all the noise that's fit to blog
The long, strange trip of "Walk This Way" officially began on a stage in Honolulu in December of '74 in front of no audience, but metaphorically its journey started further back in New Orleans.
Additionally, sometimes it feels like a song just wills itself into existence and insist that it becomes part of the culture. This is one of those magical tunes.
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Jerry Garcia returned from his long, strange, scary coma, and got back on the stage with the Grateful Dead on December 15, 1986.
The lovable guitarist fell into a coma on July 10th and as he recovered, the then-44-year-old musician discovered there were parts of his motor skills that needed to relearn how to play the guitar.
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When the Kingsmen covered "Louie Louie" it was peppered with errors, a curse word, and poor sound. It was not great and Herb Alpert said it was out of tune.
It wasn't even the best version recorded that month in the studio they laid it down on. You could barely hear what the teen singer was saying. And the band broke up during the 131-week run that it was on the charts.
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Eleven year old Michael Jackson led his brothers through three songs on The Ed Sullivan Show on December 14, 1969.
Singing three songs off their debut album, Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5; Jackie, Jermaine, Michael, Marlon, and Tito paved the way that night for all the parade of boy bands to come in future generations.
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What the Stray Cats did in 1980 no one asked for.
In 1980 nobody, particularly record labels gathered around their meeting rooms and said, "you know what we need? We need a trio of scrawny tattooed throwbacks. One guy on a stand-up bass, the standing drummer beating on a snare and a cymbal, and a slick backed singer who looks like the dad of the frontman of Green Day."
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Taylor Swift has had her best year ever. Not only did she break records with her Eras Tour, but she was able to share that excitement in the movie theaters from the documentary about that epic journey.
And of course, she found love on the 50 yard-line.
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Judging from the influence they still wield decades later, one would have thought The Smiths were together for eons. However, on December 12, 1986, the group performed their last real concert after just four years from their inception.
Morrissey kicked off the show by asking the sold out crowd at the Brixton Academy, "If there's something you'd like to try / Ask me, I won't say no, how could I?"
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Every year we have to say goodbye to some of our favorite people. This year is no exception.
While this list could have gone on and on, and no disrespect to those not on here, but these are 11 we choose to spotlight today whose contributions to music we are grateful to.
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George Thorogood, the blues based guitarist with perfect teeth and dark sunglasses, played his 50th state in 50 days on this day in 1981 when he and The Destroyers rocked Pasadena, California.
The 50/50 Tour started, wisely, in Hawaii and after a plane trip to Alaska, the rest of the dates would be relatively easy since they'd all be in the continental U.S.
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Before they were the three bad brothers you know so well, Beastie Boys were a hardcore punk band who idolized Washington D.C.'s Bad Brains and opened for them the night Max's Kansas City shuttered in December 11, 1981.
An old ad claims there was supposed to be another show by a different lineup on Dec. 12, but until there's some verified proof that The Rattlers and Ronnie & The Jitters played on 12/12, this writer will claim the 11th the night the fabled Manhattan club had its farewell show.
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Metallica made history a decade ago today when they became the first band to play Antarctica.
When the metal gods strapped it on in a see-through dome on the frozen terrain, it was their seventh continent they'd rocked in 2013, a feat not only no other band had mastered, but had anyone even dared try?
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As we did a few days ago with Top Artists of 2023, based on how many setlists fans looked up, here are the Top Festivals of this year derived from the same calculation.
Which is really the most scientific metric, if you think about it.
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