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Kenny Loggins looking very Yachty in an early-1980s photo session.

Kenny Loggins is Still Alright

By Bob Ruggiero

Jun 6, 2022

Tom Cruise and Kenny Loggins are forever intertwined in pop culture by the 1986 high-flying action flick Top Gun. The actor as the star and driving onscreen force, and the musician for his distinctive performance of the film’s theme song, “Danger Zone.” But the pair had never actually met in...

Republicans generally do not like dildo trading posts.

Opinion: Gun Control, Ted Cruz, and Dildo Bans — A History

By Jef Rouner

Jun 3, 2022

In the wake of the Robb Elementary School massacre that killed 21 people in Uvalde, 19 of them children, multiple memes have been making the rounds about how there is no limit to the number of guns someone can own in Texas, but that it’s against the law to have...

That interplanetary jazz ambassador, Sun Ra, from "A Joyful Noise."

MFAH's Jazz on Film Series Swings Back After Pandemic Absence

By Bob Ruggiero

May 31, 2022

You’ll have to forgive Peter Lucas if he—like so many of us—has sort of lost track of time a bit during the past 2 ½ years living under a pandemic. He’s trying to recall the last time the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston held its Jazz on Film series. “That...

John Lennon and Yoko with legal team (Jay Bergen at far right) at Sloppy Louie’s in New York, 1975.

Lennons, Lawsuits and Lawyers

By Bob Ruggiero

May 27, 2022

Over the course of his 45-year career as a lawyer, Jay Bergen has questioned or cross-examined a considerable number of litigants in open court. But there’s one in his mind that tends to stand above all others. “He was the best witness that I ever had!” the now-retired counselor says...

Todd Rundgren during show opener "Drive My Car."

The Beatles' Pivotal "Middle Age" Celebrated in All-Star Show

By Bob Ruggiero

May 26, 2022

Todd Rundgren, Christopher Cross, Joey Molland, Denny Laine & Jason Scheff It Was Fifty Years Ago Today: Celebrating The Beatles’ Rubber Soul & Revolver Cullen Performance Hall May 25, 2022 There are likely thousands of Beatles tribute and cover bands roaming the earth across most continents right now, with a...

Shaun Cassidy's "The Magic of a Midnight Sky" show is part concert, part theater as he looks back on his life.

Shaun Cassidy: The Hardly Idle Idol

By Bob Ruggiero

May 25, 2022

Even though it was quite a while ago, Shaun Cassidy certainly remembers the last time he played Houston. It was in early 1980 at a now-defunct little venue called the Astrodome, as part of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. What he didn’t know at the time is that it...

Todd Rundgren leads his band of merry men on a second Beatles tribute tour.

A Fab Five Pay Tribute to the Beatles on Hits-Laden Tour

By Bob Ruggiero

May 19, 2022

Glancing at his jam-packed concert schedule for 2022, it’s easy to assume that Todd Rundgren is looking to make up for stage time lost to the pandemic. He’s currently opening shows for friend Daryl Hall. Two days after that ends, he’ll embark on the second U.S. leg of a jaunt...

Barry Manilow and Melissa Manchester at the Schaefer Music Festival, September 12, 1975 at Central Park in New York City.

Arista Records and the Quest for Musical Magic

By Bob Ruggiero

May 16, 2022

In the music industry, Clive Davis is a legend—and he’ll be the first to tell you so (or, you can watch the 2017 documentary, The Soundtrack of Our Lives). But while his long resume shows his fingers as an executive and label president in a lot of places, it’s his...

The Beatles and their significant others (front row) with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (seated, top) in February, 1968, in Rishikesh, India.

New Doc Details the Beatles' Indian Connections

By Bob Ruggiero

May 10, 2022

In all the nooks and crannies of Beatles Scholarship, the Fabs’ relationship to and time spent in India is one of the most interesting. In fact, it could be argued that no group did more to open Western ears, eyes, and minds to Indian music, culture, and spirituality than the...

Mugshot of Ricardo Flores Magón, ca. 1903.

Book Uncovers Story of "Bad Mexicans" with Good Intentions

By Bob Ruggiero

May 4, 2022

No, the titular group of this book aren’t the “Bad Hombres” that a certain former U.S. President fretted about. Rather, they were the malos mexicanos dubbed so by their own countrymen who were supporters of (given how one believed) the great leader or despotic dictator, Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, who...

Dave Alvin in the studio recording "Southwest Chief" for the "Americana Railroad" compilation.

Carla Olson Rides the Musical Rails for New Anthology Project

By Bob Ruggiero

May 3, 2022

Growing up in the Delwood area of Austin during the 1950s, Carla Olson lived about five blocks from the railroad tracks and would pass them walking home from Maplewood Elementary School every day with her friends. And try not to get killed. “The Southern Pacific came through a lot. If...

