John Lennon

The Turtles: The Raunchiest Band of the '60s?

Even the most voracious reader or rock-music biographies and autobiographies would be hard-pressed to find a better opening sentence than Howard Kaylan, lead vocalist of The Turtles, has in his new memoir Shell Shocked. "I was snorting coke on Abraham Lincoln's desk in the White House," it reads. T ... More >>

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 >>

Hell Freezes Over: The Ends of Five Great Musical Feuds

Last month marked the end of one of the great musical feuds of the 1990s. Any Britpop fan knows you can either be a fan of Oasis or of Blur, but not a fan of both. The two bands hated each other's guts and were in constant competition throughout the decade. So all of us in the press were shocked wh ... More >>

So This Is 5 Years of Listening to Sunny 99.1's Christmas?

2008: An Hour in Sunny 99.1's Holiday Hell Every year, Sunny starts playing non-stop, 24/7 Christmas tunes by the end of November. You can pretty much bet that by the time you hop in the car after Thanksgiving dinner that Perry Como will be riding shotgun with you up to the gas station for smokes ... More >>

Let It Be: How Many Beatles Books Are Enough?

From where I am sitting, I spy at least three Beatles books that were released in the past year alone: A gigantic LIFE job on the Fab Four, a nine-pounder on John Lennon, and another just on the boys' post-Fab solo career work and best singles. All three are great additions to any Beatles library, e ... More >>

Holden's iPod: A Catcher In the Rye Playlist

J. D. Salinger's most famous novel, Catcher in the Rye, turns 51 years old today. In case you've forgotten -- because modern television will do that to memory -- the book is all about a whiny, privileged kid name Holden Caulfield who struggles for meaning in post-WWII America. He eventually ends up ... More >>

Frog Eyes! The 10 Greatest Glasses-Wearing Musicians

If you were like me growing up, you had glasses. You got ridiculed for it with names like "frog eyes," "nerd" (sadly children didn't equate that with smart, just weird), "ugly" and "geek." Even worse was the fact that, as a result of my wearing glasses, I couldn't wear sunglasses because the good o ... More >>

10 Things That Have Happened To Rock Stars' Ashes

Recently, I explored some of the strange things that musicians have been buried with. In the course of researching that article, I came across a lot of tales about the cremated remains of rock stars. Some very odd things have occurred with famous ashes, so being the resident morbid person on staff, ... More >>

Burn! Music's 12 Best Insults & Jabs

One of the not-so-fun things in the world is to get insulted or, in the words of Kelso from That 70's Show, get "burned." Now, let's imagine what it would be like to be insulted by some musician on one of their albums -- that "burn" I can only imagine was magnified by a million. Nevertheless, som ... More >>

Lord Lordy, Look Who's Forty: The Best Albums Of 1972

Last week I told you about the best debut albums of 1992, making a lot of us feel old in the process. Hell, I was only nine when those came out and I felt feeble making the list. This week we look at the best albums of 1972, now four decades in the hole, but no less fulfilling and influential. Wha ... More >>

Looking Glass: Rock Music's Five Most Famous Four Eyes (Other Than Buddy Holly)

Holly had no idea what he was starting.​The Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting article about Buddy Holly's optometrist. That's not something most people would think about when it comes to music, but fashion has been significantly influenced over the years by music. In much the same way C ... More >>

John Lennon's Imagine Turns 40: Ten Facts About The Album

​Forty years ago this past week, John Lennon's second solo LP away from the Beatles, Imagine, hit number one on the UK album charts. The album was released on October 8, 1971 in England and September 9, 1971 here in the States. The album was seen as a commercial answer to his previous outing ... More >>

Your Biggest Fan: When Rockers Get Stalkers

cinemafestival/shutterstock.com​This past week a statement by pop institution Madonna helped put away one of her newest stalkers, Polish citizen Grzegorz Matlok, who broke into Madge's London home and the residence of her ex-hubby Guy Ritchie. Madonna submitted the statement to Southwark Crown ... More >>

Troubled Fantasy: Creepy Wax Figures Of John Lennon

It's a big week for Beatles fans, which is like saying it's a big week for people who like air and water. Yesterday was John Lennon's 71st birthday, and tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of "Imagine." The Martin Scorsese-directed doc on George Harrison's life, the beyond stellar George Harrison: Livi ... More >>

Purple, Possessed & Pervy: Rock's Top 10 Houses

harleyslist.blogspot.comJohn Lennon and Yoko Ono in a happy pose in front of their home (and future site of Lennon's assassination).​Celebrity homes will always be a source of fascination, offering a glimpse at the intimate, private side of those who live their lives in the public eye. And it' ... More >>

