Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
The most coveted item at rock shows isn’t a pair of decent earplugs. It’s the backstage pass. We want those round (or square, or triangular) stick-on adhesive passes that are our entree into rock ‘n’ roll nirvana for the same reason we want Porsches, 15-carat diamond engagement rings and brainy significant others who are dead ringers for supermodels. We covet what we can’t have.
If there’s one thing Paul McCartney knows, it’s how to charm an audience. Wearing a casual black suit, white T-shirt and a pair of trendy “trainers” (they’re sneakers to us Yanks), the former Beatle came across as relaxed and congenial during a live telecast and Webcast Saturday afternoon.
While U2’s album “Pop” hasn’t been the sure thing that the music industry had hoped for, it has done well enough to kick-start the Irish supergroup’s 14-month, 100-city “PopMart” tour.
By Jae-Ha Kim Chicago Sun-Times March 11, 1997 Kenny Wayne Shepherd has become the second performer in a month to be pulled from the House of Blues lineup for being too young. The 19-year-old guitarist, […]
If there’s any justice at all, Beck, Smashing Pumpkins and Tracy Chapman will lug a few Grammy Awards home on Wednesday. And Alanis Morissette, whose “Jagged Little Pill” was released in June, 1995, will be shut out of this year’s ceremonies.
Back in the mid-1980s, 17-year-old Charlie Sexton was in a unique situation. The guitar sensation headlined at clubs across the country but was legally too young to order a beer at any of them. He was encouraged to trade his rootsy blues style for synth-driven rock and had a minor hit with “Beat’s So Lonely.”
It’s not often that having no money or a reputation are considered fortuitous in filmmaking. But when director Doug Pray and producer Steve Helvey decided to make a movie about the Seattle music community, their do-it-yourself attitude endeared themselves to the film’s subjects. Even reclusive Eddie Vedder spoke candidly on-camera about feeling guilty that his band, Pearl Jam, was enjoying so much success while older Seattle bands went unappreciated. “Hype!” opens today.
Rock’s prettiest couple has split up. No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani and Bush’s Gavin Rossdale – the Gwyneth and Brad of the music world – have ended their 10-month relationship. But they’re still good enough friends to exchange little presents. During a recent visit to Chicago, Stefani wore a black sweater with black and white striped sleeves – exactly the kind that Rossdale favors. “Oh, it’s funny that you mention that,” Stefani said. “It was a gift from Gavin.”
It used to be that the primary link between rock stars and models was that they dated each other. These days, the line between the two factions is blurred at best. Oh sure, they’re still dating each other. But check it out: Jon Bon Jovi and Madonna posing seductively for Versace ad campaigns while human clothes hangers Donovan Leitch and Milla sing their hearts out onstage.
There isn’t a rock fan out there who hasn’t fantasized about hanging with his or her favorite band for a few days. So when I was offered the opportunity to hit the road with Dishwalla, who are on tour with the Refreshments and Tonic, I said, “Yes!” I didn’t think it was going to be 100 percent fun all the time, but I also knew that thanks to the unions that regulate such things, I wouldn’t be allowed to lift any heavy objects. Heck. That’s a better deal than the MTV contest winner whose prize was to be a roadie for Bruce Springsteen.
Eye Candy keeps watch on music-related items worth a closer look: The shotgun reunion between David Lee Roth and Van Halen may have been a bust, but the original Van Halen lineup looks young and happy in “Van Halen – Video Hits, Volume 1” (Warner Reprise Video). The 64-minute home video also includes “Me Wise Magic,” a new track featuring Roth on vocals . . .
As a warm-up before resuming their world tour in Las Vegas, the Smashing Pumpkins played a “surprise” concert Friday afternoon at Metro. It was the band’s first show since the firing of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin in connection with the July 12 heroin overdose of keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin.
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.
The Smashing Pumpkins have an open invitation from the producers of “The Simpsons.” Should the Chicago-based supergroup ever decide to stop the music, they are welcome to join the cartoon’s cast.
Jackie Chan isn’t the only Asian actor ready for the big screen. After decades of being relegated to roles playing houseboys or, worse yet, losing roles to Caucasian actors made up to look Oriental, actors of Asian descent finally are getting their time on the big and little screens in America. Heck. Even the all-American hero, Superman, is played — on TV — by Dean Cain, who is part Japanese.
The stars of “Friends” were happy to welcome all the guests on Sunday’s celebrity-studded special episode — except one. Julia Roberts, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chris Isaak and Brooke Shields all reportedly received adoring, excited welcomes on the set of NBC’s hit sitcom. But not so for Marcel, the temperamental monkey who hurled feces at the cast last season.
The one-two punch of the “Mortal Kombat” video game and the film of the same name – the nation’s No. 1 movie – is being followed with a live tour that zeroes in on martial artistry. “When we did the movie, only one of the actors (Robin Shou) was a champion martial artist, so there were limitations as to what could be done,” said fight choreographer Pat Johnson.
So Robert De Niro and Marisa Tomei gained weight for their movie roles. Big deal. Comet – no last name, please – easily can one-up them. The 9-year-old had his luxurious blond mane snipped and dyed murky brown, perfected a limp and convinced the casting director that he could play a 1-year-old in the new comedy “Fluke.” Oh, did we mention that Comet is a dog?
By Jae-Ha Kim Chicago Sun-Times April 30, 1995 Crobar, Excalibur, Big Nasty . . . These Chicago clubs are as different as can be from one another. Similarly, the clubs that our favorite TV characters […]
On the hit NBC drama “ER,” which takes place at the fictional County Memorial General Hospital in Chicago, there is a slew of secondary roles that flesh out the lives of the primary six (George Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Eriq LaSalle, Julianna Margulies, Sherry Stringfield and Noah Wylie).