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‘81

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Stone Temple Pilots- Creep (live on MTV Unplugged, 1993)

This is the definitive STP era for many people who lived in the 90s. For some reason the image of Scott gently rocking back and forth on Unplugged in a rocking chair is like forever engrained in my mind. 

This whole performance is amazing but “Creep” is one of my faves from their first album. HIs voice is gorgeous in this. 

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Stone Temple Pilots- “Sour Girl” (Live on Letterman with Junior Brown, 2000)

Despite some people still mis-labeling STP as a “grunge band” they actually changed their sound up every album and as the years progressed, as “Sour Girl” shows. This was actually their biggest hit ever, believe it or not. 

This performance shows STP and Scott’s versatility and has them playing with country band Junior Brown. Scott looks as fashionable as every channeling Thin White Duke David Bowie + cowboy hat (he takes it off at the end to reveal his mohawk) and he does a little bit of his signature dance moves. 

Man his voice was truly something else. RIP.

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RIP Holly Woodlawn (October 26, 1946 - December 6, 2015)

Holly Woodlawn, Warhol Superstar And Trans Troublemaker, Dead At 69 | NewNowNext @newnownext

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Favorite Scott Weiland fashion moments

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Linda Evangelista smoking a cigarette while walking the runway for Thierry Mugler - 1990

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Adam and the Ants- The Magnificent Five [1980]

from the Album: Kings of the Wild Frontier

They believed in sex and looking good With their own brand of music They weren’t pandering So which side of the fence are you on?

Song Analysis: Like many songs on their album Kings of the Wild Frontier, this song is a battle-cry showcasing their musical philosophy, swagger, and their “us vs them” attitude towards the music business at that time and was meant to reinforce their outlaw status. This wasn’t just music, this was Antmusic. And it was different.

The title is a play-off of The Magnificent Seven western starring Steve McQueen. Again, sticking with the cowboys and Indians theme. The Ants had five members, so obviously The Magnificent Five and the lyrics within were references to the band. Less than a year after this song was the released, The Clash coincidentally came out with a song called The Magnificent Seven. Hmmm.

This is a curious song in the Ants discography because it mixed lyrics about their decision to abandon the punk thing and find their own vibe and be their own gang of “The Magnificent Five”/Kings of the Wild Frontier/warriors against the music biz etc. with lyrics that quote Friedrich Nietzsche [“He who writes in blood” is taken from Thus Spake Zarathustra]. Very cultured, our Adam.

The phrase “prick up your ears” was a nod to the playwright Joe Orton, who wrote outrageous and dark plays and was sadly murdered by his boyfriend in 1967. A biography was written about Orton called Prick Up Your Ears and was released in 1978. “Prick Up Your Ears was also the title of this song in the demo stage.

Adam mentioned Joe Orton as one of his influences many times in interviews and his first acting role was performing in Orton’s most famous play, Entertaining Mr. Sloane, in 1985.

So there you go. A seemingly innocuous album track about the Ants mixed with influences of German philosophers and macabre murdered playwrights.

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Britney Spears- “Everytime” [2004]

I don’t think I’ve made a post about this video before, but it’s one of my favorite Britney songs and videos.

She wrote this song as a response to Justin Timberlake, who as we all remember, used Britney and aired the dirty laundry about her allegedly cheating on him as a promotional tool for his first solo album, even going as far as using a Britney look-a-like in the video for “Cry Me a River” which was written about their breakup. Britney for her part, stayed classy even when Justin went on the radio discussing various aspects of their sex life. Cool guy!

Anyway, Britney’s song is basically a heartfelt apology, her taking the high road per usual. The Timberlake breakup changed the Britney narrative from “American’s Sweetheart” to basically painting her as a “bad woman,” and she never regained an overall positive reception from the public, after that it was almost as if everyone was hoping for her downfall.

While her very public “breakdown” was in 2007, the signs were there as early as 2004 that Britney was going through some rough times and it’s truly shocking to me that no one in her team tried to help her because she was clearly going through some shit!

Anyway, this video was Britney’s concept and she originally wanted it to end with her committing suicide. She was legit ASKING FOR HELP in a very public way and instead was soon sent on a world tour for the remainder of the year*. But I digress.

Obviously her team did not think it was appropriate for America’s former sweetheart to have a video where she commits suicide, so the ending was changed to a bizarre reincarnation thing. But still this video is pretty dark, showing the daily harassment that Britney endured by the tabloid culture, just waiting for her to snap. This video is definitely foreshadowing to the KFed/Britney relationship which began a few months later [she cast actor Stephen Dorff as a “bad boy”] and then her relationship with the paparazzi during her breakdown, it’s almost eerie.

source for the original video ending

*she ended up canceling the second leg of the tour after meeting Kfed and injuring her leg on a video shoot.

