Tina Turner, and Cyndi Lauper America West Arena May 7, 1997 You don’t get a double bill like this every night. Here we had two female performers who reached their zenith in the early MTV ’80s–one carefully coifed and choreographed, one klutzy and disheveled by design. That neither Tina Turner…
Once I escaped the teeming mass of Melrose Place fans in the low bleacher seats and climbed high enough to feel the breeze on my nipples, I got into U2’s POPMart phantasmagoria at Sun Devil Stadium, May 9, a lot more than I thought I would. Turning all the spotlights…
There are a lot of good and even excellent blues guitarists, but players of the subtlest instrument, soul-blues singers, are an increasingly rare treat. That’s why Chicago singer Syl Johnson’s pending gig at the Rhythm Room is the kind of show rabid Japanese fans would sell their limbs to see…
Radish Restraining Bolt (Mercury) Ben Lee Something to Remember Me By (Grand Royal) Frankie Lymon was 13 when he peaked in 1955 with “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?”. Two years later, his career stalled for good, and he was only 25 when he died from a heroin overdose. Lymon’s…
When it comes to Las Vegas, the gambling and the naked showgirls and the 99-cent shrimp cocktails aren’t really what make it seem so different from the real world. It’s the bizarre architecture: Huge public buildings the size of Versailles or Blenheim Castle or the Kremlin abound–while outside is America,…
Not just an artist, mind you, but “The Artist.” That’s what the 9,000 tickets said. You have to admit, no matter how deep you’re into his (His?) music, that’s just a little pretentious. “Everybody always asks me what your name is now,” said The Artist Who Performed at America West…
Grrls and boyz, we have a winner. Well, 13 winners. One each for the 12 genre-specific categories in the second annual New Times Music Awards Showcase, plus Yoko Love, write-in victor for “Most Likely to Make It Big.” I compliment our readers on their taste, but I think they might…
When Kathleen Hanna screamed, “Don’t need your dick to fuck!” on Bikini Kill’s first album, she defined the burgeoning riot-grrl movement in one blunt lyric. It was 1990, and a network of punk rock “grrls” in Olympia, Washington, had formed bands to rail against male domination in the punk scene…
Chris Collingwood remembers thinking it was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard. He and new pal Adam Schlesinger were looking for a band name to hang on the serious, introspective songs they’d penned together as serious, introspective college students. As they discussed various monikers, Schlesinger’s mom overheard and had a…
The Jayhawks Sound of Lies (American Recordings) It was the perfect setup, at least on the exterior: They shared songwriting credits, shared lead vocals, shared the stage until it was difficult to discern just who brought what to the party. With their old buddies in Uncle Tupelo, you could easily…
The term “roots” music has come to mean almost everything that’s good and older than the day before yesterday, including rockabilly, swing, soul and ethnic forms like polka, salsa and conjunto. It’s gotten easier just to say what roots doesn’t cover: music on the charts or MTV, apparently, and anything…
Several London dance clubs can lay claim to the title “England [and therefore the world]’s First Underground House Music Club.” But only one–a South London spot called Heaven–has clear bragging rights to “England [and therefore the world]’s First Chill-Out Room.” It also can lay claim to helping bring about the…
The second annual New Times Music Awards Showcase is history. And–let’s see, how can I put this delicately?–it kicked total ass. Just more than 11,000 people came to the party, most venues were consistently packed, the DJ showcase went off, and, overall, we’re feeling about like the girl with the…
The Boo Radleys C’mon Kids (Mercury) Eggman First Fruits (Creation) The Boo Radleys should have been contenders. Of all the bands on England’s legendary Creation Records roster devoted to reinterpreting the psychedelic ’60s through the prism of the postmodern ’90s, Martin Carr and company had the goods. More forward-looking than…
Various artists Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness (Rykodisc) Talk about timing. Kicks Joy Darkness, an inventive take on selected Jack Kerouac poems and prose, hit the bins less than a day before Kerouac’s onetime cohort, Allen Ginsberg, trocheed his last couplet and joined his old Beat-buddy in the sky. Ginsberg’s passing…
The title of Tempe trip-funk collective Polliwog’s debut release, More Soul Than a Rabbit Factory, begs the query: “Fine, but just how much soul does a rabbit factory have?” Considering how much money the band poured into making the album, though, the better question is, “And how much money can…
Bzzzt. Pop. Check. Check. So how’s everybody doing out there? I said . . . how’s everybody doing out there!? All right! Are you ready for the second annual New Times Music Awards Showcase!? Coooool. Before we get started, I’d like to take a second and thank our sponsors. Especially…
They ain’t built the CD tower that can hold Joe Myers. Just try slotting any of the Tempe solo guitarist’s three homespun releases into your favorite disc organizer with anything resembling ease. It can’t be done! First, House With Nine Rooms came in a slim cardboard sleeve. Next, each copy…
Overwhelmed by the cornucopia of bands and venues on the table at the New Times Music Awards Showcase? This fun quiz is here to help! It’s easy: Just read the statements below and score each for how closely it describes your primary musical tastes, lifestyle and present state of mind…
Modern Rock Rusty Jones Note: Jazz-informed beatnik rock, with a monster sax player, deep bass grooves and intensely poetic lyrics via front man G. DeVoe. Quote: “We love to fly, and it shows.”–Garrett DeVoe BTW: Rusty Jones goes through drummers like Spinal Tap, and the resulting long gaps between live…
Nina Simone Anthology: The Colpix Years (Rhino) This two-disc compilation is neither a satisfactory introduction to nor a true anthology of Nina Simone’s career. It only covers her late-’50s and early-’60s tenure with Colpix Records–her early, formative years–and so omits such important original compositions as “Mississippi Goddamn” and “Young, Gifted…
Ben Folds is trying to explain why his band, Ben Folds Five, only has three people. Folds has been asked this before. “I’m not sick of the question yet,” he says. “I’m just sick of not having a good answer.” So, what is the deal with the name? “Well,” Folds…
