On This Date, July 27th, in 1976: After being ordered to leave the country more than three years earlier, John Lennon finally received his Green Card and was granted permanent U.S. residency.
Monthly Archives: July 2010
Pink Thing of The Day: Pink Roller Coaster Bed
La Montaña Rusa, 2008
Mixed media
98 x 315 x 170 inches (248.9 x 800.1 x 431.8 cm)
By Cuban artist Duo Los Carpinteros.
Happy 61st Birthday, Roger Taylor!
What a Rock Star!
Queen drummer Roger Taylor celebrates his 61st Birthday today. Also, Mick Jagger turns 100 67!
Must See DVD: When You’re Strange, A Film About The Doors
As much as our culture overemphasizes the value of being and looking young, I would not want to be a minute younger than I am. Because if I’d been born in the eighties or nineties I wouldn’t have been alive to experience firsthand an era of rock music when bands like The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Queen and the Alice Cooper band were together and releasing new music that didn’t sound like it came from a can. How many 20 year-olds can say that they were able to see Queen in concert five times before Freddie Mercury even came out of the closet, or paid just $12 to see The Who back when Keith Moon was still alive? I feel sorry for anyone who ever scalped tickets to attend a Blink 182 concert or uttered the phrase “Limp Bizkit is my favorite band!” How unbelievably sad.
Continue reading Must See DVD: When You’re Strange, A Film About The Doors
Rad CD of The Week: Hawkwind’s Blood of The Earth
I was first introduced to the British metal band Hawkwind way back in the eighties when I was in College, and you were probably just an egg. The song I like best from that era of the band is called “Psychedelic Warlords Disappear in Smoke,” because I love song titles that are complete sentences on their own. “Psychedelic Warlords” – besides having one of the best titles ever – is also like the most mind-blowing acid trip to listen to. If you haven’t already heard the song, you will just have to take my word for it.
A lot of metalheads know about Hawkwind only because Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead was in the band at one point in the group’s 41-year history. In order to be a true, self-respecting headbanger you do really need to have that fact in your hipster cache of useless knowledge. But not everyone knows that the band is actually still recording. In fact, Hawkwind has a new CD due for release on August 10, 2010 (on Plastic Head Music) called Blood of The Earth, and it is just insane.
Blood of the Earth is the band’s first new album in five years, contains eleven songs and features special appearances from violinist Jon Sevink (The Levellers), BBC personality Matthew Wright and a posthumous performance from the band’s late keyboardist Jason Stuart. I cannot stop listening to this album.
Confirmed track listing for Blood of the Earth is as follows:
1. “Seahawks”
2. “Blood Of The Earth”
3. “Wraith”
4. “Green Machine”
5. “Inner Visions”
6. “Sweet Obsession”
7. “Comfey Chair” (note: I am hoping this title relates to the punch line from that great Monty Python Skit)
8. “Prometheus”
9. “You’d Better Believe It”
10. “Sentinel”
11. “Starshine”
I am not fronting when I say that the songs on Blood of The Earth will appeal to all genres of metal, prog and hard rock fans of bands as varied as Zodiac Mindwarp, Hendrix, The Pretty Things, Yes and Nine Inch Nails. Blood of the Earth will be available for North American fans on compact disc and limited-edition 180-gram, clear, double vinyl that includes a vinyl-only bonus track. Hawkwind are planning to tour later this year in support of Blood of the Earth. You know you gotta be there!
For rocking hard enough to crack a skull, The Worley Gig Gives Blood of the Earth Five out of Five Stars!