A Tribute To Dick Clark and American Bandstand

On the morning of April 18th 2012, the legendary Dick Clark, died of a massive heart attack at age 82. He had suffered from a stroke in 2004 and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Without Dick Clark, many of the music icons we have today would not have had their big breaks. He hosted American Bandstand from 1952 to 1989 and showcased many artists and bands on this show to enthusiastic dancing, screaming teenagers. 


Here are some of my favorite moments of American Bandstand.


Dick Clark Interviews James Brown in 1983:

Public Image Ltd perform on American Bandstand:

Dick Clark Interviews The Beach Boys:

ABBA performs on American Bandstand in 1975:

Dick Clark Interviews Jefferson Airplane:

The Jackson 5 live on American Bandstand in 1970:

Dick Clark Interviews Paul Collins' Beat: 

Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett on American Bandstand:

Run-DMC Interviewed by Dick Clark:

Link Wray Performs on American Bandstand:

Love Perform on American Bandstand in 1966:

The Music Machine Perform on American Bandstand in 1966:

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RIP Dick Clark

- Mike C.

The Rise of the Hologram Pop Star

If you haven't seen the holographic performance of Tupac Shakur yet then you probably have no internet, or perhaps no interest in what's going on in the music world at the moment. Let me be the first to inform you that holograms of pop stars will soon be performing and touring shows around the globe. This technology is making rapid advances and has been used since the mid-2000s. 


Here's a breakdown of notable holographic performances since that time starting with the present:


1) Hologram Tupac at Coachella 2012.

Hologram Tupac was hyped before Coachella even began and the performance stirred mixed reactions to concert attendees and online music fans. While many were marveled at the use of projection technology, several others flocked to social media sites to express their fear that Tupac was possibly still alive. The Hologram Tupac even gave a shout out to Coachella. How can someone who's been deceased for 15 years pull this off? 


My suspicion is vocaloid type music software that can take a person's speech or singing style and allows song writers to customize their own songs just by typing in lyrics and musical notation. This brings us to our next musical hologram.


2) Hatsune Miku, a vocaloid performance in Japan.

The most famous vocaloid pop star out right now is Hatsune Miku. From watching the video above, you'll see a holographic image of an anime girl singing and dancing with hundreds, perhaps thousands of fans waving glow sticks in the air. You might be thinking to yourself that this is all neat, but why didn't they just have the REAL human singer perform instead of a hologram? Take a seat my friend. There is no real singer. Hatsune Miku's voice is 100% computer generated by vocaloid software and several different vocaloids exist and perform along with Miku Miku Dance 3D software that helps render the holographic images.


3) Gorillaz & Madonna at the 2006 Grammys.

I've tried to look deep into the past for other artists/bands that used holograms, but the earliest footage I could find is the Gorillaz and Madonna performance at the Grammys in 2006. How quickly do we forget that 6 years ago, musical holograms made a mainstream appearance. The holograms were made by Musion Eyeliner System and yes, Madonna is an actual hologram in the above video. The group De La Soul were the only real performers.

What do you think of holograms performing and possibly touring in the future? Would you like to see hologram images of the Beatles or the Ramones? 

- Mike C.

10 Musical Highlights of Coachella 2012

Did you go to Coachella this year? If you did, then you are probably still recovering from this past weekend of all the craziness that happened. For the rest of music fan world, we all had to tune in to youtube to catch some of the acts live streaming into our bedrooms and offices without paying $6 for a bottle of water. 


Here are 10 musical highlights of Coachella in no particular order:


1) tUnE-yArDs

2) Tupac Hologram

3) Buzzcocks

4) The Big Pink

5) Noel Gallagher Rant/Interview

6) Azealia Banks (Full Live Set)

7) M83

8) PULP

9) The Black Keys

10) Kaiser Chiefs

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I wish there was footage of the Black Angels. Their set was very legendary and ended with a sitar freak out. Hopefully, this will surface very soon.

- Mike C.

Olympics Organizers Ask Keith Moon To Perform Event

London Olympics organizers proved to everyone in the world how out of touch they were recently by contacting the Who's management to inquire if Keith Moon would be interested in performing at one of their up coming events despite the infamous drummer being deceased since 1978. 


The Who's long time manager, Bill Curbishley replied, "Keith now resides in Golders Green crematorium, having lived up to the Who's anthemic line 'I hope I die before I get old'. If they have a round table, some glasses and candles, we might contact him."

Link to the article:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/olympics-organizers-ask-keith-moon-to-play-closing-ceremony-20120413

Who should the London Olympic Committee contact next for their up coming events? John Lennon & George Harrison? Amy Winehouse? Marc Bolan? John Bonham? Ronnie James Dio? Brian Jones?

- Mike C.

Leonard Cohen's Ex-Manager Guilty of Harassment

Kelley Lynch and Leonard Cohen.

It appears that Leonard Cohen's trial against his former manager and ex-lover, Kelley Lynch has come to a conclusion with a jury finding Ms. Lynch guilty of harassment and violating a restraining order multiple times. She may face up to five years in jail. 


The singer of classic songs "Suzanne" and "Hallelujah" spent a portion of three days in a court room testifying that Lynch had been sending hundreds of threatening emails and voice mails since 2004 when Cohen fired Lynch for embezzling millions of dollars from his savings accounts while he stayed at a Zen Monastery in California. 


"I was not willing to take the risk, the risk that someone who leaves me messages that are deranged and violent is not going to turn up outside my house," Cohen testified.

Here is the link to the complete story:
http://www.billboard.com/news/leonard-cohen-s-ex-manager-guilty-of-harassment-1006754952.story#/news/leonard-cohen-s-ex-manager-guilty-of-harassment-1006754952.story


Is Kelley Lynch a psycho? Would you have filed a restraining order against her for leaving 10 minute threatening voice mails? Would you ever consider having an affair with someone in charge of your bank accounts? Will Leonard Cohen write a song about this experience? an album? Did he already recently do that? 


Go check out Leonard Cohen's web site:
http://www.leonardcohen.com


- Mike C.

Obama Calls Kanye West a Jackass, Again!

Looks like President Obama stands behind his 2009 remark, calling Kanye West a "jackass". In a recent interview for the latest Atlantic Monthly, Obama is asked if he prefers Jay-Z or Kanye West. Obama answered "Jay-Z" and gave praise to Kanye but then concluded that "He IS a jackass, but he's talented." 


Link to the Article:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/obama-goes-on-record-to-call-kanye-west-a-jackass-20120412


What do you think of Kanye West? Is he still a jackass? Is Obama telling it like it is? How much longer will it be until Kim Kardashian calls Kanye a jackass? Will the GOP now side with Kanye and claim that he IS NOT a jackass just to be partisan against Obama? Will Kanye West fans vote republican this November? 


- Mike C.

Johnny Marr Remembers the Smiths Studio Albums

One of my favorite guitarists of all time, Johnny Marr gets an interview with Spin magazine today and reminisces about the Smiths studio albums he helped forge into alternative classics. With so much talk of the Smiths coming from Johnny Marr lately, you'd think that he was priming everyone for a Smiths reunion, but don't hold your breath. The guitarist has mentioned at the Brit Awards that he would get the band back together when the current British government administration steps down. "That's a fair trade." the guitarist remarked.


Here is the link to the Spin interview:
http://www.spin.com/articles/johnny-marr-remembers-smiths-studio-albums?utm_source=spintwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spintwitter


- Mike C.