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Random gifs of Marc Bolan being glam

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Adam and the Ants- Antmusic (December 1980)

Directed by Steve Barron

I’ve been reading the book “I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video” and been meaning to blog about it on Tumblr, because it’s a fascinating read. I’ve learned so much about the directors that pioneered the art-form of the music video.

“Antmusic” was Steve Barron’s first ever video. It was made a full year before MTV was even on air. Steve went on to shoot legendary videos like “Don’t You Want Me Baby” by the Human League (the first music video ever shot on 35mm film), and eventually made the iconic “Billie Jean” video with Michael Jackson.

He was interviewed about this video by the BBC recently and I thought he had some interesting things to say about working with Adam.

This was his first video and it was also a turning point in my career.

The actual concept - one of the few times - came from the artist.

This was a guy who was out of art college and he had strong graphic ideas like the giant plug unplugging a jukebox.

Adam really helped pull the image side of videos up a couple of notches.

After Adam, with new bands, record companies said: “Well, you’ve got to be handsome and extreme and out there and completely different.”

And Duran Duran and all that kind of thing came out of that.

I think he deserves a lot more credit as an artist for the shake-up he helped cause in the early 80s.

With Antmusic, we also shot down an alleyway on Arlington Road where all the bums live in Camden Town.

Some of them were transported to a different time seeing Adam and his band out there looking like they were from another era.

There was a fair amount of abuse came flying and, I think, a few empty bottles were hurled.

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Madonna- Express Yourself [1989]

The current generation has Lana Del Rey doing a Tumblr pastiche of banal pop culture references in her videos with no real meaning behind them (cute visuals tho), but back in the day, we had Madonna. And Madonna ALWAYS had a point of view and something to say and feminist thought behind everything she did.

This video was directed by DAVID FINCHER, riffing on the movie METROPOLIS and paying tribute to Marlene Dietrich and German 1920s/30s cinema.

In this video we see Madonna playing the traditional “male power” role of the factory boss, but coincidentally also empowered by being dominated and tied up, crawling around on the floor like a cat– which still seemed to be under her control due to her comfort-ability with her own sexuality. Madonna’s image dictated that she was ALWAYS in control.

She also utilized male posturing/crotch grabbing by giving a nod to Michael Jackson (arguable her male pop culture counterpart at that time) because she was secure enough do TO THAT and wasn’t threatened by his success or anything. Paying a nod to the greats in a respectful way, Madonna was great at that.

There’s so much going on in this video; power/class of the factory system, traditional/non-traditional gender roles, female/male gaze. For her part, Madonna said, (maybe jokingly), the theme of this video is “PUSSY RULES THE WORLD.” Which was always Madonna’s MO in the 80s and 90s, let’s be real.

Finally, I should note that this song was inspired by “Respect Yourself” by the Staples Singers and was later the inspiration for Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.”

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Adam Ant the Ants- Kings of the Wild Frontier (Top of the Pops 1981)

RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC WHILE LISTENING TO ADAM ANT (feel free to skip)

A lot of people who I follow on Tumblr are beholden to the music of the 1960s and 1970s, and I get that. It was an amazing time in music. And I’m sure that it might seem odd to people that I post about the Monkees and then a band like Oasis or Adam Ant or Tame Impala. But to me, all of these bands are very connected and important in their own way.

Music is so interconnected that to me, liking something outside of that small parameter of time isn’t that weird. Adam obviously named the Ants as an homage to the Beatles, and his influences are clearly T. Rex, Roxy Music, Motown records, and the same music of the 50s that influenced people like the Beatles.

This particular song uses two drummers playing the burundi style of drumming made popular by Bo Diddley in the 50s, and the guitar riffs not just on this song, but on their first album are a direct nod to “Rumble” by Link Wray, which is also, as we all know, a favorite track of Jimmy Page.

Adam’s fashion sense is also a mix of the sort of freak clothes that the GTOs and the dandies in the UK in the 60s wore, but obviously with more of a punk/ugly aesthetic.

I don’t really know my point except to say that there is good, fun, well-crafted music from every decade. The 60s gets a lot of press for being an amazing decade, but every decade has valid cultural movements that make society change for the better.

Like Syd Barrett wearing eyeliner in the 60s and then David Bowie and the glam kids following his lead, and then Adam Ant and the punks doing the same but twisting it so it was “ugly/pretty”, and then Adam Ant influencing people like Boy George to feel comfortable enough with himself to wear makeup, etc. It’s all important. If the 60s was a renaissance for the women’s movement and civil rights, I’d like to think that these male popstars being so open about their sexuality and wearing makeup and still being considered sexy and desirable and that it was OK to be a little femme was helpful in the major movement in the 80s, the gay rights movement.

