It’s August 1972, and Tiger Beat has nailed Donny Osmond in Hawaii. This time, the teen magazine’s caught him with his pants down, or at least his shirt off. His bangs hanging in decidedly ungroomed, wet mop strings over his forehead, Donny stands on the cover fresh from a dip…
n Public Enemy’s revolutionary 1988 LP, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, head M.C. Chuck D roared through one black-power anthem after another, fashioning an aural altar to Louis Farrakhan here and a sonic testimonial to Malcolm X there. Then came the last song and its…
The group that’s established itself as the most important in pop music during the past year doesn’t even play instruments. The only noise its members make is the sound of thoughtful hand clapping or finger snapping. Without further introduction, then, meet the Guilty White Liberals. Why did the music world…
Poor, deprived Tommy Stinson. Twenty-two years old, he’s been a slave to rock ‘n’ roll and the Replacements–the grown-up garage gods he plays bass for–nigh on ten years now. As of last year, between rehearsals, recording sessions and gigs, not once did little Tommy ever make it to Disneyland. Then,…
On many weekday mornings, Acme Records publicist Wendy Harte sits in her suburban Los Angeles office and prepares press kits to get the word out to the media about semifamous rock bands with colorful names like E.I.E.I.O. and Thin White Rope. Sometimes, Harte says, she works so hard that she…
In August, Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante uttered the words that foot-lunches are made of. A press release issued by his record company had him saying, “Anthrax aren’t a band that relies on . . . MTV. We’re not going to sell out for them.” For all of this month and…
If you’re not exactly sure what South by Southwest is, you’re not in the record biz, pal. This year’s SXSW music and media conference, the third, was similar to the SXSW confabs of the other two years. In short, it’s this “thing” held in Austin, Texas, for four days in…
Let’s face it. If James Dean were alive today, he’d be about as svelte as Marlon Brando and nearly as sexy as Gavin MacLeod. If Jimi Hendrix were still around, ten to one he’d be about as revolutionary as Eric Clapton. In other words, “Spuds” Hendrix. Hey, no one wants…
Take 6 yawns and stretches. It is Friday, February 24, and the a cappella gospel-jazz-blues-soul-pop-doo-wop group is paying the price after winning two Grammys only 48 hours earlier. After collecting the prestigious hardware (one for jazz vocals and one for soul gospel) at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown L.A. on…
You watch Fast Times at Ridgemont High these days and it’s sharply evident the movie wasn’t particularly ahead of its time. For one thing, Sean Penn’s totally mellow Jeff Spicoli is clearly an anachronism. Spicoli gives no indication that Penn would someday open a renowned Hollywood eatery specializing in knuckle…
MARY McCANN, who booked from puff-metal station KUPD-FM after her employer couldn’t come up with a suitable contract, is set to roll now with Mrs. Jumbo Inc., her locally based music agency. Ironically, one of McCann’s first projects was to book LIME GREEN as the opening act for the PURSUIT…
When Waldenbooks workers were ordered to yank The Satanic Verses off the shelves last week, they also were told to keep their mouths shut about it. Some employees, apparently not cowed by the specter of mobs of militant Moslems, spoiled the corporate strategy. After bounty hunters were sicced on the…
Halfway through a recent interview from his hotel suite in San Francisco, rapper Tone Loc puts the phone down and calls out to a flunky in his posse, “Tell this girl to put her clothes on and stop walking around naked.” Right. Uh-huh. Like there’s really a naked person of…
