Latest Stories

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  Van Halen's 1984 Turns 35 Today, Is At Least The Second Best Work With That Title

  January 9 at 5 a.m.

  Fusing the talents ot guitar mutant Eddie Van Halen, his percussive brother Alex, Tarzanian lead singer David Lee Roth, and competent bassist Michael Anthony, Van Halen was one of the biggest bands in the world in 1984, but not necessarily *the* biggest.

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  There Are Very Few Reasonable Excuses for a Concert to Start Late

  Friday, August 31, 2018 at 5 a.m.

  Few things make you feel old like caring about set times at the concerts you attend. When you’re young, you’re a slave to the music, going along with whatever ride an artist has planned for you. Then one day you find yourself Googling set times from other cities and checking...

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  Violent Femmes: These Daddies Haven't Gone Anywhere

  Friday, June 29, 2018 at 5 a.m.

  Brian Ritchie says that he gets asked a certain question often. Maybe somebody sees him with his long blond hair. Or that he’s carrying a guitar case, which precedes this inevitable exchange: Somebody: You look like a musician. Are you in a band? Ritchie: Yes, I am. Somebody: What band?...

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  The Grateful Dead's Long, Strange Trip

  Monday, June 11, 2018 at 6:22 a.m.

  Fare Thee Well: The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead’s Long, Strange Trip By Joel Selvin with Pamela Turley 288 pp. Da Capo Press $27 When Grateful Dead singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia died on August 9, 1995 from a heart attack, it probably seemed inconceivable even to diehard Deadheads that the...

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  Sire Records Honcho Tells Tales of Ramones, Talking Heads, Pretenders, and Madonna!

  Thursday, June 7, 2018 at 5 a.m.

  Siren Song: My Life in Music By Seymour Stein with Gareth Murphy 352 pp. $28.99 St. Martin’s Press As co-founder of Sire Records in 1966 – and still active in the industry today – Seymour Stein has seen a lot. Just a partial list of artists he’s discovered, scouted, signed,...

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  Headbanging at Howie's For Heavy Metal Sundays

  Friday, May 11, 2018 at 5 a.m.

  Pass through the doors of this small drinking establishment in a nondescript shopping center off 2920 in Spring, and you’re transformed into a low-lit Polynesian wonderland of art, paintings, sculpture, and a large bar with the ingredients to make any of the more than 135 cocktail variations on (and off)...