Retro-soul is a musical style in which contemporary artists attempt to recapture the sound and feel of the great soul music of the ’60s and early ’70s. Musical touchstones include…
Ken Shane
844 Articles
Ken Shane lives in Narragansett, R.I. He is a freelance writer and far and away the oldest Popdose writer. In fact, he may be the oldest writer, period. He wants you to know that he generally does not share his colleagues' love for the music of the '80s, and he does not forgive them for loving it. (Ken passed away in November 2022. R.I.P. —Ed.)
Ken Shane
3 Min Read
“The general theme of this record is trying to find balance in your life and being okay with decisions, mistakes, and even triumphs. Being satisfied with whatever world you’ve carved…
Ken Shane
3 Min Read
On February 7, 1964, the Beatles arrived in America, and everything changed. When I say everything, I don’t just mean music. The world was never the same. The societal upheaval…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
Ken Shane looks back on the many memorable events of 1968, including the release of a classic Simon & Garfunkel album.
Ken Shane
4 Min Read
The famous story goes that T.A.M.I. Show (Shout Factory) Executive Producer Bill Sargent wanted the Rolling Stones to close the show. The Stones, however, had seen James Brown’s act, and…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
For some people, Social Distortion is the very definition of a rock and roll band. After all, they have everything the average rock fan could ask for – the sizzling…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
The power trio has had a long and glorious history in the annals of rock and roll. The simple, but often explosive blend of electric guitar, bass, and drums is…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
In 1979, following an acrimonious divorce from Mercury Records, Graham Parker & the Rumour released an album that would become a rock and roll classic.
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
I wish that record companies, publicists, and critics for that matter, would kick the habit of feeling the need to describe artists in terms of other artists in their press…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
The Beatles broke up in 1970, and Paul McCartney released his first solo album. In California, a young McCartney-influenced musician was beginning his own solo career.
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
The sixth and final chapter in the American Recordings collaborations between Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin is a direct conversation between a man and his maker.
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
Don Was (born Don Fagenson) and David Was (born David Weiss) grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, and met in junior high school in the 1960s. It was a…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
Ok, this is tough stuff. The tenth studio album from San Francisco’s the Brian Jonestown Massacre is a swirling psychedelic phantasmagoria. The band, best known to most people via their…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
You know, between Yeasayer’s new album Odd Blood, and Shout Out Louds new one, Work(Merge Records), I may finally be taking a liking to this new-fangled music. Both bands have…
Ken Shane
2 Min Read
“To live now, as human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” Howard Zinn (1922-2010) In these days of sneering…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
The 5th Dimension had their first hit with Jimmy Webb’s “Up, Up, and Away.” When the time came for their second album, they turned to Webb again. The rest is pop history.
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
San Francisco’s Big Light is a band you’ll be hearing about. Their new album, Animals In Bloom, will be released on March 2, and Popdose is the exclusive host of the first single, “Monster.”
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
The Brooklyn-based band (yes, another one!) Yeasayer garnered a lot of positive critical and public attention with their 2007 debut album All Hours Cymbals. Following rigorous touring in support of…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
A meadow. Sheep. A wild-eyed man with torn britches playing the flute whilst standing on one leg. All of those images occurred to me when I listened to the new…
Ken Shane
3 Min Read
Bill Withers released his last album in 1985. After a relatively brief but hit-filled career, he walked away. Frustrated by the efforts of the so-called “blaxperts” at Columbia Records to…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
In 2008 the Uglysuit came riding out of Oklahoma City. Their debut album impressed a lot of people, and their live show is winning them new fans at every stop on the road.
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
In the summer of 1978, EMI saw the light. Driven by interest in Big Star in the U.K., they released a gatefold double album package containing the first two Big…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
The new PBS series Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders debuts tonight. The program offers a magazine-style look at the various ways in which music is influencing politics and culture around…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
In January of 1990, the Blue Nile released their second album. Ken Shane celebrates 20 years of listening to what he calls “one of the great pop albums of its, or any, time.”
Ken Shane
2 Min Read
“Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?” – Captain Oveur Only a creepy airline pilot could appreciate the epic television fart that is Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Yes, you will…
Ken Shane
2 Min Read
If you have been reading my ramblings here on Popdose, you know that I like a lot of music, and a lot of different musical styles. There are some genres…
Ken Shane
2 Min Read
In 1978, a band I was working with was recording an album at A & R Studios in New York City. In the studio was the keyboard called a Mellotron….
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
More than anything else, A Nod Is as Good as a Wink … to a Blind Horse is an album that reminds us. It reminds us of the great songwriter,…
Ken Shane
2 Min Read
I know that I have a tendency to dwell on the past, but it seems somehow sad to me that the release of a new album by a member of…