A convenient new service provides someone to listen to boring stories when nobody else will.
Pete Tong in 1995 reads out his web site address for the first time. Oh. My.
20 years ago Pete Tong read out the web site address for his famous essential mix for the first time.. and it wasn’t that catchy. Grab a pen.
https://youtu.be/HyRklSLMqTM
The Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray On The Importance Of Infrastructure In A Band’s Career
“With a lot of bands, it’s very important to have infrastructure, and to have a good manager and booking agent, and people around you who are very stable, keep you on track and not let you destroy yourself in all the chaos of touring. When you talk about some bands from that era, who were absolutely genius, maybe they were taken down by addiction, bad things on the road or tragedy, where it would have been helpful to have people keep you grounded. And we’ve been lucky that way.
“Emily (Saliers) and I have always been committed to making new music, being active, having different people tour with us and getting better at what we do. And all those add up to having a longer career, having respect for it, and knowing it could go away at any minute.”
What The Grateful Dead Taught The Indigo Girls
Their ongoing summer tour will keep Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls from attending the Grateful Dead’s three final farewell shows at Chicago’s Soldier Field this weekend. But the veteran vocal duo cites opening for the Dead at a 1993 University of Oregon stadium concert as a pivotal moment in their career.
“When people ask: ‘What shows do you remember the most?’ that’s always one I talk about,” said Ray, who performs here with Saliers on Sunday at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay. (Ticket information appears below.)
“It was just one of those moments where I was like: ‘I can’t believe I’m here!’ They were a great band — and Jerry (Garcia) was there! We learned so much from the whole experience and from the family-style way they run their business. Everything was very welcoming. Dinner (backstage) was this great, celebratory event and everybody was treated equally.
“When we went onstage, it was mind-blowing to see that many people — we didn’t have any idea they would pay attention to us. But the Dead’s audience is so supportive of their opening acts, because they know they’re sanctioned by the Dead. It taught us a lot about how to deal with our own opening acts, and our audiences, and make each concert a complete event. So opening for the Dead taught us a lot on every level. And, musically, we got to watch them play their whole show from the side of the stage, which was amazing.”
The 10 best selling vinyl albums of 2015 in the US so far
The 10 best selling vinyl albums of 2015 in the US so far. Nice to see Taylor at #1 (kids + vinyl = yeah!), and such new up-and-comers like Pink Floyd and Miles Davis still making the chart.
1. Taylor Swift, 1989 (34,000)
After debuting at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, 1989 sold 1.287 million copies during the first week of release. The total U.S. sales figure from the debut week of 1989 was the highest since 2002, and made Swift the first artist to sell one million or more copies of an album in a week-long period for three albums.
2. Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell (32,000)
The album debuted at #10 on the Billboard 200, slightly below the debut of his previous album, Age of Adz, which debuted at #7, selling 36,000 copies in its first week.
3. Arctic Monkeys, AM (27,000)
In the United Kingdom, Arctic Monkeys broke a record with AM, becoming the first independent-label band to debut at number one in the UK with their first five albums.
4. Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color (26,000)
The album debuted atop the US Billboard 200 chart selling 96,000 copies (91,000 copies of traditional album sales) in its first week, in the week ending April 26, 2015, making it the band’s first number one album.
5. Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (23,000)
It was first released in 1959. In 2003, the album was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
6. Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour (23,000)
As of April 2015, In the Lonely Hour has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
7. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon (23,000)
With an estimated 50 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd’s most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums worldwide.
8. Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack (22,000)
The soundtrack album reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the first soundtrack album in history consisting entirely of previously released songs to top the chart.
9. Father John Misty, I Love You Honeybear (22,000)
Soon after the release of the Sub Pop deluxe LP version in February, 2015, fans and label recognized that the pressing was damaged due to packaging issues which finally caused a warp defect. The label released an official statement, confirming that the first pressing of the deluxe version will no longer be available and that they will press a new version.
10. Hozier, Hozier (21,000)
His performance of “Take Me to Church” with Annie Lennox at the 2015 Grammy Awards is still awesome.
Canadian Music Week Announces 2016 Festival May 4 – 14, Highlights UK and Ireland
Canadian Music Week , Canada’s Largest New Music Festival and Conference, is pleased to announce the 34th installment in 2016 will take place May 4th -14th, once again bringing conferences, awards, film, comedy and music to the city of Toronto.
For the first time, the industry conference will take place at the beginning of the festival at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel (123 Queen Street West), and will host the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards on Thursday, May 5th. The Canadian Radio Music Awards luncheon will take place on Friday, May 6th, followed by one of Canadian Music Week’s most anticipated events, CHUM Fan Fest and finally capping off the weekend with Sirius XM’s annual Indie Awards on Saturday May 7th.
