Billy Joel

Explain Your Most Played

Touchdown Jesus Wept

Get Lit: Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music, by Phil Ramone

Sailing with Captain Jack

ACL: Sunny Sweeney Yes, Vampire Weekend No

Damn the Torpedoes, Live Nation is Full Steam Ahead

Start saving those nickels and dimes, kids, because the biggest tour of 2009 (so far) is headed for Houston. At a press conference in House of Blues' Foundation Room this morning, Live Nation President Bob Roux and Toyota Center General Manager Doug Hall announced Elton John and Billy Joel will br ... More >>

Thrift Store Cowboy: Garth Brooks, Sonic Youth and Yaz

Location: Salvation Army, 3620 Broadway, Pearland Thrift stores are a museum of random genius. Where else can one find a faded D.A.R.E. t-shirt and a pair of soiled leather pants? Each trip is a chance for magic. Rocks Off spent some time at the Salvation Army out in the badlands of Pearland last ... More >>

Bill-bored

At least Tom Jones left the mesh shirt at home

The Brits Love Them Some "Blastbeats"

Leave it to the British music press to read more into something than it merits. Any new fad they see pop up they immediately have to make a celebratory month for, or start spending thousands of pounds on to trace its source. It's a dirty habit. They can't leave well enough alone. That's how you get ... More >>

Rotation

Leave it to the British music press to read more into something than it merits. Any new fad they see pop up they immediately have to make a celebratory month for, or start spending thousands of pounds on to trace its source. It's a dirty habit. They can't leave well enough alone. That's how you get ... More >>

Tonight: Battle of the Bar Bands at House of Blues

A more cutthroat distant cousin to the rock/soul package tours of the late '50s and '60s, "Battle of the Bands" competitions were never really in style - except maybe in the Sunset Strip hair-metal heyday of the mid-'80s - but they never really go out of style either. Tonight at House of Blues, ... More >>

Idol Beat: The Top Nine

Fox Scott McIntyre: Don't go changin'...Remember last week's requiem for the Sarvernator? Turns out that Anoop - Season 8's Great Dork Hope - is in the same damn leaky boat: a phenom before the judges, a lamestain when serenading America. His put-on Usher turn last night cemented his unworthy ... More >>

“Messiaen Centennial Concert: Visions de l’Amen”

Marilyn Nonken and Sarah Rothenberg perform the French composer’s famous piano cycle

The Clash: Live at Shea Stadium

Marilyn Nonken and Sarah Rothenberg perform the French composer’s famous piano cycle

Indianapolis 500 Legends

Indy Legends brings Brickyard history to life

Sunshine When It's Gray

Indy Legends brings Brickyard history to life

Cutout Bin: Novo Combo's Animation Generation

Novo Combo Animation Generation (Polydor, 1982) The 1980s: everything was changing. A new generation was taking over the musical and cultural landscape. Heavy Metal showed that even animated boobs could be a turn-on. Tron told us that even crappy, monochromatic animation made by crappy, low-p ... More >>

Waking Ashland

The Well

How Low Can You Go?

Let's see with the last installment of our guilty-pleasures project

Capsule Reviews

Our critics weigh in on local theater

Joel Jams

This Billy-based show will get you Movin'

Family Feud

Hip-hop turns 25, and the battle lines are drawn

Best Band to Break Up

Simpleton

Uptown Down

Girls tries a tired lesson -- grow up, already

Suburban Escape

Raoul's Red Apple Martini

Think Houston Radio Sucks? Try KACC's Lost Fidelity

Photos by Craig Hlavaty Last week, we railed on the big boys over at the Eagle and the Arrow for perpetrating hours and hours of Billy Joel and the Eagles on the ears of Houston. It seemed to us that between those two fighting for the same audience, it was in fact the listener who was losing. But we ... More >>

OK, Maybe the Eagle Does Play Some Black People

As we usually do when we get into work, Rocks Off tuned into Dean & Rog on the Eagle and lo and behold, they were talking about our suggestions to improve the station we posted here Tuesday. D&R especially seemed to enjoy the part where we said it wouldn't kill the Eagle to play some more pe ... More >>

