Run-DMC

Five Pop-Culture Places You Wouldn't Expect to See Foreigner

Did you know last week was Foreigner singer Lou Gramm's birthday? Well, it was on May 2, when he turned 63. So what better way to (belatedly) honor him than to look back at some of the strangest places Gramm has managed to promote his musical career? Yes, Foreigner is a ubiquitous band. The use of ... More >>

The Rocks Off 100: Cristina Acuna, Cactus Music's Twitter Fingers

Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're in there too. Who? Although Social Media Person is just one of the many hats Cactus Music Store Mana ... More >>

The Rocks Off 100: Cristina Acuna, Cactus Music's Twitter Fingers

Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're in there too. Who? Although Social Media Person is just one of the many hats Cactus Music Store Mana ... More >>

Your 2013 Music Festival Outlook (Texas Edition)

I don't know about you, but I am not totally in love with winter weather. Yes, it affords you the ability to wear beanies and cool fingerless gloves and dress like a hoodlum, but it's the heat that I love the most. That's why I love thinking about music festivals, because that's where we all get t ... More >>

Christmas Past: Top 5 Christmas Rap Songs

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 20, 2010. Show us one hip-hop head who isn't obsessed with corny Christmas sing-alongs an ... More >>

Talking to James Moody, Co-Captain of HMS Fun Fun Fun Fest

In Texas, only a few major music festivals cater to the punk and indie subcultures. Houston's own Free Press Summer Fest, Chaos In Tejas, 35 Denton, maybe the free and freaky day parties of SXSW, and Fun Fun Fun Fest, put on by Transmission Entertainment in Austin. REWIND: Fun Fun Fun Fest Releas ... More >>

Last Night: Pretty Lights at Bayou Music Center

Pretty Lights Bayou Music Center September 23, 2012 See lots more pics from Bayou Music Center Sunday in our slideshow. Having closed out Free Press Summer Fest to help ring in the unofficial start of summer it made it a strange sort of sense that Pretty Lights would return to Houston to help ring ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Releases Daily Schedule

This morning Fun Fun Fun Fest organizers released the daily schedule for November's three-day orgy of booze, denim, and loudness in the middle of Austin's Auditorium Shores. The color-coded stages -- black, yellow, orange, and blue -- are set up according to genre and size of the act. Last year th ... More >>

#MadeInAmerica: Translation's Steve Stoute Talks Diversity, Honesty, and The Digital Revolution

This Labor Day holiday weekend in Philadelphia, Jay-Z is teaming up with Budweiser and Live Nation to curate the initial and inaugural Made In America Music Festival, a two-day, multi-genre event featuring acts such as Pearl Jam, Skrillex, Santigold, and Gary Clark Jr, and features the return of D'A ... More >>

4 Reasons Why Old Albums Are Now Outselling New Ones

So here's an interesting fact: according to Nielsen Soundscan, older catalog albums have officially overtaken brand-spanking-new albums in sales for the first time since Soundscan has been keeping track. That's only since 1991, but it's probably safe to say that this is the first time such a thing h ... More >>

Start the Revolution! 10 Songs About Historical Events

If you ever look at music throughout time, along with a history book -- they kind of complement each other. Some of the greatest songs in rock, R&B and rap have chronicled history both social, major news events, sports, entertainment and political. In my opinion, many times, the song is about what ... More >>

RIP Adam Yauch: Beastie Boys' MCA Dead At 47

Well, damn. Adam Yauch, the gravel-voiced third of Noo Yawk '80s and '90s rap-rock superstars the Beastie Boys, has died at age 47, Rolling Stone reports. The exact circumstances of his death were unknown at press time, but Yauch had been battling cancer since being diagnosed with a tumor in his sa ... More >>

Double Duds: The 10 Worst Duets Since "Ebony and Ivory"

Thirty years ago this week, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder hit No. 1 on the charts with their duet, "Ebony and Ivory." The song spent seven weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and the past three decades as a joke. Perhaps history's most hackneyed call for racial harmony (which, admittedly, ... More >>

The American Bandstand (Extended) Hot 100

Somehow it's hard to believe that Dick Clark was only 82 years old when he died after suffering a "massive heart attack" Wednesday morning in Santa Monica, Calif. (Since I managed to survive one myself, I've noticed that anytime someone dies of a heart attack, it's always "massive."). Despite his yo ... More >>

