INXS

Almost Famous: 5 Millennial Bands Who Should Have Been More Successful

I recommend that once a year you dig out your old CD collection (or MP3 archive if that's how you roll) and give a spin to the music you haven't listened to in forever. Everyone should take a nostalgic listen down memory lane now and then; not only is it good to reconnect with old songs, but you als ... More >>

6 Cool & Cheap Weekenders: John Prine, We Give a Jam, Twenty Mondays, etc.

If you had a dollar for every year it's been since John Prine has played in Houston - OK, maybe $2 or $3; the point is it's been a long time - you could easily afford a ticket to see the wise, sardonic master singer-songwriter at 8 p.m. tonight at U of H's Cullen Performance Hall (4800 Calhoun), so ... More >>

The Cult’s Weapon of Choice

Ian Astbury talks touring with a transgendered singer and addresses his new-media critics.

10 Things Musicians Have Been Buried With

Everyone dies eventually, even rock stars, and when they go it's not uncommon for them to take beloved personal items with them, or to have such things placed there by grieving friends and family. That is of course unless they're cremated and have their ashes snorted or smoked. For those who went th ... More >>

Y'all, We Have All Been Doing "Punk" Wrong

When you think of punk rock, images of a bloodied Sid Vicious in a leather jacket may come to mind. Skinheads flipping off a camera. Henry Rollins and Black Flag destroying a crowd in a basement. Jello Biafra jumping into a surging pit of people after screaming about holidays in Cambodia. The Clash ... More >>

Missed Opportunities: 10 Musicians Who Turned Down Big Hits

Have you ever had one of those moments where you thought to yourself, "Why did I do that?" or "Why did I turn that down?" Those kinds of moments happen to all of us. It's part of life, unfortunately. This happens all the time in the movie world, but you never seem to hear about it in the music worl ... More >>

Hey Pookie: Top 5 Cheesy Love Songs

We recently started getting fan mail in addition to the more... creatively worded correspondence that we've always gotten in response to our articles. The accolades are worth almost as much as the paycheck, but we wanted to take this opportunity to pass on that praise to one of our favorite people. ... More >>

The Best & Worst Of All Possible Buzzfests

Photo by Marc BrubakerWe did it all for the nookie.​This weekend is Buzzfest XXVII in Houston, 94.5 The Buzz's bi-annual all-day throwdown at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Rocks Off has covered a few of the shows in the past few years, including the May 2010 edition where we took along ... More >>

The 12 Best Songs in '80s Movies

​For many of us Generation X and Y-ers, much of our adolescence can be directly linked back to '80s cinema. Thanks to writers and directors like John Hughes, '80s teen movies were accurate depictions of suburban (non) happenings. Furthermore, the '80s were a special time in film history thanks ... More >>

Your Musical Word of the Day: Calenture

John Oxley LibraryClipper Ship Blackadder​Definition: A fever, specifically a fever that was supposed to affect sailors on long sea voyages to the tropics. The fever caused hallucinations that the ocean was actually a green field, and sailors would attempt to jump down to it only to drown. The ... More >>

Your Favorite Bands: How To Correctly Pronounce Their Names

​Back in December 1998, when Eminem was just hitting MTV and rap radio, we remember people pronouncing his name as "Eee-mine-im," and not the candy-inflected way it actually was. We even made the mistake during our first viewing of "My Name Is" late at night on the video channel and calling a ... More >>

Lyrical Advice For The Class Of 2011

"Move back in with your parents! Let them worry about you!"​There will be no guitars and Marshall stacks at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion this weekend, just "Pomp and Circumstance." As the Class of 2011 walks across the stage soon to be occupied by Peter Gabriel, Widespread Panic and Ki ... 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 >>

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 >>

FAIL: Gene Simmons, Steve Albini, INXS, Danzig (Not)

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Gene Simmons Is Donald Trump In Makeup: Fails has never been a big KISS fan, but we can't imagine watching Gene Simmons' behavior makes being one any easier. If you're a die-hard KISS fan, watching his douchey whoring and cutthroat CEO tactics must be d ... More >>

