Rock ‘n’ roll and blues piano great Johnnie Johnson — Chuck Berry’s creative partner, melodic and rhythmic foil, and the man for whom “Johnny B. Goode” was named — has died at his St. Louis home at 80. Johnson, age 4, took immediately to the new piano his parents brought …

Our very own Blogcritic Marty (a.k.a. Andrew Ian) Dodge and his merry band of rockers, Growing Old Disgracefully (G.o.D.) is poised to hit the studio and record their debut album, By the Grace of …, at Bracknell’s South Hill Park recording studio, and will be there on Saturday 16th and …

I resume after an evening’s repose, refreshed and semi-alert, with commentary on last night’s American Idol birth-year theme (pt 1 here). Before I forget: the live band that accompanies the singers is absolutely great: they are versatile, know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em, and have made …

Leaping into the breach, I offer these humble reactions to tonight’s Final 8 performances on American Idol, performances with the novel theme of songs from the year each contestant was born, complete with obligatory baby pics and wider than usual stylistic variety. Nadia Turner, simply stunning in resplendent smile, short …

“Orli! Orli Orli!” (note level of Orli-mania here) Talk about meteroic rise! Just a few years ago Orlando Bloom, now 28, was an unknown from Canterbury, England playing an ensemble role as a very lean, very blond, cheerfully deadly elf in Peter Jackson’s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. After …

Apart from Michael Jackson’s guilt or innocence, the enormous question hanging over the trial proceedings like a poisonous cloud is why on earth did parents — and in particular, mothers — essentially turn their young boys over to the care of the grown man who expressed intense, and in retrospect, …

Though I am not a Red Sox fan by any means, I am a baseball fan and all baseball fans in their heart of hearts had to be happy for the Sox fans last October, who having waited unquietly and impatiently for a winner for 86 long years, finally got …

Every mainstream media story on the Michael Jackson trial (and any other ongoing story, for that matter) has to at least take into account the possibility that the reader hasn’t been following the arc of the greater story (doesn’t know the ins and outs, can’t tell the players without a …

With Bono (who else?) at the forefront, the ONE organization announced that the ABC and MTV Networks networks will support ONE’s efforts against poverty and AIDS by donating air time for the world premiere of a new public service announcement starring the unlikely combination of Pat Robertson, the Most Rev. …

The Library of Congress has announced the third annual addition of 50 sound recordings to the National Recording Registry. Criteria for selection include musical, spoken or other recorded sounds at least ten years old, and “those that are culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the …