Andy Summers, We're Ready For Your Closeup

Police guitarist Andy Summers is turning his autobiography "One Train Later" into a feature documentary, which will boast 25,000 photos from his collection as well as footage from the band's reunion tour.
I didn't even know Andy Summers had written an autobiography. (Note to self: get this book) This is good news for a couple reasons. First, in a trio in which two members' egos seemed to be in a continual battle to the death, Summers was the anchor. In the annals of guitardom, he is often overlooked by those who are more impressed by the speed/techno wizards. This is unfortunate because Summers is an amazing player. He is, as they say, "a guitarist's guitarist," playing what needs to be played when it needs to be played. The Police created an amazingly layered and complex sound for a trio, and much of the credit for that goes to Summers.
Second, Summers has played a bigger part in rock music history than many people realize, having performed with influential 70s bands like Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, and Eric Burdon and the New Animals, and he was in the running to replace Mick Taylor in the Rolling Stones (a job which, of course, ultimately went to Ron Wood). Summers was also part of the band that played on Mike Oldfield's creepy classic "Tubular Bells" (the theme from The Exorcist).
It should be interesting to see this history of his life and get an inside glimpse of one of the world's biggest bands, to see what went on offstage when the spotlight wasn't on Sting. Stewart Copeland's film Everyone Stares gave us a hint of that, but the home movie quality and shaky camera work made much of the film difficult to watch more than once. To be fair, they were Copeland's personal films and not intended for feature presentation. But the news that Summers will be releasing this film gives hope that this time they'll get it right.

What Really Happened To Marie Osmond

This video explains it all. Kind of the Dancing With The Stars Zapruder film.
I don't know what's funnier--the video itself (which is okay but not hilarious), or the comments on the page whose level of intelligence make me fear for the future.

For example...

AirForce11 says:
FAKE:
starfighters arent real, if they where i dought they would b able to fly inside and her face would have holes in it if the laser hit her there!

and

willforbes0 says:
FAKE:
this was so obviously fake. the star wars fighter was superimposed into the video.

Gee, ya think?
Idiots.

Monday Mashup: Pat n' Peg

This is a classic 1998 track from Osymyso. Pat and Peg, for anyone who doesn’t know, are two characters from the long running Brit soap/drama Eastenders. They are at various times involved with the same men (like in other soaps… what is it with these people? The female to male ratio in soap towns must be 20:1 judging by the way they all fight over the same guys). This mashup is built around a climactic fight between Peg (You Bitch) and Pat (You Cow), and tags on dialog from Frank and Roy as well. Listen to the way Osymyso works in the Eastenders theme music and plays off the natural rhythms of the characters’ voices. I guess it would be considered a “golden oldie” as far as mashups go, but it still holds its own against new stuff. The man is a genius.

Listen to Pat n’ Peg.

Rock n' Roll Ghost Stories

Since Halloween is just around the corner, New Times has a story about some of the strange and spooky things that have happened to rockers over the years.
The story only has three examples, by James Valentine of Maroon 5, Steve Bays of Hot Hot Heat, and an Alice Cooper-Joe Perry twofer. The problem is that these aren't very scary ghost stories. Although I'm sure the artists are quite sincere in their beliefs, as you read the stories, other more logical explanations for the spookiness automatically come to mind. Alice Cooper no doubt believes that the noisy old house he and Perry stayed in--both fresh from rehab--had a ghost. But he doesn't seem to question why the house in which Amityville Horror was written (not the house in which the story allegedly took place) should itself be haunted. That's "haunting by association."
Come on rock stars, you must have better ghost stories than these.

Lance Bass Comes Out... Again

Lance Bass, proving that once is never enough when it can boost a sagging career, tells of how horrible it was to live in terror of being found out as a gay man when he was a member of 'NSYNC. Bass, who came out last year, gave us that insight in an interview promoting his new book, Out of Sync: A Memoir, released today.
Now, I really couldn't care less if Bass was straight, gay, or Martian, and if he's happy, I'm happy. But I found it funny that the article ended with this quote: "People have said for so long that you can't be successful in this industry and be out and gay," Bass said. I guess he's never watched Bravo.
It sounds like something Daffyd Thomas would say. As fans of Little Britain know, Daffyd is "the only gay in the village"--or at least he thinks he is. Here's a clip of Matt Lucas (Daffyd) and David Walliams talking about Daffyd, "the homosexualist." Lance should take a look.

