Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Scholars and artists may argue about punk’s origin, but few will disagree that until the Sex Pistols exploded onto the music scene in 1976, not many people paid attention. “The Sex Pistols were created by Malcolm McLaren, who was in the fashion business, so a look was pushed on them more so than on the American punks,” said James Stark, author of “Punk ’77” (Stark Grafix). “That definitely made them more marketable.
God save the queen – the Sex Pistols are back. And if they’re not as lean and mean as they were 20 years ago, they don’t care. The British press gleefully speared the quartet whose name has become synonymous with punk rock, accusing the 40ish musicians of being too old and fat to be punk.
When a cocky guy like Noel Gallagher rates your band as being better than his, there might be a tendency to get a swelled head, especially since the Oasis guitarist isn’t particularly generous in his assessment of other groups. But while John Power is quick to tout the merits of his band, Cast, he’s just as swift to set the record straight with a modicum of modesty.
Visually, Dogstar is all about Keanu Reeves, but the movie star bassist takes a back seat to vocalist-guitarist-lyricist Bret Domrose on record. Live, Domrose’s vocals tend to get drowned out by Reeves and drummer Rob Mailhouse, but the mix on this record fixed that problem.
Sometimes you get so used to being uncomfortable at concerts that it’s easy to forget just how much fun a rock show can be. At Brian Setzer’s sold-out gig on Monday night at the Skyline Stage on Navy Pier, no one moshed or body surfed. The smell in the air wasn’t of pot and cigarettes, but rather a light fragrance of Bryl Creem and other hair products.
The Goo Goo Dolls skyrocketed to stardom last year on the strength of their bittersweet ballad “Name.” The difference between the Goo Goo Dolls and most rock bands, though, is that guitarist Johnny Rzeznik has a voice that’s consistently alluring live, whether he’s singing a searing rendition of the Plimsouls’ “Million Miles Away” or conveying the chaos of “Long Way Down.”
Back in the early 1980s, when he was doing the Stray Cat Strut, neither Brian Setzer nor his fans would have envisioned the tattooed, pompadoured singer playing in an orchestra. These days, the former rockabilly hep cat not only performs in one, he fronts one.
J.R. Richards quit college to be in a band. His parents weren’t disappointed. “I was a music major, and there’s not much you can do with that other than teach or conduct,” Richards said, calling from his record company’s Hollywood digs. “I couldn’t envision myself doing either.”
Jim Ellison, whose catchy melodies and girl-crazy lyrics defined the Chicago pop group Material Issue, was found dead at his Chicago home early Thursday of carbon monoxide poisoning. He was 32.
Jason Gedrick’s career is red hot. The actor who claims that girls weren’t interested in him in high school now has a file devoted to him on America Online, where cyber fans lovingly dissect the merits of his acting, hobbies and, uh, other attributes.