Here is the second part of musicians who died in 2009. Part 3 will follow early in the new year. I make no claims of having arrived at a complete and exhaustive list of musicians who left us the past year. Some I didn’t include because their names or output is unfamiliar to me, or just not my scene; and a few I left out because I have no music by them, and could not find any.

Finally, in response to an e-mail, the photo gallery follows the order in which people are listed. So Dave Dee is on the top left, Uriel Jones next to him, MJ (listed third) left second from top and so on.

* * *

Dave Dee, 67, of ’60s hit group Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, on January 9
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich – The Legend Of Xanadu (1968)

Uriel Jones, 74, drummer of Motown backing band collective The Funk Brothers, who played on songs such as Marvin Gaye’s I Heard It Trough The Grapevine, The Temptations’ Cloud Nine, and the song below, on March 24.
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (1967)

Michael Jackson, 50, pop singer and former childstar with the Jackson 5 (the b-side of whose 1971 hit I’ll Be There features here), on June 25
Jackson Five – One More Chance (1971)

Bob Bogle, 75, member of surf rock band The Ventures, on June 14
The Ventures – Scat In The Dark (1970)

Billy Powell, 59, Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist, on January 28
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Simple Man (1973)

Ron Asheton, 60, guitarist of The Stooges, found dead on January 6
The Stooges – I Wanna Be Your Dog (1969)

Lux Interior, 62, frontman of punk legends The Cramps, on February 4
The Cramps – Human Fly (1978)

Johnny Jones, 73, leader of The King Casuals, alma mater of Jimi Hendrix, on October 14
Johnny Jones & the King Casuals – Purple Haze (1968)

Jim Dickinson, 67, R&B singer with The Jesters, pianist (on songs such as the Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses) and producer, on August 15
The Jesters – Cadillac Man (1966)

Clinton Ford, 77, English skiffle and country singer, on October 21
Clinton Ford – Huggin’ And A Chalkin’ (1962)

Al Alberts, 87, member of the Four Aces, on November 27
Four Aces – Love Is A Many Splendored Thing (1955)

Hank Locklin, 91, country legend, on March 8
Hank Locklin – Send Me The Pillow You Dream On (1960)

Liam Clancy, 74, last surviving member of the hugely influential folk group The Clancy Brothers, on December4.
The Clancy Brothers – The Leaving Of Liverpool (1964)

Mike Seeger, 75, folk singer, brother of Peggy and half-brother of Pete, on August 7
Mike Seeger & Paul Brown – Way Down In North Carolina (1996)

Chris Feinstein, 42, bassist of alt.country band The Cardinals, on December 14
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Follow The Lights (2007)

Jeff Hanson, 31, high-voiced singer-songwriter, on June 5
Jeff Hanson – Now We Know (2005)

Rudy Cain, 63, singer and founder of The Delfonics and Blue Magic, on April 9
The Delfonics – Ready Or Not Here I Come (1968)

Fayette Pinkney, 61, member of The Three Degrees, on June 27
Three Degrees – Dirty Old Man (1973)

Eric Woolfson, 64, Alan Parsons’ sidekick in the Project who took lead vocals on the group’s biggest hit, Eye In The Sky, on December 2
The Alan Parsons Project – Sirius/Eye In The Sky (1982)

Jack Rose, 38, virtuoso guitarist, on December 5
Jack Rose – Kensington Blues (2005)

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1973, by Leee Black Childers

     After years of being snubbed from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Stooges and the Hollies are finally being inducted into the hall this year. The Stooges have been eligible since 1994, while the Hollies have been eligible for 21 years.

      This is perhaps a hallmark year for the hall for the variety of rock genre being represented in this year’s inductees, yet also shows that some of the criticism of the hall regarding the voting committees is fairly apt. In addition to the Stooges and the Hollies,  the Class of 2010 includes the likes of Genesis, Abba, and reggae singer Jimmy Cliff. On one hand, it’s showing the ties rock and roll has to other genres and forms, whether they are influential to these genres (or vice versa). On the other, aside from the Stooges and the Hollies, the voting committee is desperate for relevance, and have been extremely arbitrary and partial in the process since the hall’s opening. Abba is about as far from rock and roll as it gets. Jimmy Cliff would be the first reggae star to make it into the hall since Bob Marley’s induction back in 1994, and he’s been eligible since 1992. Genesis is boring and deserve nothing, other than some kind of non-existant award for bands that have notable electronic drum-kit players who are not Rick Allen.