Last Night: Kid Rock At Reliant Stadium

Kid Rock RodeoHouston, Reliant Stadium February 29, 2012 Kid Rock is now ensconced as this generation's rap-soul-blues-rock-pimp for the next 40 years: Equal parts Rock N Roll Jesus, Bob Seger, Bocephus, and maybe all in that order. Whether he's attacking a pair of turntables with a glass of Jim Be ... More >>

No Surprises: Rock Hall Set To Induct Guns N' Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys

Photo By Marco TorresGuns N' Roses are Rock Hall bound, but which version of GNR will show up? ​This morning (well, it leaked last night) the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland announced their 2012 class of inductees. Included on the list are Guns N' Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Bo ... More >>

UGK's Top 10 Most Insightful Songs, Part 2

As Rocks Off continues our countdown of UGK's Most Insightful Tracks, it's important to point out that this isn't a "best of" list. Perhaps this is a safer route, but it doesn't make the list any less important. Especially as we break into the Top 5, the joking in Part 1 subsides and things get seri ... More >>

French Beatbox Master Spits American Hip-Hop History in Four Minutes

​Damn the French. After seeing French rapper and human beat box, Eklips, deliver America's hip-hop history in a little over four minutes through a beautifully executed tirade of amazing vocal percussion and imitation of musical sounds, it reminded Rocks Off of the 2006 movie Talladega Nights ... More >>

Homecoming

Gang Starr's DJ Premier still mourns partner Guru.

Turning the Screw: Bun B, Slim Thug & Killa Kyleon, Bun B & Wale, Chingo Bling, Z-Ro vs. Lil Flip, Jay-Z, 50, The Kanye, Run-DMC, DMX, More Chingo, etc.

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "She Love It" remix, feat. Bun B, Slim Thug and Killa Kyleon After watching the actual video for this s ... More >>

Five Ways to Improve 107.5 the Eagle

Paging the Purple One... the Eagle Needs You!For Houston music commentators, picking on the sorry state of the city's commercial airwaves is even more fun than sportswriters must have making fun of the Astros. But on the rare occasion a new format does come along - even if it's hardly "new" - it sti ... More >>

Artist of the Week: JUZCOZ

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. We listen to a lot of ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Balls Deep, UGK, DMX, MC Hammer, Theophilus London, Run-DMC, Lil' Jon and More

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "Hoes," Balls Deep Wire To Wire Bun B will release the final UGK album, 4 Life, this March. We ... More >>

Smooth Sailing at Grooves

Disguised as a warehouse, this place is a choice upscale R&B lounge

Five Spot: Jackson Five Reuniting; Certainly This Will Not End Badly

The Greatest Texas Rock Album of All Time

The Geto Boys Reunite

A Little Friday Afternoon “Strokin’”

Top 10 Most Hated Rappers

Who made the shit list

Sanity Claus: Separating Holiday-Music Gifts from Seasonal Disorders

James Hunter

ames Hunter appears Friday, May 26, at the Continental Club, 3700 Main, 713-529-9899

They Did What?

The top WTF moments of 2005

Time to Grow Up

No more excuses for the Houston Texans

Steal These Albums

The ten most dangerous and radical hip-hop records of all time

Merry Christmas, Beeyotch!

Forget caroling. Here are a few hip-hop jammy-jams to warm your yule log.

Phantom of the Opry

Trying to get to the bottom of the Dr Pepper "Freaky Old Guy" mystery

He Ain't Ever Coming Back

Joe Strummer, a titan of the Clash

True Dat

A Run-act play starring the Simmons brothers, Russell and the Rev

Ugly Kid Slug

Atmosphere MC Sean Daley saves the world by saving his circle of friends

Frost, with Angelina and NB Ridaz

Sunday, July 14

Rap It Up

Rave organizers turn to hip-hoppers to entrance the kids

Metal Manifesto

Rage Against the Machine preaches anticapitalism, sells millions of records

Local Rotation

Local Music Reviewed

Rotation

New Releases Reviewed

Sucking (Blood), Austin-style

Princes and Princesses of Darkness and some musicians descend on SXSW

Rotation

Holiday Gestures

Rotation

Sound Check

Short People

The lowdown on 2-Low and kid rap