Talk about DIY — when club promoter and all-around Paris-Hilton-famous-for-merely-being-famous trailblazer Steven Strange didn’t like that there weren’t enough good songs to play on his club night, he grabbed some…
Jeff Giles
6 Min Read
I just got back from a last-minute business trip to Los Angeles (otherwise known as “my least favorite city in the world”), so I’m dealing with all the fun of…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
Indigo Girls – Rarities (2005) They don’t get as much attention as they used to, but I think that’s more a function of short attention spans than a drop in…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Pete Wylie – “Sinful” It’s sinfulIt’s tragicIt’s sinfulIt’s tragic Hey Joe! I got the news tonightwell, should I laugh or should I cry or should I stay and fight?It’s sinful,…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
I realize it’s been a long time since I did an entry on some new piece of dumb junk food, but our nation’s beloved conglomerates seem to have put a…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
I realize it’s been a long time since I did an entry on some new piece of dumb junk food, but our nation’s beloved conglomerates seem to have put a…
Jeff Giles
7 Min Read
Now here’s a band that would be huge if the world made any sense. A trio of non-threateningly scruffy alterna-pop minstrels, singing songs about love and loss, hope and heartbreak,…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
I love Billmon. Have a happy 4th, kids — jefitoblog is back to normal operating hours tomorrow.
John C. Hughes
4 Min Read
The music business can be cruel and unforgiving — clichéd, sure, but as I found out years ago, very true. In 1985, William “Boogie Knight” Stroman was in the Top…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
AMERICA 1989 Rock has been driven underground. The authorities stalk pirate broadcasters and their followers. Those who are apprehended suffer severe consequences. Hey, kid! What are you doing? Haven’t you…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Newcleus had been bouncing around the early hip-hop/breakdancing scene since 1977 when they were part of a DJ crew calling itself Jam On Productions, but it wasn’t until 1983 and…
Jeff Giles
21 Min Read
“Randy Newman Finds Something New Under the Sun,” proclaimed the back cover of his 1968 debut, and even if that wasn’t entirely true — his music, after all, has always…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Ha! Check out the grossest piece of fruit you’ve ever seen: I wonder what Saxton Freymann would think of this. What a gorgeous Sunday. We got up this morning, hit…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
jefitoblog reader (and John Hiatt fan) Adam Schoonover is also one fine photographer. I like his stuff–go check it out.
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Laura CantrellHumming by the Flowered Vine (2005) Since making her debut in 2000, Cantrell has released a string of critically lauded albums. Her fascinating background story (late musical bloomer with…
Jeff Giles
4 Min Read
The slacktivist tells it like it is, and more powerfully than I could, so I’ll just stand back and let him rage for me: Style matters. Substance does not. Reality…
John C. Hughes
2 Min Read
Let’s dive right in, shall we? First, I have an e-mail from a very reliable source (try Pete Byrne, the co-founder and lead singer!) that Naked Eyes are touring the…
Jeff Giles
3 Min Read
John HiattMaster of Disaster (2005) When you’ve made as many records as Hiatt has (this is his seventeenth studio album), you’ve likely broken all the new ground you’re going to…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
It’s official: my good friend Fred Wilhelm and his song, “Dearly Beloved,” have made the final track listing for the new Faith Hill album, due in August. I’m no country…
Jeff Giles
13 Min Read
You don’t hear their songs much on the radio anymore — not even on classic rock stations — and they’ll probably never be elected to the Rock & Roll Hall…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
1986…small town Ohio Elyria West High School’s Senior Prom! A date with my “best girlfriend” (uh huh)! And the song that reminds me most of this occassion? “Say you, Say…
Jeff Giles
3 Min Read
I haven’t written too many of these this year, partly because school was having its way with me from January through May, but also because there just hasn’t been much…
Jeff Giles
4 Min Read
One of the cool things about Tivo is that it allows you to add or remove channels at will. I know pretty much every television set has this function, but…
Jeff Giles
12 Min Read
Over the last few decades, American folk music — like jazz and blues — has largely ceased to be a genre of any commercial importance. Many point to Dylan “going…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Watch the video for The Jacksons’ “Torture”. “Torture” peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984.
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Behold the first official ARRRR t-shirt! I hear it may also be the album cover!
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Benja described it as “the movie of the year,” and I have to confess I didn’t believe him, but then I saw this: And I figure, well, if they’re making…
John C. Hughes
2 Min Read
You got your Chaka Khan in my Scritti Politti! Well, you got your Scritti Politti in my Chaka Khan! Mmmm”¦hey! This is pretty good! Chaka Khan was cooling off in…
Jeff Giles
20 Min Read
Credit Where Credit is Due Dept.: This week’s selection of Downloadablesâ„¢ is inspired, once again, by those beautiful, crazy bastards over at audiography, where the theme for the week is…