The Hollies, while being a good rock band, were not the kind of mind-expanding great. Of all the bands of the original British Invasion, they barely shared the same popularity that the Beatles and Rolling Stones enjoyed. Yet, for giving us the career start of Graham Nash and one of the coolest intro-fake outs of all time (“Long Cool Woman”), did they deserve a 21 year lock out? The Stooges suffered the same sort of high-influence, low-popularity limbo coming out of the Detroit rock scene that would also give the world the MC5, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, and the ’Nuge.  

Comparatively, Metallica waited one year before they were inducted.

I will not debate the merits of influence and popularity, which should be considered more when it comes to potential inductees, nor if record sales should be considered. What I will say, however, is that when a band is inducted long before one of their early influences, it’s a disgrace upon the hall and its mysterious voting committee. If your organization, designed to celebrate an art form, its performers and influences, takes the time to award non-performers like DJs, producers, and promoters, then one would think that it’s priorities should be a little more focused to celebrate the real pioneers of the music, and not just the artists who are most popular — regardless of active duty, and if they still maintain that popularity.

On the other hand, KISS was snubbed. So the committee must have SOME kind of intelligence to its process.

The Stooges finally will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year. In 1968, the Stooges were signed by Elektra Records, who had sent a scout named Danny Fields to see the MC5. Luckily, he wound up signing both acts. 1969 saw the release of their self-titled debut album. Iggy wanted the Stooges to be what he’d seen in Chicago as a young guy. “These old bluesmen playing so hard that the music drips off you.”

Fun House, followed in 1970. Many consider it to be the best representation of the Stooges, as the main goal of the album was to capture the manic energy of their live performances. On June 13 of that year, television captured footage of the band at the Cincinnati Pop Festival. While performing the songs “T.V. Eye” and “1970″, Pop leapt into the crowd, where he was hoisted up on people’s hands.

“The Stooges is the perfect embodiment of what rock music should be. Their music was total high-energy blues, with the contemporary freakout of Jimi Hendrix and the free-jazz spirit of John Coltrane.”, Thurston Moore stated in Rolling Stone Magazine In 2004. Dear Jean couldn’t agree more.

“We’ve been rejected seven times, and we would have set a record, I think, if it happened again,” Iggy Pop comments on being inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

It’s Wednesday, and  yesterday a number of big music & awards announcements came out that are definitely worth mentioning. First up, we have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s new inductees: ABBA joins the bands Genesis, the Hollies, The Stooges, and reggae icon Jimmy Cliff in making the  cut — they’ll be inducted this winter.  In non-musical, non-awards show Skivvies News, we have reports that Twilight & New Moon hunk Kellan Lutz has signed on to become the brand new face (and body) of  Calvin Klein Underwear. The undiemaker’s hoping to capitalize on Lutz’s popularity & the intense Twi-mania sweeping the globe. They hope he’ll do for their brand what a once not-as-well known Marky Mark did years ago (before his transformation to Mark Wahlberg, actor). Speaking of actors, the Golden Globe nominees were announced, and that’s very big news indeed as they often share nominees with both the People’s Choice Awards (which are just a few weeks away!) and the upcoming Oscars.  In movies, Up In The Air got a whopping six nominations, and in the TV category, two new shows Glee and Modern Family both received nods. This is in striking contrast to last year when zero brand new shows got recognized (maybe they’re taking a page from the PCA book).  And Sandra Bullock was nominated not once  but twice — for The Proposal and The Blind Side.  Another big movie, Sherlock Holmes, got noticed for itself and for it’s star, Robert Downey Jr.  This film opens on Christmas Day, and if the trailers are any indication, it’s not your mother’s Sherlock Holmes!  Nor is it’s star Robert Downey Jr. a stranger to awards, nominations, or praise (although he’s also had his fair share of troubles). With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of his roles.  Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which of these Robert Downey Jr. movies is your favorite.

1) Chaplin

2) Iron Man

3) Tropic Thunder

4) The Soloist

Guarded by the Guitar Army

I must admit I was a bit surprised when I saw the list of artists elected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (the ceremony will take place March 15, 2010)

• Abba – on their second nomination in ten years of eligibility
• Jimmy Cliff – first nomination, though eligible for twenty-one years!
• Genesis – also their first nomination, eligible for sixteen years
• The Hollies – another first nomination after twenty-one years
• The Stooges – finally, after eight nominations in sixteen years

Amazing to see that three of the artists were eligible for between sixteen and twenty-one years prior to even getting nominated, and then they get elected on the first try. That’s just odd. How do these bands never even get to the nomination stage and then make it all the way to the podium in one move? And what does that say about the rest of the talent pool still hanging by the telephone?