Canadian Music Week takes pride in welcoming international artists and key industry players from around the world, and is thrilled to feature the 2016 International Spotlight will be on the United Kingdom- with a special focus on Ireland. In association with CAAMA, CMW will be hosting labels, booking agents, festival organizers, promoters, talent buyers and industry specialists from the entertainment sectors, opening new trade routes for Canadians who are interested in furthering opportunities with these two key European markets as part of a Spotlight on the UK and Focus on Ireland.
Rolling Stones Announce 2016 Tour…In Musems…And Keith Can’t Stop Laughing In The Promo Video
The Rolling Stones will stage their first ever major exhibition at London’s prestigious Saatchi Gallery, opening to the public on 6 April 2016 until September 2016. EXHIBITIONISM will be the most comprehensive and immersive insight into a group described by critics as ‘The Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band’, taking over nine themed galleries spread across two entire floors at the Saatchi Gallery on King’s Road, London. Tickets for EXHIBITIONISM go on sale to the public next week on Friday 10 July 2015 at 9am via www.stonesexhibitionism.com and 10am from the Saatchi Gallery.
As well as over five hundred Rolling Stones important and unseen artefacts from the band’s personal archives, the exhibition will take the public through the band’s fascinating fifty year history, embracing all aspects of art & design, film, video, fashion, performance, and rare sound archives. At the heart of the exhibition is of course the Stones musical heritage that took the group from being a hard working London blues band in the early 1960’s to becoming inspirational cultural icons adored by millions.
DHL is proud to be the Presenting Partner of EXHIBITIONISM – the Rolling Stones’ first ever global touring exhibition.
Over five decades the Stones have shaped popular culture, often in their own image, and this exhibition will look back through every facet of the band’s career to offer a unique perspective that only the bands own archive can provide. EXHIBITIONISM will be the largest touring experience of this kind ever to be staged by a band or artist, and continues the proud tradition by the band of groundbreaking innovation combined with the highest production values.
EXHIBITIONISM has taken three years of meticulous planning and will offer a comprehensive insight into the band in a way that has never before been attempted. The exhibition is an interactive tour through the band’s vast artistic oeuvre, and includes original stage designs, dressing room and backstage paraphernalia, rare guitars and instruments, iconic costumes, rare audio tracks and unseen video clips, personal diaries and correspondence, original poster and album cover artwork, and unique cinematic presentations. Collaborations and work by the vast array of artists, designers, musicians and writers will be included in the exhibition – from Andy Warhol, Shepard Fairey, Alexander McQueen, and Ossie Clark to Tom Stoppard and Martin Scorsese.
Mick Jagger commented, “We’ve been thinking about this for quite a long time but we wanted it to be just right and on a large scale. The process has been like planning our touring concert productions and I think that right now it’s an interesting time to do it.”
Keith Richards commented, “While this is about the Rolling Stones, it’s not necessarily only just about the members of the band. It’s also about all the paraphernalia and technology associated with a group like us, and it’s this, as well as the instruments that have passed through our hands over the years, that should make the exhibition really interesting.”
Charlie Watts added, ‘’It’s hard to believe that it’s more than fifty years since we began and it is wonderful to look back to the start of our careers and bring everything up to date at this exhibition.’’
Ronnie Wood said, “The scene was great down the King’s Road in the 1960’s. That was where you went to hang out to watch the fashions go by. So it is appropriate that our EXHIBITIONISM will be housed at the wonderful Saatchi Gallery.”
EXHIBITIONISM is promoted and presented by Australian company iEC (International Entertainment Consulting) with the full participation of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood. The immersive exhibition will use nine different rooms spanning over 1,750 square meters, each with its own distinctly designed environment, that will show how the band has changed the way we experience rock and roll.
The Dillinger Escape Plan Created “The Gayest Shirt Of All Time By Any Band” To Troll Homophobic Fans
One of my favourite bands, and one that I had a chance to work with over a few albums, is New Jersey-bred prog-hardcore veterans The Dillinger Escape Plan. They took a postive stand on equal marriage rights, eventually taking action against those in their fanbase who revealed themselves as vocal homophobes in the process by releasing what they have called “the gayest shirt of all time by any band”. They explain…
This one’s a bit of a winding tale, so to reward you early for your faith, you can see the shirt below in all the majesty of its rainbow-coloured, cock-headed Pegasus design — the explanation for its existence is to follow.
However, their problems began when they took a badge image they had posted to Facebook in support of the decision — of two muscular arms clasped in a bro-shake, emblazoned with the words You Son Of A Bitch (the whole thing is a reference to Predator) — that had been created by a third party who goes by the name of FutureZine, “altered the image enough to make it legally non-infringing to parody law” and slapped a Pride flag and their logo on it and put it up for sale.
