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Why Aren't Motley Crue, Rush And Bon Jovi In The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame?

Posted 9/27/11 4:11 pm EST by in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame


There are two arguments that always erupt every year when the nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum are announced: Did this year's nominees deserve to be tapped and why the hell aren't these bands on the list!?

It's the latter that typically makes the most waves, as die-hard fans of such bands as Kiss, Rush, Journey, Chicago and the Moody Blues fire up their laptops and send out hot tweets of death to the powers-that-be over their favorite acts being passed over … again!

Some groups, like greasepaint rockers Kiss, have been overlooked for so long that not only do they not care anymore, they've come to see their exclusion as a badge of honor and have actively campaigned against induction. Other long-time shut outs, such as the Sex Pistols and Black Sabbath (class of 2006), felt the same way until they were ushered in.

Read on to see which other legendary groups have been given the cold shoulder by the Hall of Fame and vote in our poll of the most chronically overlooked bands. Read More...

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Miranda Cosgrove Taps Rivers Cuomo For Collaboration

Posted 12/20/10 1:30 pm EST by in Music


For most of his early career, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo was known as a guy who was constantly at work in his lab, writing and recording by himself without much input from other people (even the other members of his band). But lately, he has been everywhere, working with everyone. It has lead to some incredibly strange and thrilling tag-team efforts, including at least one big hit (that being B.o.B's "Magic"). In the past two years, Cuomo has worked with the aforementioned B.o.B, Lil Wayne, Sugar Ray, Katy Perry (the fruits of which we have yet to hear) and a bunch of fans on the Internet. Over the weekend, we learned of Cuomo's newest in-studio partner: "iCarly" star and upstart pop sensation Miranda Cosgrove.

"I'm recording a duet with @riverscuomo in a few days for the new album!" Cosgrove wrote on Twitter on Saturday (Decmeber 18). "So freakin' excited!"

It makes sense for Cuomo to team up with Cosgrove, as his sensibilities match up well with Cosgrove's brand of guitar-kissed, hormone-fueled pop. It should be a victory for both parties, as Cosgrove will get a slightly punchier boost and Cuomo will introduce himself to a new generation of fans.

But who else will Cuomo work with in the future? Here are five collaborations that should happen in 2011.

Kiss
Cuomo, of course, has a metal past that is not so secret, and growing up in suburban Connecticut, he was obsessed with Kiss (this is all laid out on "In the Garage"). This should really be the year when Rivers teams up with Gene, Paul and whoever else is left among the Kiss ranks for a collaborative effort. The makeup alone should be worth it.

Susan Boyle
No, seriously. On paper, Boyle took a chance or two on her new album with covers of songs by Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen. Unfortunately, those were sort of bloodless and cold. Cuomo has great pop instincts and could provide Boyle with just enough garage rock energy to switch her game up just enough to make people raise their eyebrows again.

Drake
The most emo rapper int e world should definitely find himself in the same booth with the guy who helped bring emo to the mainstream back in the day. Drake and Cuomo also have similar crooning styles, which is why the two should do some killer harmonizing over a fantastically fuzzy backbeat.

Lady Gaga
Gaga is the very definition of a singularity, of course, but if there's one person who might be able to harness and work with her strange, exciting energy, it's Cuomo. Since many believe that Gaga is one or two rock riffs away from truly taking over the world, it seems like a perfect marriage.

Paul Westerberg
Just because it seems like this should have happened already. After all, shouldn't one of the godfathers of indie power-pop hook up with one of his disciples?

Who would you like to see Rivers Cuomo collaborate with in 2011? Let us know in the comments!

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Lady Gaga Poses With Kiss, Proves That All Culture Begins With Gene Simmons

Posted 8/24/10 9:30 am EST by in Music


If you have been searching for a brilliant, theatrical, bombastic display of sheer sexuality and rock and roll aggression, you have had access to two options this summer. The first is Lady Gaga's jaw-dropping Monster Ball, which has been crossing the country delivering all of her hits plus a steady diet of fireworks, props, special effects and battles with a giant octopus. Your other choice is Kiss, who have been spending the summer doing what they do best: Turning their amplifiers really, really loud and blasting out hit after hit amidst pyro, confetti cannons, fake blood and an overwhelming sense of joy. Over the weekend, those two worlds collided when Gaga paused to snap a photo with the men from Kiss, finally bringing together two of the most iconic acts in music today (and in Kiss' case, of all time).

