Alice Cooper

Turtle Soup: More With One of the Wildest Bands of the '60s

Today, when the 65-year-old Howard Kaylan looks back on the '60s, it's still hard to imagine the kind of commercial and chart success he had with the Turtles, and how by age 22, it was all over. "They say that wisdom comes with age, and at that time, I had absolutely none of it!" he laughs. "I mean ... More >>

Better Know Your Muslim Music Genres

In 2010, writer and producer Javed Mohammed decided to get the ball rolling on World Day of Muslim Culture, Peace, Dialogue and Film. The internationally recognized holiday annually celebrated on March 15 is meant to spotlight the peaceful contributions followers of Islam make to society, and to art ... More >>

Revisiting Robertson Stadium's Forgotten Concert History

After years of dreaming, planning and even a little begging, the University of Houston broke ground on a new on-campus football stadium this month. It's a pretty darn exciting development for the Cougars that marks the beginning of a new era of UH athletics: The program will play its first season in ... More >>

Last Night: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at Fitzgerald's

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Weird Party Fitzgerald's January 21, 2013 "We use these instruments like jackhammers," says Jon Spencer, headlining Fitzgerald's with the Blues Explosion on the evening of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, leaving the venue's proverbial and literal ears ringing. The show wa ... More >>

The 5 Most Important Years In Goth Music: 1979

All this week, Rocks Off will be looking at the biggest years for goth music, and exactly what they meant for the genre. Like any good structure, goth is built on the foundations of other previous cultures. You can walk back through David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and all the way ... More >>

Frampton Comes Alive... Again!

FCA! 35 Tour : An Evening with Peter Frampton Eagle Rock, 189 mins., $19.98 Things weren't looking so hot for 25-year-old singer/guitarist Peter Frampton's career at the end of 1975. After stints as a teen idol (with the Herd), lead guitarist (Humble Pie), and bandleader (Frampton's Camel), his sub ... More >>

10 Songs That Will Pack Your Wedding Reception's Dance Floor

Study: Free Press Summer Fest Brought Houston $14 Million

Rob Zombie, Lord of Salem, Now a Twin of Evil on Tour

Rob Zombie's career has played out like a good horror movie: A surprise at every turn. His '90s band White Zombie put a firm tongue in cheek (and a whole lotta metal) into Alice Cooper-style theatrics, and after 1996's Supersexy Swingin' Sounds, exited stage left as one of the most remix-friendly ha ... More >>

The Republican Candidate's Guide To Picking Campaign Music

This week Republicans from around the country gather in Florida to celebrate all things conservative and curse Issac for stealing the national spotlight. For me the 2012 Republican National Convention marks the true start of the presidential campaign season, the playoffs to the primaries' regular se ... More >>

Musically Speaking, What Is the Best Zodiac Sign?

Sometimes some musicians just can't even be put in the same sentence as one another. Depending on people's musical preferences. It's hard to compare and can be a bit confrontational. But one thing is for sure the day on which someone is born can't be changed. And then that's where astrology comes in ... More >>

Enter Shikari: Either You Know You're Oppressed, Or You're Asleep

If there is anything you can say about Enter Shikari, it's that the band is a challenge just by its very nature. There's no genre, no label, no box that they fit comfortably in. Ultimately, they are that obnoxious zigzag Tetris piece that brings the whole game down. Lots of attempts have been made ... More >>

Do You Remember Rock N Roll Comics?

Ilko Davidov's documentary film Unauthorized: The Story of Rock N Roll Comics is finally available on DVD today after having been originally released in 2005. Hopefully you remember Rock N Roll Comics, the series of illustrated unauthorized biographies that Todd Loren put out to the rage of many unt ... More >>

After American Idol And Bad Record Deal, Sundance Head Starts Over

Rocks Off hadn't thought much about Sundance Head since his 13th-place American Idol finish in 2007 and the momentary ballyhoo that followed. Head, the son of legendary Houston blue-eyed soul man Roy Head, remains the only artist who didn't finish in the Top 5 on Idol to sign a major-label deal. Bu ... More >>

Dick Wagner: Welcome (Back) To Alice Cooper Guitarist's Nightmare

Not Only Women Bleed: Vignettes from the Heart of a Rock Musician By Dick Wagner Desert Dreams Productions, LLC/Amazon.com, $9.99 While the name Dick Wagner may not be recognizable to the casual classic rock fan, deep trackers might know the singer/guitarist from his work fronting two popular Michi ... More >>

10 Rock Stars the GOP Should Nominate for President

As the 2012 presidential race begins to heat up in earnest, Rocks Off can't help but feel that the front-runners for the Republican nomination are lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. Call it star power. Call it sex appeal. Whatever it is, these guys ain't got it. If the GOP is serious about wresti ... More >>

10 Bands We'd Rather See in 3D Than Metallica

Kreepin Deth​Metallica recently announced that they would be releasing a film in 3D. Whether or not we're talking a concert film, something more along the lines of Some Kind of Monster, or a different approach entirely they haven't confirmed. Still, it seems most likely that they will follow i ... More >>

Happy Birthday, Jim Morrison: Top 5 Songs About the Lizard King

​We've always felt a deep connection with Jim Morrison, so much so that we'd rather read No One Here gets Out Alive than listen to any one Doors song. The poet and legendary front man left us far too soon, and in his wake is a wealth of stories and music that continues to echo down and find an ... More >>

Ace Frehley's Wild Rocket Ride

No Regrets by Ace Frehley with Joe Layden and John Ostrosky 320 pp., $26, Gallery Books ​Even by standards of '70s hard rock excess, original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was out of this world. In this breezy, buzzy, and debauched memoir, The Spaceman takes readers on a rocket ride through his ... More >>

Libra Soul: The Singing Voice Of The 99 Percent

Photos courtesy of Aiton Extea/Libra Soul​Around this time last year, Rocks Off told you about a man named Aiton Etxea and his quest to find "reason-filled musicians" for the purposes of forming a band. His use of the term "reason-filled" caught our attention because we were regular trollers o ... More >>

Turbo Lovers

British metal icons Judas Priest are still living after midnight — but aren't retiring.