Alice Cooper is still waiting. So are Cheap Trick, Deep Purple, Todd Rundgren…and KISS, of course. I could name dozens more who made bigger marks than some of the current inductees – Rick Derringer, The Faces, Lou Reed, Mott The Hoople – but I’d just get pissed off again, even though I know in my heart that it just doesn’t matter.

But it’s great to see The Stooges finally beat the door down – one would expect that a band that had been nominated so many times would eventually break through. And maybe the election of The Hollies opens the door for The Turtles or Herman’s Hermits, and Abba legitimizes the induction of The Monkees. Outside of Guns’N'Roses, there aren’t many newly eligible bands in the next two or three years to provide fresh competition. (Want to feel old? Julian Lennon became eligible for induction in 2009.)

And I certainly can’t argue with any of the songwriter nominations except to say…what the hell took you so long? Mort Shuman (Doc Pomus’ partner), Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Otis Blackwell, Jesse Stone…the real crime here is that Ellie won’t get to take that bow since she passed away earlier this year. Of course, the Songwriters Hall of Fame was on the ball and elected them way back in the 80s and 90s (only Stone is not yet inducted).

Let’s hope Iggy rips ‘em a new one come March.

About fucking time.

The Hollies, ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff and punk pioneers The Stooges are to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next year. These groups were selected from a short list that included Kiss, Red Hot Chili Peppers and LL Cool J all of whom failed to get the nod from the committee.

The ceremony will take place at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City on March 15, 2010. This will be the 25^th Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony and other notables to be honored include legendary record executive David Geffen alongside songwriters Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil with the iconic Jesse Stone.

A quick note:

I’m thrilled……THRILLED!! that the amazing  (Iggy and) Stooges are finally getting in. Bravo!

I’m also very excited about ABBA. I mean who in the world hates ABBA? No one.

Not crazy about Genesis though.  Yes I didn’t exactly grew up when they were big and shit but I’ve heard some stuff and just to blah for me.

The other two? Jimmy Cliff and The Hollies, I have no knowledge of so I can’t say anything.

Am I sad about LL Cool J, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Donna Summer and KISS not getting in? Only about Donna. She should be in and KISS? C’mon, I’ve never been a fan but you can deny they deserve to be in already.

Ladies and gents, new Hall of Famers has just been inducted. Congratulations to Genesis, The Stooges, Jimmy Cliff, The Hollies, and Abba.

They totally ignored LL Cool J, the Chilli Peppers, and Kiss. Weird. Kiss is probably getting frustrated and pissed off that they keep getting ditched by the Hall of Fame, lol.

Genesis and The Stooges are two bands that I love, and I’m happy they are finally in!

http://www.rockhall.com/induction2010/

Kev

The Stooges have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I’m not entirely sure what that entails or means, because it seems like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is about as credible as the Grammys.  That said, who doesn’t love The Stooges and wouldn’t include them in their own imaginary hall of fame.

Source.

The following acts will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2010 at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City: The Stooges, Genesis, ABBA, the Hollies, and Jimmy Cliff.

The Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers is also being awarded during the ceremony. This year’s recipients are: David Geffen, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Jesse Stone, Mort Shurman, and Otis Blackwell.

"Set the Wayback Machine for 1969, Sherman..."

If the concept of how quickly time passes hadn’t already stunned me three days ago - realizing that it’s been almost thirty years since John Lennon was killed - an email from my friend Siege would have packed a bigger wallop. But looking at his list of albums that were released in 1969 made me think (1) “holy shit, that was forty years ago” and (2) “wow…that was a great year for music”. 

It was another transitional year for me – less AM and more FM, less singles and more albums, Woodstock, etc. Several artists’ debuts made an immediate impact – CSN and The Allman Brothers along with some on my list below. Some 60’s artists were soon to depart but left great statements like Abbey Road and Turtle Soup. Credence released three albums that year, and The Monkees were already up to Instant Replay. Others like Johnny Cash, Marvin Gaye and The Kinks were shifting their priorities from singles to more thematic works. Bob Dylan released Nashville Skyline. 

Some artists who would become lifelong favorites were just getting started – Alice Cooper and Pretties For You, Fleetwood Mac with Then Play On, debuts from Yes and Warren Zevon and Mott the Hoople (which would soon see serious turntable time over the next couple of years from this soon-to-be disc jockey). The Moody Blues released two classics; supergroups were forming…I own or owned seventy-two titles on that list, and there are very few that I wouldn’t pull out and play right now. 

