To Breno's point, calling Zevon an "influence" stretches the meaning of that word a bit too far. Has anyone other than his son ever cited him as a beacon for their creative endeavors? Linda Ronstadt? Kid Rock? Terri Clark?by ira
And the winners are... Performer Category: Bad Company Chubby Checker Joe Cocker Cyndi Lauper Outkast Soundgarden The White Stripes Musical Influence Award: Salt-N-Pepa Warren Zevon Musical Excellence Award: Thom Bell Nicky Hopkins Carol Kaye Ahmet Ertegun Award: Lenny Waronker The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction will be live on Saturday, November 8th atby ira
Band names with the potential to offend are as old as the Dictators, Dead Kennedys, Jody Foster's Army, Napalm Death, Pissed Jeans, GG Alin and the Scumfucs, the Fags and the Queers all the way through to the plethora found here: The New Pornographers are as inoffensive (and wonderful) a band as you'd ever happen upon. I just think of it as a silly name. Flux of Pink Indians, Grab Gby ira
Robert Palmer was a member of the IT.by ira
Hi Bob, I wonder what some of your essential pre-internet reference works were. Back before Google, what books or resources did you keep around and refer to regularly as you wrote the Consumer Guide or long-form pieces—whether for genre history, artist catalog, music theory/terminology, chart information, or anything else? — Jay Thompson, Seattle Joel Whitburn’s guides to the Billboard chartsby ira
TP Books, actually. We've done two of them so far.by ira
Can't say I totally stand by this, but here it is...by ira
The contents of which are on this website...by ira
Terrible news: Clem is gone. A spectacular drummer, a true-blue rock and roller, a snappy-AF dresser and a really good man. What an inestimable loss for his family and friends, Blondie and his millions of fans. I helped Clem with his memoir in 2020, but so far it has not been published. His death is a very sad thing.by ira
Most helpful and highly recommended. Thank you.by ira
I know how this is being portrayed, and no doubt Trump policies are vile, but the musician's description of why they were turned away at the border is not nearly that certain it was pure politics.by ira
Definitely a minute too long. But give the archivist big points for the tip-top film research.by ira
Are you guys liking/interested in/ignoring the books coming out from Trouser Press Books? Any suggestions, criticisms, etc.? As this forum is as close to a target audience as we have, I'd be most grateful for any feedback (not to mention an unexpected avalanche of sales! I wouldn't be averse to setting up a special forum friends discount...) Thanks Iraby ira
Another version of this is when a rock critic confidently asserts an artist's influences that the artist later denies any familiarity with. (Then there are the copyright challenges...) Sometimes that's just nonsense, but I'm sure a lot of times it's absolutely true.by ira
Thanks to everyone here for your support and discerning enthusiasm!by ira
Possibly through their mutual label, Yep Roc?by ira
And then, a week or two later, the contracts were all sorted but it was too late to undo the fix.by ira
The story was that IRS hadn't quite inked their deal when they booked the flexi and called us in a panic to say we couldn't let it go out. Getting the plant to print that warning was the best we could do.by ira
I believe it was Hunters and Collectorsby ira
Coincidentally, Trouser Press Books is about to publish something that touches on this very topic: Frank Sinatra recorded "New York, New York" in 1979, the same summer the Clash recorded "London Calling." Two songs that seem like they are generations apart, but aren't. London Calling New York New Yorkby ira
new review you folks might enjoy:by ira
I don't recall exactly what the connection was, but my late friend Bruce Harris (an Epic product manager who was my hookup for all things Clash and Cheap Trick) was a big Nails fan and may have done some music project with Campbell. I was never keen on the band myself.by ira
Trouser Press Books appreciation from Varietyby ira
Seems like you've already got a rough draft of an entry for the site...by ira
I can't answer your query, but I did fix the alpha sort in N...by ira
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Trouser Press Books did a thing last night in New York. Here's some video from it (don't know how good it is or how long FB will keep it available.)by ira
That is terrible news. So sorry.by ira
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Under John Sykes, they've made it a Top 40 TV show, packing in contemporary "talent" like any other award show. This year, they seemed to have emptied the pantry of artists who've never gotten in (what excuse did they use for the MC5, who failed to win enough votes for many years?) with no regard to the illogic of a show like that. I've voted every year, attended a bunch,by ira
