Van Halen recently played a much-discussed show over at Cafe Wha?, a small club owned by David Lee Roth’s nonagenarian uncle. The small crowd was made up of celebrities, music industry types and journalists like Grantland’s metal guru Chuck Klosterman, who proclaimed the show to be “incredibly, insanely, undeniably awesome.”

There is no doubt in my mind that seeing Van Halen, fronted by the mega-personality of Roth, in an intimate club setting the way God intended us to exhibit rock n’ roll, must be akin to a religious experience.

YouTube

Along with the pop-culture powerhouse of KISS™, Van Halen helped usher in the era of ‘80 heavy metal, when mainstream rock n’ roll was all about partying hard and living in the red, before MTV switched from cocaine to black tar heroin in the ’90s, and everyone playing music became depressed and started killing themselves.

“Eruption” announced to the world that Eddie Van Halen was pretty much the gnarliest guitarist around, and Roth’s Jim Dandy-influenced stage persona made him the model frontman of that era. After a wildly successful run, the band kicked Roth to the curb, bringing Sammy Hagar into the fold, leaving Roth to find some success as a solo artist before slowly fading away. Despite doing four solid albums with Hagar, he too was eventually shoved out, leading Van Halen into a chaotic period that included an aborted reunion with Roth and an album with Extreme’s Gary Cherone on the mic that most would rather forget.

Long story short, bassist Michael Anthony, whose soaring backing vocals were a big part of classic Van Halen tunes like “Dance the Night Away,” was given the boot to make room for Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang, and Roth was finally brought back in for a full-blown reunion and a much-anticipated new album. Last week, we heard Van Halen’s first single with Roth since 1984, “Tattoo.”  Generally bands put their best foot forward when tossing a single off, and if “Tattoo” is any indication, this new album is gonna be a snoozer. (more…)

In an effort to further promote the message of love, peace, and the type of compassion intrinsic to all dedicated liberals, Alec Baldwin, a paunchy comedian with anger issues, called attention to what he feels is Michele Bachmann’s inability to articulate by inarticulately spewing obscenities in the Minnesota congresswoman’s direction by way of Twitter.

Within seconds of Michele announcing she’d decided to launch a bid for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, it became clear that not one iota of liberal negativity toward conservatives has abated.

Over the past few days, the rock world has joined the fun by publicly stepping forward in an effort to send a message to the latest object of targeted political ridicule, Michele Bachmann. The goal is to drive home the point that liberal rock musicians disapprove of both Bachmann’s politics and her audacity in thinking she actually has a chance to send honorary rock star Barack Obama back to Chicago.

Following Alec Baldwin’s Twitter tirade, Tom Petty, a Mad Hatter in sunglasses, decided it was his turn to deny Bachmann, without explanation, the use of one of his hit songs. Petty is so anti-GOP he forbade Michele Bachmann from playing  “American Girl” as a musical backdrop to her announcement to run for president.

Apparently, the last thing Tom Petty wants to be associated with is writing the signature anthem that could accompany a female Republican candidate on the trip from Minnesota to the White House.  So, to prevent that from happening, the rocker sent a three-word message to Michele: “Cease and desist.” (more…)

Musicians – like every American – have every right to say most anything they want.  The 1960’s gave rise to popular music as a powerful means of political expression and action.  But in the end, Michael Jackson may have moved the cultural political bar further than any performer.  He proved a black kid from the poor streets of Gary, Indiana could rise to become an international superstar.  His music enjoyed equal company with Eddie Van Halen or Berry Gordy — black or white didn’t seem to matter.  He received invitations, calls and letters from leaders as diverse as Republican Ronald Reagan, Democrat Bill Clinton and the Sultan of Brunei.  News of his death sent shock waves around the globe. 

He was friends with Al Sharpton and Elizabeth Taylor.  He was idolized by Justin Timberlake, Flavor Flav — and Madonna.  Even those who had slapped him with lawsuits — like Paul McCartney, Tommy Mottola and John Landis — praised him. Everyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Diddy issued public statements of their profound sadness.  In short, Michael Jackson transcended most boundaries set on Earth.  (more…)

Never before has music been so easy to create, distribute, and obtain. And never before has it been less inspired and inspiring; never before has it been so inconsequential to human affairs. The villain behind this terrible irony? Ones and zeros.

The digitization of music, while in some ways advantageous (and in any case inevitable), has nonetheless resulted in profoundly deleterious effects from which all of the music industry’s current woes emanate. Let us count the ways.

Digitization has democratized the processes of musical composition and recording, beckoning the masses to participate in once rarefied and expensive art forms.

To be an artist was once to be elite by definition. Artistic mastery which the public revered (and, if you were lucky, payed for), was obtainable only through years of sacrifice, study, and struggle. This arduous and uncertain life had the glorious effect of weeding out all but the most dedicated and talented from the artistic professions. (more…)