I feel like somebody put me in the lifeboat and told my family they can't get in. | | Joan Baez in 2007. (Bryan Ledgard/Flickr) | | | | “I feel like somebody put me in the lifeboat and told my family they can't get in.” |
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| rantnrave:// The good: The ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME has discovered prog-rock, proved it's somewhat serious about hip-hop and is inducting a female. Along with 27 males. But still, that's better than they did in 2016. The high water mark in recent years was 2013, when the Hall inducted almost enough women to play a game of bridge: DONNA SUMMER and HEART's ANN and NANCY WILSON. 2017 inductee JOAN BAEZ, whom the Hall ignored for three decades, may not be the most obvious choice. But as a pioneer of the '60s folk movement, important civil-rights voice, crucial early interpreter of BOB DYLAN and expert wielder of a piercing, knife-like soprano, she's fully worthy of the honor. And her version of "SILVER DAGGER"—side 1, track 1 on her first album—is a hauntingly clear statement of purpose whose influence runs through a half-century of music by her many descendants... The bad: Three of the women the Hall pointedly chose to overlook were CHIC's ALFA ANDERSON, LUCI MARTIN and NORMA JEAN WRIGHT, and it appears to have shut the door on them permanently by declining to induct the band while welcoming their bandmate NILE RODGERS with an individual "Award for Musical Excellence." "They plucked me out of the band and said, 'You're better than Chic.' That's wacky to me," Rodgers told ROLLING STONE. "The only reason why I met BOWIE and MADONNA and DURAN DURAN and INXS is because they all loved Chic." (However, never forget: Rodgers is, among many other things, the greatest rhythm guitar player who ever set foot on this planet)... We collect classic interviews, essays and videos from all of the new inductees in our REDEF MusicSET Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2017... Have you ever noticed that new Hall of Famer JOURNEY's "DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'" has five verses, two 16-bar-bridges, a couple mini-instrumental parts and a guitar solo before it gets to the first chorus? And that the song then ends? (Also, did you know the other guys in Journey don't have STEVE PERRY's phone number? Welcome to next year's will-they-or-won't-they reunion mystery)... RIP ANDREW DORFF. | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| The class of 2017 spans folk, hip-hop, R&B, prog-rock and grunge. We celebrate it all, from Joan Baez and Tupac Shakur to Journey and ELO, with classic interviews, essays and music. | |
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This year’s Day For Night disrupted the stale music festival scene with something new, engaging and altogether thought-provoking. | |
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Public relations is a tricky industry. More than in just about any other job, a publicist walks the line between professionalism and colloquialism as a matter of course. A publicist’s job in the music industry is to stand out in an overflowing inbox full of pitches for artists just like the one they’re representing: up-and-coming, hungry, talented. | |
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In a big victory for SiriusXM and a major setback for owners of older sound recordings, a lower court's decision is reversed. | |
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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted a new class of honorees Tuesday (Dec 20)--and once again, pivotal R&B artists were shunned. | |
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Learning about love, self-expression, and fearless dancing with San Antonio vogue crew House of Kenzo. | |
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Everyone loved the silver wig I wore in the “Intern” and “Shut Up Kiss Me” videos. It’s really curious to me. | |
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As the anniversary of his death approaches, collaborators on the music icon's off-Broadway show 'Lazarus' share accounts of a cancer-stricken artist productive and engaged until the end. | |
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| Bret Easton Ellis Podcast |
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For the past several years, a dive bar in the District has drawn crowds of eager millennials to see Granny and the Boys, a funk act led by Alice "Granny" Donahue. | |
| From missing family members’ funerals to regularly canceling concerts due to exhaustion, the departure of group member Camila Cabello is the least of these gals’ worries. | |
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Note: Don't panic. Chuck Berry hasn't died. In keeping with this week's trend of celebrating our legends while they're still here, here's an appreciation of Berry, whose contributions transcend the need for any time peg. | |
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This year, the people of the United States elected Donald Trump president in an atmosphere of naked racism and xenophobia, much of it targeting Latinx people and Muslims. We also saw new resistance to those same hateful feelings, in different forms. | |
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When “Time of the Season” became a hit song in 1969, the Zombies had already disbanded. Yet for some reason, there was a band touring around America calling itself the Zombies. Listen as Daniel Ralston, author of the article “The True Story Of The Fake Zombies,” talks about unearthing this forgotten piece of music history. This episode is sponsored by Bedphones, headphones that practically disappear between your ears and the pillow. Use promo code BTLN10 to get $10 off your new headphones. | |
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The Official Chart Company is changing the way it calculates the Top 40 to reflect the rise in streaming. | |
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In the wake of her 2016 album Take Her Up to Monto, the Irish singer and ‘situationist’ auteur talks roleplay, realness and schooling your kids in obscure house music. | |
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We spoke to the band about their final days, and what the future may bring. | |
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Annie Clark is officially one step ahead of us. We've always suspected as much, but this fact was confirmed the moment she emerged from hair and makeup for her inaugural Guitar World cover shoot. | |
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How can Drake capitalize on the lessons of his billion-streaming smash hit? | |
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Here’s our top picks for the most vital music page-turners from 2016. | |
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