Charles Manson

The History of The Beatles In Doctor Who

Perhaps no band in the real world has had quite as much of an impact on the world of Doctor Who as the Beatles did. Both were of course fantastic products of England in the '60s, but some of the connections go far deeper than a contemporary complementary pop-culture acknowledgment. Almost every si ... More >>

Eyes of a Dreamer and Some Charles Manson, Too

It's a well-known fact that the majority of band names are gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off we're working hard to find meaning in the oddest monikers. Truth be told, which would probably be a first for this column now that I ponder it, Eyes of a Dreamer is not exactly my cup of tea. I've never r ... More >>

Horror Business: The Top 5 Most Evil Rock Stars

Halloween and rock and roll go together like peanut butter and jelly. Something about darkened rooms filled with outlandish costumes and screaming girls, we guess. Some of the rock's most ghoulish stars are also its most fun, as Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson will no doubt prove once again at Reliant ... More >>

Lord of Illusions

Your 33 Black Angels Pick 10 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

​Sunday night, Notsuoh plays host to Your 33 Black Angels, a manic garage-psych group from Brooklyn, N. Y. The band sometimes boasts eight members, and reminds us of a less-pretentious Brian Jonestown Massacre or trance-driven Black Lips. And there's the "96 Tears" organ that chimes in here a ... More >>

The 10 Most Real Artists of All Time; The Anti-Milli Vanillis

Milli Vanilli​On this day in 1990, the manager for recent Grammy winners for Best New Group Milli Vanilli held a press conference to tell everyone his act was a fraud. They did not do any of the singing on their best-selling record and they lip synced their shows. It was a startling revelation ... More >>

Feast of Charles Borromeo: A Saint's Playlist

​Though we have no desire to live by the teachings of Cathol and his popular ism, we are huge fans of the saints. To us, saints represent God's Avengers, and yeah, some of them are in charge of stupid things like equestrians, but there are also plenty of them with real-life superpowers. Today ... More >>

People Who Need People

The perils of communal living in Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Pop Rocks: 10 Actors Whose Former Creepiness We Can't Get Over

Eww.​So I'm being forced to watch The Good Wife last Sunday, and I see that Colin Sweeney, a semi-recurring character Alicia once defended for murdering his wife, was apparently involved in testifying for Alicia's firm for one reason or other (give me a break, the entire hour was me wrestling ... 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 >>

Five Great Uses Of Music As A Weapon

Ed. Note: Jef With One F does not distinguish fiction from reality from video games. We let it slide because he accepts checks from the "Bank of Mordor"... we just hope it's not rubbing off on us. teecraze.com​Music is a weapon. That's what angry political bands will tell you. They'll bend yo ... More >>

Rockin' In Plain Sight: Our Favorite Hidden Album Tracks

​In the days when compact discs and tapes ruled the world, hidden tracks on albums were like secret gifts from your favorite bands. Off the liner notes, not in the original track listings, and totally unassuming, sometimes tucked away after minutes and minutes of silence on a disc. With the ... More >>

Paul Revere & The Raiders: From Batman To Manson

​With their bright Revolutionary War-style outfits, tri-cornered hats, and energetic antics, Paul Revere and the Raiders were certainly one of the most visual pop/garage rock bands of the 1960s. But beyond that aspect laid a tight, five-piece combo who notched up a string of hits ("Kicks," "Hu ... More >>

10 Beatles Urban Legends: True Or False?

​When you're a band like the Beatles - who first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964, 47 years ago today - tall tales and urban legends spring up all around... mostly because when a band is a worldwide cultural phenomenon, anything can seem possible or even plausible. Some of th ... More >>

New Tracks From Roosh Williams, Jack Freeman, Roderickvonn, Etc.

​Five Spot receives a fair amount of email each day. It's not a gross amount or obscene amount, just a fair amount. And scattered in between offers from Nigerian princes and penis-enhancement companies are links, MP3s and heads-ups from and/or about Houston rappers/musicians. Now, were this ... More >>

Rock Stars' Troublesome Family and Friends

​Wednesday, the NAACP released an extensive, in-depth study of the main six groups which provide the lion's share of support for the infamous Tea Party movement, and the results of their study are not encouraging. It chronicles a great deal of cross-pollination between Tea Party and white supr ... More >>

Remember The Niceguys' Green Room EP?

Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or not, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. The Niceguys Green Room EP (265 Pro/The Pi Group, 2009) ​You know The Niceguys. If you don't, ... More >>

Donald Ray Spencer: Tiny Terror Tries To Grab Cop's Gun After Burglary Bust

Photo courtesy HCSOSmall, but feisty​It's a cliché, but criminals come in all shapes and sizes.On Saturday night, the Houston Police Department picked up 20-year-old Donald Ray Spencer for burglary of a habitation, a felony.Evidently Spencer did not go down without a fight, because he is also cha ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Ten Musicians I Want to Have Sex With Less Than Lady Gaga

​I understand Lady Gaga's declaration of celibacy last month was something of a big deal, if only because most of us have a hard time believing everyone in the music business isn't vigorously fellating each other on those off days when they're not sacrificing puppies to Clear Channel or auto-tunin ... More >>

The AIDS-Spreading German Popstar And Four Other Horrifying Rock Legends

​Hanging out backstage with Ronan Harris of VNV Nation last Sunday, his synth-excellency imparted a tale that Rocks Off hoped to the gods was not true, and led us down the path of myth and rumor to bring you a list of five of the most horrifying legends in pop-music lore. The tale Ronan told is th ... More >>

Bulls On Parade: Our Favorite Songs About Livestock

​It's almost Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo time again. Our annual celebration of sub-par country music and pissed-off bovines stomping poor fools' nuts in the dirt kicks off March 2 and runs for almost three weeks. During which Houstonians will enjoy traffic-delaying wagon trains and more dou ... More >>

Guitar Zero, or One Old Dog Attempts to Learn a New Trick

[Ed. Note: What happens when Rocks Off finds out one of our writers recently began taking guitar lessons? This.] ​Some men hit their 40s and lose their minds a little. They trade in their minivan for a Corvette, or their wife for a similarly newer model. I have a history of getting these kinds of ... More >>

You, Too, Can Be a Successful Cyberstalker!

​In the age of Brightkite, transparency and TMI, anyone can wrangle and fulfill his or her aspirations of becoming a stalker. Just showing up in the right uniform to the game of life can freak plenty of people out, depending on what's hanging out or strapped onto your person. But everybody k ... More >>

ISO A Femme Fatale? Jail Babes Has The Hook-Up

​Can't find a match on Match.com? Can't get it in tune on eHarmony? Desperate for a young hottie, but not exactly a catch yourself and unable to fly to Russia for a mail order bride? We've got a dating sight for you: Jailbabes.Jailbabes is just like any other dating site, except all of the women ... More >>

Five Spot: The Proper Way to Phrase a Cop-Killing Song

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. How much does this suck: Antavio Johnson, some no-name rapper from a place t ... More >>

Z

The murder of peace activist Gregoris Lambrakis retold

Pitbull, Baby Bash, Rob G, Robert Horry, Scantily Clad Women and Obnoxious Drunk Guy Salute Latium Entertainment

[Note: Monday evening, Houston label and management company Latium Entertainment, which has sold more than 15 million digital singles ringtones of artists such as Baby Bash, Frankie J and Pitbull, celebrated its 10th anniversary at Washington Avenue nighspot Reign Lounge. We had some trouble getting ... More >>

ID Theft

Someone gets your social, ruins your credit, upends your life. And gets away free and clear.

Remembering 1969, Part 1: Altamont, Rosemary's Baby, Santana at Woodstock and More

1968 might have been - at least politically - one of the most turbulent years of the '60s. Students rioted left - specifically, the Left Bank in Paris - and right against the war in Vietnam, while back home racial tensions escalated, especially after the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The po ... More >>

Sunny Side Up

An egg-seller's defense gets strange

Show Me Yours

Finesilver Gallery goes voyeuristic -- in purses and bathrooms

Tom Collins

Cecil's

Down Is Up

System of a Down is rock's least likely success story

Hot Shows

Summertime concerts that will leave you sweating

Big Mac

TV huckster McIngvale moves hearts as well as mattresses

Letters

Poster Child

Rice Gallery revamps the hippie aesthetic without selling out

City Under Siege

Musicians provide HPD with plenty of overtime pay

Creative Interpretations

Vindication comes a year after "Agent 307" prevented Mahotella Queens from performing at I-Fest

He's an Out-of-Comptroller!

Former city tourism official accused of paying mom's nursing home bills out of agency funds

Indies in Town

Three adventuresome acts new to Houston set to perform

Local Rotation

Local Music Reviewed

Allen's Landing

Woody's clever Celebrity charts the descending pain of fame

Night & Day

October 22 - 28, 1998

Rotation

Mr. Popular

He looks the part, he acts the part. So why isn't Evan Dando a superstar?

Heavy, Man

An endless drum solo for... the ten worst concept albums of all time

Back to the Future

Something to Kill For

The Year of Living Anxiously

Are We Having Fun Yet? Or is it just the jangly buzz of advanced urban stress syndrome?