Copernicus went out on a limb to demonstrate that the Earth was not the center of the universe. Galileo proved gravity does not discriminate based on race, creed, color, or mass. Mary Karlzen just wants to show that lightning can strike twice in the same place. A singer/songwriter who is…
The term is not perfect, but it’s useful and expedient: Local rock scene. And what a great one this is. Dozens of thoroughly professional bands making music in a range of styles. A healthy mix of venues for these groups’ performances. Two powerful commercial radio stations that play local music…
The lights are on over at Santa’s Enchanted Rip-off and the malls are decked with boughs of holly (plastic, of course). Kathy Willets has a tongue-in-cheek (her own, for a change) Christmas poster for those who cannot throw their money away fast enough already. For the second consecutive week a…
Of all the nonexistent books, perhaps the most valuable is the indispensable reference Great Fishbone Quotations. Never published (though if it had been, it would have been by some hot-shot New York hardback house whose offices are in a building so tall you have to take the elevator down just…
In the super-hyped world of pop music, especially Latin pop music, Juan Luis Guerra is something of an anomaly. Yes, he’s currently the biggest attraction in the Latin music world. But he got there with his integrity and artistry intact. As a lyricist Guerra is a storyteller, a reporter with…
Like a waterfall descending, the beat varies, rushing rapidly, surging with the force of hundreds of gallons, crashing, becoming a gentle, soothing stream. At times the listener feels only the invigorating mist that accompanies the musical torrent. In other places the falling intensity is absent and all one senses is…
Walk into tiny JJ’s Bar on a Friday night and you vibrate. Drummers and singers are filling the air with a driving beat that shakes the narrow room. The joint is crowded with Cubans, a mix of musicians, poets, actors, writers, lawyers, artists, and who knows what else, behaving with…
Dr. Frankenstein had a decent idea, at least in theory: Take the best pieces of dead bodies, sew them together, and you’ve made the perfect man. Record companies, on the other hand, are a little less choosy when it comes to building bands, preferring this formula: Find four white guys…
Bruce Springsteen’s new album, Parking Free, due out soon, returns the Jersey rock legend full circle to his roots and captures the true spirit of the man as husband, father, musician, and poet. The clear influence is not the folksy Dylanesque verbosity of Springsteen’s first album, 1973’s Greetings from Asbury…
I saw rock & roll’s future and its name is Bruce Springsteen –Jon Landau To settle back is to settle without knowing “Jackson Cage” by Bruce Springsteen Much has happened in the personal life of New Jersey’s favorite son since the release of his preceding studio album, Tunnel of Love,…
After being told that New Times had obtained an exclusive advance copy of Bruce Springsteen’s forthcoming album, publicists for the musician arranged a brief interview. Questions were faxed to his record label (Sony), which forwarded the queries to his personal publicist, who relayed them to Springsteen. The Boss agreed to…
All local bands face their obstacles. Some acts are considered too weird, others too straight. Some have been jerked around by major labels, others have been signed by them. Descriptions – metal, progressive, alternative – tend to do more harm than good. That sound-guy at Washington Square is a real…
In the 1950 classic All About Eve, a black-and-white tale of back stabbing and bitchery set in Manhattan’s theater district, jaded critic Addison De Witt (George Sanders) has just witnessed a rehearsal by the title character, a mere understudy at that point. He describes her performance to Bette Davis’s character…
Slit open the veins of Latin America and amidst a gamut of blood baths and changes that never change anything there is a familiar voice: Mercedes Sosa. She is major in every way. Not so much because her musical career spans more than 40 years and includes dozens of recordings…
The singer is perplexed. “I don’t know what we’re doing at a blues festival,” says Todd Duncan, with sax in hand. It’s the end of the 1989 Riverwalk Blues Fest and the Crazy 8s, from Portland, Oregon, have taken the stage at the Musicians Exchange (then at its ill-fated downtown…
This town definitely ain’t big enough for me and Paula Abdul. On the strength of four number-one singles, Forever Your Girl sells ten million copies and change. Spellbound is a smash. Videos keep popping up on MTV like fleas on a hound dog. And now the woman herself is coming…
From the Beatles to Bruce, from Petty to the Pixies, worthwhile careers and weighty influence begin with songwriting. Musical ability, sonic inventiveness, choice of approach, even appearance all count, but if the songs aren’t there in the first place, the best a band can hope for is a few platinum…
Maybe I’ve got a case of arrested development, but I seem to like a lot of the same things as most teen-agers today. I faithfully watch Beverly Hills 90210 every week and faithfully swoon, along with a zillion teens about ten years younger than I, over its star, Jason Priestley…
Though it’s still being defined, it seems to begin with Bruce Springsteen and it might just end with Michael Molina. The pontifications and delineations are oozing out of the media even as you read this, but the best definition is in the grooves of songs you’ve never heard, such as…
Well, you made it. Bigshot MCA recording artists. Congratulations are unquestionably in order. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch. I always figured that either the Mavericks or I would be the next act to sign a major-label deal. Since I can’t sing a lick and play guitar with such…
The Ramones sell out! We’ve all been waiting fifteen years to say that, never had the opportunity until now, until two Marlboro Men in a beer truck decided to enter an auto race, flipped a switch that turned their vehicle into a Jaguar IMSA race car, and roared into television…
When it comes to crafting original music, no songwriter can match the invention, diligence, intelligence, poignancy, or power of Bruce Springsteen. He encompasses everything in rock while repeating nothing. He is the songwriter’s songwriter. That doesn’t mean he’s beyond covering the work of others. For years he closed his legendary…
