charles’ commentaries, I have … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I made a note last week to comment on Meryl Yourish’s link lament. I was amused by it, as I think most people were, but I was a little disappointed that no one mentioned Allan Sherman and his little ode … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron has a review of the new Rhino collection Like, Omigod! The ’80s Pop Culture Box (Totally). It looks like a winner. A few comments: Due presumably to licensing issues, not everyone who should be represented in this collection … Continue reading → Continue reading →

What Clear Channel has wrought on Houston radio A nice overview in today’s Chron about how corporate radio has mostly eliminated local on-air talent. New station owners with a bottom-line philosophy have canceled public-affairs programming, dismantled news departments and replaced … Continue reading → Continue reading →

RIP, Ray Brown It’s been a bad week for bassists, as legendary jazz bassist Ray Brown died in his sleep at the age of 75. Brown, who was married to Ella Fitzgerald for four years, was on tour with his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

RIP, John Entwhistle The bassist for The Who is dead at 57. I saw The Who at the Astrodome in 1989, which was the first of their reunion tours. It was an awesome show, made even better by having Stevie … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I didn’t imagine I could feel anything other than contempt for the so-called “artist” Eminem, but if this report is true, then he will have my sympathy: Metro Detroit hip-hop artist Eminem (news – web sites) has reportedly received threats … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jay Zilber has a nice rant about the music industry. Personally, I’ve bought about ten CDs so far this year. Every single one of them was bought from a band I saw at the Mucky Duck. There are some CDs … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The other day while at the hardware store, I heard The Girl from Ipanema, the song that defined the bossa nova sound. It’s a classic, made famous by legendary sax player Stan Getz, but it was the fact that it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Saw a great performance last night at the local live music pub The Mucky Duck by Eddie from Ohio, a Virginia-based folk/rock group. They were recommended to me by an old high school buddy who lies them so much he … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ginger writes about protest music from the 80s. I’ve been thinking about this subject recently. We think of the 60s as an era of political/activist music, mostly inspired by the Vietnam War and all the social upheaval surrounding it. The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Greg Hlatky discusses Andrew Lloyd Webber and his place in the pantheon of theatrical composers. For my money, I thought the music of Phantom of the Opera was overrated. Yes, All I Ask of You is a great song, but … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Went and saw the Asylum Street Spankers last night with some friends. What a totally kickass show that was. Having Guy Forsyth play with them helps get them back in touch with their bluesier side. It’s worth the price of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We showed up at the Dome a bit before 7 last night in anticipation of the Martina McBride/Lyle Lovett double bill. I, having never actually been to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, expected that the “7 PM” time listed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Karin rants about Britney and the sad lack of powerful women in rock music nowadays. I hear what you’re saying, but fercryingoutloud, how could you overlook The Pretenders? I wouldn’t bet against Chrissie Hynde in any butt-kicking contest, regardless of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Record label EMI is buying out Mariah Carey’s $80 million four-album contract for $28 million. Now the two sides are fighting over who dumped whom. Sheesh. Y’know, I remember the old days when people took their millions and shut up … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m a longtime member of the Rice University Marching Owl Band, also known as The MOB. The MOB is a scatter band, which is to say that despite the name, we don’t march. We do humorous shows with a script, … Continue reading → Continue reading →