On May 18, 1988, the fine folks at Rhino Records opened a door to a world few knew existed by releasing 'Golden Throats: The Great Celebrity Sing-Off.' The LP showcased the forgotten artifacts from a time when actors regularly put out records, cashing in on 'the sounds of today' or 'the now sounds of the jet set generation,' or some other such tag line. Say what you want about such boring things as 'artistic merit' and jab if you must about how these, um, 'vocalists' abused these songs, you would be hard pressed to find a more entertaining batch of tunes.
By the mid ‘70s, Ray Davies was so immersed in theatrical rock operas, he probably hadn’t noticed that he had lost all but the most devoted of the Kinks’ fans. The band’s string of albums in the first half of the decade was steady and, for the most part, forgettable: ‘Everybody’s in Show-Biz,’ the two-act ‘Preservation' series, ‘Soap Opera,’ ‘Schoolboys in Disgrace.’ Can anyone name more than two songs from these five records?
When Judas Priest released their 11th album, ‘Ram It Down,’ 25 years ago today, few people outside of the band’s inner circle had an inkling that the storied British heavy-metal institution was standing at a crossroads.
One of the most confounding musicians ever to grace the rock genre, Frank Zappa had a penchant for taking what essentially amounted to full-blown avant garde compositions and arranging them for rock ensemble playing. His bizarre, conceptual live performances were an astonishing mix of exceptional musicianship, onstage theatrics and pop culture satire. On May 16, 1988 Zappa showcased some of the standout live tracks from various eras of his development by releasing a career-spanning double live album titled 'You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol 1.'
As of today (May 16, 2013), it's been thirty years since Iron Maiden’s lovable mascot, Eddie, lost his mind (not to mention his grizzled mane) and heavy metal fans across the globe lost theirs over one of the most beloved heavy metal albums of all time -- 1983’s 'Piece of Mind.'
Kiss recently revealed that the staging for their upcoming tour will feature an enormous, fireball-spewing spider. And while the stage set is brand new, the idea is not -- in fact, David Bowie's 1987 Glass Spider tour featured a huge spider set, and more than a decade before that, original shock rocker Alice Cooper used an oversized arachnid as part of his 1975 tour.
With the recent news that Kiss will soon feature a gigantic, fireball-spewing spider in their stage show, we're reminded of another major rock star who brought a large arachnid on tour: David Bowie.
Bowie has often been a performer ahead of his time, pushing the envelope in his music, his imaging and live performances. His 1987 'Glass Spider' tour was the biggest live spectacle of his career -- an undertaking so massive that despite its success, Bowie would never attempt to repeat it.
After their February 1968 trip to Rishikesh, India failed to provide the spiritual enlightenment they sought, the Beatles turned in the opposite direction, towards business matters. A few months later, the company they decided to form in the wake of manager Brian Epstein's death was ready to launch. In mid-May, John Lennon and Paul McCartney flew to New York to promote Apple Corps.
'Revenge,' the most consistent, hard-hitting and critically acclaimed album ever released by the non-makeup version of Kiss, celebrates its 21st anniversary today (May 14).
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