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Music

Fascinatingly Bizarre Radio Ads for ’60s and ’70 Bands

By Tom Hawking on

We were fascinated to see yesterday afternoon that Dangerous Minds’ latest YouTube discovery was… a vintage radio ad for The Velvet Underground. Quite apart from the fact that the ad in question is weird as hell, we were amazed by the simple existence of such a promo for a Velvet Underground album, and the whole thing got us thinking: If Lou Reed et al were getting plugged on radio back in the day, surely there must have been other, similarly unexpected slots? Sure enough, looking for radio ads for ’60s and ’70s bands turns out to be one hell of an awesome YouTube rabbit hole. Record companies shelled out to promote bands you’d never, ever expect, and there’s a certain bizarre charm to the resultant commercials — especially when it’s clear that whoever wrote the ads didn’t know what on earth to make of the band in question. We’ve shared a selection of the best! … Read More

New York

Forget Karaoke: Here Are 10 of NYC's Best Live Tribute Bands

By Heidi Vanderlee on

You thought earnest, shameless tribute bands were just for Las Vegas, didn’t you? While New York obviously has a wealth of original music to offer, we’ve been thinking: singing along to live renditions of “Fat-Bottomed Girls” could in theory be a lot more fun than pretending to care about DIIV. It’s time to take a break from nodding to noise bands and take your pick from this fine array of tributes to the classic acts we all totally still listen to, even though we’ll only admit it at karaoke. … Read More

Music

Musicians and Their Private Jets: A Timeline in Photos

By Jennifer Lewis on

Whenever we watch any sort of Rolling Stones documentary, there’s almost always footage of the band frolicking around their personalized private jet with a half dozen half-naked girls. Inspired by such a display, we’ve created a timeline of famous musicians who have been photographed with (and aboard) their very own private planes. Let it be known — as time progresses, the photos aren’t as cool (and neither are the musicians, really), but go ahead and check ‘em out anyway. Click through for our Flavorwire roundup of musicians and their private jets, then hit the comments to lend us your thoughts. … Read More

Music

10 of the Most Unnecessary Side Projects in Music History

By Tom Hawking on

Things about which we are tired of hearing include: Wavves. As such, we greeted the news that Nathan Williams has a bitchin’ new side project with his bro with stony indifference — frankly, the last thing anyone needs to hear at this point is Wavves and his brother making a hip-hop record under the adolescent-tastic name Sweet Valley. (You’ll never guess, but he’s done an interview with VICE about it, in which he answers the hard-hitting question “Are you bored with rock ‘n’ roll?” with a deeply heartfelt “Yeah, I suppose so. At times.”) Still, it’s not the most gratuitously unnecessary side project in music history… Not compared to the ones after the jump. … Read More

Design

Classic Album Covers Get an Anime-Inspired Makeover

By Nicole Rallis on

In her CD Covers Tribute series, Amsterdam-based illustrator Elena Lloveria pays homage to famous bands by recreating record cover art with a twee twist. The seven-piece collection commemorates beloved covers such as The Beatles’ A Hard Days Night, Michael Jackson’s Bad, and Bjork’s Homogenic, depicting the musicians as doe-eyed anime characters with oversize heads. While Lloveria’s chibi-inspired style complements some of the artists in the series, Marilyn Manson and Prince look creepier than ever after their kawaii makeovers. Check out the covers, and decide whether you’re charmed or repulsed, after the cut. … Read More

Pop Culture

The Real Musicians Behind Film and TV’s Fake Bands

By Jennifer Lewis on

No matter how much we love them, there comes a time when we must face up to the sad reality of film and TV’s fictional bands: They don’t write their own songs. It just isn’t possible. They aren’t real. Solace, however, can be found in the surprising little-known facts that accompany these fake jams. Many of them, for instance, were written and recorded by actual bands long before they became hits for your favorite faux ensembles, while others were simply ghostwritten by artists you probably know. Meet the real musicians behind film and TV’s fake bands after the jump. … Read More

Pop Culture

A Collection of '80s "Rock Against Drugs" PSAs, Featuring Lou Reed

By Judy Berman on

Lou Reed may have written what is arguably the best drug song of all time with “Heroin,” but by the 1980s he’d gotten clean. This much we knew. We were not, however, aware that Reed had made an anti-drug PSA until Dangerous Minds pointed us to a brief, odd clip he did for a late-’80s campaign called Rock Against Drugs (RAD). The spots, which also included everyone from Belinda Carlisle and Sex Pistol Steve Jones to Bon Jovi and Phil Collins, aired largely on MTV and pushed the message that you could still be a bad-ass without taking illegal substances. Watch Reed’s ad and a slew of other entertaining/vaguely educational RAD clips after the jump. … Read More

Celebrity

5 Things Nicki Minaj’s V Cover Reminds Us Of — Besides Juggalos

By Judy Berman on

We don’t blame our pals at Buzzfeed for saying Nicki Minaj looks like a Juggalo on the cover of V. We can definitely see the resemblance. But, despite Juggalos’ ubiquity these days, we were actually reminded of a whole lot of other face-painted cultural touchstones. After the jump, five other characters the cover brought to mind. … Read More

Music

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Fashion: The Top 5 Nominees

By Stelios Phili on

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is a complex affair. After looking over this year’s nominees, we realized that it’s just not enough to have the most “rock out with your cock out” songs anymore. To be a competitor, you need to have invented this advanced form of rocking out in the first place. The real determining question is, “Who looks/acts the most like a rock star?” This explains Madonna’s entrance into the Hall-O-Fame last year. After the jump, we take a look at the top five nominees, basing their chances of entry on attitude and style.… Read More

Television

American Idol Recapped: The Return of Norman Gentle, Lil Rounds, & Bikini Girl

By Brian Underwood on

After over two hours of Gitmo-style torture complete with pathetic performances, tiresome video montages, and guest appearances from the music industry’s G list, Fox finally revealed this season’s winner of American Idol: Kris Allen. We swear we heard dogs everywhere let out a collective sigh of relief. While we couldn’t care less whether KAllen becomes a big star or the next host of MTV’s Tool Academy, we’re over the moon that Adam Lambert’s been brought back down to earth. We’re not sure what we’ll do without his shrieks reverberating in our ears (we may even sleep again), but we’re oh-so-happy he’s been silenced. For… Read More