Happy World Mental Health Day! 5 Crazy Songs

Delirium is the youngest of the endless. She smells of sweat, sour wines, late nights, old leather. Her realm is close, and can be visited; however, human minds were not made to comprehend her domain, and those few who have made the journey have been incapable of reporting back more than the tiniest ... More >>

Top 10 Texas Movie Soundtracks

​This weekend, as the rest of the world catches Harry Potter mania for (perhaps) the final time, Houston gets a serious dose of Urban Cowboy nostalgia. Theater Under the Stars' production of the Tony-nominated 2003 musical - which The New York Times called "a conclusive demonstration that it's ... More >>

On The Road Again: Bikinis And Bands At The Hangout Festival

Photos by Craig Hlavaty Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, duh.​See the bands and bikinis of the Hangout Festival in our slideshows. Imagine the Austin City Limits Music Festival or even the rapidly approaching Free Press Summer Fest on pure, white sand just feet away from a (variably) blue ocea ... More >>

Avoid Cheap Fog Machines: Building A Better Stage Show

Erica O'BrienProvision​If Rocks Off could talk to ourselves from six years ago, the advice we would give that young aspiring rock star would be to not bother with any gigs for the first year playing with the band, and instead have everyone save up as much money as possible to fund a truly magn ... More >>

Last Night: Scott Stapp At House Of Blues

Photos by Groovehouse​Scott Stapp House of Blues March 29, 2011 We all knew coming into this what would happen. It was going to be a show for the fans, not the smirking cynics. Fair enough. A Scott Stapp solo acoustic show is what it was billed as, but it was really a quasi-electrified solo ... More >>

Music's Five Most Notorious Killers, Besides The Band

​On St. Patrick's Day 1985, serial killer Richard Ramirez (right) murdered two women in Los Angeles, beginning a killing spree that would eventually tally over 14 people and leave him with the nickname "The Night Stalker." From a young age, Ramirez was fascinated and inspired by the occult and ... More >>

A Birthday Trifecta For Lovers Of Oddball Music

Dwight Frye, aka Fritz, in James Whale's Frankenstein (1931)​Today is George Washington's birthday, so there's that. However, February 22 is also the birthday of some truly bizarre figures in American history, and those figures have been the inspiration to a great many musicians.   For inst ... More >>

Musicians Will Shill Literally Anything For A Buck

gossip-juice.com​This Sunday, the Super (Marketing) Bowl will enlist the help of the Prince of Darkness to target a new demographic: The Glee-ber market. With Glee's season premiere directly following the game, advertisers hope to seduce younger spectators into watching through bait like Justi ... More >>

Aftermath: Jemina Pearl Spits, Squeals, Hobbles and Rocks at the Mink

Photos by Marc Brubaker / Click here for a slideshow​Looking for all the world like a young ex-Runaways lead singer Cherie Currie (minus the lingerie) and sounding like Kathleen Hanna, Jemina Pearl didn't hesitate to scream her heart out in front of a small but energetic crowd at the Mink la ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Alice Cooper, BT, Drive-By Truckers, Neko Case, Skinny Puppy, Wanda Jackson, etc.

​Alice Cooper: Sun., Oct. 11. Verizon Wireless Theater. Bamboo: Fri., Oct. 2. Arena Theatre. Billy Joe Shaver: Sat., Nov. 28. Dosey Doe Coffee Company. BT: Fri., Sept. 4. Rich's Houston. Colin Hay: Sat., Oct. 17. Dosey Doe Coffee Company. Dave Seaman: Fri., Nov. 27. Rich's Houston. Drive-By Truck ... More >>

Cutout Bin: Censored and "Recalled" Album Covers

The Beatles, Yesterday and Today (1966) We start with perhaps the best-known example of a "recalled" album cover. When advance copies were sent to stores and DJs, there was an immediate uproar over the cover, showing the band covered in baby parts and bloody meat. All copies were ordered to be re ... More >>

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducts Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson

Yesterday marked a tremendous day for rappers and thrashers across the world: Metallica and Run-DMC were announced as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's newest inductees, along with Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Bobby Womack, two members of Elvis Presley's backing band ... More >>

The Best Christmas Album of 2008 is... Metal?

Ten Gruesomely Good Halloween Songs Pt 2: Violent Femmes, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nick Cave and More

Mail Call: Post-Ike/ACL Edition

Rock The Bayou Is a Bust

Don't Make Labor Day Weekend Plans...

Q&A: Little Steven Van Zandt

Tribute Bands Struggle for Respect

Talking to local fakers Dressed to KISS, Black Dog, Lights Out, Bad Motor Scooter, Toology and Brian's Johnson

Army of Anyone

Army of Anyone performs Friday, December 8, at Verizon Wireless Theater, 520 Texas, 713-230-1600. Three Days Grace also performs.

Rockin' in the Free World

Soundtracks for your Election Night shindigs

Playbill

Rock of Ages

Mayor of the Sunset Strip presides over pop

Unfair and Unbalanced

Ludacris rankles the white pride of the National Alliance and Bill O'Reilly

Masked Avengers

Forget the headgear. Los Straitjackets are having a seriously good time deconstructing instrumental pop.

Rotation

The Jayhawks -- The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Playbill

Ozomatli, dc Talk, The New Morty Show

Live Shots

Celting Point

Plus: Less Donna McK., archiving Texas folk music, and Iggy's eats Jelly