Tag Archives: anniversary

Music, Pop Culture

Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind: Queen’s Entire Album Catalog on a Collectible Golden Orb!

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Queen Golden Orb Collection Digital Album Archive
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As the surviving members of Queen continue their seemingly endless celebration of the band’s forty year anniversary – which kicked off with last year’s Deluxe Reissues of their entire catalog – an all new box set of Queen Tunes is about to be made available for fans who don’t mind throwing down $350: the Queen Orb Gift Box. A “true electronic age marvel,” the Golden Orb contains an ornately decorated USB drive, which holds all 15 (re-mastered) Queen studio albums – in both 320kbps MP3 and 24-bit 44.1kHz WAV format (fully PC and Mac compatible) – as well as a massive photo gallery to waste hours and hours of time looking at and downloading to your FaceBook page. Buyers also get a gold-plated Queen crest pendant necklace inside a tiny red velvet pouch, and, of course, the Golden Orb itself, which is quite impressive on its own (just look at it!). And it comes in a fancy black velvet box for storage. Fancy!

Produced in a limited edition series of 5,000 numbered units, The Queen Golden Orb (which quickly sold out its limited first run last December) will be available to purchase on April 2nd, 2012 at This Link.

See more details and the album listing after the jump!

Thanks to Karl Brandt for The Tip!
Queen Golden Orb Collection Digital Album Archive

Continue reading Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind: Queen’s Entire Album Catalog on a Collectible Golden Orb! →

Music, Pop Culture

John Lennon: 31 Years Gone

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“So Long Ago…”

John Lennon was murdered 31 years ago today. I found this really cool video on Youtube which is a tribute to John and The Beatles sound tracked by John’s 1974 single, “#9 Dream” – which is my very favorite song from John’s solo career. Please enjoy remembering John today.

Lifestyle

What If Your Birthday Was on September 11th?

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911 Birthday Cake
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Confession: Most of the time, I can barely recall what Netflick I watched last night or what I ate for lunch earlier in the day, but ask me what it was like to be in Manhattan on September 11th, 2001, and I remember that day like it was still happening. I remember seeing the smoke from the first tower as I stood at the corner of 19th Street and 5th Avenue, walking to work that morning and thinking “Something’s on fire.” I can tell you what the weather was like (the most beautiful late summer Tuesday, ever).

I recall the most minute, bullshit details of numerous conversations I had with people that day. I can tell you what I made for lunch (pasta with chicken in red sauce). I even remember what I was wearing. It’s been ten years since that day and for me it’s like it was, as they say, just yesterday. I’m sure I’ll have the same clarity about September 11, 2001 for the rest of my life. If you were in NYC at the time, you can’t ever forget. But think about this: what is that day like for people whose birthday is on September 11th? That’s something I hadn’t really considered until I read this fantastic story in The Awl built around first-person testimonials from10 people who are unfortunate enough to have 9/11 as their birth date. Ten People Who Observe Birthdays on 9/11 is by far my favorite remembrance piece of the too-many-to-mention that I’ve already read over the past few days. It captures just the right balance of candor and uncomfortable humor that feel appropriate after a decade of 9/11 anniversaries. The piece starts out like this:

Jotham Sederstrom, 34, freelance reporter: On September 10th, my friends took me out for birthday drinks in Chicago. I was out until three or four, I think, at a place called “The Hideout,” among other places. I didn’t wake up until about noon, at which point everything had changed.

George Spyros, 44, executive producer: I got married the weekend before. We had a bunch of friends and family from out of town, and went out Monday night for dinner. My wife and I were supposed to fly out on September 11th for our honeymoon. On top of that, it’s my birthday.

Michael Wright, 44, editorial director: September 11th has always been the best day of the year for me — and then it all goes to shit.

Allison Spensley, 31, mid-career change: It was my 21st birthday, so of course I had plans to go out.

And it just gets more engaging. You can read the rest – and I strongly recommend that you do – Here.

Music, Pop Culture

Queen Celebrate 40th Anniversary With Album Re-Issues

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QUEEN’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION KICKS OFF

WITH DELUXE REISSUE OF

FIRST FIVE STUDIO ALBUMS, PLUS GREATEST HITS II,

 “STORMTROOPERS IN STILETTOS” GALLERY EXHIBITION AND MORE

Queen’s 40th anniversary is now upon us, and the band plans to pull out all the stops to celebrate this historic occasion. “2011 is an important year for Queen,” said Brian May “and there will be a lot of activity.” Adds Roger Taylor, “I can’t believe it’s been that long and that we are still around in such a big way. I’m amazed and grateful!” This yearlong event will be marked by a series of releases, re-releases, special limited-edition items and events around the world.

It was in March 1971 that bassist John Deacon joined May and Taylor’s buzzed-about London group, which had changed its name from Smile to Queen nine months earlier, following the addition of multitalented singer/pianist Freddie Mercury, thus completing the classic lineup. The four simpatico musicians proceeded to take the world by storm. The band has released a total of 18 chart-topping albums and 18 #1 singles, while selling more than 300 million albums worldwide, making them one of the biggest rock acts of all time. They’ve received seven Ivor Novello awards in the U.K., were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003, the  UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and even received their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in October 2002.

As live artists, Queen literally conquered the world. Acknowledged as one of the greatest stadium bands of all time, Queen performed over 700 concerts, reaching into every corner of the world. They achieved rock history by being the first band to open up South America and the Eastern Bloc, with world record- breaking concerts in Argentina, Brazil and  Hungary.

This is a timeless band whose music retains such immediacy and undiminished power that new fans continue to discover and embrace it, along the way inspiring a host of diverse artists from Lady Gaga (who took her name from Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga”), and Katy Perry, through to the Foo Fighters.  It’s worth noting that Queen’s videos have collectively generated well north of 300 million views online—a remarkable figure that figures to expand exponentially with the launch of a dedicated Vevo channel this spring, in yet another iteration of the anniversary rollout.

As the centerpiece in the 40th anniversary celebration, Queen’s entire 15-album studio catalog is being reissued in a series of deluxe editions. Every note is being tweaked, every piece of artwork is being cleaned, freshened up and resourced, wherever necessary, with the legendary Bob Ludwig doing the remastering, working from the original source material. The albums will be released in three waves, staggered over the next year, with the first wave—comprising the first five LPs—coming this May.

More Info and Bonus Track Listing After The Jump!

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Music, Pop Culture

Happy Birthday & Anniversary to Keith Richards!

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“Hi, I’m Keith Richards, and Please Buy My New Book” (Image Source)

Keith Richards turns another year older today, having been born on December 18, 1943. It’s also the wedding anniversary of Keith and wife Patti Hansen, who tied the knot on this date in 1983. Congrats all around Keef!


Patti & Keef: Still Happy After All These Years