Darren Robbins »
The Year in Rock: 1996
Welcome to a series I began at He’s A Whore and am proud-as-punch to continue here at Popdose. While not able to mention everything that happened, I’ve touched upon some of the key events
Read More »Great Unknowns: Off Broadway
This column is dedicated to featuring those bands that aren’t household names but, to my ears, should be. Growing up in a small town in southern Michigan, the closest major city was Chicago. We
Read More »Desert Island Discs: Peter Holsapple and Eric Matthews
One of the great things about writing for a blog as world famous as Popdose is that the mere mention of my association with this collective of rock-blog superheroes gains me access to a
Read More »Ain’t That a Sham(e)!
Foreigner – “Urgent,” circa ’81 A friend of mine once observed that you know you’re getting older when most of your favorite bands are touring without their original singers. Thankfully, of course, my favorite
Read More »Hey You Kids (Have a Happy New Year And) Get Out Of My Yard!
With Popdose having just rolled off the showroom floor all shiny and new, still full of that “new car smell,” I am chuffed to the ‘nads to be a part of such a venture.
Read More »springsteen circa ’81
In 1975, music critic Jon Landau, having seen Springsteen’s performance at the Harvard Square Theater, wrote the immortal words, “I saw rock and roll’s future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen.&#
Read More »album spotlight: romantics-strictly personal (1981)
Detroit’s Romantics had gone from local club faves to national up-and-comers with the release of their debut self-titled album and follow-up effort, “National Breakout”; both albums featuring the edgy power pop sound that had
Read More »Why Westerberg Rules
When I first heard Tom Petty sing the words “even the losers get lucky sometimes”, I couldn’t help feel that this was a guy who, no matter how rich and famous he got (for
Read More »Desert Island Discs: Owen Thomas from The Elms
Anyone who was paying attention in 2006 surely caught wind of a great album by the Indiana-based band, The Elms. Based in John Cougar Mellencamp’s hometown of Seymour, Indiana and brandishing a heartland-flavored mix
Read More »the year is 1981: tom petty, cheap trick, the police
With the release of Bruce Springsteen’s new single, “Radio Nowhere”, which sounds to me like a tune straight out of 1981 (that’s a good thing), I was suddenly filled with thoughts about the year
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