Tag Archives: musicians

Music, Pop Culture

“Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time”: The Rock Of Love Recaps!

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rock of love logo screen shot
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One of my very favorite guilty pleasures of last summer was watching VH1’s Rock Of Love with Bret Michaels, lead singer of the world’s-luckiest-not-that-talented bar band, Poison. Even though this show actually wrapped up months ago, Television Without Pity  is just now hilariously recapping season one .  I guess it gives them something fun to write about until the new episodes of Survivor start in February. Whoever’s doing the recapping is going super-heavy on the snark – which is always fun!  Here’s just a little snippet of the action from episode one:

“Bret gets to know Brandi M. and Jessica. First of all, only on this show do you have two Brandis. Brandi M. is from Buffalo and moved to Vegas, where she just started dancing. And I think we all know what kind of dancing . . .”
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Music, Pop Culture

The Results Are In: I Am Freddie Mercury!

Freddie!


This quiz, apparently, proves it.
Which Queen member are you?
created with Buzz Feed
You scored as Freddie Mercury: Congratulations, you’re Freddie Mercury! You’re the lovable leader of the band, and a self-proclaimed smart-arse! Go you!

Freddie Mercury
55%
John Deacon
50%
Brian May
10%
Roger Taylor
10%

 

Music, Pop Culture

My Dinner With Blue Cheer

Blue Cheer
I Sat Next to the Guy on the Left. And yes, he still has all his hair.

When I was in college, and for a few years after I graduated, I had an amazingly progressive, eccentric and entertaining boyfriend named Mark. I met Mark when we were both DJs at the campus radio station (KUCI FM in Irvine), and we had a pretty wild ride together. I was the same elitist hipster doofus about music back then that I am today. I thought I knew absolutely everything about every band or album that was worth listening to, and if I didn’t dig it, it didn’t need to be dug. But Mark had been raised by acid-dropping hippy parents, and he was actually able to turn me on to music I was completely unfamiliar with at the time, such as the first two Alice Cooper albums, The Fugs and a power trio that were often lauded as the supposed originators of the Heavy Metal Sound, Blue Cheer.
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Music, Pop Culture

Happy 60th Birthday, Neal Smith!

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Neal on his Mirrored Kit

Neal on his Mirrored Drumkit, Billion Dollar Babies Tour, 1972

Today, September 23rd, is the sixtieth birthday of my very good friend, Neal, who was the drummer in and a founding member of the legendary ‘70s rock band Alice Cooper. Without Neal’s influence and association (along with that of Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and the late Glen Buxton), the solo artist now known as Alice Cooper would certainly be doing something else for a living these days. Rock on Neal, and thanks for all the great music. You’re still a superstar to me!

ACG Billboard

Books and Periodicals, Pop Culture

Gail’s Rad Advice For Bands to be Included in Book on Touring

tour smart book

I have conducted and written about a gazillion interviews in my career, and most have turned out really good or great, not just thanks to my extreme talent but also to my good fortune at being able to interview some of the most verbose and charismatic figures in rock music. Somebody who’s always an amazing interview is Martin Atkins: drummer, label owner, entrepreneur and mastermind behind the revolving line-up underground supergroup, Pigface. Martin is the shit. Fortunately for all you struggling musicians out there, Martin has just written the definitive insiders’ book on touring tips for bands, entitled Tour: Smart. I was quite flattered to be among the 150 or so music industry luminaries that Martin solicited for input to be included in the book. Of course, I was thrilled to oblige.

My contribution to Tour: Smart centers on interviews, mistakes musicians make when approaching interviews, how bad that pisses me off and what you can do to avoid my wrath. You will probably really enjoy reading that section, because I name names and use a lot of swear words. Tour: Smart should be released this summer, and is a guaranteed must-read.