What music?
2/9/2010 3:38:00 PM
After nearly 30 years, it looks like MTV has removed the "music television" wording from its logo. The new look quietly went into effect on Monday.
“The people who watch it today, they don’t refer to MTV as music television. They don’t have the same emotional connection that, say, the people who are writing about (the change) do,” Tina Exarhos, MTV’s head of marketing, told the Los Angeles Times in a recent interview.
With a string of hit shows including "Jersey Shore," "The Hills," "The Osbournes," "Newlyweds," "Jackass," "My Super Sweet 16" and "Real World," music hasn't been its programming emphasis in quite some time.
So, is this news? No. But I'm writing about it anyway. Finally, the branding and the programming of the channel seem to mesh a little better.
Will the revamped logo translate to no music at all? "Absolutely not," Exarhos told the LA Times. He pointed to the success of the "Video Music Awards" and the recent global Haiti telethon organized by George Clooney and the network.
Read the full story from the LA Times,  here.
Get well soon, Brian Lee
2/8/2010 2:12:00 PM
Brian Lee. Tulsa World file photo |
UPDATED: 2:42 p.m. Tuesday.
READ THE FULL STORY AT TULSAWORLD.COM >.
>> That story is here.
+++
UPDATED: 11:15 a.m. Tuesday.
Multiple reports have come to me today about Brian Lee, a longtime Tulsa musician and Leon Russell's backing keyboardist.
Around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, a vehicle he was riding in after a solo gig was struck by a drunk driver on I-44, about 20 minutes outside of St. Louis.
Lee and his driver and friend, Kurt Wise, crawled from the catastrophic wreckage and were transported to a St. Louis hospital.
Lee had performed at the Jive and Wail piano bar in St. Louis earlier in the night and was on his way back to Tulsa for a Sunday morning church performance.
The vehicle "barrel rolled" about five times and skidded an additional 150 yards before coming to a stop on its roof, Wise said via his public Facebook profile. The car was struck by an erratic driver, which caused Wise's car to lose control.
The allegedly drunken driver who struck Wise's car then fled the scene, Wise also confirmed in a message to me via Facebook.
Police estimate the other vehicle was going around 100 mph in a 65-mph zone when it struck Wise's car then fled the scene. Because of the time of day and witnessed erratic path of the car, police believe the driver was under the influence.
Police are still looking for a white sedan that left a partial license plate impression in Wise's bumper when it struck his car.
"Brian and I both crawled out of the passenger window and were taken by ambulance to (a St. Louis) hospital. I was treated for muscle spasms in my back and released, Brian was admitted," Wise wrote to me.
Of the car that struck him, "the radiator was ruptured and tracked to a specific neighborhood, so we are confident that he will be caught soon," wrote Wise in a message to me via Facebook.
Wise and Lee have been friends since they were teens and they both worked at local Tulsa radio stations, he said.
Friends of the musician also confirm that Lee was hospitalized in St. Louis with broken ribs and facial lacerations. He is still in the hospital. However, his current condition is unknown at this time.
I'll do my best to update everyone as I get details.
Get well soon, Brian!
'Band Reunion at the Wedding' ...
2/8/2010 1:38:12 PM
Music man Dave Grohl and his new band, Them Crooked Vultures, was on Saturday Night Live this weekend. While there, he and Ashton Kutcher did a skit with the crew called "Band Reunion at the Wedding."
Yar. ... "Fistfight in the parking lot!"
PLUS! Here's Them Crooked Vultures, singing "Mind Eraser":
Songs of love ... well, mostly.
2/8/2010 11:13:01 AM
Queen. |
With plenty of time to plan till Valentine's Day, here are three playlists you can create (or mix and match) to mirror your own mood this holiday.
Only the lonely
So-called ambivalence, flecked with melodrama and irony.
1. “Who Needs You,” Queen
2. “Flowers on the Wall,” Dailey & Vincent (Sing the Statler Brothers)
3. “Gives You Hell,” All-American Rejects
4. “Black Coffee in Bed,” Squeeze
5. “Margaritaville,” Jimmy Buffett
6. “Easy,” Faith No More
7. “Fool in the Rain,” Led Zeppelin
8. “Pretend Love,” Avett Brothers
9. “Dead Flowers,” the Rolling Stones
10. “Hit the Road Jack,” Ray Charles
Heart attack
Sappy, happy love songs.
