In the pilot episode of Wax Poetics’ new music/travel series, “Soul City,” host (and Wax Poetics writer) Ronnie Reese explores his home town of South Side, Chicago, first visiting with Todd Mayfield, son of soul icon Curtis Mayfield and writer of the new biography “Traveling Soul” (which was co-authored by Wax Poetics writer Travis Atria). They talk about Curtis’s desire to own his own work, which led to starting the record label Curtom. In the second segment, Reese meets with Chicago house icon Ron Trent, where they talk about his rise through the local and international scene, which culminated in cofounding his own label, Prescription Records. In the epilogue, we pop into the (Discogs) Crate Diggers record fair and speak to cofounder Zernell Gillie, as well as chat with Ron Trent again about the joys of record digging.
Carol Kaye: Rock’s Most Prolific Session Musician Gets A Short Doc
More people should really know about Carol Kaye, one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years.
Read that again. 10,000 songs.
And it’s not like she was on some outsider tracks or artists you’ve never heard of. As a session musician, Kaye was the bassist on many Phil Spector and Brian Wilson productions in the 1960s and 1970s. She is credited with the bass tracks on several Simon & Garfunkel hits and many film scores by Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin. She contributed to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.
Besides her contributions on bass guitar, she also played 12-string and six-string electric and acoustic guitars – a rareity for female musicians back then.
So, grab a coffee and 10 minutes of your time, and check out this doc.
Watch Mark Hamill’s Audition That Won Him Star Wars Role
According to Robert Englund, he auditioned for the role of Han Solo but was told he was too young for the part. At the end of the meeting, he suggesting his friend, Mark Hamill, audition for the film. “I said, ‘Hey, Lucas is doing this space movie. Maybe you’re right for it. The lead guy’s like a teenager,” the future Freddy Krueger recalled. “So Mark got on the phone to his agent and I think he went up the next day. He nailed it, and the rest is history.”
Electron microscope slow-motion video of vinyl LP
This is what happens to your phonograph needle while playing a vinyl record, all shown in the groove using an electron microscope.
Grease’s Director Breaks Down the “You’re The One That I Want” Scene
In this episode of “Notes on a Scene,” Randal Kleiser, Grease’s director, breaks down the “You’re the One That I Want” scene at the movie’s finale. Grease is now available with a new 40th Anniversary Edition on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from Paramount Home Media Distribution.
Nikki Sixx on The Myth Of Sex, Drugs, And Rock And Roll
Nikki Sixx is one of music’s legendary musicians, as the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the band Mötley Crüe.
For a lot of kids the lure of sex, drugs, and rock and roll is still a powerful, romanticized thing. It becomes this myth that a lot of people get attached to—the brilliant, fucked-up rock star. It becomes aspirational, this idea that getting fucked up helps you become more creative somehow. Your book unpacks that idea. It becomes the opposite of glamorous.
It’s 100% true. I understand it. I gave a speech once at a prison. They asked me to come in to one of their NA meetings and talk about heroin. This was about 10 years ago. There was a major outbreak in the prison system with opiates and they wanted someone who had experience with that addiction to come in and give advice and encouragement. I remember getting the stink eye from the guy that brought me in because the first thing I said to them was, “Can I just start off by saying that heroin is amazing?”
So I say that and everyone in the room is like, “Yeah!” And then I follow with, “And then you die.” That’s the story. It has a beginning and a end and the middle is not very interesting. Then I say, “Or you end up in jail.” Everyone’s looking at me like, “Fuck you.” I’m like, “You’re in jail. You’re in jail because of drugs.” All of these guys were. Then we started talking about the experience of it, the whole, “I just didn’t think I could get through my life without it. It made me feel comfortable in my skin,” part of it. Then you start talking about things like depression or how your families, friends, and critics have beaten you down and you need something to feel good. Eventually you realize that you have all the power and that the drugs don’t actually do anything, they actually don’t move you forward. All they do is suspend you in time. No matter what, it’s not going to work out for you while you’re on drugs. I remember that moment when I was like, “I can do anything I want to do because I’m not strapped down to this belief system that I have to do drugs or drink to be creative.” It was really freeing.
Here’s a story: After the Dr. Feelgood album was out and we had finally gotten done touring after something like 18 months on the road. It was our biggest album. Every arena and stadium was sold out and back then, back when albums sold 10, 15, 20 million copies. The amount of money and everything that came in was just astounding. So eventually it’s time to work on a new album with Bob Rock, who calls me up and asks, “What are you gonna rebel against now, Nikki Sixx?” I said, “Even though I live in a 10,000 square foot house, I can still lay my head down in Hell when I need to. I can tap into all those feelings and also be sober.” What’s important for creative people to understand is that when you remove the thing that’s clogging the system you actually have better access to all those feelings. If you’re a writer, you can actually tap into what that darkness feels like but you don’t have to be fucked up to do it. You just don’t have to.
12 Popular Singers Had A Crack At Singing “The Middle”. Guess Who?
Zedd said in a press release about The Middle that they “worked really hard on this record to get it just right”. He also opened up about the opportunity to work with both collaborators, stating that working with Maren Morris was “super fun because she is clearly an amazing singer and very talented musician”, and that he loves working with Grey because they strive to “make the best music possible”. But she wasn’t the first singer to take a stab at the vocals.
Other singers to record vocals for “The Middle,” by Zedd before deciding on Maren Morris were (take a deep breath):
Demi Lovato, Camila Cabello, Anne-Marie, Carly Rae Jepsen, Tove Lo, Bishop Briggs, Bebe Rexha, Lauren Jauregui from Fifth Harmony, Daya and Elle King.
Stefan Johnson, one-fifth of production team The Monsters and the Strangerz, stated that “it was a super long process”. Jordan Johnson of the same team added: “We never lost the feeling for that song. Even a year later, I, as a creator hadn’t gotten tired of it. It was special.”
This is still the best instant noodle commercial ever made
You don’t need to have tried one of Nissin’s instant noodle dishes to be a fan of this commerical. It starts out innocently enough, but then the little chicken presents an offering to the devil, and then things get very intense.
https://youtu.be/RsGGQAJ3Bb8
Jim Carrey’s New TV Series, Kidding, Just Released The Trailer
In his first series regular role in over two decades, Jim Carrey stars as Jeff, aka Mr. Pickles, an icon of children’s television, a beacon of kindness and wisdom to America’s impressionable young minds, who also anchors a multimillion-dollar branding empire. But when Jeff’s family begins to implode, he finds no fairy tale or fable or puppet will guide him through the crisis, which advances faster than his means to cope. The result: a kind man in a cruel world faces a slow leak of sanity as hilarious as it is heartbreaking. Starring Jim Carrey, Frank Langella, Catherine Keener and Judy Greer. Don’t miss the series premiere of Kidding Sunday, September 9 at 10/9C on SHOWTIME.
https://youtu.be/jS6Gt76e_NA
Free McDonald’s For Life With Their ‘Gold Card’ Is A Thing, And It’s On Now
Is it myth or reality? Watch and find out how you can win a chance at FREE McDonald’s for life. Use Mobile Order and Pay with their App August 10-24 to finally uncover the truth.
And then if you win, you have to give me your fries.
https://youtu.be/Iv0vPxuE6SM