January 2008 Archive

Next Latest

John Mellencamp: “I Don’t Know How Many Times I Quit the Business”

1/31/08, 6:59 pm EST

A few weeks ago John Mellencamp brought Rolling Stone up to his 41st floor suite at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City following a sold-out show. After playing RS his new T-Bone Burnett-produced album Life, Death, Love and Freedom, Mellencamp talked candidly about the record, his forthcoming play co-written Stephen King and why he doesn’t want to play “Hurts So Good” anymore. Click here to read the Q&A.

Tour Tracker: Buddy Guy, RJD2 and American Music Club Hit the Highway

1/31/08, 6:02 pm EST


Seventy-one year-old Buddy Guy proves he can still go, RJD2 greases the wheels of steel and American Music Club play American music clubs. Want all the dates? They’re after the jump.
(more…)

Even Beck’s Record Label Finds His Lyrics Inscrutable

1/31/08, 5:41 pm EST


Soon to be a collector’s item, the initial run of Beck’s recently-released tenth anniversary edition of Odelay was mistakenly shipped to stores with a lyrics booklet that contained “unproofed lyrics that were taken from a lyrics website.” In other words, rather than asking Beck himself, the lyrics were taken, for “layout purposes,” from one of those websites you go to when you want to figure out what Snow is rapping in “Informer.” Beck apologizes for the oversight, and arrangements are being made to provide anyone who purchased the incorrect lyrics booklet with a corrected version, free of charge. Personally, we like the incorrect lyrics. “She’s alone in a new delusion” is certainly clearer than “She’s alone in the new pollution.”

Related Stories:

Interview Sheryl Crow on RollingStone.com!

1/31/08, 5:00 pm EST

Now’s your chance, Sheryl Crow fans: We’ll be talking to her next week, and we want questions from you. Send us a YouTube video of yourself asking her a question by 9 a.m. EST on Monday, February 4th. The best questions will run in a special video Q&A with Sheryl next week – it’ll be like you’re interviewing her face to face, minus the awkward pauses!

To submit your video question, you can either:

  • Join our YouTube group here and upload your video to the group
  • Upload your video to a video-hosting site (YouTube, MySpace Videos, Vimeo, etc.) and email the URL of your uploaded video to: asksherylcrow@gmail.com. Please: NO ATTACHMENTS! We will not accept video files.

RollingStone.com reserves the right to edit videos for length and/or clarity. No questions you can answer by looking at her Wikipedia entry!
[Photo: Getty]

Madonna Emerges as Big Super Bowl Winner

1/31/08, 4:00 pm EST


You can’t tell by looking at it, but the above video is the visual manifestation of Madonna cashing in a $10 million check. That’s the sum of money the Material Girl was paid to “appear” in the new, Super Bowl-bound commercial for Sunsilk hair products. The “appearance” actually consists of the the singer’s decade-old song “Ray of Light” and six seconds worth of archival footage. No wonder Madonna was named Forbes’ Cash Queen of Music. Marilyn Monroe and Shakira, who reportedly will get $2.5 million for her three seconds of screen time, also appear in the thirty-second ad. The spot is set to screen during the fourth quarter’s two-minute warning, which is ridiculous, as even football diehards contract Super Bowl exhaustion by halftime.

Related Stories:

Marilyn Manson Scares Up Mayhem, Memories In NYC; Plus Photos

1/31/08, 3:00 pm EST

Though it’s the second round of Marilyn Manson’s “Rape of the World” tour, the current leg might as well be dubbed the “Return of Twiggy” tour. Save for a handful of Tim Skold-era tunes, the second of Manson’s two nights at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom was a celebration of the band’s screechy (Antichrist Superstar) and glam (Mechanical Animals) days. The pit churned to “Disposable Teens” and stood at attention for a combination of “Coma White” and “Coma Black,” complete with falling snow. A particularly animated performance from re-energized Manson and the return of prodigal son Twiggy Ramirez (who Manson called “my best friend”) made memories of the last two absinthe-soaked records vanish, and served as a visceral reminder of why people were so scared in the first place.

To see what the show looked like, check out our photo gallery from last night’s gig here.

[Photo by Jason Bergman for RollingStone.com]

Related Stories:

News Ticker: Jay-Z, Blur and Bill Cosby

1/31/08, 2:13 pm EST

  • A new track by Jay-Z, “Ain’t I,” hit the web today after appearing on a DJ Clue mixtape. While Clue boasts the song comes from the possibly upcoming The Blueprint 3, Jay’s spokesperson says the track is old.
  • Swedish police have charged the brains behind torrent site the Pirate Bay with conspiracy to break copyright law.
  • While things went well when Blur reconvened last December, former guitarist Graham Coxon said no recording plans were made.
  • Comedian Bill Cosby, a longtime critic of rap music, will release his own hip-hop album called State of Emergency. The album will focus on social issues and will feature no explicit language.
  • On the heels of Britney Spearssecond stint under psychiatric watch, a British modern dance company is planning on turning the singer’s travails into a ballet called “The Meltdown.”

