Sid Vicious

Marvin Gay, Sr., and the 10 Worst Rock-Star Parents of All Time

Twenty-eight years ago this week, Marvin Gay, Sr., received a six-year suspended sentence and five years of probation for the voluntary manslaughter of his son, the R&B legend Marvin Gaye. Gay pled guilty after shooting his namesake dead in the L.A. home given to him and his wife by Gaye, who was 44 ... More >>

Top 10 Dirt Cheap Rock Star Halloween Costumes

Yep, it's that time again. Almost Halloween, and you with no costume. There's no time left to execute some grand vision that might impress people you'd like to sleep with. (Unless you want to try these, from our sister blog Art Attack.) That leaves you with only a couple of options: Sit around alon ... More >>

10 Iconic Final Concerts Plus The End Of Beatlemania

The Beatles' concert at San Francisco's Candlestick Park 46 years ago today was the end of an era for the band. Except for a famously unannounced appearance on top the Apple building two and a half years later, it would be the final live performance that the Fab Four would ever play together. It w ... More >>

Y'all, We Have All Been Doing "Punk" Wrong

When you think of punk rock, images of a bloodied Sid Vicious in a leather jacket may come to mind. Skinheads flipping off a camera. Henry Rollins and Black Flag destroying a crowd in a basement. Jello Biafra jumping into a surging pit of people after screaming about holidays in Cambodia. The Clash ... More >>

Star Wars Day: Recasting The Movie With '70s Rock Stars

Today is Star Wars Day, or "May the 4th be with you." Something less than a national holiday but more than a horrific pun, it's evidence that we still very much live in a Star Wars world 35 years after the movie was released, as well as that once the Internet gets ahold of an idea, the rest of us mi ... More >>

30 Seconds With My Education's Scott Telles

Austin's My Education falls somewhere between the instrumental interludes of Rasputina and Pink Floyd. It's like New Age music for highly disturbed people. Fresh off their SXSW showcase, we basked in the ether of bassist Scott Telles' presence to see what we could learn about him in 30 seconds. Roc ... More >>

Pop Rocks: So Who Really Isn't Sexier Than Jennifer Aniston?

You win this round, Aniston.​Men's Health magazine, which I'd always assumed was largely aimed at the gay population (much like Field & Stream), recently declared Jennifer Anison the "sexiest woman of all time:" Forget that "Sexiest Woman Alive" nonsense. Jennifer Aniston has just been named ... More >>

Keith Morris Sounds OFF! About His Dark Punk Party

Rocks Off: You desire a gig in Mississippi or Alabama. Why? I can barely remember the last time any of my other bands played in either of those states. Now, the excuse I keep getting is that they are very depressed states and maybe they are not doing very well financially, or just a whole list of t ... More >>

9 Musical Costumes Couples Should Avoid This Halloween

Norman See/last.fmNice threads, but... yeah. Don't go there.​The other day, a friend of ours asked us for our opinion on some ideas for "couple costumes," as in Halloween, including Han Solo and Princess Leia. Ugh. Do you happy couples really start this early in September? Rocks Off thinks ... More >>

Four Artists Who Died Before Playing Houston

theindependent.co.uk​When Amy Winehouse died Saturday, almost everyone noted how the troubled British soul singer had joined the "27 Club," the list of legendary musicians who passed away at that age that also includes Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, ... More >>

Pop Rocks on Sting: "Rock Stars...Is There Anything They Don't Know?"

You rotten flexible bastard.​ Sting. He's the artist we love to hate: Sting, everyone's favorite somnambulant acoustic pop star, has developed a somewhat checkered experience in Central Asia. In 2009, Gulnara Karimova--herself a fledgling pop singer under the name GooGooSha and daughter of ... More >>

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap: Music Fans Love Their A-Holes

You rotten flexible bastard.​Sting. He's the artist we love to hate. From The Atlantic: Sting, everyone's favorite somnambulant acoustic pop star, has developed a somewhat checkered experience in Central Asia. In 2009, Gulnara Karimova - herself a fledgling pop singer under the name GooGooSha ... More >>

A Very Special Behind The Music: Zack Attack!

Zack Attack keyboardist Samuel "Screech" Powers before his cutting days.​Everyone remembers Zack Attack. A lighthearted, tween-oriented pop group from California, they shot to the top of the charts in November 1990 with their No. 1 hit, "Friends Forever." Teenagers and close friends themselv ... More >>

Dead People We Wish We'd Seen

​Regrets, sang Frank Sinatra, Elvis and Sid Vicious, I've had a few. (Or, for Sid, a feee-yooouuu.) So have we all. But if you review concerts for a living, there's nothing worse than someone you like dying before you get the chance to see them live. So for this week's Round Table, Rocks Off ... More >>

Ronald Reagan: Biggest Punk Icon Of The '80s

​Forget names like Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra, Joe Strummer, Sid Vicious or even Joey Ramone. The most iconic figure of the '80s punk and hardcore scenes wasn't a dude with liberty spikes or a three-inch gash in his forehead. It was the retired film actor, father of five, former governor of C ... More >>

