“The Brian Epstein Story”

There is an excellent article over at Salon about the documentary “The Brian Epstein Story” directed by Anthony Wall called The Underground Beatle (you will have to watch an ad before you read the article but it’s worth it) which you should check out, even if you’re not a Beatles fan. I have never seen it but I definitely will be keeping my eye out for it.
Later.

Now this is rock and roll! Sweet Apple Pie

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last 2 days but things have been quite hectic and I am currently in mourning over the Montreal Canadiens’ loss to the Tampa Bay Lightening in 4 straight but while I get things straightened up and organized for next week and beyond you should check out the excellent band Sweet Apple Pie from France. If you love melodic pop rock then this is your band. Their new CD is available from Not Lame or you can buy it from The Rock and Roll Report by clicking on their album listed on the left. Great stuff! Until next week. Have a great weekend everybody!
Later.

Now this is rock and roll! The Gore Gore Girls

For some very cool attitude-laced hip shaking primitive rock and roll that evokes all the best of the ’60s garage ethic check out Detroit band the Gore Gore Girls. I cannot believe that Chrissie Hynde once said that women can’t rock! Listening to the Gore Gore Girls you’ll realize what a load of crap that statement was!
Later.

Classic Rock Revisited

I have recently been listening to a bunch of things that could be loosely termed “classic rock” in a kind of trip down memory lane. It amazes me that (1) I still like this stuff and (2) A lot of these bands are still around and kicking. What got me listening to this stuff again was a visit to Classic Rock Revisited, an extremely well put together website that had me just itching to get out my trusty air guitar and rock out. So I did and it felt great! Keep mixing up your rock and roll I constantly preach. Don’t become a “one genre snob.” Everything has it’s place in the rock and roll ecosystem, right?
Later.

Another Beatles book!

Well, believe it or not there is another book coming on the Beatles and this one looks like it will be a doozy. It will be written by Beatles uber-author Mark Lewisohn and it will comprise 3 volumes that he anticipates will take 12 years to complete! It is being billed as the ultimate history of the Beatles and with Lewisohn behind the keyboard you can bet that he won’t settle for anything less. Their legacy will be in good hands.
Later.

New Sixties Mag Out

If you love the Sixties (or what perceive the Sixties to have been) then you will probably want to pick up a copy of Super Sixties Magazine with what look like a lot of interesting music features. It does appear to be kind of cool. Fab!
Later.

MOJO’s Top 100 Epic Rock Tracks - April 2004.

Well another day, another list. Straight from the horse’s mouth here is Mojo Magazine’s Top 100 Epic Rock Tracks:

“Heroic, uplifting and over-the-top, these tracks
shamelessly embody all three of these admirable
values. The rules for inclusion are simple: one
entry per band and the notion that the track in
question exemplifies musical adventuring as its
boldest and, in some cases, most foolish.
As Freddie would say, Magnifico-o-o-o!”