Albert Castiglia and Mike Zito a bluesmen and "Blood Brothers."

Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia's Blues PDA of "Brotherly" Love

By Bob Ruggiero

Apr 29, 2022

Once a necessity and staple of ‘70s rock and roll culture, the double live record has had less of a significance in the blues genre. That certainly didn’t stop singer/guitarist (and proud current resident of Nederland, Texas) Mike Zito from unleashing Blues for the Southside earlier this year on Gulf...

Richard Tucker and Karen Dalton shared a musical and actual marriage.

Rediscovery of "Lost" Folkie Karen Dalton Continues with Shuckin' Sugar

By Bob Ruggiero

Apr 28, 2022

The name Karen Dalton isn’t as well-known as her contemporary folk music troubadours like Joan Baez and Judy Collins, or even friends and collaborators like Fred Neil and Tim Hardin. Even though another folkie—a guy named Bob Dylan—said of her in his autobiography Chronicles Vol. 1 during his early days...

Heart by Heart: Chad Quist, Lizzy Daymont, Michael Derosier, Somar Macek and Steve Fossen.

Heart by Heart Keeps the Magic Men Spinning and Barracudas Swimming

By Bob Ruggiero

Apr 22, 2022

Asked to name any members of the band Heart, most casual listeners would be able to mentally cough up sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. After all, the vocalist and guitarist have been the “faces” and most photographed of the group since their 1975 debut Dreamboat Annie, as well as being...

Everclear in 2022: Freddy Herrera, Art Alexakis, Davey French and Brian Nolan.

Art Alexakis on Three Decades of Everclear, Making Noise and His Own Future Path

By Bob Ruggiero

Apr 20, 2022

When we spoke with Art Alexakis of Everclear in July of last year, the band’s founder/singer/guitarist was literally a day away from launching their Summerland package tour trek across the U.S. One that already filled him with equal amounts of excitement and nervousness, given the whole pandemic situation. “It was...

Nazareth in 2022: Jimmy Murrison, Pete Agnew, Carl Sentance and Lee Agnew.

Classic Rockers Nazareth Keep Surviving on 25th Album

By Bob Ruggiero

Apr 19, 2022

Ah, COVID, you bastard! You have not been a friend to so, so many Classic Rock bands who had ambitious and wonderful plans to celebrate a 50th anniversary of their founding or first album in 2020…or 2021…or 2022. That includes Scottish hard rockers Nazareth, whose self-titled debut dropped in 1971...

Felix Cavaliere recently performing Rascals hits.

Felix Cavaliere: A Rascal Tells His Tale

By Bob Ruggiero

Apr 14, 2022

Otis Redding couldn’t believe his eyes when he stuck his head inside an Atlantic Records studio where a fairly-new group called the Rascals were recording. “My God!” the big soul superstar exclaimed. “They are white!” One of the label’s biggest stars couldn’t be faulted for assuming that, though. A lot...

America at the London Palladium in 2018: Rich Campbell, Dewey Bunnell, Ryland Steen, Gerry Beckley and Steve Fekete.

American History: Dewey Bunnell Celebrates 50 Years (Give or Take) of Music

By Bob Ruggiero

Apr 13, 2022

Among Beatlemaniacs, there’s a famous 1963 interview clip of the Fab Four in which they’re asked what the future might hold when the bubble inevitably bursts on their showbiz career. Ringo Starr—apparently serious—said that he fancied opening a string of ladies’ hairdressing salons. The idea that a pop or rock...

Ex-Raspberry Scott McCarl on the Power of Power Pop

By Bob Ruggiero

Apr 12, 2022

In the multitude of musical genres, aficionados of Power Pop are among the most detail oriented. Whether it’s dissecting output from classic groups (Big Star, the Jam, Shoes, the Knack) or more recent bands (OK Go, Jellyfish, Fountains of Wayne) the often bright and upbeat music is a bridge between...

The Spinners in the mid-'70s: Henry Farmbrough, Billy Henderson, Bobby Smith, Pervis Jackson and Philippé "Soul" Wynne.

The Smooth Sounds of '70s Philly Soul Return to the Miller Theatre

By Bob Ruggiero

Apr 11, 2022

Any list of the greatest R&B/Soul record labels of the 1970s would include Motown, Stax and Atlantic. Those very storied names instantly recall a certain image, stable of artists and chart hit after chart hit. Sometimes lost in there is the last of the Big Four—Philadelphia International. It was based...

History

The Impressionists Get Immersed

Don McLean Serves Up Historical Slice of "American Pie"

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