Fire? What fire? Marie Osmond Fainted!

If you were watching ABC's Dancing With The Stars show last night, you saw Marie Osmond faint after her routine. That is, you saw it if you didn't blink at the wrong moment, because that's all it took. First she was standing there listening to the judges, then she went down (accompanied by some laughter from the audience who must have thought it was a gag). The host cut to a commercial. After the break it turned out she was fine, the show went on and everyone lived happily ever after.
But today, I'm in a Seattle hotel room trying to see what's happening with the wildfires in California (I have friends that live in the danger area) and I'm switching between CNN Headline News and Faux News. And what do I see? Marie Osmond fainting, over and over again. I've seen the story repeated no fewer than 18 times between the two channels since I got up this morning.
Now, obviously, the news networks are making the most of it because it was caught on tape (remember Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction?), but is it necessary to show it so many times? No disrespect to Marie Osmond--I hope hope she's OK and all that--but it really wasn't that big a deal. And with the fires, floods in New Orleans (again), tornadoes in Alabama, and the never-ending war, you'd think there would be other things to fill the hourly news cycle.
Still, the best teaser award for the story goes to CNN Headline News for this gem: "Marie Osmond took to the floor in more ways than one last night as she danced the Samba. We'll show you what happened to give everyone a scare after this break."

Tuesday Trivia

Here's a question from Ken Jenning's weekly quiz:
What did the Electro String Instrument Corporation change its name to, to capitalize on a distant relationship between its founders and a World War I hero?
It's an easy one if you have any familiarity with guitars used by George Harrison, Roger McGuinn, Paul Weller, or Joe Simonon of the Clash. The picture's a giveaway too.

Monday Mashup: Smells Like Billie Jean

It's a day early, but since I'll be tucked away in a Jet Blue compartment headed to Seattle for the week, today's Mashup is in honor of one of that city's most famous exports, Nirvana. The band's breakthrough song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" signaled the arrival of "grunge" on the mainstream airwaves (supposedly much to leader Kurt Cobain's dismay).
Significantly, the song and album also knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous out of the top spot. So, take Nirvana's breakthrough hit, mix it up with the song that really announced Michael Jackson's career as a solo artist, and you get "Smells Like Billie Jean." This is labeled as an "MTV Mashup," but I don't know the original source. Anyway, it works well. Enjoy.
Listen to: "Smells Like Billie Jean"

Is There A Future For Zeppelin?

Jimmy Page is playing it close to the vest in his remarks about the future of Led Zeppelin after the band's one-time performance next month at London's O2 arena. The performance is a benefit for a scholarship fund named for the late Ahmet Ertegun, who signed Led Zeppelin to Atlantic Records in 1968.
Although he and Robert Plant have individually said the concert will not be followed by a tour, he hasn't ruled out the possibility that something may come out of the reunion...something like new material perhaps?
When asked about that possibility, Page said, "Look, I'd be really surprised if there wasn't--you know, I mean I just know the way we are. We're musicians...as we're playing we'll probably be coming up with all manner of things."

Friday Flashback: KISS on the Mike Douglas Show 1974

My friend Lisa alerted me to this great clip of KISS making their first television appearance on the Mike Douglas Show in 1974. For those of you who have no idea who Mike Douglas is, he had a hugely influential afternoon talk show that regularly featured great musical guests, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the Rolling Stones, Hermits Hermits, The Turtles, and Barbara Streisand. Many acts--like KISS--credit his show with bringing them their first national exposure. This performance was recorded on April 29, just weeks into the group's first concert tour, having signed with Casablanca records just six months earlier.

Teresa Brewer Dead at 76

(AP) Teresa Brewer, who helped write the soundtrack of the pre-rock 'n' roll 1950s with bouncy hits like "Music Music Music" and who scored big with New Yorkers by recording a love letter to Mickey Mantle, died early Wednesday morning.
She was 76, lived in New York, and had been suffering for several years from the neuromuscular disease PSP, which also afflicted the late comedian Dudley Moore.
Brewer was still a teenager when she hit the top of the charts in 1950 with "Music Music Music." She returned to No. 1 with "Til I Waltz Again With You," though New Yorkers might best remember "I Love Mickey," a duet she recorded with Mantle at the end of his Triple Crown year in 1956.
Mantle contributed a few spoken words while Brewer chirped her affection.
Born in Ohio, Brewer made her professional debut at the age of 2 on the local radio program "Uncle August's Kiddie Show." From ages 5 to 12 she toured with the Major Bowes Amateur Hour before returning home and performing locally for several years.
When she broke onto the national scene again in the '50s, her upbeat style also made her a popular guest on television variety shows. By the 1960s she had turned to show tunes and jazz, which she continued to record for the next 40 years. She is survived by four daughters and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

