During 1977 until 1979, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) used the popular Orleans song “Still the One” in order to promote their upcoming season lineups, using the stars of the day to make appearances in these promos including Robin Williams, Danny Devito, Ted Lange, Tom Bosley, Hal Linden, Cheryl Ladd, Adam Rich, Susan Richardson and Doris Roberts.
https://youtu.be/WQX5Tne3cH0
Talking about new music, what kind of evolution have you seen in hip-hop during the past 20 years?
DJ Shadow: As far as hip-hop, of course, it’s the age-old debate about hip-hop as a culture being born in one or two very specific neighborhoods in New York City in the early-to-mid-Seventies. I mean, you’re talking very specific intersections at parks and schools in the Bronx. Then later it expanded to Queens, Brooklyn, Long Island, etc. To me, that New York doesn’t exist anymore. That time and place is gone. The music remains, but when I hear contemporary rap music, which I still love and support and listen to, I disassociate it from hip-hop because the cultural context is no longer inherent in the music. The music has taken on a life of its own outside of the cultural connotation. I enjoy contemporary rap, but it has very little in common with Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Islam and the roots of the music itself. It’s just something else entirely, which is as it should be.
That’s one of the reasons why when people ask what hip-hop I’ve heard in the last few years that I like a lot, I always have to say that if they’re talking about hip-hop in the traditional cultural context, I haven’t heard much, because usually anything recent that proclaims itself to be hip-hop means that it’s kind of longing for a time that doesn’t exist anymore, and as a result, artistically, it’s not very compelling to me, whereas rap is still an enduring art form in its own right. I mean hip-hop and the lessons I’ve learned as far as the original five elements, that’s permanently ingrained in my core, and in the way I view the world, and in the way I view music, and in the way I view everything.
But I also think there’s something inherently creatively bankrupt about making any kind of music that seeks to return to an era that doesn’t exist anymore. You can celebrate the past, learn from the past, you can long for the past, but then at a certain point you have to merge those sensibilities and those lessons and those ideologies with what’s happening right here and now. That’s what all of my heroes did back then. I decided long ago for myself that that’s how it would be done. You should understand the past and apply it to the present while looking towards the future.
Tim Book Two is the follow-up to Telling Stories, the hugely successful memoir of Tim Burgess, lead singer of the Charlatans. It tells of his lifelong passion for vinyl and the shops that sell them.
After his first book, Tim had more to say. But, instead of another autobiography he chose a different way of telling his story. Tim set himself a quest. He would get in touch with people he admired, and ask them to suggest an album for him to track down on his travels, giving an insight into what makes them tick. It would also offer a chance to see how record shops were faring in the digital age – one in which vinyl was still a much-treasured format.
Tim assembled his cast of characters, from Iggy Pop to Johnny Marr, David Lynch to Cosey Fanni Tutti. Texts, phone calls, emails and handwritten notes went out. Here is the tender, funny and surprising story of what came back. You can get it here.
Andrew Liles, described on his Mixcloud page as “a prolific solo artist, producer, remixer and sometime member of Nurse With Wound and Current 93,” has remixed The Beatles’ psychedelic studio masterpiece Tomorrow Never Knows for the 50th anniversary of its release. It’s now 16 times longer than the original song, and is long enough for that special walk or run or car trip.
Liles writes:
On the 5th of August 2016 ‘Revolver’ will be 50 years old. ‘Revolver’ is arguably the first mainstream pop album to explore esoteric themes, ‘exotic’ instrumentation and use the studio as a tool to create otherworldly unimagined sounds. It’s an album that rewrote the rules and laid the foundations for audioscopic cosmonauts like myself to venture deeper into uncharted universes of sound. We have the fab five (how can we forget George Martin) to thank for opening new possibilities and new dimensions. Without their innovation the world of sound would be a lot less colourful.
Surrender to the void, turn off your mind, relax and float down stream with my impossibly elongated, psychedelic, smokeathonic adaptation of Tomorrow Never Knows.
