Neil Diamond

Musicians, Music Offer Sweet Relief After a Terrible Week

Life can get pretty dreary at points, and last week was, without a doubt, the dreariest week in a long time. From the massive fertilizer-plant explosion that devastated West, Texas to the Boston Marathon bombing and everything in between, our nation faced some pretty horrific tragedies in which many ... More >>

Artists Who Need Their Own Sirius/XM Channel Already

I've had satellite radio in my life since Christmas. Nothing is better than falling asleep on the couch on a Saturday afternoon after a big fat lunch with Willie's Roadhouse playing; waking up every few hours to piss during a Ray Price cut and then falling back to sleep. What I love the most, besi ... More >>

Christmas Past: The Lost Sinatra Group Christmas Episode

While we celebrate the holidays, Rocks Off is resurrecting a few of our best Christmas-themed blogs from the past few years. (Wait... resurrecting is Easter. Never mind.) This blog originally appeared December 22, 2010. Through the magic of Christmas, Rocks Off has received a copy of the transcript ... More >>

Return to Glory: Rick Rubin's 5 Best Comeback Productions

Recently, Black Sabbath confirmed that record magnate and production auteur Rick Rubin would be twiddling the knobs on their new record, set to be released next year. It will be their first with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals since 1978, and a lot of their reputation is riding on this. Not that it will ma ... More >>

Who Should Play RodeoHouston In 2013?

On October 30, just a few days from now, RodeoHouston will announce its first round of performers for the 2013 edition of the star-studded, yeehawin', nearly three-week event at Reliant Park. The booking the last few years has been getting more adventurous, with the likes of Kid Rock, KISS, Mary J. ... More >>

10-Plus Vinyl Albums You'll Always See at Thrift Stores

I have been cursed with an affliction to mindlessly buy vinyl at thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets, and estate sales, without regard for how much room I have at home. The problem now encompasses compact discs too. It's a genetic trait. My father collects containers. His garage looks like the ... More >>

Bartender Chat: PJ of PJ's Sports Bar

This week, we stayed close to home because of the shitty weather and walked over to PJ's Sports Bar. Although it wasn't raining when we left the house, it was pouring five minutes into the 10-minute walk. We arrived with wet hair, soaked to the bone and a little raccoon-eyed...(Where were you on tha ... More >>

RIP Davy Jones, Monkees Singer And Pop Idol

Davy Jones, lead singer of '60s pop sensations and television band The Monkees has died at the age of 66 in his hometown of Indiantown, Florida, according to the Martin County medical examiner's office. He suffered a heart attack. The Monkees were created initially to be a sort of "safe" Beatles b ... More >>

The Five Worst Music Movies Ever*

* That aren't actual musicals *eye roll*​It would be easy to pick out a bunch of terrible musicals to make fun of. First off, most musicals seem stuck in the 1930s, when every song everywhere sounded like a show tune, and therefore stank. Second, we're afraid of polarizing our audience. You ... More >>

Saturday Night: Josh Groban At Toyota Center

Photos by Jay Lee​Josh Groban Toyota Center May 14, 2011 Josh Groban is an unusual pop star. Unusual for 2011, anyway. One hundred years ago, many "pop stars" as we think of the term today drew their repertoires from light opera and Italian bel canto. The vocal techniques and subject matter ... More >>

Meet at the Junction

Finally, a sports bar that your girlfriend won't hate.

Top 10 Musical Scenes In Quentin Tarantino Films

​Sunday, Quentin Tarantino, one of the best modern film directors not named Uwe Boll, turns 48 years old. It's hard to believe the beloved hipster director has now been on the public radar for almost 20 years, with his feature-length debut and breakout movie Reservoir Dogs turning the big 2-0 ... More >>

Neil Diamond's Top Six Pop-Culture Moments

​Happy Birthday to the undisputed "Jewish Elvis," Mr. Neil Diamond, who can make a grown man weep with a few bars of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," swiveling his hips and swaying his hair while wielding a deadly acoustic guitar. Diamond turns 70 years young today, and he seems to only be get ... More >>

Neil Diamond Tribute

The Lost Sinatra Group Christmas Episode

​Through the magic of Christmas, Rocks Off has received a copy of the transcript of the "Sinatra Group" sketch that was filmed in an alternate reality last weekend, one in which Phil Hartman never died, and Saturday Night Live is currently in one of its funniest seasons to date. What else cou ... More >>

More Like "Hall Of Lame," Am I Right?