Songs Slightly Less Inappropriate Than R. Kelly's Latest Single, "Number One"

So R. Kelly's newest single is called "Number One." Seriously? Okay, we know Kelly was found innocent of all child-related golden-shower charges by a jury of 12 idiots, but when the subject of Dave Chappelle's "(I Wanna) Piss On You" releases a single called "Number One"... sorry, but we have to be ... More >>

Five Spot: Killa Kyleon's Purple Punch 3

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, albeit sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. ​One of the guys that we always (usually) enjoy listening to is the ... More >>

Stirred and Shaken: Howl at the Moon's Tennessee Tea

Photo by Troy Fields​The musical act is the main draw at Howl at the Moon (612 Hadley, 713-658-9700), a dueling-piano bar in Midtown (and in Scottsdale, Charlotte, Baltimore, etc.). The bar features a stable of multi-instrumentalists whose job it is to work the crowd while plunking out up-temp ... More >>

HOWL AT THE MOON'S TENNESSEE TEA

Photo by Troy Fields​The musical act is the main draw at Howl at the Moon (612 Hadley, 713-658-9700), a dueling-piano bar in Midtown (and in Scottsdale, Charlotte, Baltimore, etc.). The bar features a stable of multi-instrumentalists whose job it is to work the crowd while plunking out up-temp ... More >>

Wine Me Up: Houston's Top 5 Cougar Dens

​There are few things in this life that young Rocks Off loves more than a gang of cougars on the town spilling wine on the ground and trying to light the wrong end of a borrowed cigarette whilst slurring in our direction that she likes our tattoos before drunkenly pawing at us. We think it's a men ... More >>

Great Moments With Mr. Rockefeller: Billy Harper, Garth Brooks and Sonny Rollins

[Ed. Note: To help spread the word about next Friday's benefit for the Houston International Festival's education programs at Rockefeller Hall, featuring Texas Johnny Brown and Marcia Ball, Rocks Off asked iFest director of performing arts and former Houston Chronicle music critic Rick Mitchell to r ... More >>

BP: 11 Songs We Found On The Executive iPod

annamatic3000 via Flickr​British Petroleum (BP) officials announced Thursday that they had successfully capped the largest and most devastating oil spill in U.S. history. You know, a mere 85 days, 11 casualties, 184 million gallons and thousands of dead or oil-covered animals later. A tense 4 ... More >>

House Of Blues Extends Tax-Free Merch Sale Through 7 p.m. Today

​House of Blues has extended its "Great Rock 'N' Roll Sample Sale" to a second day, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today in the Bronze Peacock Room. Sales tax for all merchandise, available for as low as $3 for CDs and hats (Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, KISS) or even $1 for tour programs (Springstee ... More >>

Five Songs Classic Rock Radio Should Kill NOW

​Rocks Off is a prisoner of the airwaves. At home we can listen to just about anything we want thanks to the comforts of 24-7 satellite radio. Actually, we rarely tune in anything besides Outlaw Country, but that's another story. We can't bring the satellite receiver to work, where we spend th ... More >>

NFL & College Football -- Weekend's Best Bets (with Tales of Deceit, Adultery and Ron Artest)

We see....FAIL in Ron Artest's future​Drayton McLane apparently has plans to sell the Astros. This comes as no surprise, those rumors have been swirling for some time. Now I don't know if he'll get his $800 million asking price, but I did call Drayton and make an offer and we now know that $9 ... More >>

Top 10 Hottest Jewish Musicians

​The Festival of Lights is upon us, as the eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah officially kicks off at sundown tonight. Some of music's leading bigwigs will likely be sparking up the menorah, among them Lou Reed, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Leonard Cohen, Diamond David Lee Roth, Perry Farrell an ... More >>