Gaga's photo with the band reinforces the fact that no matter who you are or what you're doing, Gene Simmons probably had a hand in it. Despite the fact that his songs have often been written off as empty bombast, Simmons has managed to spin an impressive career out of a handful of fist-pumping songs, giant boots and a healthy dose of grease paint. But despite the naysaying, plenty of accomplished artists have endorsed Kiss' work (either actively or passively). In addition to Gaga, Kiss have received co-signs from the likes of Bob Dylan (Simmons co-wrote a song with him in 1992 that was later released in 2004), Taylor Swift (her and her friends dressed up like Kiss and bum rushed the stage during a Keith Urban set) and Frank Zappa (he co-wrote "Black Tongue" with Simmons), as well as countless nods in the movie world (the film "Detroit Rock City," most of the best jokes in "Role Models). It seems that no matter who you are or what you are doing, a nod to the original Monsters of Rock is never all that far away.

Is it too much to hope that Gaga will team up with the men of Kiss in the future? Or that perhaps Gene and company will cover "Poker Face" one of these days? If anybody two artists understand each other, it's certainly Gaga and Kiss.

What would you like to see in a Lady Gaga collaboration with Kiss? Let us know in the comments!

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Brett Favre Returns, Just Like Jay-Z And Kiss

Posted 8/19/10 10:30 am EST by in Music


In a move that couldn't possibly have surprised anyone, veteran NFL quarterback Brett Favre announced that he will be returning to the Minnesota Vikings for a 20th season. Favre already owns most of the National Football League's quarterback-related records, but Favre only has one Super Bowl victory to his name and would like to tack on a second. He returns to a Vikings team that went toe-to-toe with the New Orleans Saints in the conference finals, a game undone by an ill-timed Favre interception (and the Saints, of course, went on to win the Super Bowl). He returns to a Vikings team that is largely the same and should be considered a favorite in the NFC (along with the Packers, Saints and Giants).

Favre, of course, seems to threaten retirement at every opportunity. His indecision always seems to throw people into a tizzy, but the reality is that Favre is no better than a lot of musicians who have often threatened to hang it up (or who actually have) only to get back in the ring for one more round.

Jay-Z
Jigga's 2003 release The Black Album was supposed to be his send-off from the rap world so that he could concentrate on other things. But he kept showing up in guest appearances and eventually came back to the game full-time with 2006's Kingdom Come.

Mick Jagger
One of the best moments of Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones concert film "Shine a Light" was a piece of interview footage with Mick Jagger, who claimed that his band probably only had one more year in them. The twist? They had only been around for two years at the time. While Jagger never claimed retirement, it seems like his band has spent most of its career about to pack it in — only to make another comeback later.
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Kiss Continue My Summer Of Love

Posted 8/2/10 6:00 pm EST by in Music


People who complain that Kiss shows are lame have never been to a Kiss show. Because here's the thing about any concert you go to by the veteran New York-bred greasepaint rockers: You will get 100 percent. Paul Stanley's vocals (always from the rough side of town) may be a bit thin a times, and perhaps bassist Gene Simmons stomps more deliberately in his massive high-heeled dragon boots than he did 30 years ago, but in all the times I've seen the band over the past 20 years, never once have they phoned it in.

Which is why Kiss is also recession-proof. A perfect example was their hit-packed show at Cincinnati's Riverbend Amphitheater on Friday night (July 30). Yes, it was nearly identical to one I saw years ago at Dodgers Stadium, but ask anyone in the maniacal sold-out audience what they thought and you were likely to get a raucous high five from someone wearing a Kiss T-shirt who was modeling Kiss face paint and dragging along a couple of third generation mini-Kiss fans whose minds were just blown. And, chances are, they just got out of the merch line where they bought their umpteenth concert tee.

I brought along a skeptical friend who had never seen the band for a stop on their "Hottest Show On Earth" tour, and by the time the massive confetti canons were belching two forests-worth of fluff into the air during the blinding fireworks explosion that was "Rock and Roll All Nite," he too was one of those high-fivers who couldn't get the grin off his face.

