Lindsey Buckingham – Still Looking Forward
Lindsey Buckingham isn’t looking back too much these days. It could be because the future for him is now.
In the last ten years, he’s married, started a family, and birthed a new album that is as intimate and personal a portrait as any artist may dare to venture.
But for him, taking risks may be his proverbial fountain of youth. After all, he did it with Fleetwood Mac. Following the commercially successful Rumors, which catapulted the band into rock icon status, Buckingham could have followed the same recipe and spoon-fed fans a Rumors II. Instead, he followed it up with the quirky, Tusk, a 180-degree departure from Rumors.True to his word, at 58 he’s still not stopped thinking about tomorrow.
“I think what happens is usually a lot of people are either kind of tapped out with their creativity by the time the get to a certain point, or they’re in a position where they’re willing to rest on the their laurels on the body of work that they have. It’s very important for me to keep fresh. What I think is important goes back to Tusk…it kept me musically honest… I subverted some of the commercialism, that’s what you have to do, otherwise you paint yourself into a corner.”
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So, What Does Bo Know?
So you think you know Bo?
Bo Diddley, that is, the consummate performer, musician, humanitarian and even actor. As a Founding Father of rock-n-roll, he is known to many as “the Originator” for taking the Blues and infusing it with what he was influenced by-Chicago street music, hambone, the strumming of guitar mixed with the rhythm that comes from slapping the guitar, knee and chest, while soulfully singing the lyrics. Mix that with some harder edge guitar and you’ve got the signature “Bo Diddley beat”-a sound best described as “shave and a haircut, two bits.” Think U2′s “Desire” or Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” and you’ve got it. Bo was born Ellas Bates on a farm in Mississippi, near the Louisiana border, on December 30, 1928. His cousin, Gussie McDaniel, later adopted him. He took her last name and moved with the family to the South side of Chicago at age five. He got the name Bo Diddley when he became a Golden Gloves boxer.
Bo’s sister gave him his first guitar. He picked it up and taught himself to play. “I started training myself… if somebody else could do it, I could do it too.” What else do we know? Bo is still going, on the road, playing, performing, keeping the legacy alive.
“I’m playing old and new songs…trying to stay outta trouble,” he laughs.
That’s what everyone knows.
Joe Piscopo – Just Your Average Work’n Joe
Going through airport security Joe Piscopo, known best for being a Saturday Night Live alum, is talking on his cell phone, arranging interviews and signing autographs to fans who obviously feel comfortable enough to walk up and ask. Security checks his bag, as he says with a laugh into the phone, “I’m just going through security…I think they’re going to take my toothpaste.” Across two time zones and three states, in one afternoon, he manages to take some time out to catch us up on what he’s been doing.
Piscopo, 55, is going through a divorce. Although he can’t talk about it much, his wife, Kimberly and he have been together for 19 years, married for 9 of them. They have three young children, two daughters Alexandra, 7 and Olivia, 2 and a 4-year old son, Michael. Piscopo has another son, Joey 27, from a previous marriage.
“In my business pain is good, being on stage is cathartic and therapeutic…at this point particularly…Personal turmoil aside,” Piscopo reports, “the kids are doing good.”
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Dashboard Confessional – Chris Carrabba Lets Us In – A Little Bit
Dashboard Confessional is the band’s name, but don’t ask founder Chris Carraba to give up his sins or reveal too much personal information. If you want him to bare his soul, give a listen, that information is contained in the lyrics of his songs.“I put a lot of myself into my songs,” he confessed.He was willing to give up a little piece of himself, if only maybe accidentally. Mere small talk seems to give way to his deeper self that unfortunately, he couldn’t hide if he tried. As he talks about the band and where they’re going, it’s easy to see that they have now come to that point where through hard work and very little exposure, they’re about to break – big time. “We’ve never been on the radio, we’ve had no radio support…now the song, Stolen, which is about Florida, is burning up the charts,” he said. Continue reading Dashboard Confessional – Chris Carrabba Lets Us In – A Little Bit…
Kathleen Madigan – Irreverent Style in a Small Package
If Kathleen Madigan ever had to go into the witness protection program she could hide in South Florida, no problem. She would blend right in because she drives a Cadillac and you can’t see her head over the steering wheel.
Madigan 40, native of St. Louis and a comedian who gained face recognition on NBC’s reality show, Last Comic Standing, is thinking aloud about her blog that appears on her website — where she writes down exactly what’s on her mind.
For instance, in her blog for November, she’s in Vegas and comments on fellow comedian, Howie Mandel.
Mandel was headlining at the MGM – why????
Who is paying for this???? He’s nice but dear Lord.
“I don’t know that I like the blog… my dad is a lawyer and judge… I don’t know if you should write shit down. What if I get involved in some sort of caper and Howie Mandel was murdered. They would see what I said about him on my web site…I don’t know if it’s the best idea…but it’s fun and people do like reading it.”
That’s how Madigan thinks. She describes her comedy as cynical and sarcastic, but not angry. As
she puts it while laughing, it’s “E Z to understand.”
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The Essential Top 10 Rock Albums
If you want a rock & roll education, this would be a good place to start.
The ten albums below are not just listed because they were the best-selling or most popular rock music in history. The list was not compiled using charts and graphs or for that matter a dartboard. These albums make the list for the impact they made on people, our culture and the music industry. Some may argue that there have been albums that have changed the world…or at least made us think differently about life, love, loss, politics, power and ourselves – these are them.
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