01 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
02 Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven
03 The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil
04 Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond
05 The Doors - The End
06 Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
07 The Beatles - A Day In The Life
08 Elvis Presley - An American Trilogy
09 Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell
10 Richard Harris - MacArthur Park
11 The Beach Boys - Heroes and villains
12 Don McClean - American Pie
13 Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep, Mountain High
14 Derek and the Dominos - Layla (Pts 1 & II)
15 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
16 David Bowie - Space Oddity
17 U2 - Bullet - The Blue Sky
18 ELP - Fanfare For The Common Man
19 John Leyton - Johnny Remember Me
20 Kraftwerk - Autobahn
21 Procul Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale
22 Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
23 King Crimson - The Court Of The Crimson King
24 Radiohead - Paranoid Android
25 Bruce Springsteen - Jungleland
26 The Shangri-Las - Past, Present And Future
27 The Walker Brothers - The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore
28 Yes - The Gates Of Delirium
29 Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick
30 Prince - Purple Rain
31 Wings - Live And Let Die
32 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird
33 Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life
34 The Velvet Underground - Sister Ray
35 Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome To The Pleasuredome
36 Can - Mother Sky
37 Oasis - Champagne Supernova
38 Thin Lizzy - Roisin Dubh (Black Rose) Rock Legend
39 The Darkness - Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)
40 Joy Division - Decades
41 Rush - Xanadu
42 Genesis - Supper’s Ready
43 The Who - Baba O’Reilly
44 Eric Carmen - All By Myself
45 Klaatu - Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Caft
46 Deep Purple - Child In Time
47 Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi’s Dead
48 Freddie Mercury And Montserrat Caballe - Barcelona
49 Alice Cooper - Halo Of Files
50 Blue Oyster Cult - Don’t Fear The Reaper
51 Guns N’Roses - November Rain
52 The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
53 Lou Reed - Street Hassle
54 Ultravox - Vienna
55 The Nice - The Cry Of Eugene
56 Pulp - Common People
57 the Electric Prunes - Holy Are You
58 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - The Carny
59 Primal Scream - Higher Than The Sun
60 Scott Walker - Such A Small Love
61 Mountain - Nantucket Sleighride (To Owen Coffin)
62 Fairport Convention - Tam Lin
63 The Eagles - Journey Of The Sorcerer
64 Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck Of Edmund Fitzgerald
65 Rainbow - Stargazer
66 Leonard Cohen - Memories
67 The LA’s - The Looking Glass
68 Supertramp - Fool’s Overture
69 The Monkees - Randy Scouse Git
70 Sonic Youth - Tunic (Song For Karen)
71 The Stone Roes - Breaking Into Heaven
72 Roy Harper - The Lord’s Prayer
74 McAlmont & Butler - Yes
75 Greateful Dead - Dark Star
76 Klaus Schulze - Friedrich Nietzsche
77 David McWilliams - The Days Of Pearly Spencer
78 Julian Cope - Safesurfer
79 Buffalo Springfield - Broken Arrow
80 Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-De-Vida
81 Alex Harvey - Isobel Goudie
82 Flowered Up - Weekender
83 David Gates - Suite: Clouds, Rain
84 Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
85 The Bevis Frond - Tangerine Infringement Break
86 Spiritualized - Don’t Just Do Something
87 ELO - Eldorado Overture
88 Spock’s Beard - The Healing Colors Of Sound
89 Iron Maiden- Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
90 Patti Smith - Land
91 Kiss - Odyssey
92 Aphrodite’s Child - The Four Horsemen
93 Metallica - One
94 Dexy’s Midnight Runners - This Is What She’s Like
95 John Miles - Music
96 British Sea Power - Lately
97 Bob Dylan - Hurricane
98 Billy Joel - Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
99 Diamond Head - Am I Evil
100 Damien Rice - Eskimo

This is a tough one to digest so I’m going to give myself a few days. Some I agree with, some I don’t even know so read it and tell me what you think. I know for one that I would never have a list with Billy Joel on it but hey, that’s just me.
Later.

Rush 30th Anniversary Tour

Well I am hopefully going to take advantage of the pre-sale today for Rush’s 30th Anniversary tour date in Montreal August 21st. I know you might be thinking that the same guy who loves watching garage bands at the local dive is going to see Rush, a prog rock dinosaur of dubious musical merit but trust me it’s not all that strange. I have always been a big fan of Rush and just because I love one type of rock and roll doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the odd bombastic “big rock show.” Rush know how to put on one hell of a sound and light spectacle and that is not a “bad thing” if the bottom line is always the music. I make no excuses for any rock and roll that I choose to listen to and I won’t start know. Rush are just one band of many in my internal iPod that makes listening to rock and roll so interesting. I mean, I’m not going to see Poison but then again, when I’m in the mood, I don’t mind them either! All part of the fun, fun, fun!
UPDATE! The first time I saw Rush was when I was in high school and it was the Moving Pictures tour (with Max Webster opening, a dream lineup for me at the time). I slept outside the old Montreal Forum the night before tickets went on sale and ironicaly enough, the tickets I just bought through the American Express pre-sale are in almost the same location (but at the new Bell Centre). Weird.
Later.

Will it be sponsored by Mars Bar?

There is a report that HBO has commissioned a movie about the infamous Redlands drug bust of 1967. I want to play the Canadian drug dealer who mysteriously disappears when the shit hits the fan. I think the reality of the situation was far more mundane than what it appeared to be at the time. Drugged out rockers staggering around on the beach and in the fields before retiring to an ancient British cottage for Moroccan food while listening to records. Nothing more and nothing less. I mean George Harrison left out of boredom!
Later.

Justin Timberlake to play Johnny Rotten

In the “weird news” department, Johnny Rotten/Lydon wants Justin Timberlake to play him in a Sex Pistols biopic! I don’t even know where to begin on this one but Mr. Lydon certainly knows how to maximize his time in the spotlight that’s for sure.
Later.

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