The Clash’s Rock the Casbah was released in 1982, the third single from their fifth album, Combat Rock. It reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US (their second and last top 40 and only top 10 single in the United States) and, along with the track Mustapha Dance, it also reached number eight on the dance chart.
https://youtu.be/96dgKSHaviA?
4’33” was John Cage’s most famous and disruptive composition, and now it can be performed by you! Cage’s work, which teaches us that there’s no such thing as ‘silence’ (and that there’s joy to be found in paying close attention to the sounds around), is available in this official release with an app from the John Cage Trust and Cage’s long-time publisher, C.F. Peters.
Users are able to capture a three-movement ‘performance’ of the ambient sounds in their environment, and then upload and share that performance with the world. They’re also able to listen to the performances of others, and to explore a worldwide map of ever-growing performance locations.
As a bonus, the 4’33” app features a recording of the ambient sounds at play in John Cage’s last New York apartment, which he found a source of constant surprise, inspiration, and delight.
From small shows to stadiums to summer festivals, live music brings us all together. Even if our playlists or must-see concerts are different, a passion for exciting musical experiences unites fans across the country. Today, RBC has joined forces with Live Nation Canada, the largest live entertainment promoter in the country, to elevate experiences and surprise fans from coast to coast.
“Music is a universal language that connects people of all ages and interests,” said Mary DePaoli, executive vice-president and chief marketing officer, RBC. “We are proud to partner with Live Nation to bring people together and enhance their live music events by delivering unique experiences before, during and after a fan sees their favourite artist.”
As festival and concert season kicks off, this multi-year partnership will bring on-site enhancements to major concert venues and festivals across Canada, beginning with RBC Echo Beach in Toronto. Fans will have access to a number of perks that could include:
With over 1,500 concerts every year from coast to coast with your favourite artists, RBC and Live Nation Canada will be where music fans are. From major stadiums, local clubs and festival grounds across the country, RBC clients will be offered unique access to tickets, offers and other special experiences.
“We are thrilled to partner with such an iconic Canadian brand like RBC,” said John May, President, Media and Corporate Partnerships, Live Nation Canada. “Live music is an experience like no other and we are excited to work with RBC to help bring these experiences to more Canadians.”
Ian Howarth is a former high school teacher who now works as a freelance journalist, and now has written his first book, Rock ‘n’ Radio: When DJs and Rock Music Ruled the Airwaves.
Rock ‘n’ Radio illustrates that Montreal was at the epicentre of the rock radio revolution in Canada, eventually attracting talented DJs from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Their personal stories and the inevitable collision with the power of alternative FM rock radio in the late 60s take the reader through some of the best rock music recorded and the social changes that percolated in the background.
The period 1926 to 1949 can be considered the Golden Age of radio when it was the hearth of the North American family. Much to everyone’s surprise, it survived the incursion of television to live another Golden Age—the 1960s and 1970s when rock ‘n’ roll music seeped its way onto mainstream radio, pushing aside Perry Como and the Dorsey Brothers for Elvis and The Beatles.
The new golden era of radio spawned what would eventually be called Top 40 AM radio, whose premise was built on the philosophy: play all the hits, then play them again. Pioneer Top 40 DJs like Alan Freed in the U.S., widely recognized as the man who coined the phrase “rock ‘n’ roll,” spawned a new breed of radio personalities—the fast-talking salesman who delivered the goods. Hundreds of radio stations in North American gave up their entire programming day over to rock music. And with that came a legion of young, hungry Top 40 DJs such as Dave Boxer, Ralph Lockwood and Doug Pringle, looking for jobs at stations across Canada.
Chris Cornell sat down for an in-depth interview and acoustic performance in the SiriusXM Studios for an Artist Confidential where he performed a cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U.
An introduction to synthesis by Dean Friedman back in the day. When he’s not twiddling LFO knobs and envelope sliders, Dean’s an indie recording artist with a slew of international chart hits and critically acclaimed albums to his credit. You can see what he’s currently up to on his website http://www.deanfriedman.com and his YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/deanfriedman
Our hearts go out to Chris Cornell’s family, friends and fans today as we all mourn the loss together of this talented and electrifying musician. The world has lost another great.
