Moving forward, a bunch of stuff has come down the pike recently. Some of this may be old news to some, but we hope other tidbits are more timely and entertaining -
The big news this past week, is that we lost another punk rock pioneer; the 2nd one in le
ss than 6 months and another female singer to boot (remember Ari Up passed away not that long ago). Poly Styrene, the frontwoman for the classic punk rock band X Ray Spex, died at the age of 53. Styrene, whose real name was Marianne Elliot-Said, had been battling both breast and spinal cancer for a few years. Inspired by an early Sex Pistols gig, Styrene formed the X Ray Spex when she was 18 with her friend Laura Logic, who was also the groups 1st saxophone player. The band went on to record a string of five singles – including the enduring punk anthem "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" – and one highly influential full-length album, Germ Free Adolescents, before breaking up in 1979. There has been a number of articles on-line about her passing, so if you want to glean more info about her, it's there. Bottom line here though is we lost another great artist too soon.This was also a month of anniversaries... sort of. The finishing touches were finalized for Lollapalooza's 20th birthday or anniversary, depending on how you look at it. The festival will take place this summer with a three-day event at Chicago's Grant Park on August 5-7th with headliners Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse and My Morning Jacket. The bill will also include artists such as the Cars, Ween, Cold War Kids, and Big Audio Dynamite.
April was als
o a month of changes. On the personal front, I finally had to update the website complete with the latest video of "Rope" by Foo Fighters. Click here to check it out as well as the website.Another big change of sorts is going on with U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. No, he's not leaving the band, but he is going to trade in his drumsticks for a bit and try his hand at acting as well as producing. Mullen will make his first foray into acting in Man on the Train. The Irish-Canadian movie, also starring Donald Sutherland, is set to debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Mullen will play a mysterious stranger who arrives in a small town with plans to rob a bank. He is also one of the film's co-producers.
The past 30 days has also seen a re-emergence of sorts. Hardcore punk icons Fugazi is putting the finishing touches on a huge concert archive. The bands been, more or less, on hiatus for about 10 years, but the veteran D.C. punks are in the homestretch of archiving ev
ery single live show from their 15-year career, which will be available online for fans. Yeah, you read that right - every single live show... 15 years worth! Wow! Frontman Ian MacKaye says the group is deep in the process of converting "thousands" of live recordings from DAT and cassette tapes to digital files. I found this news a little ironic, because last week I finished watching their self-released DVD "Instrument". While it's not for everyone, it is a good documentary. Very gritty, quite raw, but very insightful. One of the highlights is the free concert they did in front of the White House! if you ever have a chance to check it out, do so. Click here to watch an older video of their classic "Waiting Room".Lastly, I'd like to wish Kate Pierson of the B-52's a happy 63rd birthday! If you ever met her, or just looking at her, you'd never know! She's still very young at heart. When she's not working with the other members of Georgia's best known punk band (aside from R.E.M.) she's busily running her own restaurant!
That's about it for now, until next time, (hopefully less than 28 days), keep listening!
Peace out,
Dave