Any year in music is a pretty easy topic to research, and certainly the few years on either side of 1969 would also reveal a robust list of favorites and classics. But I took a trip through Siege’s tally and picked out ten that had particular impact on me then and still resonate now. I could easily shift the list on another day – great music being a subjective decision, after all – and your mileage may vary as well. 

But you’re here, so indulge me. Break one or more of these out and savor them; maybe you will relive some great moments of your own. And if you’re young enough to not have experienced these albums, take a plunge. Hell, I gave Death Cab For Cutie a shot, you owe me! 

So in no particular order… 

40 Years old and still kicking ass

In The Court of the Crimson King (King Crimson) — Still kicking today although they’ve been three or four totally different groups over the years. The album cover was only a mild tipoff compared to the psychedelic prog within; I’ve long argued that Ian McDonald was the MVP of this version of the band. An aural acid trip, an album truly worthy of adjectives like majestic and classic. 

Blind Faith  (Blind Faith) — Two thirds of Cream adds the bass player from Family and secret weapon Steve Winwood for a one-shot effort. Short and incomplete, its high points are timeless; great songwriting from Winwood and Eric Clapton, especially “Presence of the Lord” and “Can’t Find My Way Home”. 

Let It Bleed (Rolling Stones) — As the Stones weaned their way from Brian Jones and their blues based gameplan, as drugs and Jagger’s control-freak antics started to splinter a band into The Glimmer Twins and the other guys, as the music industry tripped headlong from pop singles into stranger days, the Stones might have fired their best shot across the bow. The bookend tracks (“Gimme Shelter” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”) are career-defining moments, and they didn’t even put their hit single (“Honky Tonk Women”) on it. 

Odessa (Bee Gees) — In which a pop band – already firmly established with a few hit singles – decides to experiment and challenge themselves to move on to the next step. Oh, how I wish they would have stayed this course instead of donning those ice cream suits a few years later. I expound in detail here. 

Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (Neil Young) — Consider this a club sandwich, with the opening, closing and middle tracks - three stone cold classics – the bread supporting the tasty filling. Hot on the heels of his debut, this first dalliance with Crazy Horse still resonates, soon to be followed up by After The Gold Rush to form one of the best opening trifectas any artist ever managed. Name another song where a one-note guitar solo (“Cinnamon Girl”) is even half as thrilling. 

Dusty in Memphis (Dusty Springfield) — I’ll admit it, I would have been perfectly satisfied with “Son of a Preacher Man” had I not read a review that piqued my interest and sent me in search of the album. Oozing soul (and yes, sex) this was a great marriage of voice, performers and material. (That English bird? Really? Yep.) 

Hot Rats (Frank Zappa) — Little did I know at the time that my initial Frank Zappa fascination would be even stronger forty years later and sixteen years (!) past his death. Because I was a fan of The Mothers of Invention, I was willing to open my eyes to the jazz and fusion I experienced here, although I can’t imagine anyone not loving “Peaches en Regalia”. Timeless majesty. 

The Stooges (The Stooges) — I’ll credit one of my older friends – as well as Creem Magazine, most likely – for making me give this more than one listen. Stereos were getting more sophisticated and progressive rock bands were flaunting daredevil instrumental virtuosity, but the Stooges were salmon swimming upstream. The Stooges first seemed like demonic sludge; the sound made when someone opened the gates of Hell and gave them a broken megaphone to broadcast with. Of course, after the initial shock, I was converted…and remain so. 

Tommy (The Who) — An opera about a deaf, dumb and blind pinball player. Sure Pete – have another toke. But although others (The Kinks, The Pretty Things) already had done it, The Who get credit for creating the first rock opera. Forget the semantics; this remains an incredible musical statement, from hit singles (“Pinball Wizard”) to underrated killers (“Sensation”); even the instrumental breaks and transitions are glorious. Skip the theatre and film musicals and slap on a pair of headphones for the original “Amazing Journey” 

Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin) — I know now that they ripped off old blues riffs and repurposed them; I know now that the band was really just the last version of The Yardbirds with Jimmy Page taking control, and I know that a few years later they would get so self-indulgent that I would sell the vinyl at a used store out of anger. (Ah, the folly of youth). But this first record was a kick in the nuts – this band really hit the ground running and killed on every track. (Rock perfection:  the percussive instrumental “Black Mountain Side” lulling you into a trance and then “Communication Breakdown” interrupting the haze and ripping your jugular apart. Plant’s scream before Page’s solo still makes the hair stand up on every pore in my body.) 

