Sunset Strip

In Omit the Logic, Richard Pryor Crucifies Himself, Again and Again

RIP Ray Manzarek: Bespectacled Keyboardist of The Doors Was 74

Ray Manzarek, the Doors keyboardist who brought both a light jazz touch and some seriously heavy piano-pounding to one of the most influential American bands of the late '60s and early '70s, passed away earlier Monday, according to CBS News. He was 74. By most accounts, including the one in Oliver ... More >>

Last Night: Anthrax & Exodus at House of Blues

Anthrax, Exodus House of Blues April 10, 2013 I am going to come right out and say it: I never thought Anthrax should have been a part of The Big Four. When laying out the titans of thrash metal, the boys from New York -- a fact they never seem to want you to forget -- always seemed a bit out of p ... More >>

10 Great Versions of "Wild Thing"

"Wild Thing" may not be most-recorded song in history, but it's got to be up there. (It's not even in the Top 10, though, according to the UK's The Independent.) But when the version by the Troggs, whose singer Reg Presley died of cancer late Monday night, became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic ... More >>

The Cavern and the Top 10 Iconic Rock Clubs In History

Last week back in 1957, the most famous rock club in England opened in Liverpool. There was absolutely no rock and roll on the bill that night. The Cavern Club was originally opened to mimic the cellar jazz bars that owner Alan Synter visited in Paris. There was a strict jazz-only policy in place ... More >>

The 10 Worst Holiday Cover Songs Ever

It's the thought that counts, right? Because they had the common decency to make original garbage, this list pardons holiday atrocities like New Kids on the Block's "Funky Funky Christmas" and "Last Christmas" by Wham! The ten "artists" on this list couldn't even be bothered to wrap their own turds ... More >>

What Wine for a [California] Veggie Sandwich?

The first time I had a [California] veggie sandwich (in California, they just call it a "veggie sandwich"), it was at the legendary Source on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. By the time I got there (an undergrad at UCLA in the late '80s), founder Father Yod and the Source family were long gone (as ... More >>

Corporate Rock Still Sucks

Rock of Ages posits Tom Cruise as a hair-metal god and hair metal as something un-awful.

Walter Mosley: Little Green

Readers Poll: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Vs. "Welcome To The Jungle"

Sometimes the hardest questions to ask are also the most fun, at least when it comes to pop music, because you end up managing to illicit the most angry and passionate responses. Which is exactly what happened when we pit two bands and their most damaged fist-pumping anthems against one another. N ... More >>

The Top 10 Hard Rock and Metal Guitarists of the '80s

Yes, yes, shred until you bleed!​Well, it's the day after Christmas and many of you probably have some holiday blues. Maybe you had a rough Christmas. Maybe your family is making you crazy. Maybe you didn't get that brand new navel ring you wanted or perhaps you filled up on so much food and e ... More >>

1986: Best Musical Year Ever?

​For almost two weeks now, Rocks Off has been obsessed with the year exactly 25 flips of the calendar backward from this one. It started when Steve Earle did one of his "Time Machine" shows, where the singer-songwriter who plays House of Blues Wednesday spotlights a dozen or so of his favorite ... More >>

Last Night: Rock of Ages At Hobby Center

Ed. Note: This is the second half of Rocks Off's "reviewer exchange program" with Art Attack. Dan Lippitt/Theatre Under the Stars​Rock of Ages Hobby Center June 7, 2011 Hair metal makes for great show tunes. That's what we left with last night when Rocks Off went back to a "sexier time" of " ... More >>

Rock Of Ages: Big Hair, Big Fog, Big Cliches

Ed Note: Rocks Off and our sister blog Art Attack are conducting a "reviewer exchange program" for the '80s musical Rock of Ages. One of our "rock and roll" people will review the show soon, but the visiting team bats first. Dan LippittThe cast of Rock of Ages​The Setup: '80s Sunset Strip roc ... More >>

Mia Kat Is Building A Scene, Not An Empire

​There are magical times and places when in music history, points both chronological and geographical where everything came together to birth first a scene, then a movement. We're talking about times like the early '80s when the Sunset Strip birthed hair metal, or when Seattle and Athens, Ga., ... More >>

Pauly Shore

I'm looking for an orphan, preferably one that's waterproof

Otis Redding, Jayhawks Help Us Overcome The Mailbox Cringe

​Sometimes we cringe when we go to the mailbox, but the past few days have brought Lonesome, Onry and Mean an eclectic trove of cool stuff. New Mystery Girl is Austinite Chrissy Flatt's new project with longtime collaborators Eric Hisaw and Ron Flynt. Twist City is a no-frills roots-rock disc - li ... More >>

