Email Author Bob Ruggiero

1999 Stories by Bob Ruggiero

• Free Birds and Drop Kick Chihuhahas

  published December 30, 1999

  Every dance club, beer pub and yuppie hub in town is having its own New Year's Eve celebration with live music and cheap champagne, but the two... More >>

• The Sound of a Washed-up Career

  published December 16, 1999

  Quick, which film is the highest-grossing movie musical of all time: Grease? The Wizard of Oz? West Side Story? Can't Stop... More >>

• Dueling Dickenses

  published December 2, 1999

  In 1843 Charles Dickens was badly in need of a hit to re-establish his reputation and fill his dwindling coffers. The 31-year-old author's... More >>

• Playbill

  published September 30, 1999

  No matter what you think of KLOL's often too-tame playlist or the obnoxious retards who host its puerile morning show, the radio station's annual... More >>

• Local Rotation

  published September 30, 1999

  Vince Bell Texas Plates Paladin Records Houston native Vince Bell was a familiar sight on Texas... More >>

• Playbill

  published September 16, 1999

  Hawk & Dove Richard Buckner and P.W. Long are two entirely dissimilar artists who nonetheless have formed a mutual admiration society... More >>

• Grand Pops

  published September 16, 1999

  On one hand, you've got the wheezing, craggy troubadour mired in his own legend. On the other, a genre-raiding predator fresh off creating one of... More >>

• Honor Thy Elders

  published September 16, 1999

  In the film classic Network, the most watchable character is a formerly staid newsman who becomes deranged and hysterically spouts... More >>

• Local Music Reviewed

  published September 2, 1999

  Phil Settle & Friends Santa Monica Pier Sand Canyon Records Houston nightclub veterans of the '70s... More >>

• Convalescent Punk

  published August 26, 1999

  Blondie performs Saturday, August 28, at 8 p.m. at the Aerial Theater, 520 Texas. Reel Big Fish opens. Tickets are $26 to $32. Call (713)629-3700... More >>

• New Wave Good-bye

  published August 19, 1999

  Santa Fe, Texas, is not the most picturesque or bustling town in the Lone Star State. Petrochemical refineries and front yards decorated with... More >>

• It's a Family Affair

  published July 29, 1999

  Willie Nelson's Family Picnic is Saturday, August1, at the Woodlands Pavilion. Music starts at 1 p.m. Tickets are $35 for reserved seats, $25... More >>

• Original Punks

  published July 1, 1999

  Gotta admire the longevity and stamina of Christian Arnheiter, elder statesman of the Bayou City's punk rock scene. Long after the vast majority... More >>

• The Original Christian Rock

  published July 1, 1999

  The idea of portraying Jesus Christ as the world's first self-confessional hippie rock star was downright blasphemous in 1971. But today, Jesus... More >>

• The Reverend Red Rocker

  published June 24, 1999

  When Sammy Hagar and his band, the Waboritas, played an invitation-only show in town at the Hard Rock Cafe last month, some dismissed the show as... More >>

• HammingIt Up

  published June 24, 1999

  It has been one of the most debated issues in American popular music: Can a white man play the blues? Well, actually, it's also one of the... More >>

• Guinness Time

  published June 17, 1999

  Just the mention of the phrase "Guinness beer" is enough to start many connoisseurs of barley and hops a-salivatin'. But while you can name just... More >>

• Angels Redux

  published May 20, 1999

  Arc Angels reunion concert? The band was, for a minute, a genuine Lone Star State-bred supergroup ready to fly off into the new decade with a... More >>

• Rise Up, Texas

  published May 20, 1999

  Robert Earl Keen wants to set the record straight. While the critically acclaimed Texas troubadour is busy pushing his latest record, Walking... More >>

• Cowboy Convoy

  published May 13, 1999

  The man with the deep, deep voice that will make you wonder if Johnny Cash was ever friendly with the guy's mother would probably chortle if you... More >>

• Book 'Em, Draper

  published May 13, 1999

  As Houston's fortunes ebb and flow with the oil industry, Huntsville depends on bad boys. The social, economic and employment structures of the... More >>

• Geek Force

  published May 13, 1999

  Here's something you might find interesting," Scott Chitwood says, reaching down to a bottom shelf and handing over a beat-up, plain white... More >>

• Scabba-Dabba-Do

  published May 6, 1999

  It was the kind of career that hundreds of bands would gladly give up at least some groupie privileges to reach: two releases on a mid-level... More >>

• Crowes Feat

  published April 29, 1999

  Well, you certainly have to give The Black Crowes credit for having cojones the size of the Georgia Dome. (And that's one cojon per stadium). For... More >>

• Et tu, Lenny

  published April 29, 1999

  Paul McCartney and Duran Duran did it for James Bond. The Bee Gees followed Tony Manero's lead. And even Survivor got into the ring. The marriage... More >>