Pet Sounds, the eleventh studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys was initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 in the Billboard 200, a significantly lower placement than the band’s preceding albums. In the United Kingdom, the album was hailed by its music press and was an immediate commercial success, peaking at number 2 in the UK Top 40 Albums Chart and remaining among the top ten positions for six months. Pet Sounds has subsequently gathered worldwide acclaim from critics and musicians alike, and is widely considered to be one of the most influential albums in music history.
God Only Knows” has become one of the most beloved in the band’s canon, famously praised by Paul McCartney as the greatest song ever written. Its classic status is even more remarkable considering that it all came together in less than an hour.
Brian Wilson always had a special place in his list of songs for “Let’s Go Away For a While,” labeling it “the most satisfying piece of music I have ever made.” But he also claims it’s missing a major component: lyrics.
Sol Gabetta plays a 300-year-old cello and it becomes a screen in this unique film. Infrared cameras track the cello’s position allowing a digital projection to stay locked onto its surface as it moves.
Ralf Hildenbeutel’s Disco is an incredible video made up of 1,250 hand-made drawings of a dancer. Although each drawing is different, it’s drenched in a delightful 2-minute clip.
Ralf Hildenbeutel – Disco from Boris Seewald on Vimeo.
Known to the world as one of the heaviest songs of all time, Black Sabbath’s War Pigs has reached a level of popular acclaim that would even surprise the band members. Take this video of Aaron Gage performing the song with his loop station and electric cello/voice at Fishhead Cantina. It’s still not for the weak-hearted, with a new level of verve.
A summer leg has been added to John Mayer’s Search for Everything World Tour, which will launch on Tuesday, July 18 in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Isleta Amphitheater and runs through Sunday, September 3 in Noblesville, Indiana at the Klipsch Music Center. Each concert on the tour will be comprised of full band, solo acoustic and John Mayer Trio sets of music. Click HERE to find out what to expect from The Search For Everything World Tour direct from John. A full listing of tour dates can be found below.
Tickets will go on sale beginning Saturday, March 4 at 10 AM through livenation.com. American Express Card Members can purchase tickets for select shows before the general public beginning Tuesday, February 28 at 12 PM through Friday, March 3 at 10 PM. Check johnmayer.com/tour for other presale opportunities.
The second wave of music from The Search for Everything will be released on Friday, February 24, consisting of four brand new songs – “Still Feel Like Your Man,” “Emoji of a Wave,” “Helpless,” and “Roll it on Home.” The album, which Mayer began recording in 2014 at the famed Capitol Studios in the Capitol Records building in Hollywood, will be released in its entirety on Friday, April 14 through Columbia Records. Wave Two is available here at HERE.
The Search for Everything World Tour dates:
Fri Mar 31 Albany, NY Times Union Center
Sat Apr 01 Montreal, QUE Bell Centre
Mon Apr 03 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
Wed Apr 05 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Thu Apr 06 Washington DC Verizon Center
Fri Apr 07 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Sun Apr 09 Boston, MA TD Garden
Tue Apr 11 Chicago, IL United Center
Wed Apr 12 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
Fri Apr 14 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
Sat Apr 15 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
Mon Apr 17 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place
Wed Apr 19 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
Fri Apr 21 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
Sat Apr 22 Las Vegas, NV T-Mobile Arena
Wed May 3 Amsterdam, NL Ziggo Dome
Fri May 5 Herning, DK Jyske Bank Boxen
Sun May 7 Stockholm, SE Ericcson Globe
Tue May 8 Oslo, NO Spektrum
Wed May 9 Copenhagen, DK Royal Arena
Fri May 12 London, ENG The O2
Tue Jul 18 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater
Wed Jul 19 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
Fri Jul 21 Quincy, WA Gorge Amphitheatre
Sat Jul 22 Portland, OR Moda Center
Tue Jul 25 Anaheim, CA Honda Center
Thu Jul 27 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center
Sat Jul 29 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sun Jul 30 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
Tue Aug 01 Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Arena
Thu Aug 03 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
Sat Aug 05 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
Sun Aug 06 Woodlands, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Tue Aug 08 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
Wed Aug 09 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
Thu Aug 10 Atlanta, GA Lakewood Amphitheatre
Sat Aug 12 Fort Lauderdale, FL BB&T Center
Sun Aug 13 Tampa, FL Amalie Arena
Tue Aug 15 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
Wed Aug 16 Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
Fri Aug 18 Camden, NJ BB&T Pavilion
Sat Aug 19 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
Sun Aug 20 Hartford, CT XFINITY Theatre
Tue Aug 22 Syracuse, NY Lakeview Amphitheater
Wed Aug 23 Wantagh, NY Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
Fri Aug 25 Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live
Sat Aug 26 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
Sun Aug 27 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Amphitheater
Tue Aug 29 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage
Wed Aug 30 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center
Fri Sep 01 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
Sat Sep 02 Tinley Park, IL Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Sun Sep 03 Noblesville, IN Klipsch Music Center
A limited number of exclusive ticket packages will be available for the North American concerts starting Thursday March 2nd at 10AM local. Select packages include premium tickets and meet & greets. For more information, visit johnmayer.com/tour.