The Idol Countdown: Five Essential Moments From Last Night’s “American Idol”

1/31/08, 1:27 pm EST

American Idol got off to a sassy start when Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson commented on the length of Paula’s skirt, but last night’s Abdul antics in Miami barely reached “umbrella attack” levels on the Britney scale (as opposed to Tuesday’s show, which peaked at “hostage situation” heights). There was a recovering boy-bander with solid pipes, a tiny Filipino girl with a giant voice and Syisha Mercado, who looked like she actually could be a contestant on America’s Next Top Model. But for the five best moments from last night’s episode, check out these quick clips:

5. Meat-shop employee Shannon McGough looks like a flapper Regina Spektor, but sings … louder. It was a miracle the judges avoided a “butchered the song” joke.

(more…)

Fricke’s Picks: The Monks

1/31/08, 11:55 am EST


The silver lining around the passing on January 10th of banjo player Dave Day Havlicek of Sixties extreme-beat band the Monks (he died of heart failure at age sixty-six) is that he lived long enough to see the group ascend to its rightful place on garage-rock Olympus. Five ex-GIs based in Germany, the Monks dressed like Franciscans (complete with the clerical haircuts) and played a severe rock descended from the Star Club-era Beatles but shorn of the rockabilly and Motown influences and standard pop-song grammar (”Boys Are Boys and Girls Are Choice,” “Oh, How to Do Now”), with Day’s rapid-fire banjo chords sounding like he was strumming bamboo. At once ultraprimitive and the future of rock two decades hence, the Monks were post-punk before there were punks, an achievement nailed on the group’s sole album, 1966’s Black Monk Time (of the various reissues, get one with the non-LP singles). Deeper listening: Demo Tapes 1965 (Play Loud!), a one-day session even more rude and brittle than the ‘66 album, and Silver Monk Time: A Tribute to the Monks (Play Loud!), two CDs of homage by assorted Monks spawn, including the Fall, the Gossip, Jon Spencer and a combo called the Havletones — with Day himself pummeling that banjo.

U2 Considering Residency at London’s O2 Arena?

1/31/08, 10:43 am EST

U2 are rumored to be considering a record-setting residency at London’s O2 Arena in the fall, when their new Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois-produced album is tentatively scheduled for release. Prince currently owns the venue’s record for longest run of gigs with twenty-one nights in May 2007. The arena also recently housed the Led Zeppelin reunion concert, and U2, who are currently on the road promoting their new concert film U2 3D, have been rumored to play the venue for months. When asked about the band’s intentions, U2’s manager Paul McGuinness said of the O2 Arena, “It’s got great potential for U2 and because it’s under cover you can do a run of shows in the autumn.” Earlier this week, McGuinness called upon governments and ISPs to end illegal downloading. While that certainly won’t happen by the time U2 releases their new album, the O2 residency would help recoup some of those profits lost as the music industry continues to decline.

Related Stories:

[Photo: Getty]

Britney Spears Hospitalized Again on Doctor’s Orders

1/31/08, 9:51 am EST

Four weeks after a standoff with police, Britney Spears is back in the hospital after having been deemed a danger to herself and those around her, Us reports. Spears was taken to UCLA Medical Center late last night and placed on “mental evaluation hold.” Us also reports that the hospital trip was in fact a “carefully orchestrated intervention” and was not the result of a suicide attempt or any other dangerous act on Britney’s part. A source also says that Spears hasn’t slept since Saturday. Because this trip was planned, it is likely that Spears will remain under hospital care longer than her stay from a month ago. This is merely the latest in a series of roadblocks for the singer, whose erratic behavior has already cost her custody of her two sons.

Related Stories:

[Photo: Getty]

News Ticker: Amy Winehouse, Feist, My Bloody Valentine, Led Zeppelin

1/31/08, 9:14 am EST

[Photo: Getty]

Breaking Artist: The Shackeltons

1/30/08, 6:30 pm EST

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania’s the Shackeltons traffic in spastic three-minute blasts of angst that are equal parts danceable bliss and seering noise. For more about this brilliant new band (and to watch their video for “The Breaks”), click here.

>> Watch every episode of our weekly New Breaking Artist video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Wednesday, an exclusive video profile of an emerging artist will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don’t have iTunes, download it here.]

Tour Tracker: Eels, Anti-Flag, Pitbull Start Recruiting Roadies

1/30/08, 5:23 pm EST

Eels slither across America, Anti-Flag go coast-to-coast (hitting both Bamboozle fests in the process) and Pitbull teams up with Baby Bash for a mini-tour. The complete set of dates is after the jump.
(more…)

“Let It Bleed”: Photos from Behind the Scenes of the Rolling Stones’ 1969 U.S. Tour

1/30/08, 4:56 pm EST

When the Rolling Stones hit the U.S. in late 1969 for the tour that would end in the ill-fated Altamont festival, photographer Ethan Russell was there. Click here to check out some of his best photographs from that trek from his new book Let It Bleed, including intimate portraits of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, as well as backstage photos of Jagger with opener Chuck Berry and more.

Plus, click here to read Rolling Stone’s 1969 story about the Stones’ U.S. tour, and here to read “Rock & Roll’s Worst Day,” a 1970 story about the aftermath of Altamont.

[Photo: Ethan Russell]


Next Latest


Advertisement

Advertisement