wOOt: Free download for the gamer in you

w00t is a collage of computer game sound and images by composer Bob Ostertag and artist John Cooney. It's also a free download from his website.
Says Ostertag:"In March of 2006, I put all my recordings to which I owned the rights (14 CDs) up for free download from this site. w00t is my first release to skip the CD-for-sale stage and go directly to free Internet download, under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Please download, copy, send to your friends, remix, mutilate, and mash-up. And please support this attempt to build free culture by sending a link for w00t to your friends. w00t consists of a 50-minute sound collage, a 4.5 minute sound “trailer,” and associated “cover art.” There is, however, no cover. w00t is a free, internet-only release."

w00t was composed entirely from fragments of music from these computer games:
• Balloon Fight
• Congo Bongo
• Contra
• Earthbound
• Halo: Combat Evolved
• Ico • Katamari Damacy
• Killer Instinct
• The Legend of Zelda
• Massive Assault
• Myst
• Star Fox
• Super Metroid
• Super Smash Bros.: Melee
• Viewtiful Joe
• WarioWare, Inc: Mega Party Game$
• World of Warcraft

Get it here.

One Hit Wonder: Disco Duck

I would be remiss if I did not mention that on this day in 1976, "Disco Duck" topped the charts and stayed for a week. The song, by Los Angeles disc jockey Rick Dees, poked fun at some of the dance styles of the day with its story of a man who dances like a duck. And, like lots of novelty songs that capitalize on a dance or a genre of music, the song didn’t do too much to help whatever shred of credibility other artists working in that style had earned.
Although the song appeared in the disco-defining film Saturday Night Fever, it was not included on the multi-bazillion selling soundtrack album, much to Dees’ consternation (but to the endless gratitude of the rest of us).
So, if you insist on hearing it, you’ll find it here.
Otherwise, it’s best to pretend it never happened.

Cover Connection: Red Red Wine

Most people are familiar with UB40's version of "Red Red Wine." The band's infectious, reggae tinged cover topped the US charts on this day in 1988, although it took five years to get there. The song was a reissue of UB40's first version, with the addition of a "toast" by the band's resident rapper Astro. Both versions trace their influence to a 1969 ska flavored version recorded by Jamaican artist Tony Tribe.
But the original song, written and recorded by Neil Diamond in 1968, was a slower mournful number--a drunk's lament over lost love.

Red, red wine
Go to my head
Make me forget that I
Still need her so

Red, red wine
It's up to you
All I can do, Ive done
But memories wont go
No, memories wont go

I'd have sworn
That with time
Thoughts of you
Would leave my head
I was wrong
And I find
Just one thing
Makes me forget

Red, red wine
Stay close to me
Dont let me be alone
It's tearing apart
My blue, blue heart

Lyrically, it's a great song (as are many Diamond songs) that lends itself to a variety of styles. For example, a full-blown country-style version (with background singers and strings) was also released in 1968 by Jimmy James and the Vagabonds. However, none of these versions tracked very high on the charts. The success of UB40's version of "Red Red Wine" has to be attributed to the dance clubs of the late 1980s where it was one of the most requested songs--and, importantly, featured a solid beat that made it easy to mix. From that point on "Red Red Wine" went mainstream with heavy airplay.
A few years later, "Red Red Wine" went full circle, with a new version again by Neil Diamond, but this time with a nod to UB40's reggae stylings.