Rocks Off's Favorite Non-2010 Music Of 2010

Editor's Pick: It was probably Uncle Tupelo's Anodyne, same as last year. So how about Nirvana's In Utero, which I dragged out of mothballs when we did our article about Nevermind's anniversary in September. In Utero fried my hair all over again, and then got me thinking about the band's cover of ... More >>

Top 10 Self-Titled Debut Albums

​It wasn't until we were discussing its release this week that Rocks Off realized we're basically the same age as Led Zeppelin's debut album. Recorded in October 1968 and released the following January, Led Zeppelin is 42 years old. It suffers from some of the same ailments as all of us who r ... More >>

Match These Bands With Their Awful Original Names

​Provided they didn't take the easy way out and name themselves after a song (Rolling Stones), their hometown (Boston) or each other (Hall & Oates), almost every band that went on to sell millions of records, get tons of radio play and sell out arenas has had some form of the following convers ... More >>

25 Famous Bands' Less Famous Previous Names

​As promised, here are the answers to Rocks Off's "Original Band Name" quiz from Tuesday. John St. Lee, if you'd care to email us, we'll see what we can do about getting you a prize. Do you like Devo? 1. Chicago: At about 25 or 6 to 4, the Windy City jazz-rockers realized The Big Thing sucked ... More >>

Who's Vroomin' Who: Top 10 Songs With Motorcycle Sounds

​Craig's Hlist has been on a Motley Crue kick for the past few months. We may have just finished reading The Dirt for the fourth time, and we really enjoyed Nikki Sixx's Heroin Diaries book, which tells the story of how he spent 1987 mired in a haze of junk and almost every other drug imaginab ... More >>

Billy Joel Safe At Home In Final Play At Shea

​Billy Joel Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert Sony Legacy, $13.98 While not a Queens-bred boy, what better choice for a musical performer to close out Shea before its demolition than Billy Joel? Filmed over two nights in July 2008, this 2-CD/1-DVD package offers a great overview of Joel's car ... More >>

Out Today: Paul Simon Resurgent, Foos Get Loud, Isbell Kills

​It's New Release Tuesday, and this week's is one of the biggest days of the year, with new discs by the Foo Fighters, a reinvigorated Paul Simon and TV On The Radio leading the pack, plus a few other artists returning to the scene after a few years away from the limelight. Next week (April ... More >>

Out Today: Glee Warbles, Gorillaz Fall, Kinks Ride Again

​It's been a week since the Foo Fighters' album, Wasting Light, hit the stores, and Rocks Off has probably averaged at least one or two spins of the solid disc per day. Right now, we are actually on track four. Will anything top Light this week? That remains to be seen. Next week will bring ... More >>

14 Things You Didn't Know About Rick Springfield

2. Rick Springfield is a stone cold sex fiend... ​In recent years, many musicians have put down their instruments (at least temporarily) and picked up the computer keyboard to produce some pretty revelatory memoirs. And in one case, perhaps too revelatory - Billy Joel recently pulled the plug ... More >>

1986: Best Musical Year Ever?

​For almost two weeks now, Rocks Off has been obsessed with the year exactly 25 flips of the calendar backward from this one. It started when Steve Earle did one of his "Time Machine" shows, where the singer-songwriter who plays House of Blues Wednesday spotlights a dozen or so of his favorite ... More >>

Grant Haze: Guy Who Allegedly Dismembered Ex-Wife Talks of Being Inspired By Sting & Lionel Richie

Grant Haze wants to be an inspiration to his kids​Last week, Grant Haze was just another bland singer-songwriter with a tremendous ego and hoop earrings. Now he's charged with killing his ex-girlfriend, dismembering her corpse, stuffing the body parts in ice chests, and driving them from his N ... More >>

What Every Musician Needs: Better Shut Up Lines

We all hate the trope "Houston, we have a problem," but we do have a problem in Houston with talkative, inattentive crowds at live shows. Scanning back over reviews from the past two years, at least 20 percent of them mention crowd noise. So what do the musicians think and, more importantly, what ... More >>