Candy Flip

Gram Rabbit's psych-disco twang

Cry Little Sister: A Corey Haim Soundtrack Retrospective

​The last time we were visiting our parents in Friendswood, Rocks Off noticed a new DVD version of 1987's The Lost Boys at the sales counter of the local Hollywood Video (which must be one of the last remaining franchises in the Houston area, but we digress). We didn't buy it - it actually hasn't ... More >>

Self-Admitted Wanker John Mayer Is Far From Alone at the Musical Spank Bank

​ Photo illustration by John Seaborn GrayThe chicken is Photoshopped. The swimsuit, sadly, isn't.​Guess what you're missing if you haven't picked up the latest copy of Rolling Stone? Go on, guess. All right, we'll tell you: according to their website, you're missing the lowdown on John Mayer's " ... More >>

Another Way to Help Haiti... "Don't Change" a Thing

Even though it misrepresents a bunch of funky Australian pub-rockers as a New Wave band, "Don't Change," from 1982's Shabooh Shoobah, broke INXS on U.S. college radio long before "What You Need" or "Need You Tonight." It's always been one of Rocks Off's favorites, from a group that has given us man ... More >>

Pop Rocks: I'm Shocked, Shocked To Discover Britney Spears Was Lip-Synching

​To think, I almost found myself agreeing with John Mayer.His response to the simmering Britney Spears lip-synching scandal -- mocking those who expressed outrage at the fact Spears was faking it during her concert in Perth, Australia last weekend -- would appear to be dead-on. One could even take ... More >>

He Said, She Said: Get Your Ass In Shape Workout Songs

Unlike our male counterpart, we aren't seeking to purge our inner demons when we work out (and some of us - shudder - purge something else before working out anyway). Instead, we're looking for something fun, upbeat and beat-heavy. Something that makes you want to shake your ass while you're w ... 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 >>

Gothtopia: Searching for the Perfect Vampire Anthem

Note: Lost in all the inaugural hoopla this week was the fact that Monday was Edgar Allan Poe's 200th birthday. No better time, then, to debut Rocks Off's new Goth column... Recently, my wife and I made our way down to the Houston Public Library to hear a talk with Charlaine Harris, author of ... More >>

Oz the Great and Terrible

Happy Australia Day, everybody

Aftermath: Duran Duran at Verizon Wireless Theater

Photos by Chris Gray Alone among its pretty-boy peers in the early and mid-'80s, Duran Duran was the blackest band to regularly hit the pop charts from either side of the pond. Only the Aussies in INXS had anywhere near the same level of interest in funk and disco, and the chops to pull it off. ... More >>

Yesterday Afternoon: Westheimer Block Party at Numbers, Mango's and Avant Garden

The Wiggles

Ships Ahoy

Danielson sets course for indie paradise

Spend a Fortune

Never Go to a Party in Friendswood

Where does your town rank in the Houston-area good-taste stakes?

True Blue Confessions

Let's join Madonna for a friendly round of Celebrity Breach of Confidentiality

Seat Belts and Eye Shadow

If the Lost Boys can't get young Hispanic males to buckle up, nobody can!

Trend-Spotting

In a scandal-ridden election year, the year's top ten music stories were all about winning the popular vote

Trend-Spotting

In a scandal-ridden election year, the year's top ten music stories were all about winning the popular vote

Live Baby Live

Danny Deckchair sends an upbeat message from down under

Rage Against the Macho

Patty Jenkins and Charlize Theron give birth to a Monster

NTX & The Electric Sexxx

Thursday, September 4

Strange Days

Alex Proyas's latest should become a cult hit, but it's not the slam-dunk it ought to be

Rock No More

Mike Patton chops through traditional song forms with a mighty Tomahawk

Thunder from Down Under

Powderfinger has conquered the Fatal Shore. Is America next?

Blue Houston

The sweetest enigma

Style and Story

Letters

Static

Rotation