Rock me baby.

http://www.punkglobe.com/ press on the link for the online magazine!

By MIKE RUBIN

Published: December 4, 2009

Link

IT was at a party in 1970 that Ralf Hütter first glimpsed the potential power of the Man Machine. Kraftwerk, the avant-garde musical group he had founded that year with Florian Schneider in Düsseldorf, Germany, was playing a concert at the opening of an art gallery, a typical gig at the time. Trying to channel the energy of the Detroit bands it admired, like the Stooges and MC5, the duo had augmented its usual arsenal of Mr. Schneider’s flute and Mr. Hütter’s electric organ with a tape recorder and a little drum machine, and they were whipping the crowd into a frenzy with loops of feedback and a flurry of synthetic beats.

As the show climaxed, Mr. Hütter recalled: “I pressed some keys down on my keyboard, putting some weight down on the keys, and we left the stage. The audience at the party was so wild, they kept dancing to the machine.”

Thus began a careerlong obsession with the fusion of man and technology. It would take four more years (and three largely instrumental records of electro-acoustic improvisation) before Kraftwerk heralded the coming of electronic pop on its landmark 1974 album “Autobahn,” and another four years before the members proclaimed themselves automatons on “The Robots,” the band’s de facto theme song from 1978’s “The Man-Machine” album. But even in 1970 the hum of what Mr. Hütter calls electrodynamics was buzzing in his veins.

“This rhythm, industrial rhythm, that’s what inspires me,” Mr. Hütter, 63, said. “It’s in the nature of the machines. Machines are funky.”

Few bands have done more to promote that once incongruous concept than Kraftwerk. Though its image shifted over the years from conservatory longhairs to Weimar-era dandies to stylized mannequin machines, it consistently provided a blueprint for the circuitry of modern pop music. David Bowie, an early adapter, channeled the band’s chilly vibes for his late ’70s “Berlin Trilogy,” and in the early 1980s synth pop groups like Human League and Depeche Mode followed suit.

Kraftwerk also became the unlikely godfather of American hip-hop and black electronic dance music, inspiring pioneers in the South Bronx and Detroit. Today Kraftwerk’s resonance can be heard in works as varied as Radiohead and the Auto-Tuned hip-hop of Kanye West and T-Pain.

“Kraftwerk were a huge influence on the early hip-hop scene, and they basically invented electro, which has had a huge influence on contemporary R&B and pop,” the techno artist Moby said. “Kraftwerk are to contemporary electronic music what the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are to contemporary rock music.”

Yet 35 years after “Autobahn” Kraftwerk remains relatively anonymous, thanks largely to a carefully crafted cloak of secrecy, one that an hourlong phone conversation last month with Mr. Hütter from Kraftwerk’s Kling Klang Studio outside Düsseldorf failed to penetrate significantly. On topics ranging from the band’s creative hibernation of the last quarter-century (only two albums of new material since 1981’s “Computer World”) to Mr. Schneider’s departure from the group late last year, Mr. Hütter was pleasant but revealed little. “It’s important for me that the music speak for itself,” he said.

This month the music should do just that with the release of “The Catalogue” (Astralwerks/EMI), a boxed set of newly remastered versions of the band’s last eight albums, beginning with “Autobahn” and including all of the records with the so-called classic Kraftwerk lineup: Mr. Hütter, Mr. Schneider and the electronic percussionists Wolfgang Flur and Karl Bartos. (Five of the remastered albums are also available individually.) Like Mr. Hütter’s infrequent interviews, “The Catalogue” doesn’t divulge much that fans don’t already know. There are no liner notes, no unreleased tracks, no digital mini-documentaries, just some additional photos and revised album graphics.

The music, however, is much more generous. The remasters render Kraftwerk’s glistening, icy textures even more shimmering and crystalline, the repetition more entrancing. “Autobahn,” for example, welds a bouncy Beach Boys harmony to the hypnotic 4/4 motorik beat pioneered by the German band Neu! (whose Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother were part of an early Kraftwerk lineup) to create a 22-minute synthesizer symphony evoking a pleasant highway drive. (A three-minute edit of the song reached No. 25 on Billboard’s singles chart in 1975, the group’s only hit in the United States.)

“For the first time, I think the music sounds the way we always heard it and produced it in our Kling Klang Studio,” Mr. Hütter said.

