Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Get Lit: Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer, by Chris Salewicz

Drenched in Blog: Hall of Fame Nominations a Big Cleveland Steamer

Ring in the Holidays at Charles Brown Blues Fest

Drenched In Blog: Um… Hallelujah?

Q&A: Little Steven Van Zandt

Turning the Screw: Fela Kuti, Jay-Z, Left Eye, Lil Wayne, Ed McMahon, Ciara, DMX and More

Thom Bell and the Sound of Brotherly Love

While the ubiquitous songs of Detroit's Motown get anthologized and commercialized ad infinitum, and the critics salivate over the gritty southern soul of Memphis' Stax, the third great movement/label of '60s and '70s soul has always gotten short shrift. Until now, that is, with the release of the ... More >>

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducts Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson

Yesterday marked a tremendous day for rappers and thrashers across the world: Metallica and Run-DMC were announced as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's newest inductees, along with Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Bobby Womack, two members of Elvis Presley's backing band ... More >>

Static

Yesterday marked a tremendous day for rappers and thrashers across the world: Metallica and Run-DMC were announced as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's newest inductees, along with Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Bobby Womack, two members of Elvis Presley's backing band ... More >>

Night & Day

October 29 - November 4, 1998

Dumb or Dumber?

Space cadets of Man or Astro-man? go to great depths to maintain a gimmick

A Musical Guide to Navigating the Economic Crisis

Down Payment Blues

Soul and Blues Festival

Betty Wright, Bobby “Blue” Bland and Willie Clayton headline a mega-jam

Moody Blues

Betty Wright, Bobby “Blue” Bland and Willie Clayton headline a mega-jam

Story Teller

Ray Davies wants to tell you a tale

Mavis Staples

The Solid Blues show is solid gold

Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Bleeding Through

concert preview

Cutout Bin: Novo Combo's Animation Generation

Novo Combo Animation Generation (Polydor, 1982) The 1980s: everything was changing. A new generation was taking over the musical and cultural landscape. Heavy Metal showed that even animated boobs could be a turn-on. Tron told us that even crappy, monochromatic animation made by crappy, low-p ... More >>

Honor Bound

A fictional look at the future of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Don't Fear the Reaper

The annual return of the Greil Marcus Rock Death Meter

Art, Music and Crap

It's all there -- in a neat little package -- at WestFest Compressed

U.K. Subs

Thursday, November 6

Best AM Radio Personality

Paul Berlin

2 Filthy, 2 Furious

The Sex Pistols have re-formed (again), and Johnny Rotten is spewing pure vitriol (still)

He Ain't Ever Coming Back

Joe Strummer, a titan of the Clash

Motivational Motörhead

Lemmy: Heavy metal's F-bomb-dropping answer to Anthony Robbins

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Last Men Standing

​Lonesome Onry and Mean vaguely remembers someone telling us a couple of years ago that Las Vegas bookies actually had a line on whether Chuck Berry would die that year (we think it was 2007). The macabre factor aside, remembering this Wednesday got LOM to pondering about the Godfathers of Rock an ... More >>

Hiding on the Backstreets: Remembering Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band In Houston

Daniel KramerThe Boss at Toyota Center, April 2009​This past weekend's show in Buffalo, N.Y., was the last date on a nearly two-year (and two-album-supporting) trek by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which found them criss-crossing the country and the globe several times to rapt audiences ... More >>

Jackson Browne

Daniel KramerThe Boss at Toyota Center, April 2009​This past weekend's show in Buffalo, N.Y., was the last date on a nearly two-year (and two-album-supporting) trek by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which found them criss-crossing the country and the globe several times to rapt audiences ... More >>

Jackson Browne

Daniel KramerThe Boss at Toyota Center, April 2009​This past weekend's show in Buffalo, N.Y., was the last date on a nearly two-year (and two-album-supporting) trek by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which found them criss-crossing the country and the globe several times to rapt audiences ... More >>

Eyeballin': Deep Purple: History, Hits and Highlights 1968-76

[Ed. Note: Throughout the holiday season, Rocks Off will be bringing you our picks for recent DVDs, CDs and other musical wares that might be just the ticket to help fill out that pesky shopping list. Enjoy.] ​Though they never achieved the popularity of Zeppelin or Sabbath, and are still not in t ... More >>

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducts Stooges; Rocks Off Team Member Faints In Disbelief

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2010 inductees Tuesday. Somehow, Jann Wenner and his cronies even managed to induct an actual rock band this year: streetwalkin' Detroit cheetahs Iggy & the Stooges - who, according to RRHOF rules (25 years after an artist's first recording ... More >>