Listen to:
Red Red Wine, original version by Neil Diamond--1968

Red Red Wine, country version by Jimmy James and The Vagabonds--1968

Red Red Wine, ska version by Tony Tribe--1969

Red Red Wine, reggae version by UB40 1983

Monday Mashup: A Bit of Little Britain

If you have access to BBC America on your cable system, you probably know Little Britain. The show has ended its three-season BBC run but lives on in repeats, and rumor has it that Matt Lucas and David Walliams are developing a new program for HBO in the US. If you haven't seen it, the show is built around Lucas and Walliams who portray an incredible range of very odd characters including Lou, a dedicated caregiver, and Andy his charge who isn't really handicapped; Daffyd, "the only gay in the village"; Sebastian, the Prime Minster's aide; Emily and Florence, two not-even-close transvestites; Vicky Pollard, juvenile delinquent who "never did nuffin or nuffin"; Dr. Lawrence and his incoherent psychiatric patient Anne; stage hypnotist Kenny Craig; Marjorie Dawes the abusive leader of a weight loss support group, grossly obese Bubbles Devere, and many, many more. Like a lot of British shows, Little Britain pushes the envelope with scenarios and jokes that would never see air on US network television. It is a brilliant series (check it out on DVD), and I hope whatever they have in the works for HBO is a worthy successor. Anyway, here is a mashup dedicated to the show, called "ABitALittleBritain." Enjoy.

Listen to "ABitALittleBritain"

The White Stripes Are Selling... Cameras?

Yesterday, The White Stripes' newsletter subscribers received a mysterious message: "The tricks of today are the truths of tomorrow.-Man Ray. X XV MMVII"
The quote is from the famous American surrealist painter and photographer.
The 'trick' was later revealed to be a teaser for a website promotion in which the duo are introducing designer label cameras. The two-tone (red and white of course) cameras are called the "Meg Diana+ Camera" and the "Jack Holga Camera," and come packaged with custom filters, changeable lenses, camera accessories, and more. The cameras themselves appear to be digital (one of the accessories looks like a flash memory card) but no other details have been revealed yet.
The cameras go on sale at noon on October 15, 2007 (X XV MMVII).
The first 333 buyers to purchase both camera sets also get a "mystery gift."

Return Of The Eagles

The Eagles are set to release their first studio album in 28(!) years at the end of this month.
Long Road Out Of Eden will be a double album of 20 tracks. While Hotel California and The Long Run leaned toward a harder sound, the sample clips available from Long Road Out Of Eden seem to be a return to the more laid back sound of earlier albums. One thing that does stand out is the group's harmony, always great, but on these tunes, somehow better. If you've ever seen the vocal warm up scene on the Eagles Farewell Tour I DVD, you'll know what I mean.
The tracks on Long Road Out Of Eden are not entirely new--no surprise when the album took some six years to produce. The first release from the album, "How Long," was released in August of this year, and several others ("No More Cloudy Days,""Fast Company," and "Do Something") showed up on special CD sold exclusively through Wal-Mart last year. Besides being available through the band's website, the album will again be exclusively sold by Wal-Mart and online at Musictoday.com. There's little doubt that the album will do well sales-wise because The Eagles still enjoy a huge following, but is there still a spot on the radio for this group that once dominated the airwaves?

What Radiohead Hath Wrought

It took just one band to get the ball rolling. Following Radiohead’s release of In Rainbows via direct download from the band’s website, other acts have announced similar intentions.
Trent Reznor, posting on the Nine Inch Nails website, says the band is now free of any recording contract with any label. “I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate. Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008. Exciting times, indeed.”
Oasis and Jamiroquai are also said to be considering following Radiohead by offering their new recordings on a “pay what you like” basis.
And Madonna is reported today to be leaving her long-time Warner Bros. Records label for a deal with the concert promotion firm Live Nation, which would digitally distribute three new studio albums.
Early reports are that Radiohead’s ploy was a huge success, with many fans opting to pre-order the full $80 discbox set besides downloading the digital tracks. Clearly fans will pay for music when they know that the artist—and not some overpaid suit at a record label—stands to benefit.
Sure, many people chose to pay nothing for the digital tracks as had been expected, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, there are other purposes for Radiohead’s plan than earning money. For one, when you download the digital music, you give your e-mail address and other details before you get the download link. This is priceless information to a marketer. In another sense, it also helps the band determine where its strongest support comes from.
It will be exciting to see how this whole thing plays out. The mainstream recording industry has little to do with music anymore and everything to do with profit. If more bands jump on board, the music industry as we know it could change dramatically. And it would be a welcome change.

