Free Republic

The views expressed are the opinions of the participants. In this episode, my friend Jim Barber and I unravel the tangled web of policy, corruption, and greed that led to the collapse of the music business in the late 1990s.

What About Me is the fifth album by American psychedelic rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service. Released in December 1970/ The words to What about me? They fit US now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4RBB07S5Jo

Heard this on my way home tonight. Brought back memories. They just don't make music like this today. It's all crap today.

I just released another tune off my upcoming third album. Also made a quick, gaffe video for it. This tune's a blazing rocker called "Stupid Phone," in which I excoriate all the zombies whose total existence seems tied to their smart phones.Please support non-leftist artists, musicians and writers. There are many thousands of us. Thanks for listening - much appreciated!Stupid Phone

Tana Douglas had just lit her second cigarette, 30 or so minutes into a conversation with George Harrison, when the former Beatle said: “I would marry you tomorrow if you gave up smoking.” It was 1979 and the two were hiding out in the kitchen at a party hosted by Harrison’s neighbor Jon Lord, keyboardist for the heavy metal band Whitesnake. In the living room, a stripper — a birthday present to Harrison that embarrassed him — danced to the Beatles’ “She Loves You.” Douglas was the only woman there who wasn’t a stripper. The first female roadie in rock...

Yesterday (Oct. 16), Five Finger Death Punch released a music video for "Living the Dream." The video was rife with social commentary, some of which has been met with backlash for the way people who wear a mask — to mitigate the spread of a pandemic contagion) are compliant under a Communist system of government — or one that resembles such. Guitarist Zoltan Bathory has issued a lengthy statement, clarifying the intent behind the video, denying it bears an anti-mask message. In his statement, Bathory alleges news media outlets forewent explaining what his message in the "Living the Dream" video...

Sales of vinyl records have enjoyed constant growth in recent years. At the same time, CD sales are in a nosedive. Last year, the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) mid-year report suggested that CD sales were declining three times as fast as vinyl sales were growing. In February, the RIAA reported that vinyl sales accounted for more than a third of the revenue coming from physical releases. This trend continues in RIAA’s 2019 mid-year report, which came out on Thursday. Vinyl records earned $224.1 million (on 8.6 million units) in the first half of 2019, closing in on the...

The era of mass media may have ended decades ago, but the hangover is about to hit us all hard. In “The coming death of just about every rock legend,” Damon Linker of The Week explores the rock & roll carnage to come: Yes, we've lost some already. On top of the icons who died horribly young decades ago — Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, John Lennon — there's the litany of legends felled by illness, drugs, and just plain old age in more recent years: George Harrison, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Lou Reed,...

#1 Zero by Audioslave https://youtu.be/SBuegKo1ws0 Chris Cornell and the guys from Audioslave killed it with this song. Sounds like a love song....to begin with. Great composition. Great lyrics. Cornell's singing is something close to a perfection and Morello's guitar work is sublime.

For those who like Rock-n-Roll versions of classical pieces.

Joe Corre — the son of Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and designer Vivienne Westwood — put $6.5 million worth of his dad’s punk memorabilia in a boat and lit it on fire, all to make a point. Corre told the crowd at the River Thames that “punk was never, never meant to be nostalgic — and you can’t learn how to be one at a Museum of London workshop.”

Which of your songs would you most like to see Mr. Trump use during his campaign stops? “Stranglehold” would clinch the presidency. How would you react if Hillary Clinton used one of your songs during the Democratic National Convention? We would know the end is near.

TO JUDGE by the crowds making their way to Glastonbury Festival on June 24th, it is a good time to be in the music industry. This week nearly 200,000 revellers set up camp across several fields in Somerset, where the festival has been held nearly every year since it first started as a small, hippyish event in 1970. Now hundreds of live bands and DJs will perform on 90 stages over five days. Each punter pays £225 ($353) for the experience, which, thanks to the damp British weather, tends to be a muddy one. Glastonbury is perhaps the most striking...

I saw The Doobie Brothers and Don Felder (Eagles) last night and they still sound great. Eagles are my all-time favorite. I never get tired of listening to them. I'm a believer in rock keeping us young!

Funk singer Sly Stone has been awarded $5 million by a Los Angeles jury in his lawsuit against a former manager and attorney he claimed diverted royalties from his music for their own benefit. The Los Angeles Superior Court announced its verdict on Tuesday, after two days of deliberations. Stone’s litigation, filed under his real name Sylvester Stewart, involved millions of dollars in royalties and stretched over almost five years. He filed suit in 2010, claiming that manager Gerald Goldstein and attorney Glenn Stone in the late 1980s induced him to sign an employment and shareholder agreement with Even Street...

We will be screening our film "Rockin' the Wall," about music's part in bringing down the Iron Curtain, at the Loft Theater on Speedway, tomorrow night, Wed. Jan. 7 at 7:00 p.m. I'll be there to sign books and do a Q&A. See you there.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is in Cleveland thanks in large part to Alan Freed. But Freed is no longer welcome in the Rock Hall, according to his son, Lance Freed. Lance Freed says he was told several months ago by Rock Hall President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Harris that he would have to "immediately" remove his father's ashes, which had been on display since 2002, from the building. "He said, 'look Lance, there's something strange, people walk past the exhibit and your dad's ashes and they scratch their heads and can't figure out what...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Tom Petty says that no one has interpreted Jesus Christ’s teaching more incorrectly than Christians, as he was asked to explain the history behind his new song “Playing Dumb.” In an interview with Billboard, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer explained his inspiration behind the song, which will be featured as a bonus cut on the accompanying vinyl release of “Hypnotic Eye.” “Catholics, don’t write me,” Mr. Petty said. “I’m fine with whatever religion you want to have, but it can’t tell anybody it’s OK to kill people, and it can’t abuse children systematically for God knows how many...

On the basis of simply counting heads, rock music surpasses even film as the 20th century's most influential art form. By that reckoning, there is a case for calling Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash 50 years ago next Tuesday, the century's most influential musician. Holly and Elvis Presley are the two seminal figures of 1950s rock 'n' roll, the place where modern rock culture began. Virtually everything we hear on CD or see on film or the concert stage can be traced back to those twin towering icons – Elvis with his drape jacket and swivelling hips...

Tommy Ramone, a co-founder of the seminal punk band the Ramones and the last surviving member of the original group, has died, a business associate said Saturday. Dave Frey, who works for Ramones Productions and Silent Partner Management, said Ramone died on Friday. Frey didn't have additional details. Ramone — born Erdelyi Tamas in Budapest, Hungary — was 65. Tommy Ramone, a drummer, co-founded the Ramones in 1974 in New York along with singer Joey Ramone, bassist DeeDee Ramone and guitarist Johnny Ramone. The band members weren't related and had different last names, but took the common name Ramone. The...