Todd Rundgren

Upcoming: Har Mar Superstar, Rodriguez, Andy Bell, The Dwarves, Todd Rundgren, etc.

Ace Hood & Twista: Sun., April 7, 6 p.m., $45-$100. Stereo Live, 6400 Richmond, Houston. Air Supply: Thu., May 9, 8:30 p.m., $158-$218. Dosey Doe, 25911 I-45 N., Spring. All the Dead Pilots: With Fault, A Traitor at Heart., $10. Scout Bar, 18307 Egret Bay Blvd., Houston. Allah-Las: With Infinite ... More >>

Jan Hammer and the Top 10 TV Theme Songs of the '80s

Not a lot of television shows win multiple Grammys. Then again, not a lot of television shows ever sounded (or looked) like Miami Vice. The cutting-edge series perfectly captured the pastel zeitgeist of its time when it debuted in 1984, influencing film, fashion, design and music in a way that few T ... More >>

The Rocks Off 100: Cliff Dotterer of Black Dog Records

Who? Cliff Dotterer is the co-owner and operating manager of Black Dog Records, which just moved to its new Bellaire location last week. The shop's inventory of records and collectibles includes a who's who of rock legends and current artists, as well as rarities, imports, T-shirts, record player ne ... More >>

Explaining Classic Rock Bands to Kids

This past Sunday, The New York Times ran a piece by Paul Greenberg where the author explained how important the Beatles were to music and pop culture to his five-year old son. The child didn't know that the band had albums, but only knew the Fab Four from iTunes playlists. "When the Beatles record ... More >>

Todd Rundgren

Upcoming: Sleigh Bells, Steve Earle, Hayes Carll, George Jones, Eyehategod, Etc.

Acid Baby Jesus, Night Beats, Paint Fumes: Thu., April 26. Walter's, 1120 Naylor St., Houston. "Praia Urbana" With ATFC, DJ Spen: Sat., March 10, 2 p.m. Last Concert Cafe, 1403 Nance St., Houston. Belanova: Tue., April 24. House of Blues, 1204 Caroline, Houston. Bowling For Soup, Patten Pending, ... More >>

Why the Eff Are Ringtones So Effing Impossible To Get?

So elusive​It's safe to say I'm not the most tech-savvy guy around. A new iPhone coming out means as little to me as a new Keith Urban album. It's not a "get off my lawn" thing, it's just that tech stuff, to me, is too close to math. And I hate math. And if it's not too math-y, it's filled wi ... More >>

The First Ten Videos MTV Ever Aired

​Closing out this week of celebration, and a little mourning, on the occasion of MTV's 30th anniversary , we reached back into the YouTube vaults to present to you the first 10 videos Music Television ever aired. On August 1, 1981, The Buggles' awfully prophetic "Video Killed the Radio Star" b ... More >>

Drive-By Truckers: Hard At Work And Loving Hall & Oates

UPDATE: 6 p.m.: The contest is over. Thanks for playing! Danny Clinch​Grand Funk Railroad may have got there first, but Drive-By Truckers are an American band. If not for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, for whom the Truckers opened the Midwestern leg of their summer tour, the Georgia six-piece ... More >>

The Ladies' Man

Meat Loaf says he's outdone Bat Out of Hell

Last Night: The Eagles At Toyota Center

Photos by Marco Torres​The Eagles Toyota Center June 27, 2010 For the past five years Aftermath has been told that we should hate the Eagles, but not why. Like a child, we would ask, and all we would hear from the pop-culture constabulary was "because they suck." It's like standing in a line ... More >>

A Weird Pop Heaven Via Bay City's "Happy Radio"

​Along Rocks Off's various Texas travels, we almost never listen to an iPod or compact discs anymore. Anything we could pop in wouldn't match the rhythm of the road; the Stooges or Metallica don't really jive with Highways 59, 71 or 77. In today's world of satellite radios, streaming tunes on your ... More >>

R.I.P Former Sugar Hill Studios Chief Engineer Mickey Moody

Courtesy of Sugar Hill StudiosLeft-right: Huey P. Meaux, Leo O'Neil and Mickey Moody​ Former Sugar Hill Studios engineer Mickey Moody, who - unlike his boss Huey P. Meaux - was a quiet, behind-the-scenes man, died in Fort Worth over the weekend. Moody, chief engineer and right-hand man during Meau ... 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 >>

Cutout Bin: Insane Clown Posse Predecessors Hello People

​ Hello People, The Handsome Devils (1974) Bricks (1975)​Looking over the pics of last Wednesday's Insane Clown Posse show got Cutout Bin thinking about bands who wear clown-ish makeup. Of course there was KISS, and the whole death metal thing, but how many readers remember The Hello People? Hmm ... More >>

Personality Crisis

The New York Dolls aren't too long in the tooth to sing "Jet Boy."

Phone Home Page

Two Houston poets create a modern-day party line online.

Houston-Born TV-Theme Composer W.G. "Snuffy" Walden Enjoys His Wonder Years

Up to Snuff

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 >>

Seriously, Brooke Hogan, Shut Up

Rock Floozies Write

Wack peruses some doozies in the groupie tell-all canon

Christmas in July

Six dozen of Houston's finest bands for a mere $7

An ABBA to Zebra of Guilty Pleasures

Music figures tell all abou their most shameful faves

Playbill

Chasing Mandy

A pop-star-turned-actress tries to move into her "mature phase"

Ms. Deal

When it comes to movies for Mandy, Moore isn't better

12 Rods

Lost Time (Self-released)

Jerry Lightfoot's Band of Wonder with Vince Welnick and Carolyn Wonderland

Texistentialism (Self-released)

Welcome to His Nightmare

Michael Bruce gave voice to Alice Cooper - until the singer killed the band

MPFree.com

New way to hear music is music to consumers' ears

Funk Revival

Static

Sound Check

Press Picks

Rotation

Digital Bloating

Without question, enhanced CDs offer more but of what?

Press Picks

Rotation

Todd Rundgren Takes Requests

If you don't like his music, you can change it -- and pay for the privilege