The Great Green Room In the Sky: The Grim Reaper's 2009 Musical Roll Call

​Thankfully, 2009 was a sorry year for the Greil Marcus Rock Death Meter. Aside from the not terribly unexpected (but still weird) demise of the King of Pop, few bona fide legends went on to the Great Green Room Beyond the Sky. The Rock Death Meter rates rock deaths on a ten-point scale in three c ... More >>

The Musical Minds That Made Booker T The Soul Man He Is Today

​How good a musician is Booker T? Along with the rest of the MGs, the house band of seminal soul imprint Stax who had several instrumental hits of their own besides backing Stax's powerhouse roster (Rufus Thomas, Albert King, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding...) throughout the '60s, the Memphis-born m ... More >>

Mavis Staples Will Take You There - Conroe - Friday Night

​Apparently there are still plenty of tickets for Mavis Staples in Conroe Friday night. Part of the Sounds of Texas Music Series at the Crighton Theater, the show also includes gospel-rocker Mike Farris. Staples, a recent Best Contemporary Blues Grammy nominee for her Live: Hope At The Hideout, is ... 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 >>

FAIL: ABBA, Animal Collective, Diddy, Pete Doherty

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Hooray! Now Your Feet Are Boring, Too!: A clothing designer called Keep took a whole bunch of ecstasy (probably) and then invited Animal Collective's Avery Tare to design some shoes for them. By "design," we of course mean "scribble on some plain beige ... More >>

Allen Toussaint

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Hooray! Now Your Feet Are Boring, Too!: A clothing designer called Keep took a whole bunch of ecstasy (probably) and then invited Animal Collective's Avery Tare to design some shoes for them. By "design," we of course mean "scribble on some plain beige ... More >>

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame: Puppet Wing

Photos via WikipediaTMBG​Ladies and gentlemen, Rocks Off is pleased as rum punch to announce that The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has (not) added an official puppet wing to that fine institution. What's even better, they have (not) given us the opportunity to nominate some of the finest felt fe ... 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 >>

Idol Beat: I Do Not Like That will.i.am

​Only nine hopefuls remain in this, the 10th season of American Idol (AKA the Greatest Talent Competition Since the Battle of the Bands at San Dimas High School). It's time to separare the wheat from the chaff, the post-adolescents from the mere adolescents, those who are "in it to win it" fro ... More >>

2011 Rewind: Concert Tickets From An Alternate Universe

This originally ran on June 8, but seeing that the year is coming to an end, we are looking back at some of our favorite blogs we gave to you these past 12 months. ​One of the best dreams we ever had was of covering a Clash show for Rocks Off. Yeah, dreaming about work isn't something to bra ... More >>

Last Night: The Doobie Brothers At House Of Blues

Photos by Bob Ruggiero​They are one of the classic American rock bands of the '70s and '80s, boast nearly a double CD's worth of hits from three distinct eras, always play with incredible musicianship, and still feature original singer/guitarists Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons. So why was A ... More >>

Succinct Stooges Bio Looks Beyond Iggy Pop

​The Stooges: Head On By Brett Callwood Wayne State University Press, 176 pp., $19.95. While there have been a number of books written about the Stooges and Iggy Pop, this slim but substantive volume is the first to really give the non-Iggy members their due both biographically and musically. ... More >>

G N' R, The Cure & Chili Peppers Could Be Hall Of Famers Next Year

Oh, this will be a fun induction ceremony...​This morning, The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland announced the list of nominees for its Class of 2012: The Small Faces & The Faces, Freddie King, The Cure, Guns 'N Roses, Heart, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Spinners, War, Joan Jett and the Bl ... More >>

The End is Nigh: 2012 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Edition

Mason Lankford said, "There will come a day when we forget the Rapture ever even happened," but Rocks Off is keeping an eye out for signs of our impending Armageddon. We were wrong last time, but we're totally right this time! Derek JensenThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame​Once again the time has ... More >>

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Snubs Rush...Again

Photo by Jeff Balke​A couple years ago, I was sitting on the back porch at the Continental Club talking music with a fairly well known music writer who seemed to believe that anything with a big hook or the slightest inkling of musicianship beyond the garage band aesthetic was utter garbage. I ... More >>

Predicting Your Future Half Time Show Performers

Photo By Marco Torres​All of the Super Bowl talk this week has given me a chance to ponder one of my favorite pop culture questions: how big do you have to be to perform at the Super Bowl half time show? When you consider the acts that have performed since the 2005 move to one act performances ... More >>