Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms yearning to breathe free.
In February 1972, Paul McCartney released a single that finally put him in the same league of controversy that his former Beatles bandmate John Lennon had long inhabited. That was the month Paul released his single, “Give Ireland Back to the Irish.” It was his response to Bloody Sunday, a horrific event in which British … Read more
With the sad passing of the ever-youthful Davy Jones last week, I beg the question: who was your favorite Monkee? For me it was pixie-faced Micky Dolenz, who turns 67 today. Why Micky? Well, like Ringo, the real drummer on which his TV character was modeled, he just charmed the heck out of me with … Read more
Every family has its folk tales — those sometimes sweet, often cringe-inducing stories we’re forced to endure at every holiday gathering. Like the time my grandfather decided to forgo dental expenses by removing his own teeth with the help of Canadian Club whiskey and a pair of pliers. Or that day back in 1960, when … Read more
The protagonist in the movie “What About Bob” attributes his failed marriage to this time-tested rule: “There are two types of people in the world — those who like Neil Diamond and those who don’t. My ex-wife loves him.” Well, despite the fact that Neil Diamond is sometimes rebuked by rockers for his symphonic serenades, … Read more
Oh, Jimi Hendrix! Why did you have to swallow those 9 sleeping pills, suffocate in your own vomit, and deprive us of many more years of power-charged electric rock? You would have turned 73 years old today. We can only imagine what contributions you would have made had you not expired at age 27 in … Read more