Lord_of_the_Dense

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pioneering music executive Jerry Wexler, who helped build Atlantic Records into a rhythm and blues powerhouse in the 1950s and 1960s with artists like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, died in Florida on Friday at age 91, Atlantic Records said. Along with the late Ahmet Ertegun, co-head of Atlantic, Wexler revolutionized R&B music as the consummate businessman behind an independent label that had few rivals in its day, spearheading Atlantic's move into "Southern soul" music. In addition to Charles and Franklin, Wexler helped develop such acts as Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett and Roberta Flack, often finding talent in places like Memphis, Tennessee, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and Miami. Read entire story here.

Happy Birthday, Curtis!!

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Steel guitarist Don Helms, the last remaining member of Hank Williams' original Drifting Cowboys Band, has died from a heart attack, fellow performer Marty Stuart said. Helms, 81, died on Monday at Nashville's Skyline Medical Center, Stuart said. "He was the dean of Nashville musicians and truly an essential part of the Hank Williams legacy," Stuart said. Read entire story here.

ELKHORN, Wis. - When Tallan "T-Man" Latz was 5, he saw Joe Satriani playing guitar on TV. "I turned around to my dad and said, 'That's exactly what I want to do.'" Three years and countless hours of practicing later, 8-year-old Tallan is a blues guitar prodigy. He's played in bars and clubs, including the House of Blues in Chicago, and even jammed with Les Paul and Jackson Browne. He has a summer of festivals scheduled and has drawn interest from venues worldwide. And what, you might ask, would a kid not even in the third grade have the blues about? The state of Wisconsin for one, and some possibly jealous older musicians for another. Read entire story here.

An awesome track. R.I.P. Cliff. Correction - this version is OK. Nothing beats the '86 original. Robert is missing things (maybe due to it being live) that Cliff accomplished on the original. This is probably the last, great, Metallica-at-its-heaviest album.

FUCK!! I thought someone was joking when Hayes was mentioned in a Bernie Mac thread. R.I.P.

Hope you had a good one, CH!!

Happy Birthday!!

LOS ANGELES - Jo Stafford, the honey-voiced band singer who starred in radio and television and sold more than 25 million records with her ballads and folks songs, has died. She was 90. Stafford died of congestive heart failure Wednesday at her Century City home, her son, Tim Weston of Topanga, said Friday. She had been in declining health since October, he said. Stafford had 26 charted singles and nearly a dozen top 10 hits, her son said. She won a Grammy for her humor. Read entire story here.

I have no idea. He said his name was Kent.

Could you perhaps redo those lyrics with the appropriate inflections? I still don't think I'm singing it right. Might just be the contours of the shower.

I'll save the "getting closer to God" joke. I wonder if he had just bought the hat there? It burns me that this stupidity happens, but yet it is a valid reason for considering the safety of rides. Just as an FYI, the Batman ride in Santa Clarita, CA wasn't all that great. I still have yet to get on Superman (the ride, that is).

Ahhhh...early Mtv.

LOS ANGELES - Leonard Pennario, a Grammy-winning pianist and best-selling classical recording artist, has died. He was 83. Pennario died Friday at his home in San Diego of complications from Parkinson's disease, said his biographer, Mary Kunz Goldman. Pennario won a Grammy in the 1960s for his work with violinist Jascha Heifetz and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky. Read entire story here.

Happy Birthday, TM2K!!

It took me a couple of times on actual TV to realize it was Def Leppard. Do NOT like the sound of this one. I feel all hope was lost after Hysteria.

A little torn on the band. Initially, didn't care for the redundancy although it's got a great beat. They've released other songs that are nearly as redundant but are a little better sounding (varied). I have a few tracks but I don't think I could commit to an entire album.

NEW YORK - Dody Goodman, the delightfully daffy comedian known for her television appearances on Jack Paar's late-night talk show and as the mother on the soap-opera parody "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," has died at 93. Goodman died Sunday at Englewood (N.J.) Hospital and Medical Center, said Joan Adams, a close family friend. The actress had been ill for some time and had lived in the Actors Fund Home in Englewood since October, Adams said. Goodman, with her pixyish appearance and Southern-tinged, quavery voice, had an eclectic show-business career. She moved easily from stage to television to movies, where she appeared in such popular films as "Grease" and "Grease 2," playing Blanche, the principal's assistant, and in "Splash." Read entire story here.

I've had the audio file for a couple years (192Kbps). This type of music was popular on the carnival rides in Germany while I was stationed there but I think this came out after I got out. I think I enjoy the keyboard loop in the chorus the most. It has a good beat and is an overall uplifting song. This was the first time I had seen the video.

They played "Better" on our local radio a few days ago. It's ok, but I'd need to hear a lot more. As the DJ had said, it's more about the Axl Rose Band than actual Guns 'N Roses. It was nice to hear something new finally. I just hope the whole thing turns out good. People could say it was worth waiting for, but there's no way it literally took 14 years to compose. People stopped waiting. If it turns out to be good, it's just a new GNR album that's come out since their cryofreeze.

LOS ANGELES - Cyd Charisse, the long-legged beauty who danced with the Ballet Russe as a teenager and starred in MGM musicals with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, died Tuesday. She was 86. Charisse was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Monday after suffering an apparent heart attack, said her publicist, Gene Schwam. She appeared in dramatic films, but her fame came from the Technicolor musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Read entire story here.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish jazz pianist and composer Esbjorn Svensson, who helped break genre boundaries and attracted a young audience outside the traditional jazz scene, died in a scuba diving accident on Saturday, his manager said. Burkhard Hopper, manager of the Esbjorn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.), said Svensson, 44, died on Saturday in Sweden's Stockholm archipelago. Svensson was a big name in international jazz circles with e.s.t. winning critical acclaim and commercial success from Japan to the United States, mainly in European countries such as Germany, France and Britain, with albums such as Viaticum (2005) and Tuesday Wonderland (2006). Read entire story here.

What is that....the equivalent to Westminster?

Happy Birthday, Sweet Lady.

LONDON (Billboard) - "Everybody," Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford says, "is eager to grab the full metal opera." Halford is talking about "Nostradamus" (Epic), the veteran U.K. metal act's 16th studio album -- and its first concept work. The double-disc set, due internationally June 16 and one day later in the United States, tells the story of 16th-century prophet Michel de Nostredame, better-known as Nostradamus. The set is the second album since Halford returned to the band in 2003 after doing other musical projects for 12 years. Read entire story here.