Every now and then I tweet out a puzzle: who IS the greatest American rock’n’roll band ever? The English have their Stones, Zeppelin, Who, Clash, Beatles. Canada has Rush, Australia has AC/DC, Ireland has U2. And Switzerland has their Krokus. The best of American rock’n’roll tend to be people: Chuck Berry obviously, and also Bob Dylan. But a band? I go with the … Read on
In 1993, I sent Thomas Dolby a prank fax. The timing was too tempting. Thomas Dalby, aka Chip, was working at the Guggenheim Soho in NYC and Dolby was some sort of “artist-in-residence” for a few days, occupying a nearby cubicle. So I faxed some over-the-top adoration, delivered by Thomas Dalby to Thomas Dolby. Should have been on “Punked.” Last night I saw … Read on
In a recent article in the wonderful This Land Press, Nathan Brown begins a defense for the need of 21st-century poetry with this Salman Rushdie quote: A poet’s work is to name the unnamable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it from going to sleep. I love that. I was out of the country when … Read on
Everyone knows who Woody Guthrie was, right? Folk singer who sang about the Dust Bowl, the Columbia River and killing fascists? He grew up in Oklahoma, but the author of “This Land is Your Land” was the eternal rambler — and not just because he wrote “I Ain’t Got No Home In this Home Anymore”. But now he has a permanent home, in … Read on
The leader of the band has forgotten what song he’s playing. He hits a few notes on his guitar, but they are the wrong ones. And they are too loud. He either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. A balding guitarist in glasses, his son, leans in and says something, and the leader nods back. He lets his guitar hang unplayed and sings some … Read on
So the Rolling Stones are 50 years old, some of them have been remarkably great years, though most mediocre. Still they are the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world for all time, for creating that bag-o-bones sound that stutters to keep standing then gels into something so obvious and simple yet beyond what any other band could possibly do. The Stones changed my … Read on