And then Adam influenced the next generation of British musicians like Suede and Blur who definitely took a similar approach to gender roles in the 90s.

But like all of our 60s heroes, these are still catchy 3 and a half minute pop songs. This is still a person who has the same influences and background as many people from the 60s. All he was doing was just modernizing it for the times and twisting it around a bit.

I know it’s easy to get stuck in one frame of mind in terms of music, but when you really think about it, whether it’s Jimmy Page in the 70s or Adam Ant in the 80s or Blur in the 90s or Jack White, all of these dudes are all musical peers who are worthy of attention, in my opinion.

Anyway, just started thinking about this last night and wanted to put it out there as a topic for discussion. Keep in mind I’m not singling anyone out, and that the great majority of my followers are open-minded and genius and awesome and I love you all. Just trying to spread some KNOWLEDGE.

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10 Most Underrated Michael Jackson songs

[All songs from his solo career only.]

1. Baby Be Mine [Thriller, 1982]

I know what you’re thinking; how can a song from an album that sold 30 million copies in the US alone be underrated? Well in an album with so many iconic songs, “Baby Be Mine” consistently gets overlooked. It is the best jam on that album, no doubt. I play it all the time at my DJ nights and people bop every time.

2. Stranger in Moscow [HIStory, 1995]

One of Michael’s most powerful and emotional songs. It flopped in America and was a moderate hit around the rest of the world. The HIStory period was not well-regarded by the press and most of the songs on the album were greatly overlooked, in my opinion. The melody to this song is beautiful and as usual, Michael’s vocals are transcendent and also very vulnerable. The “how does it feel” part gets me every time, man. Tame Impala recognized the genius and did a rad cover of this song earlier this year.

3. Give In To Me [Dangerous, 1991]

Michael always tried to do one rock song on each album and this is one of his most passionate and filled with sexual tension. Slash from Guns and Roses plays guitar. 

4. Girlfriend [Off The Wall, 1979]

Paul McCartney allegedly wrote this song for Michael but ended up recording it with Wings first. Michael’s version is far superior and is a nice mid-tempo breezy number on an album full of dance floor bangers.

5. They Don’t Care About Us [HIStory, 1995]

Another song from this era that was big worldwide but barely made a blip in the US due to some controversial lyrics and bad press at the time. I really like all of MJ’s songs about his haterz and this song in particular always had a killer military inspired dance routine when he performed it live.

6. Another Part of Me [Bad, 1987]

Some people may remember this song from the Captain EO 3D film at Disney World and it’s a jam!! As you can see in the link above, it was a killer song to perform and Michael really got into it. The vocals on this song are flawless.

7. Who Is It [Dangerous, 1991]

A rare song where Michael sings in his lower register, giving it a very sultry energy. The Dangerous album had five Top 20 singles and this was one that was overshadowed by the media hoopla surrounding the others.

8. Dangerous [Dangerous, 1991]

I love that Michael always tried to keep in touch with music trends, and for the Dangerous album he worked with new jack swing producer Teddy Riley to keep things “fresh.” This song is the prime example of MJ incorporating those modern r&b and hip hop elements into his music but still making it “his.”

9. You Rock My World [Invincible, 2001]

This whole era was pretty much written off by the critics, but I think this song is a nod to MJ’s Off The Wall album but modernizing it for what was then the “TRL audience” of the early 2000s. And the chorus is catchy as hell.

10. Dirty Diana [from Bad, 1987]

I just think this is his greatest song ever and should be on ALL THE LISTS EVER.

What do you think are Michael’s most underrated songs?

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Videos Banned from MTV

not a complete list, but some of the interesting cases…

1. Rick James- “Superfreak” (1981). Banned because it “did not fit the rock format of MTV” in the pre-Michael Jackson landscape. Before MJ, only a few black artists were played on MTV. Rick James accused MTV of “blatant racism”.

2. Madonna- “Justify My Love” (1990). Banned because of a sadomasochist scene where a chick pulls up a man by the hair and a briefly nude dominatrix woman. Things were so tame back then! The video was released on VHS and became one of the best selling “video singles” of all time.

3. Nine Inch Nails- “Closer” (1994). This influential video by Mark Romanek was banned for featuring the following:

A nude, bald woman with a crucifix mask.

A monkey tied to a cross.

A severed pig’s head spinning on some type of machine.

A diagram of the vulva.

Reznor wearing an S&M mask while swinging in shackles.

Reznor seated in front of a wall covered in fetish gear, wearing a ball gag.