After “Autobahn,” albums like “Radio-Activity” (1976) and “Trans-Europe Express” (1977) further refined the group’s experimental pop sensibility. Borrowing from the German tradition of sprechgesang, or spoken singing, Mr. Hütter’s flat, affectless voice — sometimes treated with a vocoder to further dehumanize it — is an odd match for the band’s lilting music-box melodies. “What I try to do on the synthesizers,” Mr. Hütter said, “is sing with my fingers.”

But for some critics the group’s synthetic songs just didn’t compute. “Fun plus dinky doesn’t make funky no matter who’s dancing to what program,” Robert Christgau wrote of “Computer World” in The Village Voice. “Funk has blood in it.”

Such distinctions didn’t seem to matter to club crowds: New York’s downtown scene embraced the group. François Kevorkian, a D.J. at underground clubs in the late ’70s and early ’80s, would use Kraftwerk to blend tracks by Fela Kuti and Babatunde Olatunji into his sets. “What was really remarkable was that their music was getting played just as much at Paradise Garage as it was getting played at the Mudd Club, and there were very, very few records that had that ability to cross over between all the different scenes,” said Mr. Kevorkian, who would later work with the band on its “Electric Cafe” album. “Kraftwerk was, like, universal.”

Kraftwerk had long been a staple of the D.J. sets of Afrika Bambaataa in the South Bronx, and in 1982 he and the producer Arthur Baker decided to combine the melody from “Trans-Europe Express” (which Mr. Baker had noticed kids playing on boom boxes in a Long Island City, Queens, park) and the rhythm pattern of “Numbers” (which Mr. Baker had seen wow customers at a Brooklyn record store). The result was the pioneering 12-inch single “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force.

“I’m trying to remember a record that created that much mayhem on the dance floor when it first came out, and I can’t,” Mr. Kevorkian said of the reaction to “Planet Rock.” Most early hip-hop songs were slow, “from 90 beats per minute to 110,” Mr. Bambaataa said. “We went to 130 beats per minute, and from that came Latin freestyle, Miami bass and all that.”

“All that” encompassed an entirely new genre, electro, which paved an alternate route for hip-hop. It’s hard to imagine the productions of Timbaland or the Neptunes without the innovations of “Planet Rock,” and its repercussions can still be heard the world over, from Bay Area hyphy to Brazilian baile funk.

The roots of techno wind their way back to Düsseldorf too. In Detroit the radio D.J. Charles Johnson — better known as the Electrifying Mojo — built a fervent following on the urban contemporary station WGPR-FM in the late ’70s and early ’80s by ignoring the rigid formatting of other local stations. He had fished a copy of “Autobahn” out of the discard bin at a previous station and soon acquired a copy of “Trans-Europe Express.” “It was the most hypnotic, funkiest, electronic fusion energy I’d ever heard,” Mr. Johnson said. Kraftwerk became a staple of Mojo’s show “The Midnight Funk Association.” When “Computer World” came out, Mr. Johnson played almost every song on the album each night, making a lasting impression on a generation of musicians.

“Before I heard ‘The Robots’ I wasn’t really using sequencers and I was playing everything by hand, so it sounded really organic, really flowing, really loose,” the Detroit D.J. and producer Juan Atkins said. “That really made me research getting into sequencing, to give everything that real tight robotic feel.”

Over the next several years Mr. Atkins, along with his high school friends Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, would become the pioneers of techno, which Mr. May once famously described as being “like George Clinton and Kraftwerk caught in an elevator with only a sequencer to keep them company.”

Techno would eventually explode internationally in 1988, with raves in London and trance in Goa, India. Back in Detroit, “Computer World” would assume the status of a sacred text. Kraftwerk was “considered like gods,” said Carl Craig, a Detroit techno producer. “Black people could relate to it because it was like James Brown. It was just this kind of relentless groove.” Mad Mike Banks, founder of the Detroit techno collective Underground Resistance, said he considered the song “Numbers,” from “Computer World,” the “secret code of electronic funk.”

“That track hit home in Detroit so hard,” Mr. Banks said. “They had just created the perfect urban music because it was controlled chaos, and that’s exactly what we live in.”

For Kraftwerk it’s a civic connection that has come full circle. In the last decade Mr. Hütter has developed relationships with some Detroit artists he inspired, including Mr. Banks. It seems to be a kind of “brotherhood, like Düsseldorf and Detroit,” Mr. Hütter said, saying he’s fascinated “that this music from two industrial centers of the world, with different cultures and different history, suddenly there’s an inspiration and a flow going back and forth. It’s fantastic.

“All this positive energy, this feedback coming back to me, is charging our battery, and now we’re full of energy. It keeps my Ralf robot going.”

