How I wish I was a tad older in the early 1980s, just to catch the very best of Bruce Springsteen. He was touring with the geniuses of the E Street Band to support The River, and now there’s a great video to relive, if you were there, or check out what we all missed.
Bruce delivered this performance at Arizona State University where he stopped as his tour as the presidential election concluded and Ronald Reagan became the President.
It’s spring-loaded and deliriously exciting stuff.
Back in November, Grimes released her technicolor new record, Art Angels. During The FADER’s cover story reporting back in the summer, we sat down with Canadian producer/singer Claire Boucher in her Los Angeles home to find out how she’s evolved the Grimes project, the misconceptions she has to deal with as a DIY artist, and what’s she learnt touring the world.
“At first, I guess, there was just Grimes,” she says in the documentary. “I don’t technically have control of her narrative anymore—she very much exists in pop culture now. Grimes as one person cannot represent more than a couple of ideas. That’s why I started developing some of the other characters, like really abstract from who I am and how I am.”
To celebrate the opening of Hey! Ho! Let’s Go: Ramones and the Birth of Punk, the borough of Queens declares April 10th, 2016 “Ramones Day”. Here’s the tribute video to the band that led the punk revolution in the US. 1-2-3-4!
Rockers United puts together benefit concerts, all-star jams and silent auctions with a slew of musicians to raise money and awareness to fight human trafficking in the United States.
They have just added their new PSA starring Nikki Sixx, Lemmy Kilmister, Mark McGrath and Nick Carter. The video is airing around major music festivals this summer.
Dramatic changes are in progress at Beatport. Effective Friday, May 13, the company will be shutting down its music and video streaming platforms, its mobile app, its Beatport News section and its Events vertical, according to a statement posted to the company’s website. The site will return its focus to the Beatport Store, which has been in operation for 12 years.
The announcement comes amid plans for its parent company, dance music promoter SFX Entertainment.
“Beatport has made a strategic decision to return to its roots, focusing its efforts on its flagship Beatport Store, the leading global source of electronic music for DJs and consumers,” SFX wrote in a statement provided to Billboard. “Going forward, SFX will concentrate its resources and efforts on supporting and enhancing the Beatport Store. We believe that these actions are essential to maintaining the viability of the business while directing resources to serving our core DJ customer base.”
Louis C.K. has learned the value of putting down his phone and actually paying attention to his kids.
“I’m a cookie-decorating mom. I don’t bake them. I decorate them.“ – Cher in 1999, as told to Benjamin Svetkey.
On a spring afternoon, Svetkey drove to Cher’s house in Malibu for an interview. Her assistant led him up to her bedroom where she was dressed in leopard print and resting on a leopard print bedspread.
Cher was open, honest, and forthcoming about the ups and downs of fame, being a mom, her gay following, the camp element of her persona, and how Sonny Bono changed her life. It’s vintage Cher.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve been “Cher” for a long time. Yeah, all my papers, my passport, my driver’s license. I never really felt my maiden name. I never really felt any last name ever in my life. I was always just “Cher,” so I just went and petitioned the court. What you have to prove is that you are absolutely recognizable to everyone by that one name.”
Real World Records, ex-Genesis founder and great musician Peter Gabriel came to do an event around the corner from the School of Life’s London HQ: a discussion on music, philosophy, science, therapy and… apes.
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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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