10 Things You May Not Know About The Beatles' Revolver

​First released in the UK on August 5, 1966, the Beatles' Revolver was born into tumultuous times for the band. The "Bigger Than Jesus" debacle was reaching its height in the United States, as some fans who took John Lennon's flippant remark about his band's popularity as heresy burned Beatles ... More >>

10 Songs For Pissed-Off Travelers

This spring, Austin honky-tonker and Pasadena native Dale Watson had some dates in Australia and made the mistake of booking a flight from Sydney to Melbourne on Singapore-based budget carrier Tiger Airways. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, not only did the airline charge Watson a $500 exce ... More >>

Four Musicians Roth Vs. U.S. Would Have Jailed (NSFW)

AP/Life.comSamuel Roth​Standing up for the First Amendement is a hard row to hoe sometimes. Sure, it's fun when you can defend someone like Marilyn Manson, but it's a lot less fun when you realize you also have to defend people like the Westboro Baptist Church. Thems the breaks, though. If you ... More >>

Five Life Lessons From John Lennon's "Lost Weekend"

​Rocks Off would like to wish a very happy 70th birthday to one of the coolest pop cats out there, Harry Nilsson. Four times out of five, whenever we play the jukebox at Warren's, we put on something from his Greatest Hits - like Martin Scorsese, we usually leave the lime in the coconut and ju ... More >>

The 10 Worst Things Texas Has Given To The Modern World

It's not nature's way, it's Houston's​If we were to list all the great, terrific things Texas, Our Texas has given to civilization, we would be here all day. (Two words: Jessica Simpson.) Unfortunately, Texas has also gifted America and the world with some things the world and America would n ... More >>

Yoko Ono: Five Reasons She Still Matters

​Friday, Yoko Ono Lennon, widow of John Lennon, turns 78 years old. She's still as vibrant and prolific as ever, staying in the spotlight, not only as the keeper of Lennon's flame but also as an influential artist and public figure. Here is where Beatles fans will scoff and say her art was g ... More >>

Some Can Whistle: A Playlist To Don't Worry, Be Happy

​It's often the little things that make our favorite songs our favorites - the curious, unforeseen additions of small touches like an understated bit of whistling. For those who like to categorize their playlists into themes, we present you with the Rocks Off approved Whistle Playlist. The S ... More >>

Five Songs That Huck Finn Guy Should Censor Next

gutenberg.org​As many of you probably already know, Alabama publisher NewSouth Inc. plans to release censored versions of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, replacing the words "nigger" and "Injun" with "slave" and "Indian," respectively. That's ... More >>

John Lennon And Dimebag Darrell: Together In Death

​On this day in 1980, Mark David Chapman shot and killed former Beatle John Lennon. On the same day in 2004, Nathan Gale shot and killed Darrell Abbott, aka Dimebag Darrell of Pantera. In the spirit of the famous Lincoln/Kennedy coincidences list, which is mostly bullshit, here is a list f ... More >>

John Lennon's Top 10 Solo Songs

Cactus Music is hosting a Beatles & John Lennon DJ session featuring DJ Black Slacks from 5-7 p.m. today in the Record Ranch, 2110 Portsmouth. ​Today marks 30 years since humanity lost John Lennon. The man has haunted Craig's Hlist since he was very little, when the man broke out from being t ... More >>

John Lennon Bus: Making Music With Houston Kids And The Black Eyed Peas

Photo by Chasen MarshallThe sidewalk at Discovery Green is currently for bus parking.​The dark blue bus parked on the sidewalk at Discovery Green downtown looks like something that might show up outside House of Blues on the night of a show, but it has more going on then one would think.Beyond bei ... More >>

Can't Buy Me Love: Post-Breakup Beatles In A Tangled Web

You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup By Peter Doggett ​It says something about the market for books about the Fabs that this is one of many dedicated to the group's breakup, financial story and legal battles. However, Doggett (Are You Ready for the Country?) not only pr ... More >>

Bigger Than Jesus: The Best Musician Boasts

overthinkingit.com​First off, Rocks Off is not including rap and hip-hop artists in this article, because a) we'd be here all damn day; and b) We could write another book about what we don't know about the rap world. So we'll just stick to good old-fashioned rock-star prick-waving. Whether ... More >>