This Day In History: The Doors At Danbury High School

Forty Years ago today, The Doors played a concert at Danbury High School. Why is this significant? Well, for one, Danbury is my hometown, and the high school became part of the college I attended. But, more important it was the site of a memorable live recording of the group.
The Doors had just released their second album Strange Days four days earlier, and had run afoul of TV censors in an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show less than a month before. (The censors objected to the "Girl we couldn't get much higher" line from "Light My Fire," and when Jim Morrison sang it anyway, Sullivan banned the group from ever appearing on the show again.) Then it was back on the road for a concert swing through the northeast, including the Danbury stop.
The concert was put on not by Danbury High School, but by Western Connecticut State College as part of its Fall weekend.
The scene is set by this description from www.doorshistory.com:
This show is primarily attended by nearby college students from Western Connecticut State College and locals of Danbury. Prior to the show, Jim and his drinking buddy Tom Baker were partying all day. Tom even gets to introduce the band tonight preceded by a female announcer who tells the crowd not to leave their seats during the performance, or they will be escorted out of the venue! There was also a beauty pageant prior to this evening's performance.
Early into the show a group of students who are mad about The Four Seasons being cancelled are ragging on the band about how wasted they look and how ragged they appear. The band plays great tonight with a lot of energy, probably a carry over from their fabulous shows at The Scene. Jim however is pretty mellow, and it isn't until late in the concert that he jumps off the stage into the startled audience during "The End," leaps back on stage, and begins to smash the microphone stand into the stage repeatedly in a violent scene. The marks are still there!
The recording was made by a faculty member who taped it off the PA system. It's an amateur job to be sure, but still a decent recording (and the photo above was taken at this show).
The 10-song set list is made up of selections from The Doors and Strange Days, as well as a cover of Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)." According to a note on guitarist Robby Krieger's website, there were very few live recordings of "People Are Strange," so its inclusion here is important. Despite the poor audio quality, this is an interesting picture of a young band on the rise. Less than two months later Morrison made headlines again after he was arrested on stage in New Haven, Connecticut, for criticizing the police to the audience. Morrison said he had been maced by a police officer after he was caught backstage with a girl.
Listen to some cuts the Doors at Danbury High School:
Light My Fire
People Are Strange
Break On Through

Tuesday Trivia On Wednesday

Ken Jennings is apparently on vacation (vacation? what's that?) for a couple weeks, so he hasn't been sending his weekly trivia contest. But have no fear, we now know the answer to this question posted on September 25:
What unusual distinction is shared by these songs? "American Woman" by the Guess Who, "Glamorous" by Fergie, "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani, "I'm Back" by Eminem, "I'm Henry VIII I Am" by Herman's Hermits, "Lola" by the Kinks, "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats, and "Turn On Me" by the Shins.

Take a guess first, then highlight the space between the lines with your mouse to see the answer.
-----------------------------
Answer: All songs have a part where a word is spelled out:
"American Woman" by the Guess Who – A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N
"Glamorous" by Fergie – G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S
"Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani – B-A-N-A-N-A-S
"I'm Back" by Eminem – W-H-I-T-E
"I'm Henry VIII I Am" by Herman's Hermits – H-E-N-R-Y
"Lola" by the Kinks – L-O-L-A
"Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats – S-A-F-E-T-Y
"Turn On Me" by the Shins – Y-O-U
-----------------------------

Radiohead's Bold Experiment Starts Today

There's been a lot of buzz about Radiohead's new album In Rainbows which is officially released today, and is available for download from their website. The buzz, of course, is that the band has chosen not to sign with a label for this, their seventh studio release, but will initially distribute it digitally through the internets.
Moreover, they are offering different combinations of what you can order. For example, for $81 you can pre-order (for December shipping) a "discbox," which consists of the 18-song In Rainbows on both a CD and on two vinyl LPs. (If I still owned a turntable, this would be the way I'd go.) It also comes with an enhanced CD with digital photos and other images, as well as additional songs. And, to top it off, the discbox includes a hardcover book of lyrics, artwork and other liner notes.
But the kicker is that if you just want the music, you can get it. And you set the price you want to pay. When you go to checkout section of the download page, you see a blank space where you can set your own price. Next to it there's a question mark . Click on it and the next page says, "It's up to you." Click on the question mark on that page and another page pops up that says, "No really, it's up to you." Pay as much or as little as you like.
It's a bold experiment, and there will be many people in the industry keeping an eye on how it turns out. Will the discbox be a hit? Will fans choose the "nothing" payment option? Or will the songs just wind up being traded all over the intertubes? Would the RIAA be able to stop that, since the band isn't necessarily asking for payment?
And what about the idea itself? On the surface it looks like Radiohead is shooting itself in the foot--giving away the music they worked so hard to produce. But the reality is that bands earn relatively little money from selling CDs (unless they are multi-platinum chart toppers). The real money comes from touring as it always has. So from that perspective, this distribution scheme may let Radiohead's music be heard by many new fans who would come out to see the band live.

