Posts Tagged ‘Rock & Roll’
The Invention Of Everything Else
Inspiration is a funny thing; it comes from unusual sources at unusual times. Tuesday morning was cold and clear. I cued up the “On The Media” podcast on the way to the office. The show featured author Samantha Hunt whose biography of Nicola Tesla, “The Invention of Everything Else,” just hit shelves. ‘The Invention of…
Read MoreSending Out An S.O.S.
The Interweb is such a strange and wonderful thing. I have three Google News Alerts: Bono, Mister Rogers, and myself. I suppose the company in which I keep myself says something, but that’s not my point here. “Bono” Google News Alerts tend to return two types of information: articles on my much admired musical, philosophical…
Read MoreBono & The Edge: U2 3D
Benjamin Wagner: What do you notice in yourselves and each other in 3D that you didn’t before? The Edge: I was struck by the separateness really yunno we’re up there quite individual and quite separate something about the 3D the depth of field you really feel that Bono: Are you saying you felt lonely up…
Read MoreSundance 2008: Faraway (So Close)
There was nothing between The Edge, Bono and me except Jerry Penacoli. Incidentally, the Xtra correspondent is not a small man. I’m gonna’ wager 6′ 4″, 225. Nor was he very happy with me at the moment. The “U23D” red carpet was the single most crowded press line I’ve seen in the last four years…
Read MoreWondering Where The Story’s Gone
When it’s sixty degrees at six o’clock in the morning in January, you go running whether you want to or not. These are interesting times. It’s the beginning, I think, of what basketball teams call “a rebuilding year.” There’s a lot of new: a new marriage, a new home, a new job. And so I…
Read MoreThe Rhythm Of The Night
I had a crib sheet of song titles and IDs saved on my Blackberry well before the first guests arrived. Our pals Chris and Meg Abad put together New Year’s Eve festivities at iBop, a BYOB karaoke joint just off Herald Square. We helped them lug about eighty-seven pounds of chips, dip and booze through…
Read MoreTop Ten Singles Of 2007
Kids pride themselves on what adults in the music business call “discovery.” Discovery, of course, is just corporate speak for being the first kid in your high school to listen to Siouxsie & The Banshees, or The Cure, or REM. Or at least thinking you’re the first. When I was in high school, this was…
Read MoreYou Miss Too Much These Days If You Stop To Think
What a beautiful way to start a strange day. It began at the Dolby screening room on the corner of 55th Street and Sixth Avenue (there behind the big LOVE statue) where 3ality Digital, National Geographic Films and Murphy PR were screening “U23D.” The 90-minute concert film (which dispenses with the behind-the-scenes and verite elements…
Read MoreRight Around Christmastime, Part II
I think most would agree that the holidays can be something of a pain in the ass. First there’s the hazy shades of winter; the gloomy, short, cold days. Then there’s the whole gift thing. I love giving, but there’s a lot of Madison Avenue fueled pressure to get it right and really dazzle recipients.…
Read MoreMerry Christmas Baby
Five strands of 100 count clear indoor/outdoor mini lights. Twenty-five white baloons. Nine glittering snowflakes. And a beer. In just fourteen hours or so I’ll pick up the first run of “A Family Holiday” CDs. A few hours later, the first of twelve performances will take the stage at The Delancey. It’s been a long…
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