Forget those hifalutin rock critics. What does a 10-year-old girl think of Tay-Tay’s new platter? Popdose gets the scoop from Jon Cummings’ precocious daughter.
Jesus of Cool
51 Articles
Jon Cummings
8 Min Read
Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” exemplifies the shift among pop’s reigning divas — from P!nk to Katy to Ke$ha — away from self-aggrandizement and toward messages of self-help aimed directly at their audiences. Jon Cummings explores the new pop paradigm.
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
Sometimes an artist and her fans need to just, like, move on already. Here, the author’s daughter (and her BFF) explain why the Party In The USA is so yesterday.
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
The kids from Glee take their show off the air and onto the road. It’s not for the uninitiated — but for Gleeks it’s a pleasure they needn’t feel guilty about. Yet.
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
The astroPuppees frontwoman steps into the light with a sunny album depicting the range of female experience, with help from her pals Don Dixon and Marti Jones.
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
Is the raging debate over the quality, value, and legitimacy of “democratized” music journalism merely the death rattle of the old-line cultural gatekeepers?
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
My apologies to anyone whoÁ¢€â„¢s been waiting with bated breath for me to wrap up this series Á¢€” is there any such person out there? I left off in early…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
It’s Beatles Week here at Popdose, and Jon Cummings kicks things off by leading the staff through a list of our personal Fab Four favorites.
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
If youÁ¢€â„¢ve visited your local Barnes & Noble or Borders lately, you may have noticed that Woodstock-related books have taken over display tables nationwide. Indeed, a cottage industry of tree-pulping…
Jon Cummings
3 Min Read
Welcome back to another edition of Jon Cummings’ award-winning look at great #2 singles of the pop era! This week: hits from Sheryl Crow, Jewel, and God.
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Jon Cummings chats up eMusic CEO Danny Stein in this week’s Jesus of Cool, talking about the ramifications of the site’s new deal with Sony — and what may be in store for eMusic customers.
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Did Michael Jackson break the music industry? Jon Cummings examines the damage in this week’s Jesus of Cool.
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Jon Cummings’ ongoing look at great #2 hits in Billboard history moves into the ’80s this week, with hit tracks from the Bangles, Journey, and Foreigner in the mix.
Jon Cummings
3 Min Read
Continuing his decade-by-decade look of great second-place finishes in pop music, Jon Cummings moves on to the ’70s, including #2 hits from Lou Rawls, 10cc, and the King himself.
Jon Cummings
3 Min Read
Welcome to the second installment of an ongoing series celebrating songs that fell excruciatingly short of ascending to the top of BillboardÁ¢€â„¢s pop singles chart. In the course of compiling…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
This week in Jesus of Cool, Jon Cummings looks back on that lost and long-forgotten phenomenon known as the local radio hit. His focus: the Robbin Thompson Band’s “Candy Apple Red.”
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Last year, in the midst of compiling my Á¢€Å“Worst Number One Songs of the Rock EraÁ¢€ series, I began contemplating the sad, sorry fate of those records that have come…
Jon Cummings
3 Min Read
For a few precious years in the late 1980s and early Á¢€â„¢90s, the most communal experience on the pop touring circuit was a family affair. Recording artist-producer Don Dixon and…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
My brief tenure as a resident of Philadelphia, from 1990 to ’92, coincided with a period of remarkable growth for the Hard Rock Cafe chain of restaurants. The chainÁ¢€â„¢s cofounders,…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
EditorÁ¢€â„¢s note: What follows is no less than the third column that Popdose writer Jon Cummings has attempted to wring out of a single interview last fall with former Letters…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Almost exactly a year ago on this site, my esteemed Popdose colleague Dw. Dunphy closed a column by asking, Á¢€Å“What has modernity offered you? Hannah Montana?Á¢€ He was concluding a…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
A decade ago this past summer, Kay Hanley and her bandmates in Letters to Cleo had to be talked into accepting a free trip to Hollywood when the producers of…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Whether you were a child of the Á¢€â„¢60s or (like me) of the Á¢€â„¢70s, the BeatlesÁ¢€â„¢ perpetual presence on the radio seemed something of a birthright. Every Á¢€Å“officialÁ¢€ Beatles single…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
I may be a bit slow on the uptake these days when it comes to television commercials — I don’t watch much live TV anymore, what with the TiVo and…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
Among the many types of radio star that video killed were what I like to call the Faceless Narcissists Á¢€” those acts of the pre-MTV era who felt compelled to…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Last weekÁ¢€â„¢s massive international celebration of Vinyl Record Day (wait Á¢€” you say that big party they showed on TV was about the Olympics?) reminded me of my teenage fascination…
Jon Cummings
3 Min Read
By now itÁ¢€™s a clichÁƒ©, though often a useful one, to allow a particular song to remind you of a certain time or place Á¢€” that summer fling at the…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
One of my favorite Popdose experiences to date came in the wake of Part 9 in our colleague Dave SteedÁ¢€™s wonderful Á¢€Å“Bottom FeedersÁ¢€ series. He had identified his first CD…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
These days baby boomers, especially women, are in something of a panic. Demographically, professionally, financially and sociologically, theyÁ¢€™ve been dominating American culture for nearly half a century now, while succeeding…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
sitÁ¢€¢com n. Informal A situation comedy; a television comedy series involving a group of regular characters in everyday situations, often set in the home and/or workplace For three seasons, Weeds…
Page 1 of 2
Next