Ike Turner died today. Of his life, I say: was there another artist whose reputed assholishness was so purely, inversely proportional to the wonderfulness of his music?
To the spirit of Ike Turner, I say: thank you, and may you rest in peace, if that’s possible. May God have mercy on your soul, as I would have Him have mercy on mine.
HVB
Our lips had been sealed regarding the details of the 3-CD Big Dipper anthology, Supercluster, discussed here with guitarist/singer Gary Waleik a few weeks back. Now the ink has dried on the band’s deal with Merge (click title of this thread for full details)! Start saving for the March 18, 2008 release! Here’s a sample of track from Heavens–not burned off my scratchy vinyl record!
Big Dipper, “She’s Fetching”
Out of respect for Prince’s Web Sheriff, popular rock music discussion blog Rock Town Hall will remove all images of and references to the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.
“Out of respect for the Web Sheriff, the Prince organization, its crack legal team, Prince’s standing in the Munchkin community, and all true fans of the artist,” said the Hall’s Mr. Moderator, “we will begin wiping Rock Town Hall of all traces of this great man’s work, from discussions of his last 22 albums that came and went without a trace to our extensive collection of fan fiction and sketches.”
As examples of the sort of material that will no longer appear on Rock Town Hall, Mr. Moderator points to this, this, and this. “We do fear that removal of these images will change to flavor of the site, but our efforts at supporting the works of Prince only represent a small portion of the millions of fans who received free copies of his last album by buying whatever newspaper it was that included it along with the coupons.” Mr. Moderator said that he and The Back Office have discussed replacing some of the images of Prince that are essential to its layout with those of Bob Seger.
Mr. Moderator continued, “I’m most worried about Townsmen Hrrundi and Geo. They have come to depend on Rock Town Hall, in large part, for our members’ enthusiasm over the man’s earlier and underappreciated works.”
As Links Linkerson continues to deny the Web at large of his music business-linking skills, those of us who long ago made the short walk up from the basement will do our part to pass along occasional links of interest. Here are a few that caught my eye.
BREAKING NEWS!
The New York Times covers the musical doings of two Townspeople, Trolleyvox and Sethro, who drummed on the NPR performance that’s included on the newly reissued final album by Arthur Alexander.
I’d like to see more live (in real time) music on the web. I’m sick of recorded clips. The web is not a library; it’s a channel. – Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend Q & A on Billboard.com
Q: How far do royalties on Marquee Moon extend?
A: At least far enough to fund this.
Remember the week or two when Lily Allen was all the rage? Remember the 72,000 articles that appeared during that stretch by salivating rock writers on her candid and salacious blog? Check out this recent-vintage entry from her Trojan horse of rock blogging!
Hello friends,
I lay in bed last night realising I haven’t been here in ages, so apologies. A quick update for you. I am currently in Paris and staying at the Plaza Athenee, which is an amazing hotel steeped in the most fascinating history. I have an amazing room which has another room in it for Emily, I really do feel very very lucky to be here and have these opportunities.
I arrived here yesterday and went to the Stella show, which was lovely, and this morning I went to Chanel, which was soooooooo glamorous I don’t even know where to start. I sat next to Claudia Schiffer and Kirsten Dunst. It seems unfathomable that my first song “Smile” was released just over a year ago and now here I am, in the most beautiful city in the world, sitting in the front rows of the most amazing fashion shows that others would die to just get into. I really am a very lucky girl.
I spent the past couple of weeks in a twee little cottage in the Cotswolds starting on the next album, and it’s gone so well. I’m just over the moon at the moment, I feel like I’m on Prozac or something. I won’t say much but it’s a different musical direction and really quite exciting. Everything just seems to be falling into place. Yes i did go out and get smashed the other night, some of you have probably seen the pictures, but I am but 22, enjoying my life and celebrating. As the cold starts to set in, I’m thinking next year is going to be a good one.
Anything else? I’m doing Fashion Rocks in a couple of weeks, which should be quite exciting, and then going back into the studio to finish off the album, oh, and I’m having meetings about a potential TV show, which is all very interesting.
And that’s about it. I hope you are all well, I’m off now.
Love Lily x
Says who?! Really? I’m no Sting fan but, The Worst?
In an effort to shift the nation’s focus from memorial-related grief over the 9/11 Twin Towers attack, 50 Cent has thrown down the gauntlet on that other tower of rap music, Kanye West. Both artists have new releases planned for 9/11/07, and Cent has said that he will retire from solo performances and recordings should his album not sell as many copies as West’s. A spokesperson for Cent, who’s real name is Curtis something, confirmed the artist’s true intent of this throwdown, “It’s about helping the nation move on.”
In other news you’ve already heard, Factory Records and Hacienda founder Tony Wilson died. The Manchester scenemaker was 57. He was a great man.