​Ladies and gentlemen, your 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is ready to admit a new class: Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Neil Diamond, Darlene Love and Dr. John have all been inducted for 2011, the foundation announced Wednesday. With the exception of Wai ... More >>

Young Man, Older Woman: Top Ten Cougar Anthems

​Congratulations to Houston folksinger Glenna Bell. Her "The Cougar Anthem," from this year's Perfectly Legal: Songs of Sex, Love and Murder, was singled out Tuesday alongside Aaron Neville, Keith Richards, Norah Jones and Paul McCartney & Wings in USA Today's weekly "The Playlist" feature. I ... More >>

Bon Jovi, Rock & Roll Hall Of Famers? It Could Happen...

Stay classy, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame...​This morning the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced this year's ballot of nominees, with the winners to be announced in December and inducted next March in New York. Fifteen names are on this year's ballot, ranging from hip-hoppers, proto-metal icons, ... More >>

Get Him To The Greek: Win Free Tickets; Three Questions The Movie Needs To Answer

Get Him to the Greek stars Russell Brand as a drug-infested rock star and Jonah Hill as the uptight assistant whose job it is to get him to a gig at the Greek Theater in LA.Three questions that can be resolved only by seeing the movie:

sIngs' Brett Taylor: One Musician, Two Songs, Same Name... He Makes The Call

​ Saturday night at Mango's, sIngs debuts its new EP, Hells, to what is sure to be a full house. Also on the bill are the reawakened Sharks & Sailors, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Young Mammals and B L A C K I E. Casiotone was to play a gig at The Husk next to Khon's, but when that venue ... More >>

Midwinter Graces

The sounds of Christmas 2009 from Bob Dylan, Sting, Tori Amos, Rob Halford and more.

Get Lit: Neil Diamond is Forever: The Illustrated History of the Man and His Music by Jon Bream

​Neil Diamond's hipster cachet has increased greatly in the past few years: The Rick Rubin albums, Saving Silverman, ultimate Neil tribute band Super Diamond and Will Ferrell's deadly funny SNL impression, in which "America" is presented as an anti-immigration number. But his fans have long been a ... More >>

Lunch Box at Christian's Tailgate

Stirred and Shaken: Christian's Tailgate Lunch Box

Photo by Troy Fields​Friday night is karaoke night at Christian's Tailgate (2000 Bagby, 713-527-0261), which can only mean one thing: drunken idiots. To stand up and belt it out in front of a room full of people, most of us need to be seriously soused. Spectators, in order to endure the aur ... More >>

Going Viral

The infestation of classic-rock threatens the cultural legacy of an entire generation and must be stopped.

The Story of Los Volcanes and Neil Diamond

A chance Texas encounter gives a Seattle conjunto band the shot of a lifetime

Neil Diamond Turns On His Heart Light For H-Town (Again)

When Neil Diamond hit Houston last October, he told us in the crowd that the proceeds from that night's merchandise sales were going into a Hurricane Ike relief fund. He had traveled around our area with Mayor Bill White and seen the destruction and utter insanity that the hurricane had brought us, ... More >>

Craiged In Blog: My Year in Concerts

Metallica, Toyota Center, November 20: When Death Magnetic came out in September during Hurricane Ike, initially I dismissed it as I was knee-deep still in the new Black Keys and Beck albums and fence rubble. But somewhere along the line I picked this up again and destroyed my car stereo speakers. ... More >>

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 >>

Aftermath: Neil Diamond at Toyota Center

Four Lost Neil Diamond Covers

A Super-Patriotic July 4 Playlist

Have You Forgotten?

Americans Recording Mexican Songs

The Bueno, the Bad and the Muy Ugly

Arthur Alexander

Lonely Just Like Me: The Final Chapter

Björk

Middle-aged pixie

Dixie Chicks

Taking the Long Way

The Hanukkah Songs

Wherein we find the coining of our new favorite word: Jewpergroup

They Did What?

The top WTF moments of 2005

Neil Diamond; Bobby Bare

12 Songs; The Moon Was Blue

How Low Can You Go?

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

Get Back, Honky Cat

Barry Manilow whites the songs. Is that so wrong?

An ABBA to Zebra of Guilty Pleasures

Music figures tell all abou their most shameful faves

Oral Surgery

Reconstructing Smash Mouth

Dumb and Dumbest

Saving Silverman takes Hollywood's juvenile craze to a new low

Whadda Doll!

Wicked Rush

Flawed Diamond

Combustible Vegas

Rotation