The show had all the highlights you expect: Digital flames licking the stage on more than two dozen high-def screens during the Detroit boogie of "Firehouse," Gene spitting fire from atop a sword, Paul smacking his ass during "Deuce," a trip to visit "Dr. Love," replacement guitarist Tommy Thayer doing his best approximation of original ax man Ace Frehley's knock-kneed rag doll stumble while shooting pyro loads from the headstock of his guitar before sending the spent instrument up into the rafters on a wire and replacement drummer Eric Singer crooning the ballad "Beth" and blasting down a fake lighting rig with a bazooka from his drum riser, which was levitating 30 feet in the air with smoke shooting out as if it was a rocket taking off.

The music swung at times from the bubblegum roller disco of the Bay City Rollers to the dinosaur stomp of Led Zeppelin, but I forgot the kinship the band shared with bands like Black Sabbath until the opening rumbling of "100,000 Years" from their debut album. Read More...

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Lady Gaga's Headlining Debut At Madison Square Garden: A Right Of Passage For New York Artists

Posted 7/6/10 6:00 pm EST by in Music


Tonight, Lady Gaga continues her Monster Ball tour in her home town of New York City at Madison Square Garden. Though selling out the World's Most Famous Arena isn't all that special (after all, it's just a hockey arena, and even Dispatch sold the place out), playing a headlining gig at MSG remains a huge stepping stone for artists from the New York area. For hometown heroes, Madison Square Garden isn't just a place where the Knicks lose or the circus comes to town. Rather, it's the iconic building where Willis Reed made his amazing comeback in the final game of the 1970 NBA Finals, where Hulk Hogan defeated the Iron Sheik to win his first WWF Championship, where Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney raised the spirits of New Yorkers after September 11, 2001 and where Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy.

Gaga's show tonight isn't actually her first time on the stage at Madison Square Garden, as she opened for New Kids on the Block when they played the venue in the fall of 2008. But this will be her first time as a headliner, which is a big moment in her career. Such debuts were just as significant for the following artists.

Billy Joel
For a kid who grew up on Long Island, playing MSG was a huge deal for Billy Joel. That's why his first show at the Garden on December 31, 1982 was so significant. Joel went on to play dozens of shows at MSG, including 12 consecutive nights in 2006 (for which a commemorative banner still hangs in the rafters).

50 Cent
The multi-platinum rapper from Queens played one of the biggest shows in his history as part of Eminem's Anger Management tour on August 8, 2005. Riding high on his recently-released sophomore effort The Massacre, Fiddy tore through hits like "In Da Club" and "Candy Shop."
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'The Last Airbender' Soundtrack Playlist: Jordin Sparks And Hilary Duff Play With Fire

Posted 7/2/10 10:30 am EST by in Music


For anybody not interested in the three-way romance between a vampire, a werewolf and a sullen girl from the Seattle area has an alternative at the cinema this weekend in the form of "The Last Airbender." The M. Night Shyamalan-directed adaptation of the hit Nickelodeon show follows the ongoing war between four tribal nations in a fantasy universe. Each one is governed by a particular element: Air, Earth, Fire and Water. The evil head of the Fire tribe is on a quest for world domination, but in order to do that he has to dispatch all of the members of the Air tribe who can manipulate their element of choice (these people are called "benders"). It's a fantasy film based on a kid's television show, but it also is a flashy, effects-enhanced action flick of epic proportions.

Like any epic, it'll need a proper soundtrack for preparation. Hence the video playlist below, which pays tribute to each of the elements across a wide range of genres. If you side with Fire, there's Dragonforce's "Through Fire and Flames," Rage Against the Machine's "Sleep Now in the Fire" and Dev's "Fireball." For you Water types, check out PJ Harvey's "Down by the Water" and the Walkmen's "On the Water." Are you more of an Airbender? There's Jordin Sparks' "No Air" for you airbenders out there, and B. Dolan's "Earthmovers" should satisfy Earth tribe enthusiasts.

But we begin with Hilary Duff, whose "Play With Fire" is as fine an entrance as any to the world of elemental manipulation.

