elvis presley - king creole

In the preceding post I mentioned that there was an Elvis double feature and that King Creole shows better than most why Elvis was so popular to a certain generation. This is not the fat white jump suit Elvis but a scarily charismatic performer that just exudes sex appeal. Watch the video and tell me I'm wrong. ... And let me know if it inspires interest in venturing out to see it on the big screen.

Zappa's JOE'S GARAGE on stage for the first time

I LOVE THIS CITY. I am so going to this.

From Sergio Leone and the infield fly rule:

"How you react to the Open Fist Theater’s first-time-ever staging of Frank Zappa’s satirical rock opera Joe’s Garage, or even simply the news that director Pat Towne and producer/co-writer Michael Franco have taken on the long-thought-unstageable project, will depend almost entirely on your affinity/reverence for Zappa’s music. Attending Joe’s Garage is not likely to make a convert to appreciation for Zappa’s singular talent out of anyone who doesn’t know “Catholic Girls” from “Jewish Princess,” or what the hell means Waka/Jawaka, or the story of Bobby, the very potato-looking ne’er-do-well who resides in Zappa’s San Ber’dino. But for those, like me, who consider Zappa an epic musical genius often misunderstood and/or dismissed by both the star-maker machinery behind the popular song and the general audiences who never, beyond the occasional novelty hit, cottoned to his avant-garde leanings or his penchant for holding a foul-mouthed mirror up to the basest stupidities of human society, Open Fist’s production of Joe’s Garage (extended through December 21) is, literally, a dream come true, made flesh..."
Read the rest here.

Internship opportunity

I just met with Eric Fritschi, a Duke alum who's director of marketing for Nettwerk Music Group. Their Hollywood office space is great, and it looks like it would be a great place to intern, if you're interested in music, talent management, or in marketing. They also have a graphic design department and he's going to get back to me as to whether there's an intern opportunity for that as well. Let me know who's interested. This looks like a good opportunity.

Secondly, Eric is going to put us to work at some point, where we'll help prep for a concert at their offices, and then hang out. Sounds like there'll be some other fun opportunites too.

E-mail me about internship interest and read about Nettwerk at the link.

Songs about LA

Posted to the side you'll see a list of LA songs. Hit the link and you'll get the original blog post I did for each song. If you think there's a glaring omission, please let me know. LA is a complicated city and it takes all styles, all genres, to properly capture that complexity.

Who's making what in the music industry

We all know the music industry is currently in trouble. We now have some tangible salary figures to prove it as well. Check out what different people make doing different jobs in the music industry.
http://spin.com/articles/who-earns-what?page=0%2C0

LA Songs

Let me know your thoughts. Which ones should I be congratulated for including; what omissions should have me run out of town. You guys know more about music than I ever will, so give me some feedback. Should we rank at least the top five? Do we need to include Randy Newman?

Wax - Southern California (A Film By Spike Jonze)

Okay, it's a good song, not a great song, but the video put it into the top dozen.#12.

Arlo Guthrie- Coming into Los Angeles

And the final two songs - just to remind everyone that I did grow up in the 60s and 70s. #9

Public Enemy - Burn Hollywood Burn video remix

#5 - half way thru the top ten - gotta think about making some cuts. Sorry, Eagles fans but the Hotel California's not going to make the cut!

Straight Outta Compton - NWA

#2 in the greatest songs about LA. (I'm actually not listing them in any particular order.)

L.A. Music Scene

Blogs you might want to read: Three in a series.
I've heard that several of this year's students are music-focused. I thought I'd post a couple of LA music blogs to give y'all a sense of who plays here, etc.

I'd start with Aquarium Drunkard. L.A. City Beat describes it as "Probably L.A.’s most successful music blog, the Drunkard not only posts daily MP3s and commentary, it also offers concert ticket giveaways and features like “Off the Record,” where artists contribute travel writing on the cities they call home ... It’s looking like music blogs are, for better or worse, the new first line of tastemaking defense; site-runner Justin Gage has spun things off into radio shows with Little Radio and Sirius, concert sponsorships, and a record label. Scrolling down to the section marked “Townies” in the right column reveals links to his music-blog brethren, including Rock Insider (Rockinsider.com; when checking out a blog for the first time, a glance at the blogroll/links section will give you a good idea of its DNA)."

For concert coverage, I'd also suggest Losanjealous, which gives us a great alternative music calendar of events, and some great pictures. Go to the homepage and then click the Los Angeles Concerts tab.

Music Week w/ Jimmy Kimmel

Here's the instructions for next weeks visits to see Kimmel on 4/24 or 4/26.

You MUST be at 6840 Hollywood Blvd. by 6:00 p.m. If you are late, or your don't show up, none of get in. This is reght across the street from the Kodak theatre.
PPlease park across the street at Hollywood &Highland.  It is normally $4 to park there but Kimmel will validate your parking so it will only cost you $2 to park.

Here's the people going, please let me know if any of this is incorrect.

Tuesday, 4/24: Ben, Dave, me, Sam and Alicia
Thursday, 4/26: Keith, Noel, Meron, Janet, Aaina, Heather and me.

Re: Jimmy Kimmell

Okay, i just talked to the show's producer. She now says that Ben was wrong. I said we were all confused and she said not to worry, that all of you should immediately release your tickets and she is going to put us on the house guest list instead. So I just need to do a head count on Friday and we'll all be set.

P.S. I'm 100% sure that Ben was told the exact opposite of what I was told. The good news is that we are circumventing the system.

Happy Extended Due Date Paper Finishing Day!

Here's a present to congratulate those who have finished their paper. And those who aren't done yet can dig it while they write. It certainly helped me get those pages down.

It's the groovy Danger: Diabolik soundtrack! I came across a copy and thought that others in the class might be interested, so I've posted it online as a zip file for download. The sound quality isn't great. Legend has it that Dino DeLaurentiis re-used the tapes that Morricone recorded the soundtrack on (that stingy bastard), so I think this recording is from an actual print of the film. Enjoy!

Punk vs. Punk Rock?

This one is mainly for Esther's presentation:
Per Hollywood Reporter: "The Sex Pistols have opted out on appearing at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.The groundbreaking English punk rock group officially declined the honor -- to be handed out March 13 at a dinner and performance at the Waldorf Astoria in New York -- in a crudely scrawled, mispunctuated handwritten message posted on the band's Web site Friday.
"Next to the SEX PISTOLS rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain," the statement read. "Your museum. Urine in wine. Were (sic) not coming. Were (sic) not your monkey and so what?"The statement slammed Hall of Fame voters as "music industry people," and excoriated the high price of attending the exclusive event -- $25,000 for a table, "or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery."It concluded, "Your (sic) not paying attention. Outside the shit-stem is a real SEX PISTOL."

Other 2006 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame include Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, Lynyrd Skynyrd and industry executives Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. Susan Evans, executive director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said of the band's announcement, "They're being the outrageous punksters that they are, and that's rock 'n' roll."The complete statement is posted at www.thefilthandthefury.co.uk "

Now the cool thing is to actually go to the above website, click Queen Liz's head and read what it says, i.e.
"The Sex Pistols ARE punk, the rest are 'punk-rock', BIG difference...."

Try to keep this in our heads for when we do music at the end of the semester! Isn't genre awareness great!