Tag Archives: Classic Rock and Oldies

In the ’70s Pink Floyd evolved from a relatively popular psychedelia-and-experimental-noise band to the superstar album rock heroes they are known as today. The key albums in this transition were Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and Animals. With the dawn of the ’80s came the …

Okay, in the face of gale force winds of Rush-mania , I address the mighty threesome via The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-87 collection that came out last year. I realize the very notion of singles and radio and Rush is anathema to devotees, but since I’m not one, …

With that force-of-nature rock ‘n’ roll bellow, Bob Seger sounds like no one else. Though I am less inclined toward his later ballad hits, his basic canon is indelible and crucial – I’m very glad he is being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. The …

Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, 69, is a longtime Chicago electric bluesman and roots rocker with an affinity for wearing a full indian headdress that was given to him for good luck somewhere along life’s winding path. Originally from Mississippi then Alabama, “Clearwater” (a play on “Muddy Waters”), played guitar behind …

Grease was a great movie not – the 1978 film version of the wildly popular stage musical starring John Tavolta and Olivia Newton-John squeezed a faux-’50s worldview and musical sensibility through a 20-year filter of wishful thinking that made Happy Days look authentic. This bizarre, mildly bawdy pastiche actually had …

The cold winds doth blow here in Ohio, down the street and up your pant leg. Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” sure sounded inviting on the oldies station a few hours ago. “Summertime Blues” sounds like it was recorded yesterday and rocks like there is no tomorrow. Rock has never been …

The Boss and His Band were BACK in 2003: Springsteen and his E Street Band made $115.9m on 47 shows, including 13 stadium shows in the New York area. The figures put him second only to the Rolling Stones for the most money ever earned in a year. The Stones …

An excellent holiday collection leaning toward standards and the gospel-R&B end of the spectrum is Ultimate Christmas. Out of 17 songs only two really don’t work and unfortunately one of them leads off the disc: Boyz ll Men turn in an a capella version of “Silent Night” that combines the …

Jim Morrison of the Doors would have been 60 today – for some reason that just staggers me. Since he only lived to be 27, he has been dead six years longer than he was alive. 27 just seems preposterously young to me – I have t-shirts older than 27. …

The anniversary of John Lennon’s murder is December 8 – I look at the nexus of John Hughes’ classic ’80s teen movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the Beatles and the death of John. Ferris The premise of the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is Ferris’s (Matthew Broderick) ability to pull …