1. “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” Simple Minds
2. “Sugar, Sugar,” The Archies
3. “Crazy in Love,” Snow Patrol
4. “Fresh Feeling,” Eels
5. “Punk Rock Girl,” Dead Milkmen
6. “Oh Pretty Woman,” Roy Orbison
7. “Silly Love Songs,” Paul McCartney
8. “Sweetest Thing,” U2
9. “Toothpaste Kisses,” The Maccabees
10. “Loving You Is Easy,” The Charlatans
Tears in my beers
Country breakup songs to make you cry (and laugh).
1. “Sweet Dreams,” Patsy Cline
2. “You Can’t Make a Heart Love Somebody,” George Strait
3. “Here’s a Quarter,” Travis Tritt
4. “Goodbye Earl,” The Dixie Chicks
5. “Hello Darlin’,” Conway Twitty
6. “Dead Flowers,” Miranda Lambert
7. “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” George Jones
8. “The Beaches of Cheyenne,” Garth Brooks
9. “I Will Always Love You,” Dolly Parton
10. “Until You Love Me,” Reba McEntire
PLUS! Listen to my mix-and-match version of the above three playlists at Blip.fm/BarrelhouseBeat. My playlist is here.
NewsOK's George Lang gets live with Broncho
2/5/2010 2:15:00 PM
Music journalist George Lang over at NewsOK's Static Blog recently interviewed Norman singer-songwriter-musician Ryan Lindsey about his punky new music project, Broncho.
PLUS! See all the segments, including killer live music from Broncho at Lang's Static blog. You'll be very happy you did. Watch here: NewsOK.com/Entertainment/Static.
Hear the bright pop tune, "Let's Go Out," which he talks about being used in the Payless Shoes commercial and the documentary "American Teen":
'That's music with a message ...'
2/5/2010 1:32:19 PM
Checoatah native Carrie Underwood and hip-hop artist Queen Latifah commented about the "social importance" of "Colonel" Larry Platt's "American Idol" breakout tune, "Pants on the Ground."
It happened during a recent press conference, the pair spoke about their upcoming appearances at Sunday's Super Bowl.
Question of the week ...
2/5/2010 10:22:00 AM
Can this pickle get more fans than Nickelback?
Nickelback's Facebook fan page has a whole lot of members: 1,384,495. So far, the pickle is losing. Big time.
Check out this Facebook page to learn more. I have no professional or personal association to the creation/maintenance of the page. But it is pretty funny.
Check it out, here.
See Nickelback's fan page, here.
Nickelback performs at the BOK Center on April 24, with music acts Breaking Benjamin, Shinedown and Sick Puppies. Tickets are still available.
See it: St. Vincent's 'Laughing with a Mouth of Blood'
2/4/2010 11:55:00 AM
Tulsa-born Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, recently released a video for "Laughing with a Mouth of Blood," from her 2009 studio album, "Actor."
It was made by Patrick Stanton and Doug Lussenhop, and co-stars comedy pair Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen, aka thunderAnt (aka "Saturday Night Live" cast member Armisen and former Sleater-Kinney member Brownstein).
PLUS! Read more about the "Women and Women Bookstore" comedy sketch series and the video shoot on the National Public Radio blog Monitor Mix, here.
St. Vincent - "Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood"
st. vincent
'Kick out the jams, motherscratcher!'
2/4/2010 11:15:00 AM
Rock Rulz is a Tulsa-produced and film video short series on local and national music. Snarky and funny and informative, featuring locals T.J. Clark and Robert Walters.
Episode two: The history of freestyle.
Episode one: "Consider this your musical lesson to keeping up with the rock Joneses (and the George Jones-es too)."
PLUS! Subscribe to the the YouTube channel, here.
PLUS! Follow the show on Facebook, here.
Pick the Dfest lineup ...
2/3/2010 1:18:20 PM
Now's your chance. The organizers of Dfest music festival and conference want fan input on who should headline this year's music festival.
The event is July 30-31 in the Blue Dome District of downtown Tulsa.
If you could pick four bands, which ones would they be?
Vote via Facebook, here.
Or, vote for "Who's Next" at the official Dfest site, here.
Psst: Artists submissions are also now being accepted via the official site.
Desipite record label's rules, latest OK Go video goes viral
2/3/2010 11:51:00 AM
... Or tries to.
Pop rocker OK Go won a lot of fame for two of its self-produced viral videos, with “A Million Ways” and “Here It Goes Again” (aka "the treadmill video") is now pushing the limits with its record label to continue the trend.
It's posted embed code for "This Too Shall Pass," despite a "policy" agreement between the band's record labels and MySpace and YouTube.