Happy Birthday John Lennon

"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see. It's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out--it doesn't matter much to me."
John Lennon would have been 67 today had a madman not ended his life. However, this post is not about his death, but of his life and what he did to bring truth, beauty, and peace to the world.
Lennon was my hero when I was growing up. I was a fan of his songs, his humor and his attitude. Through him I learned that there was nothing I can do that can't be done, and nowhere I can be that isn't where I'm meant to be. All I need is love. And, believe it or not, I found solace in those and other Lennon lyrics during some rather dark times of my life. They were positive messages, and helped me see that despite how bleak my situation seemed, it was within my power to change things for the better. And it was. To me it was a humanist philosophy that became part of the fabric of my life. "All You Need Is Love," "Give Peace A Chance," "Tomorrow Never Knows," "Watching The Wheels," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Mind Games," and especially "Imagine," made sense to me. I had "faith in the future, outta the now." I could envision a world without wars, greed, and hunger--nothing to kill or die for--in which we all lived in peace. The big piece of the puzzle was to get others to see it too. We're still light years from that point, and the events of recent years have erased much of the progress that had been made. But you know what? It's still a sustaining vision for me and, like the song says, I'm not the only one.
In honor of John Lennon's birthday, I'd like to share a live acoustic version of "Imagine," recorded 12-17-71at New York's Apollo Theater. Enjoy.

Listen: John Lennon, Imagine (Live)

Monday Mashup: Wrapped Detective

From Mark Vidler (aka Go Home Productions), "Wrapped Detective" is a brilliant mashup of five artists: Elvis Costello ("Watching the Detectives"), The Police ("Wrapped Around Your Finger"), Lionel Ritchie ("Hello"), Peggy Lee ("Fever"), and Bob Marley ("Exodus"). I particularly like this mix because of the effortless way GHP moves between songs so no single element is jarring, but fits sonically and logically with the others. It also let me listen to "Wrapped Around Your Finger" without wincing because, although it has never been a favorite of mine, here it is taken to new levels. If only The Police had tried the tune with a rhythm foundation like this one...

Listen to Go Home Productions "Wrapped Detective"

Rigors of The Road: The Cribs

Friday night, British indie trio The Cribs were playing at Birmingham Academy when singer Ryan Jarman decided it would be a good idea to crowd surf the mosh pit.
Bad move.
The overly enthusiastic crowd tossed him around like a rag doll. Security guards, not recognizing him and thinking he was just a fan as he was passed around, kept Jarman from returning to the stage. According to NME.com, he was finally hauled from the crowd unconscious by a security guard, with most of his clothes ripped off him by fans. He regained consciousness after being shaken by another security guard. Jarman was unconscious for around 20 seconds in total. Shirtless and wearing the remains of his jeans, Jarman completed his band's set by playing two acoustic songs before being assessed by paramedics.
The following day, bassist Gary Jarman was hospitalized after complaining of pains in his arms. Jarman was taken to a nearby hospital where the was diagnosed with blood poisoning. It is thought he got the poisoning from cutting himself accidentally on his bass strings during a recent gig.
The band will continue with its tour.
So, in honor of The Cribs' determination to carry on, despite some pretty stupid stunts, here is Baby Don't Sweat from their 2003 self titled album.

iheard It Through the Grapevine

Tired of the local "classic rock" radio station that seems to have built its entire playlist around six CDs? (You know who you are.)
Check out iheard.com, an intertube radio aggregator service. It collects meta data about stations with internet feeds into a comprehensive directory so you can find whatever style suits your mood. One caveat: A couple stations I tried did not connect, possibly from heavy traffic or maybe an outdated link, but that seems to be the exception. Others connected quickly and streamed smoothly. And if you have your own net radio station, iheard can help you promote it for more listeners.
Stations are organized by genre, country and language, and includes streams for iTunes, Realplayer and Windows media player.
Genres included on the iheard directory are: Alternative, Country, International, R&B, Ambient, Dance-Electronic, Jazz, Reggae, Blues, Eclectic, Latin, Religious, Christian, Folk, Oldies, Rock, Classical, Hiphop-rap, Pop, and Talk.
And each genre lets you drill down deeper to find your particular flavor. You like hiphop, but you yearn for tracks from the Dirty South school? It's here. You want oldies, but specifically from the WWII era? You got 'em. You like Latin music, but you just want sambas? Ningún problema.
Try it, and you'll never have to sit through those seldom-funny-where's-the-music-morning-zoo-shows again.