From there, people started to point out their “plagiarism” of the patch — which the band vehemently denied — leading to the band posting a follow-up response in defense of the shirt, pointing out that the majority of FutureZine’s designs — the Predator arms included — are trading on other people’s intellectual property.
“We of all people obviously have no interest in stealing art,” the band explained. “We brought attention to him, we linked to his store, etc. We thought the two people clasping hands was a powerful image. We didn’t think that the outline of those arms would be a big deal to someone making money off of selling predator and rambo themed badges, and an actual drawing of Bart Simpson. Not a caracature [sic], not an interpretation, actual Bart Simpson artwork from the show (season four, episode one, exactly two minutes in).”
“We will continue to send fifty percent of the proceeds of this shirt to The Trevor Project, and the other fifty will now go to Matt Groening as a settlement to keep him from suing FutureZine,” they continued. “Irony is truly still a really dead scene.”
However, amid all the hooplah over the so-called plagiarism of FutureZine’s Predator arms, The Dillinger Escape Plan noticed an uglier trend emerging — open expressions of disappointment for their support of the same-sex marriage law among their fans.
Which brings us to the “gayest shirt of all time”.
“So after everything yesterday, the thing that still stuck out the most were the random comments we had to delete, and some we didn’t, of people who were somehow disappointed in our stance on gay marriage,” the band posted to Facebook this morning (AEST).
“Not many, but still, even one is shocking. So now, to violently weed those people out of our fanbase for good, we proudly give you the “gayest” shirt of all time by any band: a Pegasus, with a cock for a horn, ejaculating a giant rainbow, on a tie-dye…shit I mean rainbow soaked…tank top. For twenty four hours. Again, fifty percent of proceeds go to The Trevor Project.”
The house of Jazz legend John Coltrane
A recent New York Times article lamented the neglected, and possibly endangered state of the John Coltrane Home, the Long Island house in the town of Dix Hills in which the jazz great lived from 1964 until his death in 1967. Sadly, it’s not the only Coltrane residence to fall into disrepair. Philadelphia’s John Coltrane House served as Coltrane’s primary residence from 1952, a few years after his return from service in the Navy during World War II, until 1958, when he departed for New York. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1999, but you wouldn’t know it from its neglected appearance.
That’s a shame for a number of reasons, that Coltrane’s years in Philadelphia were key to his musical development not the least of them. It was here, prior to his Navy stint, that Coltrane studied music theory the Ornstein School Of Music and Granoff Studios. And it was here that, from a distance, he fell under the sway of New York Bop giants like Charlie Parker. That infatuation turned into a professional calling when Coltrane began to work first with Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Hodges, and other before moving onto collaborations with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. Coltrane’s Philadelphia years weren’t without tumult, however: A heroin addiction threatened both his artistic development and his professional success. In fact, Davis fired Coltrane from his famous first quintet before bringing him back into the fold to record the groundbreaking 1958 classic Kind Of Blue, the same year he stopped using heroin and experienced a spiritual awakening that would influence his music for the rest of his life. So what’s the future of the John Coltrane House? As with Coltrane’s Dix Hills home, that remains unclear. At the moment, it generates no income, making it difficult for its current owners—who purchased it from Coltrane’s cousin Mary Lyerly Alexander, the inspiration for his song “Cousin Mary”—to maintain and repair it. Whatever the fate of Coltrane’s homes, his music will live on. But it would be a shame if the places that help inspire that music faded away.
Chrissie Hynde’s ‘Reckless: My Life as a Pretender’ publishes on September 8
‘Reckless: My Life as a Pretender’ publishes on September 8 and this looks to be a must-read for any rock and roll fan.
From Chrissie Hynde, one of rock’s most iconic, alluring, kick-ass, and (let’s face it) sexy women, a brilliant, no-holds-barred memoir of a rock life lived to the hilt.
Chrissie Hynde, the songwriter and frontwoman of The Pretenders in its various incarnations, has for thirty-five years been one of the most admired and adored and imitated figures in rock. This long-awaited memoir tells her life story in full and utterly fascinating detail, from her all-American Ohio fifties childhood to her classic baby-boomer seduction by the rock of the sixties to her sojourn in the crucible of punk that was seventies London to her instant emergence with her band, The Pretenders, in 1980 into stardom as a frontwoman and songwriter. She brings a fantastic eye for detail, a withering and sardonic sense of humor, and a fearless and sometimes naked emotional honesty to her memoir, and every line, every word of it is unmistakably hers. It is sure to be recognized as a classic of rock literature—and, man, is it fun to read.
You can pre-order it here.