Indeed, compared with Kraftwerk’s near invisibility throughout most of the ’80s and ’90s, the last few years have seen a relative flurry of Kraftwerk activity. Laptops have allowed the group to take its Kling Klang Studio on the road, so it has been touring regularly, adding 3-D graphics to the live show this year. Now that “The Catalogue” is completed, Mr. Hütter has promised a new Kraftwerk album soon, which would mark the band’s first recording without Mr. Schneider. If Mr. Hütter has any reservations about working without his musical partner of four decades, he kept them to himself; perhaps robots are incapable of showing emotion?

“There’s so much to do,” Mr. Hütter said. “I feel like we are just starting.”

John Sinclair: “Iggy had gone beyond performance – to the point where it was some kind of psychodrama. It exceeded conventional theatre. He might do anything. That was his act. He didn’t know what he was going to do when he got up there on the stage. It was exciting. I’d just watch him and I’d think, ‘Wow, this guy will stop at nothing. This isn’t just a show – he’s out of his mind!’ I remember when he started taunting the crowd with broken bottles… I think he got to where he didn’t really have any respect for the audience. So he’d do things to see what would get a response.”

Iggy Pop, by Jack Robinson

Iggy will bend over backwards for ya if you buy their reissue!

Brrrrrr….it’s getting cold out there! So I went in search of some tunes to warm ya up. It’s gonna be a long winter so let’s get started with the new & the old and a CD that is a MUST have for this season…

The Stooges – “Down On The Street” (rock)
Iggy Pop & crew in a classic favorite. If you need to add a little spice to your holiday season, go pick up the reissue of “Funhouse”. It’s rock the way it’s supposed to be!

Blackroc – “What You Do To Me” (Hip Hop/Rap)
Soulful and grinding. Picture a smoky bar with lots of velvet and neon. That’s this track.

Spoon – “Written In Reverse” (alternative)
Not my favorite Spoon track but I HAD to get it! Funky piano and somewhat silly lyrics, but for a Spoon fan, a gotta buy!

Muse – “Undisclosed Desires” (alternative)
After reading an article about this band, I thought I would return to check out their latest that was released a while back. Found this hidden gem and it’s kinda hot. Don’t know how I missed it the first time around…

Adam Lambert – “Music Again” & “Aftermath” (pop)
The first track sounds like a Queen track & the 2nd sounds like Daughtry. You figure it out.

The Good Listeners – “Square Houses” (alternative)
Light & fluffy with a steel drum thrown in there for good measure. This song shoulda been released this past summer! But it wasn’t. But it WILL make you think of wispy days and you’ll yearn for the summer heat…

Rihanna – “Te Amo” (pop)
This track is SMOKIN’ hot! I know everyone likes her dance tracks but this one is smooth and all kinds of sexy. Go get it right now!

Living Things – “Dirty Bombs” (Alternative rock)
You’ll want to grind on a partner with this bluesy fuzz-box of alt-rock. In the same vein as The Cult but with less guitar. I totally dig it!

Allison Iraheta – “Don’t Waste The Pretty” (pop)
I blasted Iraheta on her single release a few weeks ago. Her voice is just so classic and yet her producers have made her out to be a poppy, Kelly Clarkson wannabe. But if that’s what you like, her new album isn’t really that bad. Overproduced? Yes. But her voice still shines. I downloaded this track and it’s pretty good pop. Makes up for that “Friday” song…which stinks.

Lady Gaga – “So Happy I Could Die” (pop)
Oh Lady…now she’s touching herself and wrapping herself in electronica. Everyone is digging on her “Bad Romance” single, but I figured I’d be different and download something else. This particular track sounds EXACTLY like  Natasha Bedingfield’s “Pocket Full Of Sunshine”. Seriously…if there aren’t lawsuits from the Bedingfield camp, there’s a problem. Club DJ’s will love it though! It’s an easy mix!

“The Proof That Lady Gaga Ain’t The Only One Making This Kind Of Music” Album of the Week: Priscilla Renea – “Jukebox”
I checked out this album and I swear, it COULD be Lady Gaga. But it isn’t. But it has piano and it’s poppy and…well…I don’t know if Renea is wearing dominatrix clothing & hanging herself in her videos, but I can’t really tell any difference. The kiddies will love it!

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: The Bravery – “Stir The Blood”
It’s a lot louder in places and the 80’s never sounded better. Doing his best Robert Smith howl in places, Bravery lead singer Sam Endicott wails and carries the discoteque sound to new heights. “Slow Poison” is the new single and is excellent. I would also recommend “Hatef**k”, “I Have Seen The Future” & “Song For Jacob”.