Aftermath: Steel Panther On The Hair-Metal Prowl At House Of Blues

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​ As this morning has progressed, Aftermath is starting to slowly piece together exactly what Steel Panther did to us last night at the House Of Blues. Thank God we brought a camera. For one, we can't hear really well, which is a sign that the music was nice and loud. When w ... More >>

Two Houston Artists Named Finalists In John Lennon Songwriting Contest

myspace.com/alexanderleeLee Alexander​What do Fergie, Natasha Bedingfield, singing pop sisters the Veronicas, former Grateful Dead bassist Bob Weir, ex-MTV 120 Minutes VJ Matt Pinfield and legendary Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier have in common? They're all new fans of Houston Americana singer-so ... More >>

Oregon Trail

Art Brut taps ex-Pixie Black Francis for the down-and-dirty Art Brut vs. Satan.

Dive Bars

A handcrafted tour of the best, most obscure places to lean on a stool in Houston.

Overkill? No Such Thing

Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister has never been one to mince riffs — or words.

Cutout Bin: Rae Bourbon, Let Me Tell You About My Operation

[Ed. Note: In our humble opinion, this is the best post we've ever had on Rocks Off. Period.] Rae Bourbon Let Me Tell You About My Operation (UTC Records, 1954)​One of the most jaw-dropping album covers in history is courtesy of one of the 20th century's oddest, most interesting, yet least-known c ... More >>

Low Man's Joe: Where I Stand

Local Album of the Week: Low Man's Joe's Where I Stand

Low Man's Joe Where I Stand www.myspace.com/lowmansjoeBefore "Wanted Dead or Alive," before "It's My Life," before Jon Bon Jovi went off to Hollywood and took the Lost Highway through Nashville in 2007, Bon Jovi was a pretty decent hard-rock band. Poppier than most, definitely, but Jon's Springsteen ... More >>

Tonight: Battle of the Bar Bands at House of Blues

A more cutthroat distant cousin to the rock/soul package tours of the late '50s and '60s, "Battle of the Bands" competitions were never really in style - except maybe in the Sunset Strip hair-metal heyday of the mid-'80s - but they never really go out of style either. Tonight at House of Blues, ... More >>

WTF Island: Jackson Five, Kid Rock, Glenn Danzig, Rock Camp and Assteroids

Even as our economy continued to go up in flames like the Toyota Center, the carnival of WTF kept trolling along this week. It seemed that every day we saw something so asinine and foolish that we couldn't keep up. Jackson Family slavery museums, rock and roll fantasy camps, Kid Rock's new beer, "As ... More >>

The Best Christmas Album of 2008 is... Metal?

Classic Rock Corner: The Greatest Band Logos of All Time, Part 1

Daniel Kramer With our ears still ringing from last night's AC/DC concert at Toyota Center (I knew we should have stayed away from the end of the stage with the cannon...), we got to thinking about the Aussie boys' iconic band logo. Sketched in pen on a million different school notebooks, and gr ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: RIP Jimmy Carl Black

Get Lit: Riot on Sunset Strip -- Rock 'n Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood

Weekend Music: Skyrocket!’s in Flight

This Just In: Pimp C Found Dead in a Sunset Strip Hotel

Mickey Avalon

The Glam-Rapper

Deep Doo-doo

A modern-day Bonnie and Clyde are after your money again

Beautiful Creatures

Thursday, January 19, at the Engine Room, 1515 Pease, 713-654-7846.

A Pair of Aces

John Evans and Jesse Dayton drop career-defining records two weeks apart

Wigged Gigs

A selection of some of the wildest, weirdest, and most dangerous bands and shows in Houston history

Rock of Ages

Mayor of the Sunset Strip presides over pop

X Marks the Spot

Legendary L.A. punks survey the scene they helped spawn 25 years ago

Rock and Roll Swirlie

Manhattan's Toilet Boys keep '80s hair metal and '70s glam rock from circling the drain

Just for Laughs

Spike Lee's gloriously unpolished concert film focuses on the yuks -- to our great amusement

Porn to Sell

Product placement comes to adult videos...hey, watch where you put that thing!

Super Squeak

Rick James comes clean on the past, the present -- and the CD he hopes will revive his career

Rotation

Hats Off

Dwight Yoakam's the last great country singer -- and he doesn't need a twang to prove it

Fresh Focus

Having tried the major label route, Wakeland is now happy to go its own way

Sound Check