Five years! Longer than many marriages, yet Popdose is still here and still going.
Darren Robbins
82 Articles
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
When I was a kid, there was no Internet, which made getting my hands on great music almost impossible. From my small town in Michigan, Top 40 and AOR radio…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
Dan Wilson (Trip Shakespeare, Semisonic, solo artist) Okay Darren, here are my picks! I’m sure if I thought about it more I’d only come up with a bunch more bonus…
Ted Asregadoo
1 Min Read
DOWNLOAD THE FULL MIX HERE It’s been said that actors wish they could be rock stars and rock stars wish they were actors.Á‚ But what if you’re a writer and…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
There are few artists whose music evokes the coming of autumn more than Ray LaMontagne. Thus, it seemed only fitting that as I walked from my car to the venue,…
Darren Robbins
2 Min Read
This past weekend, drummer Steve Foley passed away at the age of 49. Foley, of course, is best known for replacing Chris Mars in the Replacements for their final tour…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
Preconceptions can be a bitch. Lemme give you an example. Back in 1981, I bought an album by a band called The Tourists, whom I knew nothing about, and, upon…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
Okay, let me just say right off the top that I’ve always had a bit of a problem with Trent Reznor. This was purely from an artistic POV. As a…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
This is the first in a series that I call Random-onium!, for lack of a better term. The premise is that I go to a friend’s house and pick a…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
There are those artists who get a couple releases into their career before they feel the pressure from the suits at the label to “have a hit,” and then there…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
So much of our lives are shaped by how we carry ourselves — our self-confidence, if you will. Yet I have come to believe that confidence is actually an indicator…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
Girlfriends, I was sitting on my diamond-encrusted toilet the other day thinking that yaÁ¢€â„¢ll probably had no idea what kind of music to buy. Judging by your willingness to accept…
Darren Robbins
2 Min Read
I donÁ¢€â„¢t wait by the phone like I used to I donÁ¢€â„¢t hope for kind words you might say You donÁ¢€â„¢t prey on my mind like you used to But…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
The cutout bins are filled with what IÁ¢€â„¢ve always called Á¢€Å“blatant pop attemptsÁ¢€ Á¢€” albums created for maximum commercial appeal that, despite such intentions, failed miserably on all fronts. In…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
The news of Danny FedericiÁ¢€â„¢s passing has me contemplating a number of emotions. It seems that with every passing week, there is news of cancer claiming yet another beautiful spirit…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away lived a kid who hadnÁ¢€â„¢t a care in the world. In the small Indiana town he called home, he had…
Popdose Staff
1 Min Read
In 2006, the Raconteurs (the pairing of Brendan Benson’s cheery pop sensibilities with Jack White’s rock and roll decadence), released their first album, Broken Boy Soldiers. It was a fun…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
When I was a kid, my heroes were, at the very least, deserving of adoration. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Cheap Trick, Dan Pastorini (the one non-musician of the bunch) Á¢€”…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
Many summers ago, I was a counselor at a remote summer camp in the heart of lake-bound Michigan and, suffering from a bad case of cabin fever (literally), I had…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
Although released in late 1977, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack would be impossible to ignore for much of 1978, with the Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” and “Stayin’ Alive,” as well…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
The weird thing about being into music as much as I am (much to the chagrin of every girlfriend I’ve ever had) is that I still end up missing out…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
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…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
This column is dedicated to featuring those bands that arenÁ¢€â„¢t household names but, to my ears, should be. Growing up in a small town in southern Michigan, the closest major…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
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…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
Foreigner – “Urgent,” circa ’81 A friend of mine once observed that you know youÁ¢€â„¢re getting older when most of your favorite bands are touring without their original singers. Thankfully,…
Darren Robbins
3 Min Read
With Popdose having just rolled off the showroom floor all shiny and new, still full of that Á¢€Å“new car smell,Á¢€ I am chuffed to the Á¢€Ëœnads to be a part…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
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…
Darren Robbins
2 Min Read
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…
Darren Robbins
4 Min Read
When I first heard Tom Petty sing the words Á¢€Å“even the losers get lucky sometimesÁ¢€, I couldnÁ¢€â„¢t help feel that this was a guy who, no matter how rich and…
Darren Robbins
1 Min Read
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…
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