Hot Ticket

Miley Cyrus is about to embark on a 54-date concert tour. For those of you who live in a cave--or don't have children--she's the daughter of the guy who used to sing about the achey-breaky mullet, Billy Ray Cyrus, and she has her own show on the Disney Channel called Hannah Montana. On the show (yes, I've seen it) she plays high school student Miley Stewart while her father plays... her father. (Stay with me here.) He writes hit songs for Miley's alter ego, Hannah Montana, who Miley becomes by donning a blonde wig. Why? I'm not entirely sure, but apparently no one knows that the girl they sit behind in math class is a superstar recording artist. Her father disguises himself as well by pasting on a moustache. Clark Kent couldn't have found a better disguise, because no one seems to know it's the same guy.
Anyway, it's all pretty harmless fluff and my niece really likes it. But that's not the point of this post. Instead it's about tickets to the concerts, where Cyrus will appear both as herself and the Hannah Montana character.
Fans are so desperate for tickets that venues have sold out in as little as four minutes and scalpers are getting about five times the face value (which is between $50 and $70), creating a torrent of complaints from frustrated parents.
It has gotten so bad, according to one report, that the Kansas City Council is launching an investigation, suspecting scalpers of buying ticket blocks and reselling them. Well, duh. Hello Kansas. Of course that's what scalpers are doing, as they do for just about every show. But it seems that this time they've gotten especially greedy, preying on the 'tweens' for whom Cyrus/Stewart/Montana is the biggest show biz event they've ever witnessed in their young lives. And parents are desperate to please their little princesses and will do whatever it takes to score tickets.
One report said a ticket for the show in Charlotte, North Carolina, sold for $2,565.
For one ticket.
To a show featuring a fictional character.
I don't know what's worse--the fact that the scalper sold the ticket for that much or that the parent actually admitted they paid that price. That'd be something I'd want to keep on the quiet side.
Then there's this quote: "Hannah Montana has essentially exposed a lot of frustration the average, uninformed ticket buyer has," said Sean Pate, a spokesman for the San Francisco-based StubHub. "There is so much demand that ticket sellers are pricing on the high side. It's almost unreasonable."
I'm sorry, did you say almost unreasonable?
I guess we have different definitions of 'unreasonable.'

The Perfect Guitar Hero Song?

Sex Pistols have re-recorded their classic song "Anarchy in the U.K." for use in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock, due out this month. The band got together in the studio (minus original bassist Glen Matlock, or his replacement, the inconveniently dead Sid Vicious) for the first time since the 1970s. They even used the same analog sound desk they used back in the day, which was built for George Martin in the late 60s. It really is the perfect Guitar Hero song, because it was one of the tracks that inspired thousands of teenagers to pick up guitars and rock out in the late 70s. Why not just license the original master tape for the game? Umm, well, you see, they can't find it. That's right, the master tape of what became one of the seminal records of the burgeoning punk movement is missing, probably sitting in a box in someone's closet somewhere, collecting dust.

Alton Brown's Music Video Past

I saw this item mentioned TV Food Fan, a great blog for foodies (like me). It seems that Alton Brown, FoodNetwork host of one of my favorite shows, Good Eats, has a past. In this case it was as a cinematographer and video director whose work included R.E.M's "The One I Love" video.
So here is some of AB's work before he became the Mr. Wizard of the kitchen:

