James Dean

Five Other Musicians We'd Like to See Take on Historical Fiction

This past week Downtown Abbey fans got a hell of a shock when Diddy announced via Twitter that he was going to be starring on the show, his purported favorite. Producers were quick to deny it, but no doubt fans of the PBS period drama were a little hesitant to even imagine Diddy, a rapper with exact ... More >>

River Phoenix's Dark Blood: Not the Epitaph He Deserves.

Tift Merritt Looks Outside Herself to Kindle a Spark

Tift Merritt makes country music for city dwellers, the kinds of songs that NPR adores but Nashville doesn't have much use for anymore. Still, the thirtysomething singer-songwriter managed to score a Best Country Album Grammy nomination for 2004's Tambourine. But a couple of songs from that record, ... More >>

One Day in the Life of Morrissey

What do you suppose Morrissey does in his free time? Now is an especially good time to wonder, because Moz's scheduled show in Beaumont this Saturday, already postponed once, has now been postponed indefinitely on doctor's orders, until it gets rescheduled again. (In case you hadn't already heard.) ... More >>

Is a New Poe Album Finally on the Horizon?

In 2000, Poe released Haunted, an album that is simply one of the absolute greatest things ever recorded. It was a critical smash success on the pop charts despite that fact that it was more or less a surrealist counterpart to one of the most disturbing and difficult-to-read horror novels of all tim ... More >>

Boxing Lesson's "Better Daze" Makes Sinister Sci-Fi

Austin's The Boxing Lesson is a consistently wonderful jaunt through indie music. I usually describe them as, "Radiohead, but you can fuck to it." Now they're back with a new music video, "Better Daze," which follows an invasion of Earth by strange, black aliens. The video comes from the mind of Er ... More >>

Hospital District Wi-Fi: Out Magazine Barred, Marlboro.com Just Fine

We received an e-mail from someone who was sitting in the waiting room at LBJ Hospital while his partner was getting treated. LBJ is part of the Harris County Hospital District, and it offers wi-fi in the waiting room. " I tried to access an article on Out.com and I got this page (telling me that ... More >>

Top 5 Celebrities Who Tried to Go All NASCAR...and Failed

Kyle Busch: Qualified to break traffic speeding laws.​If you're going to travel at more than 80 miles an hour over the limit, you should probably be a professional speedster and not a celebrity with run-of-the-mill driving know-how. On Tuesday, Kyle Busch, a championship-winning NASCAR driver ... More >>

For Friday the 13th: Five of the Unluckiest Texans Ever

Investors held on too long.​Beginning with LaSalle, the French explorer who survived shipwrecks and cannibal Karankawa Indian attacks only to perish at the hands of his own men near Navasota, some people in Texas have had some pretty damned hard luck. You might lay some or all of the blame at ... More >>

The Eagles' Real Greatest Hits, 1971-1975

​Thirty-five years ago today, the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975), became the very first album to be certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, at least in the modern period of the RIAA keeping track. No doubt before Frey & Henley hit the scene, Elvis and the ... More >>

Eight Songs For James Dean's 80th Birthday

​Had he lived, the original angsty hero, James Dean, would have been 80 years old today. Dean died in a violent September 1955 car crash, ending his film career after only three major roles. It only took three movies for the young man to become a brooding, enigmatic legend. Dean died just as ... More >>

Cage Match: Werewolf Of London Vs. Purple People Eater

​Ladies and gentlemen, it's been a while since we had a Cage Match. Our apologies, we couldn't find a band willing to take on Nickelback - really. Be that as it may, get yourselves ready for a special Halloween edition as two of the greatest monsters in song take on each other. You gotta ask ... More >>

Inside "American Pie," Pop Music's Longest Allegory

​Rocks Off has always been a fan of symbolism, hidden meanings and puzzles in general, so besides Raymond Chandler, Stephen King and Larry McMurtry, our favorite form of "lit-rah-chah" is allegorical stuff like George Orwell's Animal Farm, William Golding's Lord of the Flies and Edgar Allan Po ... More >>

Pamela Des Barres, More Than The World's Most Famous Groupie

​Pamela Des Barres is the world's most famous groupie. In 1987 she published her first book, I'm With The Band, a collection of journal entries and stories detailing her life growing up in Los Angeles at the height of the 1960s music revolution, her years as a groupie and her relationships with ev ... More >>

Texas Traveler: Day 2 Of Exploring West Texas

Photos by Brittanie Shey​Ed. Note: Read about Day 1 of our West Texas travels here. Hotel hunting in Del Rio doesn't turn out as I expected. Our guidebook recommends Amistad Lodge, a place built in the 1960s right on the water of Lake Amistad, with porches that face the lake. It's a bit north of ... More >>

Commitment Problems

Readers disagree that involuntary commitment is a bad thing.

Abstract Impressionism

Newest River Oaks nightspot Red Room Lounge is as posh as its surroundings.

Washington Avenue's upscale but low-key Pandora Lounge

Pandora's Box

The Collector: The Hoodoo Curse

Bluesman Robert Johnson's shadow stretches long and large

$13 at Prince’s Hamburgers

Get Lit: Doo Wop: The Music, The Times, The Era, by "Cousin Brucie" Morrow with Rich Maloof

The Houston 100: From Scarface to Robert Earl Keen

Feeling Feverish?

Grease and Guys and Dolls

The company nails it -- again --with two new productions

COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE

How a theater on the verge of insolvency has reversed its fortunes

The Houston Press's top DVD picks for the week of September 20

Walk on the Wild Side

Meet Supestar diva Holly Woodlawn at the Houston Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

One Tree Hill Tour, with the Wreckers, Tyler Hilton and Bethany Joy Lenz

Thursday, March 17, at Numbers, 300 Westheimer, 713-526-6551.

We're Not the World

Morrissey tells America where it can shove its hamburger

Best Road Trip

This Charming Hombre

Morrissey's mad love among Mexican-Americans

Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys

Friday, November 7

Go West

Manifest your destiny in Marfa

The Evolution Control Committee

Plagiarythm Nation (Creations/Seeland)

World Wide Web

Spider-Man does whatever a spider can and much more

"Look! I Made This!"

Robert Altman wants your attention, if not your affection

The Great Divide

Paula Vogel's The Mineola Twins splits the family (and politics) in two

Sweet Desolation

Desert Blue offers teen comedy with a sting

Rotation

Lost and Found

A boy and real depth are both missing in this movie

Eight for '98

Riding the Rap

A new book chronicles the bloody rise and fall of Death Row Records

Meaning and the Movies

In a new book, film critic David Thomson shows himself at his best -- and worst

Hats Off

Dwight Yoakam's the last great country singer -- and he doesn't need a twang to prove it

Letters

Love and Other Agenda Items

Great Dwight Hope

Mum's the word in the Yoakam camp, but the music speaks for itself

Press Picks

Engaging Postures

Dead Bang

Gonzo Western The Quick and the Dead is ludicrously entertaining