Rock Archive |
Peter Gabriel: “Solsbury Hill” - I had a birthday. I try and keep it secret, because I’m in denial about my age and, more days than not, I feel like I’m 19 and it’s all
Peter Wolf - I have reached such a state of crotchety that I can no longer bear to hear someone talk about his or her "journey." That meant I had to skip the Academy Awards, where
Peter Wolf: Midnight Souvenirs - Only grownups buy CDs of popular music now. Research tells us that kids know better --- they sample a CD, find the two or three songs that sound like keepers,
Phil Spector: A Christmas Gift for You - Phil Spector is a killer and a sleaze, but he's also a tragedy. When he was ten years old, his father connected a hose to the exhaust pipe of the
Raising Sand - Summer. Dusk. An ancient Cadillac convertible, top down, cruises on Long Island back roads. On the radio, the Rolling Stones. “The world's greatest rock band?” I ask. The
Rattlin’ Bones - After a certain age and a certain number of --- oh, let's not call them failed, let's say successfully completed --- relationships, it's inspiring to hear a man and woman
Regina Spektor: “Laughing With” - Regina Spektor is a Russian Jew. In 1989, her family traded Russia for the Bronx --- and religious freedom. “Laughing With” appeared on her 2009 CD, “Far.” I never heard
Regret Over the Wires - It was the summer we were living in Paris. The early evening was sunny and warm, and I had a business dinner a mile down the Seine, so
Revival - They were handing out earplugs at the studio door. “No thanks,” I said. “I like it loud.” I got a look. And a pair of plugs. Two more steps, and I was
Rickie Lee Jones - When she was a kid, she'd put her thumb out, hitch a ride and end up "two or three states away." She was tossed out of high school. She became
Robert Plant: Band of Joy - Hey, hey, mama, said the way you move Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove. Oh, oh, child, way you shake that thing Gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting. Hey, hey,
Roxy Music: Avalon - Roxy Music's 50th anniversary tour came to New York last week. I made sure to be elsewhere that night --- I avoid nostalgia, it feels like the first step on
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - Guest Butler Joe DePreta, a frequent contributor to Head Butler, is a New York marketing executive and writer on cultural trends. He wrote a riveting take for Butler on Lennon:
Silvertone - Silvertone Chris Isaak I saw Chris
Sturgill Simpson - You don’t know Sturgill Simpson? No better way than this: the aptly named “Brace for Impact (Live a Little).” The lyrics: One day you wake up And this life will be over Every party
Surprise -
Susan Werner - Hello, darkness: In 2002, Katie Hafner’s 45-year-old husband went on a business trip --- and died on a treadmill. So when Sheryl Sandberg’s husband died on a treadmill, Hafner wrote
T Bone Burnett - The True False Identity