4. Prodigy- “Smack My Bitch Up” (1997). Banned for nudity, drinking and driving, assault on both sexes, cocaine use, vomiting scenes, violence, sex, and strippers. (spoiler alert: the person causing all of this shit is a woman)

5. Neil Young- “This Note’s For You” (1988). The video made fun of celebrities and corporate sponsorships. It was originally banned by MTV after threats from Michael Jackson’s lawyers (he was heavily mocked in the vid). After the video became a huge hit on MuchMusic, MTV decided to air it. It won the 1989 VMA for video of the year.

6. Queen- “Body Language” (1982). The first ever video banned for MTV, due to homoerotic imagery and sweat. Ha.

7. Motley Crue- “Girls, Girls, Girls” (1987). This video was filmed at a strip club, need I say more?

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Brian Eno is the fucking man (A tribute)

aka reasons why Brian Eno is cooler than most people.

His full name is Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, RDI. Only a fucking badass would have a name like that. 

He dressed like a glittery alien from outer space and wore makeup and probably got more chicks than the boring typical classic rock bros.

He played synths + tapes with one of the best bands ever, Roxy Music.

He enjoys taking a lot of photos with cats.

He is the pioneer of ambient music, even coining that term.

His Music for Airports album was played in the background at La Guardia Airport in the 80s.

He composed the startup sound for Windows 95.

He once gave an extensive interview to Chrissie Hynde about his pornography collection.

CHOICE QUOTE:”Eno forever altered the ways in which music is approached, composed, performed, and perceived, and everything from punk to techno to new age bears his unmistakable influence.”-dude who writes for Allmusic.com

MGMT wrote a song about him.

He created the Oblique Strategies card deck in the 70s as a way for artists and musicians to get out of their writers/creative block and get inspired. It’s like the I-Ching but with messages to help you think out of the box.

He most recent project is to create music and light installations for hospitals with the intent of the music aiding the healing process and providing overall good vibes to patients.

I mean just look at him. FIERCE.

IN ADDITION TO NOT HAVING ANY PROPER MUSICAL TRAINING, BRIAN ENO PRODUCED THESE CLASSIC ALBUMS WHICH I’M SURE YOU ALL HAVE HEARD A MILLION TIMES:

More Songs about Buildings & Food / Fear of Music / Remain in Light, Talking Heads

Ultravox’s self-titled album

Q: Are We Not Men A: We Are Devo / Devo

The Joshua Tree / Achtung Baby / U2 (ok he produced way more of their albums than that but I am lazy)

Laid by James

The last two Coldplay albums.

Not to mention he was David Bowie’s main collaborator on the albums in his “Berlin Trilogy” (Low, Heroes, Lodger)

BRIAN ENO IS THE SHIT. THE END.

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Britney Spears and Kevin Federline’s first public date, April 23, 2004

If you want to see a visual that represents the early-to-mid 2000s, please look no further than Britney’s iconic outfit in these photos from 2004.

Trucker hat, check. Feather earrings (we all had them, why???), check. The jam band fan hippie choker, check. Bellybutton piercing, check. Jean short-shorts with the pockets hanging out, check. Last night’s smudged eyeliner, check.

I know perfectly drawn winged eyeliner is the rage with teens now but man, in the 2000s the gold standard of eyeliner was the smudged perfection of whatever you had on when you were partying the night before. It was a simpler time for sure.

Don’t get me wrong, I love when Ms. Spears aka Godney (aMEN) could clean up nicely in the early 2000s (although it being the early 2000s, there were a lot of style disasters, like her ionic #jeandress) but I absolutely love the era when Britney stopped giving a fuck and just did HER. It was a a delightful hodgepodge of country bumpkin rolling around on the floor of a pile of accessories at Wet Seal while hungover from too many tequila shots at the Cadillac Ranch.

Britney’s ability to not give a fuck was not calculated, not like the planned “not give a fuck” aesthetic adopted by so many of today’s pop girls (Miley Cyrus is a good example of this). By that point in her career, Britney truly did not care what people thought about her and just wanted to live her life and make the type of music she wanted. Neither of these things ended up happening for her, unfortunately.

We didn’t know it at the time, but this day lives in infamy as a true turning point in her life. The top shot of the paparazzi filming their every move is very unnerving, and obviously would only intensify the next few years of her life as her dream marriage to Kevin ended in a publicly traumatizing way. And we wonder why she had a breakdown?

It’s so interesting in today’s Instagrammed world with perfect filters and perfect angles and planned outfits and events (ie: the aesthetic of the Kardashians where the lens into their lives is always flawless and to be envied) to see something like this contrasted, this type of aesthetic of just doing you, un-showered and eating Cheetos just like the everyone else.