TAKING THE EDGE OFF A GUILLOTINE ACT

Controversy! Intrigue! Censorship! A guillotine! G-strings! A big snake! Keep reading and all of the above will be revealed as we delve into the vexing case of Scott Rowe’s Tribute to Alice Cooper versus the Maricopa County Fair. More than a couple letters have come in, registering disbelief and demanding…

THE GOOD OL’ BOY FROM NYC

A February issue of Billboard magazine asked, “Is Nashville Ready for Bob Woodruff?” Sure, he’s from New York, but he’s not the fast-talking, big-city heathen such a query might imply. Woodruff is simply delivering country music so straight down the middle and true to his influences–guys like Hank Williams, Merle…

CONVENTIONEER WAX

Ah, yes, Austin’s South by Southwest Music and Media Conference has come and gone once again. Much music was heard, many hands were shaken, backs slapped and beers drunk. Or is that beers drunken? Dranken? Whatever. Yours truly was there, and for the last four days, I did my share…

CONVENTIONEER WAX

Ah, yes, Austin’s South by Southwest Music and Media Conference has come and gone once again. Much music was heard, many hands were shaken, backs slapped and beers drunk. Or is that beers drunken? Dranken? Whatever. Yours truly was there, and for the last four days, I did my share…

HENRY CHARLES BUKOWSKI, R.I.P.

I went to see John Doe play solo last week; he was in X, one of the best bands ever to come out of Los Angeles. After the show, I walked up and asked him something. I’d once read that he had rented a house Bukowski used to live in…

ANOTHER SCOOP OF VANILLA

Consider Vanilla Ice. Four years ago, he was a car-lot attendant in Carrollton, Texas, with a passion for rap and a knack for breakdancing. He won a talent show at a local club, got a manager and concocted a look. Pompadoured, dirty-blond brush cut, chiseled cheekbones, red, white and blue…

ANOTHER SCOOP OF VANILLA

Consider Vanilla Ice. Four years ago, he was a car-lot attendant in Carrollton, Texas, with a passion for rap and a knack for breakdancing. He won a talent show at a local club, got a manager and concocted a look. Pompadoured, dirty-blond brush cut, chiseled cheekbones, red, white and blue…

HENRY CHARLES BUKOWSKI, R.I.P.

I went to see John Doe play solo last week; he was in X, one of the best bands ever to come out of Los Angeles. After the show, I walked up and asked him something. I’d once read that he had rented a house Bukowski used to live in…

DISCS WE’VE HEARDTHE CD JUST KEEP ON COMING

Ben Vaughn Mono U.S.A. (Bar/None) The man who gave the world “I’m Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee)” has done, if not the impossible, then the extremely challenging: Vaughn has taken 18 obscure, thoroughly bitchin’ AM-radio tunes from the glory years of the early to mid-Sixties (back when “obscure” and…

DISCS WE’VE HEARDTHE CD JUST KEEP ON COMING

Ben Vaughn Mono U.S.A. (Bar/None) The man who gave the world “I’m Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee)” has done, if not the impossible, then the extremely challenging: Vaughn has taken 18 obscure, thoroughly bitchin’ AM-radio tunes from the glory years of the early to mid-Sixties (back when “obscure” and…

THE TAPES IN THE MAIL

All right. I begged you to send in tapes, and here, at last, are a few opinions. If you submitted something and it isn’t mentioned, don’t despair. There’ll be more to come. Mention the Piersons to anyone who’s heard of them and you’ll usually get this response: “Oh yeah, they’re…

THE TAPES IN THE MAIL

All right. I begged you to send in tapes, and here, at last, are a few opinions. If you submitted something and it isn’t mentioned, don’t despair. There’ll be more to come. Mention the Piersons to anyone who’s heard of them and you’ll usually get this response: “Oh yeah, they’re…