web analytics

Pop Rock Nation

Blog

  • American Idol Season 8 – Down To The Nitty Gritty

    Last night was a weird show. They weren’t convinced that they could get more than one performance per contestant in without going over the time so thus, we got duets that didn’t really count.

    Slash and Velvet Revolver at the 9:30 Club
    Slash and Velvet Revolver at the 9:30 Club
    Slash was the mentor and he was pretty much just there to sit like a statue in the audience. I wasn’t sure if it was him or a wax statue until he smirked one time.

    Tonight, we get down to the nitty gritty. It’s time to cut down to the top three.

    Ryno just called Randy, “the bomb.com”. I wonder if he knew where he was going to send viewers. Don’t go there unless you want a t-shirt that says, “Pedalphile”, as in, someone who has a lead foot.

    Paula Abdul is going to perform tonight as well. No word on whether or not MC Skat Kat will join her. But I bet you Arsenio Hall tunes in tonight and thinks, “Damn, I used to get at that.”

    The contestants are performing with Slash on School’s Out.

    Tickets go on sale this weekend for the Idol Live Tour. Woohoo! I mean, good for them.

    Paula is ready to take the stage. I remember that my buddy at one point said that he wished that Paula Abdul was his wife and that Janet Jackson was his mistress. Yes, this was in 1990.

    She’s performing (I’m Just) Here For The Music, which we linked to yesterday on the site.

    The girl can still move. I have to give it up. Though, there was one part where she decided to go to a mic stand and she still had the headset mic on. Why don’t you just tell those who don’t know that you’re lip synching?

    By the way, I think John Stamos and Emilio Estevez just shed a tear at the same time while watching.

    No Doubt is performing tonight? Oh yes, I nearly forgot, they’re going out on tour in the summer. Dag, Gwen Stefani has shoulders like a linebacker. I was kind of waiting for her to bust into, “This shit is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s,” but it didn’t happen. Oh well.

    She decided to do push-ups on the stage, but she didn’t even go nipples to the floor. At least they were boy push-ups.

    America, you got some ‘splaining to do. Ryno just told Kris that he’s safe. His wife is very happy right now, but she’s not going to be very happy if he wins this thing. I’m surprised the panties aren’t being thrown on the stage right now.

    Daughtry is performing next and I think I only know that one song that they used to close out Idol a couple of years ago. I’m not even sure what else they sing. They’re prepping their second album that’s due out in July.

    Chris says he hopes that it performs better than their last album which went 5x platinum. You have a better chance at going back in time, getting in a time machine, and beating Taylor Hicks for American Idol bruh.

    I think the album will do very well, but no one goes 5x platinum anymore.

    Ryno just sent Adam back to safety so it’s between Allison and Danny.

    It’s officially a stag party. Allison goes home. Carrie Underwood has to sing her home sweet home.

    I’m officially heartbroken. She was my favorite.

    Photo of Slash by boboroshi and shared via creative commons

  • Paula Abdul Drug Addiction – The Scoop At LHJ

    Paula Abdul at charity event in 2005
    Paula Abdul at charity event in 2005

    We can stop dissin’ on the former Laker girl who showed Janet some moves and then became a caricature often portrayed as a blowsy has-been while judging American Idol.

    Paula Abdul finally admitted she was addicted to pain medication, telling Ladies Home Journal of all publications, that a series of accidents were the cause of her originally seeking treatment.  Abdul, who reeled off six #1 hits in the 1980s, married actor Emilio Estevez and appeared on the path to long-term stardom.  But a series of accidents — not just a car accident, but even a light plane crash –  and lawsuits regarding her music and performances left her taking a combination of alternative medicines, painkillers and muscle relaxants.

    With a new release and the potential for a shakeup among Idol judges in next year’s 9th season, jaded music nerds justifiably may question the timing of Abdul’s revelations, but all should support her step forward.

    American Idol is due to cut a contestant tonight, setting up a battle of the final three.  SonicClash’s Double G covered Abdul’s latest music release here earlier this week.   Abdul has appeared more lucid in appearances this season and has not committed a faux pas equivalent to previous years when she once commented on a contestant who had not yet performed the song.

    Related articles by Zemanta
    Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #34: I Died In Burst Of Lemon Piper

    The Seeds' "Pushin' Too Hard"

    THE SEEDS  “Pushin’ Too Hard”  b/w  THE STANDELLS  “Dirty Water”  (Collectibles Records #3028, early-’80’s reissue)

    Though yet another questionably licenced oldies-bin cheapie, this two-fer practically reads like page one of Garage Rock 101:  Lesson One.  Woe to Ye Puny Mortal Punkf who’ve ne’er Deigned Immerfe Thyfelvef unto Yon Hard-Drivin’, Pot-Fmokin’ Clafficf.  I Pity the Soolf.

    Originally released on Crescendo in late ’66, A-side “Pushin’ Too Hard,” a “gassy” barnstormer by L.A.-based rockers The Seeds (led by the still-sometimes-active-yet-very-reclusive Richard “Sky Saxon” Marsh), crept to #36 by early ’67.  And at a time when the charts were dominated by acts like The Association and The Supremes, mind you.  But teens had sent proto-punk classics like “Wild Thing” and “96 Tears” to the top of the pops in months previous, so the doors (and The Doors) were wide open, and the ’60’s were in full-swing.

    Watch The Seeds lip-sync \”Pushin\’ Too Hard\” on Casey Kasem\’s SHEBANG! (1967)

    While you’re YouTubin’ it, stop by here for a low-res kinescope of Saxon & Co.’s ’66 appearance on the Kaye Ballard/Eve Arden vehicle, The Mothers-In-Law.  A true brain-burner if there ever was one.  Our next guests were once prominently featured on The Munsters, but we’ll save that for another time.

    The Standells' "Dirty Water"

    Now, try not to let the Massachucentric subject matter fool you;  this band did not hail from Beantown.  Side B backtracks to the Summer of ’66 with “Dirty Water” by Sunset Strip mainstays The Standells.  Originally pressed on the Tower Records label (a Capitol subsidiary, no relation to the failed retail chain), “Water” spent 9 weeks on Billboard, peaking at #11.

     (The little video linker suddenly crashed, but you can see The Standells roll their eyes, pick their noses, and lazily mime “Dirty Water” on TV circa 1966 by going here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBD8SObQYD0)

    When I was a kid, I (along with many others, I’m sure) mistook this for a Stones track.  Years later, my junior-high pals & I were rocking again to “Dirty Water” as redone by British new-wavers (read:  neo-garage-rockers) The Inmates.  Since then, it’s become the flagship theme song for MA’s legendary Tewksbury Comets Action Paintball Team.  Great rock never dies.  (And don’t even pretend to be a rock guitarist if you don’t know that killer opening riff, pal.)

    As for the song’s subject matter, I’ll let Money Mike fill you in on how much he loves that dirty water.

    NEXT WEEK:  I get a bullet in the head.