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‘Dark, full of gallows humor and devilment’: Graeae’s confrontational ‘The Threepenny Opera’ delights

Not quite opera, not quite rock ‘n’ roll but certainly worth more than three pennies: The Threepenny Opera — being staged by Graeae with Birmingham Repertory, New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, Nottingham Playhouse and the West Yorkshire Theatre Company — is a re-write of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Beggar’sRead More

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‘Will you give me my job back?’: Difficult early choice led to Steve Cropper’s Hall of Fame career

Steve Cropper had a once-in-a-lifetime chance, in 1960, to become a road warrior. Yet, even while riding the crest of attention afforded by a breakout hit called “Last Night” with the Mar-Keys, the former music-shop clerk knew he had a difficult choice to make. You May Also Like: No relatedRead More

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Something Else! sneak peek: White Wizzard, “Marathon of Dreams” (2014)

It’s an old, familiar tale for these guys now, as another implosion last summer left the once-promising traditional metal outfit White Wizzard reeling again. The band split in ugly fashion with latest singer Michael Joseph, as accusations flew back and forth between the camps. You May Also Like: ‘Leon Russell:Read More

'Preferential treatment towards artists they like': Kiss' Paul Stanley keeps up Hall of Fame argument

‘Preferential treatment towards artists they like’: Kiss’ Paul Stanley keeps up Hall of Fame argument

Paul Stanley isn’t letting the Hall of Fame get the last word. Joel Peresman has asserted that the hall limited Kiss’ induction honorees to the band’s original lineup because successive members simply took up earlier personas — comments Stanley now says are “nonsense” and “half truths.” You May Also Like:Read More

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Topham McCarty Band, “All Your Love” (2014): Something Else! sneak peek

Top Topham’s recent rejoining with the Yardbirds — for whom he served as original lead guitarist in their art-school days — was a chance to come full circle. He began that journey here, however, in an often-overlooked reunion with drummer Jim McCarty. You May Also Like: No related posts.

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‘He was like my brother’: Iggy Pop mourns the passing of Stooges drummer Scott Asheton

Iggy Pop says drummer Scott Asheton, a stalwart member of the Stooges with Pop, has died. Asheton had been sidelined with medical issues even as the Stooges gathered to record a new album without Pop. He was 64. You May Also Like: No related posts.

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‘He played like a songwriter’: The Eagles’ Don Felder on how George Harrison changed everything

Don Felder, the ex-Eagles guitarist, acknowledges a myriad of influences on his sound, from Elvis Presley and B.B. King to Eric Clapton. “Just as important,” he adds, “was the early Beatles stuff” — in particular, Felder says, George Harrison’s approach to the guitar on Meet the Beatles. You May AlsoRead More

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Bill Champlin on how Chicago, Toto helped the Tubes hit it big: ‘I was actually the ringer’

The Tubes’ “She’s a Beauty” became not just their biggest hit but also an intriguing intersection between Chicago and Toto. Wait, Chicago and Toto?

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‘I’m sure I would have remembered’: Eddie Van Halen denies asking to join Kiss in the 1980s

Gene Simmons reignited an old debate yesterday when he told Rolling Stone that he’d once talked Eddie Van Halen out of joining Kiss in the early 1980s. Thing is, Van Halen himself says that never happened. You May Also Like: Why Complaints About Van Halen’s ‘A Different Kind of Truth’Read More

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Peter Gabriel on the Depression that Gripped Genesis’ Phil Collins: ‘It’s Been a Very Difficult Time’

Busy Peter Gabriel won’t deny that a Genesis reunion is still possible, though it wouldn’t be anytime soon.