He Said She Said: The Sweet, Sweet Sounds of Revenge, Part 2

​For someone who wears motorcycle boots and carries a knife, the bald(ing) He Said rightfully looks like he should be one of the most vindictive cats in the world. But in reality, the only revenge we have ever taken has been of the emotional variety, and that's probably much worse than any windows ... More >>

Get Lit: Paul McCartney: A Life by Peter Ames Carlin

​Rocks Off understands that this effort is meant for a more general audience and not a Beatles obsessive like himself who owns a bookcase stocked with 93 Fab-related tomes (we counted). And on that level, A Life is a fine if surface summation of the life and career of Sir Paul. Much of Carlin's na ... More >>

8 Songs Guaranteed To Get Those Damn Relatives To Leave Already

​But if I really say it, the radio won't play it, Unless I lay it between the lines! - Peter, Paul and Mary, "I Dig Rock and Roll Music" We know, we know. It's late Christmas evening, you've had a few too many glasses of nog. That turkey is starting to take its toll, and yet you've still got a hou ... More >>

Beetle's Paul Beebe and Other Local Musicians Remember John Lennon

Today is one of the most dubious anniversaries in all of rock and roll. Twenty-nine years ago this evening, Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon on the front steps of Lennon's apartment building on the Upper West Side of New York City, the Dakota. For Baby Boomers and even their older kid ... More >>

Westheimer Block Party Listology: Fiskadoro Chooses Artists They'd Bring Back to Life

All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday's Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola's Music Listography book we're so fond of. It's not too late for your band to be up here; just email chris.gray@houstonpress.com by noon Thursday if you want ... More >>

"Imagine" This: What If John Lennon Were Still With Us?

Today marks what would have been John Lennon's 69th birthday. Just let that sink in for a moment. He was only 40 when he passed away, but in those four decades he did enough to change the world and its inhabitants for pretty much the rest of natural human history - not just in music but also in for ... More >>

9/9/09: Songs With a Certain Number in the Title

​As Hair Balls pointed out, we've only got three more of these weird number/same number/same number days left this century after today. Such chronological repetition appeals to the hidden obsessive-compulsive in all of us, so join us as we wash our hands nine times, lock the door nine times, and l ... More >>

Slide Show: Albums That Went Darker

​ For most rock acts, the traditional way to deal with success is to rework their lyrics, image and sound to become palatable to a larger audience. Usually this means brightening the subject matter, cleaning up the bad words, softening the sharp edges on those power chords and getting haircuts tha ... More >>

Slide Show: Day of the Duos

Today marks the anniversary of the day in 1957 that John Lennon met Paul McCartney, when Paul happened to take in John's pre-Beatles band, the Quarrymen, at a Liverpool church picnic. Exactly seven years later came the London premiere of A Hard Day's Night, the manic movie whose soundtrack cemented ... More >>

Eyeballin': John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band Live in Toronto '69

It's a story well-told in Beatles lore. Reeling from the Fab Four's unraveling, a bored John Lennon accepted an invitation to perform at the Toronto Rock 'n Roll Revival show in September 1969. He quickly formed an ad hoc group of friends (wife Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass ... More >>

Remembering 1969, Part 3: The Beginning of the End for the Beatles

Note: see Part 1 here and Part 2 here. For most of 1969, the Beatles were pretty much comatose - after the disastrous Get Back sessions (which would later spawn the Phil Spector-produced Let It Be), they reconvened to the studio that spring to record the music for what would become their final reco ... More >>

Mama Tried: A Mother's Day Playlist

Where would we be without our mothers? Ummm... nowhere. So even though mothers come in all forms, from the highest quality (such as the kind the Gray boys are blessed with) to the absentee variety to the just plain crazy, you've got to at least remember that they're the reason you even exist at all. ... More >>

Remembering John Lennon

On December 8, 1980 - 28 years to the day - John Lennon was shot and killed on the steps of the Dakota Apartments on New York City's Upper West Side by professed fan Mark David Chapman. It was a Monday just like today, and millions of people found out when ABC Sports' Howard Cosell broke the ... More >>

Here's the soundtrack to your future unemployment!

Worked Up

The Most Demanding Songs in Rock History

Get Lit: Instamatic Karma: Photographs of John Lennon, by May Pang

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

David Leaf’s documentary shows the giant steps the feds took against a cultural icon

Drenched In Blog: Sir Mick's Greatest "Hits"

That's the Way They Get By

Spoon's Britt Daniel turns his camera on

Meet the Beatle

John Lennon's other art takes center stage in "When I'm Sixty Four"

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

O No, Mr. Lennon