Three-time Juno award winner Ron Sexsmith has today revealed details about his new album, The Last Rider. Scheduled for release on Friday, April 21, this, Ron’s thirteenth studio recording was co-produced at The Bathouse Studios in Kingston, Ontario by longtime drummer and collaborator Don Kerr and Sexsmith. The album is his first album to include Ron’s touring band.
“At this point, it’s just second nature for me to write short, melodic songs that say everything I want to say,” says Sexsmith. “But having my band totally involved on this album maybe brought out more in the songs than on other recent albums. It felt special, anyway.”
In addition to album release details, Ron has also today announced the dates for his upcoming Canadian tour. Every concert ticket purchased for Ron Sexsmith’s The Last Rider tour will include a digital copy of his new album The Last Rider. Beginning today, fans who purchase concert tickets or pre-order The Last Rider from iTunes or on CD/LP from Ron’s Official Store prior to the album’s April 21 release, will receive five new songs instantly including the single “Radio”. See tour dates below.
Spotify users can Pre-Save The Last Rider and it will automatically be added to their Spotify collection upon release.
Since making his major-label debut in 1995, Ron Sexsmith has become recognized worldwide as one of Canada’s most renowned songwriters. He counts among his fans Elvis Costello, Elton John and Paul McCartney and has amassed no less than eight Juno Award nominations as Songwriter of the Year.
The Last Rider track listing:
It Won’t Last For Long
Our Way
Breakfast Ethereal
Worried Song
West Gwillimbury
Who Are We Right Now
Shoreline
Dead End Dreams
Evergreen
Upward Dog
Only Trouble Is
Radio
Every Last One
Dreams Are Bigger
Man At The Gate (1913)
Album and Tour Band:
Ron Sexsmith, guitars and vocals
Don Kerr, drums
Jason Mercer, bass
Kevin Lacroix, guitar
Dave Matheson, piano
The Last Rider tour
April 21 Meaford, ON Meaford Hall
April 22 Morrisburg, ON St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage
April 23 Barrie, ON Mady Centre’
April 24 Belleville, ON Empire Theatre
April 26 London, ON London Music Hall
April 28 Toronto, ON Danforth Music Hall
April 29 * Ottawa, ON NAC
May 6 Winnipeg. MAN West End Cultural Centre
May 7 Regina, SK The Exchange
May 8 Saskatoon, SK Broadway Theatre
May 9 Edmonton, AB Royal Alberta Museum Theatre
May 10 Calgary, AB Bella Concert Hall
May 12 Nelson, BC Spiritbar At The Hume Hotel
May 13 Lake Country, BC Memorial Hall
May 15 Vancouver, BC Rio Thetare
May 17 Victoria, BC Alix Goolden Hall
May 18 * Powell River, BC Mac Cameron
*these shows do not include digital download of The Last Rider
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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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