Said singer and guitarist Damien Kulash of the video -- and of video sharing -- on the band's official Web site: "We hope you’ll like it and comment on it and pass the link along to your friends and do that wonderful thing that that you do when you’re fond of something, share it. We want you to stick it on your web page, post it on your wall, and embed it everywhere you can think of."
This video was filmed live and features the Notre Dame marching band. It was directed by Brian L. Perkins. Watch it here while you can.
As a former marching band geek myself, I fully endorse this video. It is too awesome. :)
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.
New Carrie Underwood video debuts today on iTunes
2/2/2010 2:17:00 PM
This week, country superstar Carrie Underwood launched an iTunes-exclusive video for her single, "Temporary Home." It is now available at the music retailer.
The song was written by former longtime Tulsan Zac Maloy, along with Luke Laird and co-written and by Underwood.
“Temporary Home” also makes its television debut Thursday on CMT and Great American Country.
Download the video now from iTunes, here.
In related news, the Checotah native's video for “Before He Cheats” recently was named the No. 1 country music video of aughts by a fan vote on Country Music Television online.
Also in the news, on Sunday, Underwood grabbed a Grammy award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for her duet with Randy Travis, "I Told You So."
The singer also is reportedly involved in a remix project of "We Are the World," originally written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. The single will include Usher, Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, Randy Jackson, Jason Mraz, Kanye West and more. It will benefit Haiti earthquake relief.
PLUS!! Visit the Tulsa World's official Carrie Underwood mini-site for photos, interviews, video, slide shows and more: tulsaworld.com/Carrie.
Also, here is a live version of "Temporary Home" from CMT's show, "Invitation Only."
See more in an interview with Carrie Underwood, posted to her official YouTube channel, here.
Magazine report: Steven Tyler to sue Aerosmith?
2/1/2010 2:00:00 PM
Aerosmith's Steven Tyler performs at the BOK Center in this July 29, 2009, file photo. STEPHEN HOLMAN/Tulsa World file |
Aerosmith courts legal turmoil as longtime lead singer Steven Tyler threatens a lawsuit to stop the rock act from replacing him.
Last weekend, Tyler's legal team fired of a "cease and desist" letter to the "shareholders" (the band), and called for a Feb. 9 meeting to discuss the future of Aerosmith.
In essence, Tyler wants the band to stop its search for his replacement on an upcoming tour and album release, his attorney told Billboard music resource online.
Tyler admitted to Rolling Stone online that he checked himself into rehab in December to combat prescription painkiller issues stemming from foot and other surgeries. The singer has a long history of drug abuse, and the band is notorious for its decades of wild ways and infighting.
Tyler has also made several impromptu appearances since hitting rehab, recently singing into a mic while in a Home Depot shopping center and grabbing the stage during a karaoke show in a California pub, reported Rolling Stone.
The threatened lawsuit comes as Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and band mates openly seek a singer. Names floated in the media include Billy Idol, Paul Rodgers, Chris Cornell and Lenny Kravitz (Kravitz has declined), among others.
Aerosmith's management declined comment on the possible suit, reported Billboard.
"Steven Tyler does not want lawsuits," said Skip Miller, Tyler's attorney, to Billboard. "We do not want to go in that direction. The direction we want is Aerosmith, with Steven Tyler, touring in Europe, touring Latin America, releasing a new album...This is the direction it's all intended to go. It's just amazing to me current management would be taking any other position."
PLUS! Read the full story online at billboard.com.
Carrie Underwood: New and improved
1/28/2010 12:19:00 PM
Carrie Underwood. AP file photo |
Test drive the Tulsa World's new and improved Carrie Underwood mini-site, dedicated to all things Underwood.
It includes new videos, exclusive interviews, stories, photos, slideshows and an updated time-line of the Checotah native's rocket ride to country music superstardom.
tulsaworld.com/Carrie.
Vince Gill will produce next LeAnn Rimes album
1/27/2010 12:54:49 PM
LeAnn Rimes speaks backstage at the 40th Annual CMA Awards in this 2006 file photo. AP file |
Oklahoma native Vince Gill will produce country starlet LeAnn Rimes' next album, reports Country Music Television online.
They pair plan for the studio album to be a collection of country love songs that were originally hits for male performers, the site reports.
Recording will begin in February. No release date has been set.
Gill's own collection, "Love Songs," was released yesterday. Stay tuned to the Tulsa World for a review of Gill's latest, just in time for Valentine's Day.
Read the full CMT story, here.
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