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Kiss Develop A Kids Show, Leaving Only These Five Things Left To Brand

Posted 3/10/10 5:30 pm EST by in Music


Kiss made a name for themselves by crafting big hard rock tunes accompanied by pyrotechnics, moon boots, face paint and a healthy dose of sexual suggestion. They then took that name and slapped it on just about any product you can think of. Founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have created a gigantic empire full of merchandise gobbled up by the Kiss Army. For any fan of Kiss, there are literally hundreds of ways to bring Kiss into your life, in the form of action figures, underwear, toothbrushes, lamps, air fresheners, condoms, credit cards and the legendary Kiss Kasket (which you can buy while you're still alive and use it as a beer cooler until you have to fill it with your corpse).

Now comes the news that Stanley and Simmons have signed a deal to produce a television show for children. According to production company E1, the half-hour comedy show will introduce the band (and the group members' individual personalities) to a new generation of Kiss Army members. "Kiss continues to be the juggernaut of licensing and merchandising, from Kiss M&M's to Kiss Dr. Pepper," Simmons said in a statement. "Kiss is a band, but also the only music brand. Continuing in our 35 year history of going where no band has gone before, we are proud to partner with E1. Like all things KISS, we intend to make this a very special show for our fans."

With a new kid-themed TV show about to go under their belts, it begs the question: Is there anything left for Simmons and Stanley to brand? Here are five things that, shockingly, don't have Kiss-themed versions (though you can bet that they'll be available soon).

The Toyota Starchild
The Japanese automaker has taken an awful lot of heat lately (which tends to happen when you build cars with breaks that don't work), but an association with Kiss could really bring them back into favored brand status. Who wouldn't want to cruise around like Paul Stanley? The Kiss Starchild has a powerful engine, extra-loud stereo system and is only available in black. Of course, somebody already built a custom Gene Simmons-themed Volkswagen, though that isn't being mass-produced, nor does it look driveable.

Kissmotherapy
The Kiss empire is so gigantic and so flush with cash that Simmons and Stanley can afford to throw a little research money into some medical science. Read More...

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Happy Rosh Hashanah To Gene Simmons, David Lee Roth And Other Great Jewish Rockers

Posted 9/18/09 2:12 pm EST by in Music


Sundown today marks the start of Rosh Hashanah, the first of the High Holidays and the celebration of the new year in the Jewish community. According to the Hebrew calendar, the Jewish people will celebrate the year 5770. Rosh Hashanah parties tend not to have any specific soundtrack, which is unacceptable. After all, the mark of a good holiday is its rock music crossover appeal (which is why Arbor Day remains a third-tier spot on the calendar, even if you bring Pulp's "The Trees" into the conversation). While there aren't many songs specifically about the Jewish New Year, there are plenty of rockers out there who celebrate. So cue up any of the tunes below as you eat your challah and apples for maximum effect.

» Kiss - "God Gave Rock and Roll To You"
With or without the war paint, Gene Simmons is only the stage name of Chaim Witz, the legendary bass player for Queens' favorite sons. And hey, this song even praises God!

» The Ramones - "Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?"
Just like Simmons, Joey Ramone (born Jeffrey Hyman) was another Queens resident born to a Jewish family who ended up writing fantastically catchy songs about rock and roll.
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Kiss Reveal New Cover For Sonic Boom

Posted 8/17/09 1:00 pm EST by in Music


Kiss haven't released a new album since 1998's Psycho Circus, but the band is back in the makeup for their upcoming record Sonic Boom. The band has returned with 11 news songs produced by guitarist Paul Stanley. Not all of the original members are on board, though. In addition to original members Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons, the group is fleshed out by guitarist Tommy Thayer (who has played with the band for years, used to be in Deep Purple and wears the Ace Frehley "Spaceman" makeup) and drummer Eric Singer (who has also joined the band on-and-off over two decades and wears original drummer Peter Criss' "Catman" face). They recently revealed the album cover, which is built with classic Kiss iconography in mind: The band name is on top with each of the four members in a corner of the cover (not surprisingly, the art was designed by Michael Doret, who also created the similar-looking Rock and Roll Over sleeve).

The group also announced that the record would be released on October 6th and be available exclusively at Wal-Mart stores (a deal that several classic artists have struck in the past few years, including the Eagles and AC/DC). Despite not having any new material in 11 years, the members of the group have remained pretty active. Simmons became a reality TV personality, starring on both his own show and on NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice." Stanley put out the solo album Live to Win in 2006 and has shown several of his paintings at art shows. Even former Kiss members remain active, as Ace Frehley has spent time becoming Twitter friends with Taylor Swift.

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