The Spinners, though finalists for the 2012 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, came up short. It was one of the only times something like that’s happened for the greatest soul group of the early 1970s. You May Also Like: Tower of Power’s Emilio Castillo: The AlbumsRead More

Stationed in Detroit, Michigan, this peculiarly named band simply defies classification! Pouring countless influences into a single blender, Rock ’n’ Roll Monkey and the Robots have truly conceived a style that’s all their own. Spooky Kooky Attic Static (Rock ’n’ Roll Monkey/Motor Sounds) marks the band’s fourth full-length album, whichRead More

You worry when legacy rockers return after long layoffs. You wonder if they are going to sound too on the nose, like imitations of their previous selves. You worry that they won’t sound enough like their old selves too You May Also Like: Tommy James and the Shondells – CellophaneRead More

It’s always interesting to hear how bands got their names, and in this case it’s simple and fitting. Formed on Valentine’s Day, in the year 1977 I may add, the Romantics certainly picked an appropriate moniker. You May Also Like: The Singles – ‘L.O.V.E. From the Santa Cruz Archives ’82-’85’Read More

by S. Victor Aaron Growing up in the Detroit area, Sam Trapchak’s dad played electric bass, and like most musically interested young boys in America, Sam wanted to play guitar. But his father persuaded him to take up bass instead with a piece of irrefutable logic: Everyone always needs aRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Gerald Cleaver, along with Nasheet Waits, seems to always be the drummer on some really outstanding jazz records of late. Michael Formanek’s The Rub And Spare Change required virtuosic musicians playing at peak level to make it work, and Cleaver did his part and then some,Read More

photographer – Clay Patrick McBride by PicoIt’s not a recording that’s a decade in the making, but it’s been fermenting for that long. Saxophonist David Rogers has immersed himself in the music and culture of far-flung parts of the world where he’s lived, like Southeast Asia and West Africa, andRead More