News & Views

News …

The defense takes its turn in Phil Spector retrial – Associated Press

Uh? The Rock and Roll Hall of Shame? What’s up with that? – Norristown Times Herald

Meet the man in charge of President Obama’s iPod – BBC / Radio 1

Buddy Holly, Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens – Reliving the days leading to the “day the music died” – Minneapolis Star Tribune

Views …

AC/DC in Dallas – “This is real rock ‘n’ roll, people. You can’t learn it. You just live it.” – The Dallas Morning News

Ryan Adams in Australia – “Decked out in a black Run DMC t-shirt, the singer showed no signs of the inner ear problem that recently led him to write a blog stating he would ‘step back’ from music.” – Sunday Times / Perth Now / News.com.au

Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys in Rochester, NY – “Good guys coming to the rescue of American music tradition, with three generations of Stanleys, including nephew Nathan Stanley on mandolin and son Ralph Stanley II on rhythm guitar.” – Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

Arctic Monkeys in Melbourne – ” … the sold-out crowd’s response to the show was rabid, suggesting the band has made an indelible impression.” The Age

Katy Perry in Seattle – “Careening between the serious and the silly, Perry incorporated giant inflatable fruit and even danced the Hokey Pokey” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer

M83 in New York City – “Onstage M83’s up-tempo songs were earthy and propulsive, but they stayed hypnotic, already looking beyond their immediate impact to how they might become memories.” – The New York Times

They Say It’s Their Birthday … (Or so says Associated Press)

Jean Knight is 66
Corky Laing (Mountain) is 61
Lucinda Williams is 56

Eddie Van Halen is 54
Norman Hassan (UB40) is 51
Ellen DeGeneres is 51
Andrew Ridgeley (Wham!) is 46
Jazzie B. (Soul II Soul) is 46
Kirk Franklin is 39

Chris Hesse (Hoobastank) is 35
Michael Martin (Marshall Dyllon) is 26