Monday Mashup: Intro-Inspection

This is an amazing piece of work by palindromic British mixologist Osymyso.
It's a few years old now, but this track set the bar very high for any would-be mash up artist who followed. Osymyso takes the intros to 101 different songs--mostly chart toppers--and creates a single cohesive 12-minute piece of music that works as well as any of the individual tracks from which it is made.
Here's the list of samples used for Intro-Inspection
1. "Rivers of Babylon" - Boney M
2. "Wild Thing" - The Troggs
3. "Hello" - Lionel Richie
4. "Fairground" - Simply Red
5. "Hey Jude" - The Beatles
6. "Vienna" - Ultravox
7. "Unchained Melody" - The Righteous Brothers
8. "I Get Around" - The Beach Boys
9. "Tainted Love" - Soft Cell
10. "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen
11. "No Woman, No Cry" - Bob Marley
12. "Hound Dog" - Elvis Presley
13. "Drinkin' in L.A." - Bran Van 3000
14. "99 Luftballons" - Nena
15. "The Lovecats" - The Cure
16. "...Baby One More Time" - Britney Spears
17. "Walk on the Wild Side" - Lou Reed
18. "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" - Barry White
19. "True" - Spandau Ballet
20. "Leader of the Pack" - The Shangri-Las
21. "The Message" - Grandmaster Flash
22. "Wannabe" - Spice Girls
23. "Pure Shores" - All Saints
24. "Eye of the Tiger" - Survivor
25. "Only You" - Flying Pickets
26. "Need You Tonight" - INXS
27. "Come on Eileen" - Dexys Midnight Runners
28. "Praise You" - Fatboy Slim
29. "Down Under" - Men at Work
30. "Pump up the Volume" - MARRS
31. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" - Marvin Gaye
32. "Relax" - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
33. "3 a.m. Eternal" - The KLF
34. "I Should Be So Lucky" - Kylie Minogue
35. "Don't You Want Me" - The Human League
36. "I Will Always Love You" - Whitney Houston
37. "I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor
38. "Shaft" - Isaac Hayes
39. "The Pink Panther Theme" - Henry Mancini
40. "Is There Something I Should Know?" - Duran Duran
41. "Groove Is in the Heart" - Deee-Lite
42. "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" - Eurythmics
43. "Oh Yeah" - Yello
44. "Song 2" - Blur
45. "Blue Monday" - New Order
46. "Baggy Trousers" - Madness
47. "You Really Got Me" - The Kinks
48. "Sweet Child o' Mine" - Guns N' Roses
49. "Wipe Out" - The Surfaris
50. "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" - The Offspring
51. "Firestarter" - The Prodigy
52. "Barbie Girl" - Aqua
53. "I'm a Believer" - The Monkees
54. "Anarchy in the U.K." - Sex Pistols
55. "I've Never Been to Me" - Charlene Duncan
56. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - The Rolling Stones
57. "Disco 2000" - Pulp
58. "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" - Baz Luhrmann
59. "Disco Inferno" - The Trammps
60. "Like a Prayer" - Madonna
61. "China in Your Hand" - T'Pau
62. "Just Can't Get Enough" - Depeche Mode
63. "Music Sounds Better with You" - Stardust
64. "My Name Is" - Eminem
65. "Shout!" - Lulu
66. "I Feel for You" - Chaka Khan
67. "Take a Chance on Me" - ABBA
68. "The Power of Love" - Huey Lewis & the News
69. "Killer" - Adamski
70. "Bad" - Michael Jackson
71. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" - Eric Idle
72. "Tom's Diner" - Suzanne Vega
73. "West End Girls" - Pet Shop Boys
74. "Oh, Pretty Woman" - Roy Orbison
75. "I Just Called to Say I Love You" - Stevie Wonder
76. "Let's Dance" - David Bowie
77. "All Right Now" - Free
78. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
79. "Stayin' Alive" - Bee Gees
80. "Israelites" - Desmond Dekker
81. "The Power" - Snap!
82. "The Safety Dance" - Men Without Hats
83. "I Just Wanna Make Love to You" - Etta James
84. "Lust for Life" - Iggy Pop
85. "My Generation" - The Who
86. "Take My Breath Away" - Berlin
87. "Red Red Wine" - UB40
88. "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" - Nancy Sinatra
89. "It's Not Unusual" - Tom Jones
90. "Johnny B. Goode" - Chuck Berry
91. "Bring It All Back" - S Club 7
92. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" - Procol Harum
93. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" - The Hollies
94. "Imagine" - John Lennon
95. "Little Fluffy Clouds" - The Orb
96. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" - Bonnie Tyler
97. "I'm Not in Love" - 10cc
98. "Temptation" - Heaven 17
99. "My Way" - Frank Sinatra
100. "Albatross" - Fleetwood Mac
101. "The End" - The Doors

In addition to this version, there are two shorter versions called "Intro-Expansion Part 1," and "Intro-Expansion Part 2," that essentially split the list in half but feature different arrangements and several surprises that are not part of this track.

Listen: Osymyso, Intro-Inspection