Edgar Allan Poe, Still Wicked After All These Years

​Today we celebrate the birthday of one Edgar Allan Poe, a man whose influence on music simply cannot be overstated. In fact, Rocks Off is going to go on record and say that Poe's writings have influenced more music than any other written work except the Bible, and when you're second place to ... More >>

The 31 Best Music Documentaries Of All Time

​Hands down, above all of these following music documentaries, Craig's Hlist's two favorite of all-time are The Decline of Western Civilization Part 2: The Metal Years, and The Beatles Anthology. We can watch both on repeat for days and not complain. That will probably all change once we see ... More >>

Apathy For The Devil: Adrift In The Snowblind '70s

​Apathy for the Devil: A 70s Memoir By Nick Kent Da Capo Press, 416 pp., $17.95. While Cameron Crowe's wonderful but fictional Almost Famous told a sanitized story of music-journalist-meets-bands in the '70s, Former New Musical Express writer Nick Kent's memoir is a warts/coke spoons/social d ... More >>

Bluefinger: Rock & Roll Tragedy, One Comic Moment At A Time

Pnotos by Anthony Rathbun/ Courtesy of Catastrophic TheatreMatt Kelly (prone) and Troy Schulze as Herman Brood and Koos​Plenty of rock stars have shown that there's a fine line between fuck-up and folk hero. Herman Brood, the central figure of Catastrophic Theatre's Bluefinger, doesn't bother ... More >>

FAIL: Kings Of Leon, Pigeons, Bush

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Kings of Leon Respond Poorly to Mother Nature's Criticism: Last weekend, bro-rock champions Kings of Leon were three songs into a set when a pigeon in the rafters of St. Louis' Verizon Wireless Amphitheater made its opinion known by taking a dump direct ... More >>

Game Time: NBA Free Agent Summit: The Four Horsemen Guide to 2010 Free Agency

Worldwide Wes, pulling strings​"The only time this much havoc had been wreaked by this few a number of people, you need to go all the way back to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse!" -- Arn AndersonAnd with that seemingly throwaway line during a wrestling promo, one of the most entertaining fact ... More >>

Five Memorable Artist-Audience Altercations

Chris GrayWilco's Jeff Tweedy in a much better mood, March 2008There may be a very good reason Van Morrison said practically nothing from the stage Saturday night at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Judging from the plentiful comments here, here and over at the Chronicle's review, it would have ... More >>

A Jury Of Billy Joe Shaver's Peers

Jury selection began this morning in the aggravated assault trial of country legend Billy Joe Shaver, who was charged after he shot a man in the face outside of a Lorena bar in 2007. Shaver's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, maintains Shaver shot Billy Bryant Coker in self-defense. All Hair Balls knows is, ... More >>

The Music of True Blood, Episode 1.10: Cowboy Junkies and a Brief Lesson In Murder Balladry

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. With Season 2 just completed, Rocks Off is now working our way backw ... More >>

"My Son Is the Lizard King, and I'm an Admiral": Successful Rock-Star Parents

​Late Thursday, word came across the ticker that legendary comedian and TV star Soupy Sales had passed away at age 83. After a stint in the military and on radio, Sales went on to be one of the major pioneers of televised sketch and children's comedy. In 1965, he pulled a stunt where he asked his ... More >>

An Abuse of Power?

Readers weigh in on mall cops and First Amendment rights.

Maybe Miley Would Be Better Off Dead Like Selena, Kurt and These Others...

In case you missed it - and if you value your immortal soul, we're sure you did - Hannah Montana star/future tell-all memoir author Miley Cyrus unveiled a newer, more "mature" look last weekend at the only venue appropriate for such things: the Teen Choice Awards. Nothing says "successful transitio ... More >>

Things the Devil Should Have Done Besides Go Down to Georgia

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down To Georgia." The song, which climbed all the way to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and lives on today as a "boss battle" in Guitar Hero 3, made its first appearance on the group's 1979 album Million M ... More >>

Artist of the Week: O Pioneers!!!

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. If we were forced by thr ... More >>

Alejandro Escovedo: Real Animal

The Hates: 30 Years of Hate 1978-2008

Drenched in Blog: Amy Wino

Never Opening Near You

Music biopics Hollywood won't make

On the Right Track

Bois and Grrls

Genderqueer: Straight or gay, these kids refuse to play dress-up by the rules

It's "Anarchy" at the Meridian

Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibits

Mix Media

Josell Ramos tracks the origins of DJ culture in NYC in his new doc, Maestro

Ronny Elliott, with Ken Gaines

Thursday, June 23, at Anderson Fair, 2007 Grant, 713-528-8576.

Ultra Man

Champa is the champ of our DJ competition at South Beach

Pop-Punk Penance

A cool kid seeks heavenly redemption

2 Filthy, 2 Furious

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

No Mo' Moshin'

Local Music News

Horseman, Pass By

Sleepy Hollow looks great, but it's less filling than Washington Irving

Rotation

Boozoo Chavis and the Magic Sounds, Keith Frank & the Soileau Zydeco Band, Verbena

Unforgettable?

The new Bobby Fuller retrospective salutes a questionable legacy

Rules of the Road

The Latchkey Kids learn that even in rock and roll, it pays to call ahead

Static

Heavenly Fire

Jason and the Scorchers reunite, and get hot in the process