Free Republic

It was only in 2018 when hip-hop surpassed rock 'n' roll to become the most popular music genre in the U.S., but its glory was short-lived. In 2023—the year when hip-hop celebrated its 50th birthday— the music genre that gave a voice to millions seemed to be losing its appeal. While 2023 was marked with historic performances by hip-hop royalty at major events, the newer generation struggled to make a dent on the charts. **SNIP** Or as musicologist and historian Zachary Diaz told Newsweek, there has been a "musical gentrification" of hip-hop which has seen corporations and big music labels...

John Coltrane’s sessions for the Prestige label proved to be supremely fertile and prolific, marking the saxophonist’s creative rebirth.It’s 1958 and John Coltrane is looking to rebuild his career. The reputation of the Philadelphia-raised musician, then 32, had seemed in serious jeopardy a year earlier, after his heroin addiction got him fired from Miles Davis’ group. As a rising star of the tenor saxophone – the man who had lit up a clutch of Davis albums recorded for both Prestige and Columbia during 1955-56 – the high-flying Coltrane seemed an indispensable component of the trumpeter’s band, but the shock of...

1. “Rose’s Turn” from Gypsy (1959) Throughout Gypsy, Mama Rose has pushed her children to be stars, even if it meant pushing them away from her. But in the show’s shattering climactic number, she finally takes center stage herself, if only in her mind. Built from fragments of prior songs in Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim’s classic score, this musical nervous breakdown—created by Sondheim and director Jerome Robbins in an inspired three-hour improvisation—takes Rose apart and reassembles the pieces into a sad and scary portrait of thwarted drive; the strenuous optimism of “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” her first-act finale, twists...

My latest song. Please watch...oh, right.

Eric Clapton has expressed support for Roger Waters' to voice his outspoken political views. Waters has been accused multiple times over years of making alleged antisemitic remarks and actions at his concerts. In 2023, he drew criticism for wearing a Nazi-like costume during his performance in Berlin, which prompted an investigation by the German police. Additionally, his concert in Frankfurt, Germany, was nearly canceled, but he was ultimately permitted to perform. Also in 2023, Waters was condemned by the U.S. State Department, which said that the artist has "a long track record of using antisemitic tropes." Waters has been a...

Michael McDonald has detailed his failed attempt to “make some easy money” by selling cocaine. It was the ‘70s and McDonald was a member of Steely Dan’s touring band, while also providing backing vocals on their albums. The rockers’ common interests extended beyond music, as they were also frequent cocaine users at the time. In a moment of inspiration – or stupidity, depending on how you view it – the musicians devised a plan to sell drugs on the side. McDonald details the scheme in his new memoir, What a Fool Believes. He and Walter Becker decided they would “buy...

#OfficialVideo #BowWowWow #IWantCandy Official Video for "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow

Every generation has a sleeping lion just waiting to wake and roar up the charts. In the early Eighties "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" got to Number One in Britain for Tight Fit. Can't quite place Tight Fit? It sounds like a vaguely parodic name for a boy band, but in fact they were a coed combo - one boy, two girls, a male model and two female dancers, hired as a photogenic front after the record had already been made. The girls had failed to make the cut at an audition for the more successfully contrived group, Bucks Fizz, and...

"One of Us" is a song written by Eric Bazilian (of The Hooters) and originally released by Joan Osborne. Released in March 1995 on the album Relish and produced by Rick Chertoff, it became a Top 40 hit in November of that year. The song is the theme song for the American television series Joan of Arcadia.

For every love song that blasts across the airwaves, an equal amount of tunes were written about the less sunny side of love.What makes for the best breakup song? Well, since the beginning of time, romance has served as the inspiration to many musical compositions. But for every love song that blasts across the airwaves, an equal amount of tunes were written about the less sunny side of love. So, no matter what stage you’re going through, we’ve compiled 70 of the greatest breakup songs to help you feel all the feels: from heartsick power ballads and pensive pop tunes...

The Disney legend and his late brother, Robert, also worked on 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,' and they wrote more songs for movie musicals than anyone in history.Richard M. Sherman, the Oscar-winning songwriter who partnered with his late brother to craft tunes for such Disney classics as Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Jungle Book, died Saturday. He was 95. Sherman, who also co-wrote “It’s a Small World (After All)” — considered the most performed song ever — as well as “You’re Sixteen,” a chart-topper for Ringo Starr, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of age-related illness,...

I think Selleck played volleyball at USC. He was an athlete. And a talented actor as well obviously. He was Jaclyn Smith's love interest on a Charlies Angels episode. Doesn't get any better than that.

She even continued to walk directly through the audience after testing positive for COVID-19.Lady Gaga may lose some of her little monsters after admitting to pushing on with several shows after testing positive for COVID-19. The "Edge of Glory" songstress made the revelation during a Q&A in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 23, where she was celebrating the premiere of her Gaga Chromatica Ball concert special, debuting on HBO. And after hearing her confession, some declared "should be in prison" for the unnecessary risks she took on behalf of her crew and her fans. According to People, the artist admitted...

Watch “Pictures of You” from The Cure’s landmark livestreamed performance of Disintegration at Sydney Opera House on 30 May 2019. “Our five shows at the Sydney Opera House in May 2019 - celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 1989 album Disintegration - are among the most memorable we have ever played - indeed, our entire Sydney trip was like a wonderful dream... I am so happy the final night of the run was captured in such expressive style by our longtime friend and director Nick Wickham - the release of the whole concert can’t be too far away… ” -...

The Official Music Video for Wrapped Around Your Finger. Taken from The Police - Synchronicity.

The Beach Boys' story goes back more than 60 years, with nearly 30 albums, dozens of hit singles, and enough ups and downs and family drama to fill several movies. But the documentary The Beach Boys (streaming on Disney+) packs it all into a compact 113 minutes, skimming the surface of the group's many chapters while never lingering long enough in any one area to give the casual fan much indication as to why they are one of pop music's most important bands. Not long into the film, co-founder Mike Love says, "We've been counted out as a group a...

My latest song. Use headphones for maximum delight.

Steven Van Zandt has a pessimistic outlook when he ponders the future of classic rock. During an appearance on Club Random with Bill Maher, the E Street Band guitarist examined the way music consumption has changed. “Right now, because the record industry is dead, there’s no more record sales other than Taylor Swift and Beyonce,” Van Zandt declared. Instead, he explained, films and television shows have become the best way for recording artists to make money. However, even that has become problematic because musicians have upped their licensing fees in order to survive. “You got a bunch of whatever, 25...

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — American comedian Dave Chappelle said a “genocide” is striking the Gaza Strip amid the Israel-Hamas war to cheers during his performance in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, while urging Americans to fight antisemitism so Jews don’t feel like they need to be protected by Israel. Chappelle’s comments come as Abu Dhabi has maintained its diplomatic relations with Israel even as it has increasingly criticized its conduct in the seven-month war. About halfway through in a wide-ranging comedy set in Abu Dhabi, Chappelle, a Muslim, initially said he had been told by...

Elvis Presley's granddaughter sent an investment company intent on auctioning off Graceland running. Riley Keough didn't just convince a judge to block the auction of Graceland on Thursday. The actor's legal response scared off Naussany Investments and Private Lending LLC for good. Elvis Presley Enterprises (Graceland) labeled claims made by Naussany as fraudulent upon learning they planned to auction Graceland to get back money loaned to Lisa Marie Presley in 2018. Keough's lawyer said the loan never happened and Naussany "appears to be a false entity created for the purpose of defrauding." A quick family tree is necessary to understand...