I’ll always remember Ersel Hickey because the jaunty pic above appeared on the opening page of my 1976 edition of The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll, still one of my favorite resources for pre-’70s rock history. Why they picked Ersel for the opening shot, I don’t know, …

Elton John has made multiple buttloads of money in the music biz over the last 30+ years, but he certainly has gone out of his way to give back in return. Tomorrow (Tuesday, July 13) he is performing a benefit for for the Juilliard School and London’s Royal Academy of …

Well, thank God for this because surely hip-hop doesn’t have enough outlets on radio, TV, cable, satellite, etc, etc. Eminem gets his own channel on Sirius satellite radio starting this fall: Sirius Satellite Radio said it has teamed up with the Detroit-area rapper – along with his label, Shady Records, …

We have the music of the spheres, music of the genes, and deeeep brown notes. Soon we may have body notes: Scientists are developing ways of capturing human movement in three dimensions which would allow music to be created with the gesture of an arm. ….The system is being developed …

Anush Yegyazarian, PC World editor, looks at the recent history of copyright law and doesn’t like what she sees. I would say her view and mine are nearly identical: while U.S. courts and Congress have done a lot to help copyright owners defend their rights, they have done comparatively little …

Though the personalities of the actual Pythons are irreplaceable, this could be a lot of fun: Based on the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it will star Frasier actor David Hyde Pierce, alongside Tim Curry and Simpsons star Hank Azaria. Python star Eric Idle wrote the book …

I don’t know how in the name of Red Stripe beer I missed the death of pioneering, crucial ska and reggae producer Clement “Sir Coxsone” Dodd back in May – he was 72. The new Tings a Gwann reggae magazine has a fine feature on Father Dodd, founder and owner …

A new digital music service from cable television and telecommunications services company RCN is getting closer to a model that makes sense: a music-over-the-Internet service that offers unlimited computer-based access to 700,000 songs for $8 a month with free song downloads. In deploying the new service with Synacor Inc. of …

Formed by erstwhile members of At the Drive-In – singer Jim Ward, guitarist Paul Hinojos and drummer Tony Hajjar – Sparta is all emo-y and whatnot: check out the swirling, pointillist guitar and melodic emotionalism of “Breaking the Broken,” the first single off of Porcelain, the band’s second album, due …

Now this is what a musician’s website should look like: bio Billy Taylor encompasses that rare combination of creativity, intelligence, vision, commitment and leadership, qualities that make him one of our most cherished national treasures. The distinguished ambassador of the jazz community to the world-at-large, Dr. Billy Taylor’s recording career …