On the 12 Days of Christmas, My Blogger Played for Me: Songs in the Key of A(lternative)

On the 12 Days of Christmas, My Blogger Played for Me: Songs in the Key of A(lternative)

If you’re looking for a list of the most beloved Christmas carols, you’ve come to the wrong blog. Times have changed, after all. The Little Drummer Boy is set to tour with Bruce, and Frosty's a puddle on my front lawn - a victim of global warming. And if you’re seeking recommendations for the most popular rock and R&B-oriented holiday…

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Sleeping with the Bass Player

Sleeping with the Bass Player

Bass players are the Rodney Dangerfields of the rock world, it seems. I tell ya, they just don't get no respect. And no wonder! On the day after God created rock stars (sometime around 4 am on a gin-soaked Saturday night in Memphis), he created groupies. And he commanded them: "Thou shalt honor thy singer and thy lead guitarist and have no false rock Gods before thee."

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Well, Here’s Another Clue for You All: The Walrus was Faul

Well, Here’s Another Clue for You All: The Walrus was Faul

"We did it because we loved him." That was the caption under a photo of four smiling Beatles that graced the back cover of a special edition "Paul is Dead" magazine that I bought in 1970. Beatlemania had come and gone, but I wasn't ready to let go - especially of Paul, who was my current favorite. (There's nothing 10-year-old…

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Dylan’s Christmas Spirit is Blowin’ in the Wind

Dylan’s Christmas Spirit is Blowin’ in the Wind

’Tis the season to see “Jews for Jesus” popping up around Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, the vibrant center of Jewish culture here in the city. Why, just the other day I was strolling to the iconic Little’s Shoe Store, my beloved Bethlehem of Boots, when I saw two spunky dudes dressed in blue “Jews for Jesus” t-shirts (the o in…

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They Had Mohair Rings, But I Had Jo Jo Gunne

They Had Mohair Rings, But I Had Jo Jo Gunne

"No, Spiardi. I bought myself a ring that's too big." This is how Miss S.T. sarcastically answered when I asked if her boyfriend bought her the yarn-wrapped ring she was sporting on her finger. It had never occurred to me that the fuzzy bands worn by the A-list girls began their lives as one-size-fits-all pieces of cheap metal, purchased by…

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