Iggy Stooge, by Dustin Pittman

André Cornetta, um amigo de muitos anos, foi ao show da banda australiana e escreveu um review especialmente para o Crackolândia :

AC/DC : Show dos sonhos

O dia 27 de novembro realmente foi um dia atípico para a cidade de São Paulo. A banda de Hard Rock australiana AC/DC voltava para cá, no estádio do Morumbi, para o show de sua turnê Black Ice.

Eu, como um grande fã da banda, não poderia deixar de ir. Cheguei ao Morumbi às 16 horas – este com um mar de gente em seus arredores, esperando a abertura do portão. Antes do show, o tempo parecia não conspirar a favor – chovia muito. Conheci uns caras de Mato Grosso do Sul na fila e fiquei sabendo por eles que quem abriria o show seria o Nasi, ex vocalista da banda Ira. Entrei no Morumbi e começou inacreditavelmente a chover mais. Mas São Pedro resolveu ajudar no momento certo.

Eram umas 20:30 – a chuva parou completamente e o show de abertura com Nasi iria começar. O Roqueiro paulistano abriu com uma música de sua carreira solo, Por Amor, com um som bacana e de boa qualidade. Ele não fez feio e o público acabou o aceitando bem e cantando também clássicos como Raul Seixas, The Clash e The Stooges.

Mas o povo realmente estava sedento para ver o AC/DC. Meu coração estava batendo muito forte no fim do show do Nasi na expectativa de vê-los ao vivo.

Eis que às 9.30 da noite, de repente, os refletores são apagados e um vídeo em forma de cartoon com diabos começa a rolar nos telões. Meu coração acelerou : o AC/DC estava ali, a alguns metros de mim. Com um palco absurdamente grande e com uma produção de primeiro mundo, creio que foi o show com maior qualidade já feito no Brasil. Estava chegando…

Fim do desenho, o quinteto australiano aparece e leva à loucura as 70 mil pessoas com chifres vermelhos na cabeça. Com uma pegada absurda e com um som muito alto, bem característico da banda, eles abrem com Rock ‘N Roll Train do álbum Black Ice. O Publico foi ao delírio quando viu Angus Young tocando – ele como sempre parecendo uma criança extremamente hiperativa. Logo na terceira música, eles tocaram Back In Black, do álbum de mesmo nome (o segundo mais vendido de todos os tempos). A música é a mais conhecida do grupo e talvez uma das mais conhecidas de todos os tempos. Também levaram o estádio abaixo clássicos como Thunderstruck, TNT, Hells Bells e na hora do bis a arquibancada tremeu com Highway to Hell.

Com a perfeição do guitarrista-base Malcolm Young e do baixista Cliff Williams (esses não se moveram o show inteiro), a boa linha de bateria de Phil Rudd, a hiperatividade e os solos de Angus e a potente voz de Brian Johnson, o show sem dúvidas foi o maior já realizado no Brasil.

Quem foi realmente sentiu-se satisfeito e já começa a ter saudades do show. Creio que pecaram por não terem tocado clássicos como It´s A Long Way To The Top e What Do You Do For Money; fora isso, nada mais a declarar. Espero que voltem mais vezes – o Brasil, que está muito mal musicalmente, precisa de shows assim para satisfazer o grande público que gosta do bom e velho Rock ‘n Roll.

Letícia

“Devueltos al transcurso del almanaque que cuenta las fechas de manera perfectamente estructurada en doce meses alineados a la pared más visible, estamos enredados en la rutina que a cada hora nos alimenta cientos de historias para narrar.
Creyendo apropiado seguir el consejo de E.M. Cioran quien decía “Enamórate con soñadora impudicia del sinsentido del destino” llegamos a Noviembre retratando ese sinsentido risible de nuestro día a día…”


CULTURA ETÉREA NOVIEMBRE

“Lack of imagination” – YUB le
“Proceso Creador” – Romina Carrara
“Dandelion” – LMC
“Hanna Quetepartaunrayo” – Manuela Suárez
“Las cajeras del Coto y yo” – Zeithgeist
“Lo que mueve” – Romina Carrara
“Navidá” – Zeithgeist

“500 días con ella”. ” Una de las películas más esperadas del año, protagonizada por Zooey Deschanel y Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Kurt Vonnegut, el hombre sin patria. Escándalos eleccionarios, los medios, la guerra de Irak y un paseo magistral por la ironía de un escritor necesario.

http://www.culturaeterea.com.ar/
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