Let’s take a look back to Chris’ performance at Toronto’s Massey Hall on October 9, 2015. All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com
Chris Cornell, lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave, has died aged 52. In a statement to the Associated Press, his representative, Brian Bumbery, said Cornell died on Wednesday night in Detroit.
Bumbery called the death “sudden and unexpected” and said his wife and family were shocked. The statement said the family would be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause, and asked for privacy.
In addition to his music, Cornell also became involved in philanthropy and started the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation to support children facing challenges, including homelessness, poverty, abuse and neglect.
Stax Records, an imprint of Concord Music Group and its Catalog Division, Craft Recordings, is pleased to announce the reissue of one of its most provocative titles: Melvin Van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. Consistently hailed as a landmark, genre-defining album, this 1971 soundtrack — performed by a then-unknown Earth, Wind & Fire with contributions by Van Peebles — will be made available on May 26th for the very first time in high-res and standard digital formats. The vinyl edition features audio remastered from the original analog tapes and cut on the original Stax lathe at Memphis’ Ardent studios, then pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Memphis Record Pressing. The remastered LP also includes new liner notes from author, journalist and music critic Jeff Weiss, as well as from Melvin’s son Mario Van Peebles, director of New Jack City (1991) and 2003’s Baadasssss!, which chronicles the making of his father’s landmark film.
Trailblazing writer, director, actor and composer Melvin Van Peebles was financially and creatively responsible for the entire production of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. Van Peebles not only directed, scripted, and edited the film, but also wrote the score and directed the marketing campaign. The film, which in the end grossed more than $10 million (the highest ever for an independent film at the time), was acclaimed for its political resonance with the black struggle. In his liner notes, Jeff Weiss notes, “For all the resistance mounting in the streets, no black director had yet made a film that captured the spirit of rebellion, frustration and the refusal to accept injustice. Van Peebles alchemized Malcolm X, Iceberg Slim and Soul on Ice with Huey Newton, Gil-Scott Heron and the French New Wave. Badass cinema was born.” The Black Panthers made the film required viewing. And despite the fact that few theaters would screen the X-rated film, the soundtrack helped to market the film to the masses, through radio waves and word of mouth. The success of the film proved to be a genre-defining moment, giving birth to Blaxploitation, and opening the doors for films like Shaft and Super Fly.
The soundtrack features a combination of hymn-based vocalization and jazz rhythms, capturing the funky, gritty and soulful spirit of the time, and foreshadowing the use of sampling that would occur in hip hop music, some 20 years later. Weiss adds, “The soundtrack operates like a surrealist Mobius strip comprised of call-and-response chants against the man…It’s as avant-garde as the film’s kinetic mix of psychedelic jump cuts and dream-like sequences. The music becomes a character itself, unseen but forcefully heard.”
The 60th anniversary of the legendary soul label Stax Records commemorates its extraordinary legacy as an international hit-making machine and its indispensable chapter in American musical history as an integrated company in the heart of the Civil Rights movement. The Stax 60 celebration will highlight the hits, deep cuts and rare tracks from the Memphis label’s heyday of the ’60s and ’70s, including the many legendary artists who jointly created the world-renown “Stax sound,” – Otis Redding, Booker T & the MGs, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Sam & Dave, The Dramatics and many more. The Stax 60 campaign will honor the music from Soulsville USA through curated collections, deluxe box sets, hi-resolution audio, streaming playlists and unique vinyl initiatives.
Track list:
A1. Sweetback Losing His Cherry
A2. Sweetback Getting It Uptight And Preaching It So Hard The Bourgeois Reggin Angels In Heaven Turn Around
A3. Come On Feet
A4. Sweetback’s Theme
B1. Hoppin’ John
B2. Mojo Woman
B3. Sanra Z.
B4. Reggins Hanging On In There As Best They Can
B5. Wont Bleed Me
B6. The Man Tries Running His Usual Game But Sweetback’s Jones Is So Strong He Wastes The Hounds (Yeah! Yeah! And Besides That Will Be Coming Back Takin Names & Collecting Dues)
R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe and bass player Mike Mills talks with Matt Everitt for the BBC‘s The First Time With… on that time the group first met David Bowie.
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Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.
Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com
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