Best Of Archives

A selection of our top stories, for your reading pleasure…

TORN BETWEEN TWO LOVERS: KEITH MOON & WAYLON JENNINGS

Pamela Des Barres·July 11, 2019

Could any two musicians appear to be more different than the solidly grounded country music “outlaw” Waylon Jennings and The Who’s manic, sometimes maniacal drummer, Keith Moon? Pamela Des Barres found something to love in each of these men and...

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VIVIEN GOLDMAN AND REVENGE OF THE SHE-PUNKS

Eric Davidson·July 8, 2019

From her pre-punk perch as a record company publicist and journalist in London, Vivien Goldman immersed herself in the sounds that most moved her–reggae and then punk–and began making music of her own. She was the author of the first...

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‘WHERE’S THE BAG, MR. KARDASHIAN?’: OR, HOW I EXPOSED O.J. SIMPSON’S ACCOMPLICE AND SET THE STAGE FOR A TV EMPIRE

Burt Kearns·July 3, 2019

Four weeks after the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, a tabloid news producer made a discovery that stunned the world and turned a family name into a billion-dollar brand. Twenty-five years later, Burt Kearns tells the story...

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ON THE ROAD WITH BOB DYLAN, REVISITED: A ROLLING THUNDER REVUE STORY

Larry Ratso Sloman·July 1, 2019

Larry Sloman covered the Rolling Thunder Revue for Rolling Stone, and he got more than he bargained for, including his nickname “Ratso,” courtesy Joan Baez. He shares some amazing memories with PKM from his time in the front row of...

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PRIDE TV: THE QUIET GAY HEROES OF SIXTIES SITCOMS

Burt Kearns·June 28, 2019

The faces of these three actors were familiar to Baby Boomers raised on TV situation comedies. Their private lives were not. In a way, though, they helped to blaze trails for which they were never given credit. by Burt Kearns...

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HERE’S WHY KAREN CARPENTER MATTERS

Alan Bisbort·June 20, 2019

The singing/drumming half of the 1970s’ hitmakers the Carpenters died at age 32 in 1983 of health issues related to anorexia. As popular as she was in her lifetime, Karen Carpenter has, according to a new book, Why Karen Carpenter...

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WHAT WAS THE FIRST ROCK & ROLL RECORD? DEKE DICKERSON SAYS IT’S ‘ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK’

Deke Dickerson·June 14, 2019

In Part 1, Deke Dickerson lays out his belief that the template of Rock & Roll was forged by the jumping Rhythm and Blues combo The Treniers in the early 1950s. That magic spark happened in the seaside resort town Wildwood, New Jersey,...

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EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG: ROCK & ROLL WAS INVENTED IN WILDWOOD, NEW JERSEY! – BY DEKE DICKERSON

Deke Dickerson·June 12, 2019

Deke Dickerson charts the birth of Rock & Roll music—as we know it—to the early 1950s, and a little seaside resort town called Wildwood, New Jersey. Long before Elvis stepped inside Sun Studio, Dickerson says it was a criminally underrated...

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JACK CASADY: THE BASS MAN SPEAKETH

Benito Vila·June 11, 2019

One of the most distinctive bass players in rock history, Jack Casady came to prominence with Jefferson Airplane, but his resume stretches back to Little Anthony & the Imperials and forward to Danny Gatton, David Crosby, Warren Zevon and a...

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SEASON OF THE WITCH: WHEN AN AMERICAN RESHAPED BRITISH POP MUSIC

Richie Unterberger·June 6, 2019

Promoter/producer/club owner Joe Boyd, with his production company Witchseason, introduced the world to some enduring artists in its time (1967-70): Fairport Convention, the Incredible String Band, Nick Drake, Vashti Bunyan. He also produced Pink Floyd’s first single and co-founded the...

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UNKNOWN PLEASURES: JOY DIVISION’S MASTERPIECE AT 40

David Chiu·May 30, 2019

The Manchester quartet navigated the post-punk waters on their own, self-releasing an EP and then giving the world what is now considered a classic album, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979. Peter Hook, Joy Division’s bassist, and Jon Savage, author of new...

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PETER LAUGHNER: AN UNFINISHED LIFE

Todd McGovern·May 23, 2019

Cleveland’s vital and unsung punk scene would not be complete without a chapter on Peter Laughner. Laughner, who died in 1977 at the age of 24, co-founded legendary bands Rocket from the Tombs and Pere Ubu, among others. An amazing...

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Women of Rock Unite!: Oral History Project founder/director Tanya Pearson Explains How

Sharon M. Hannon·May 7, 2019

Frustrated over a lack of sources about women rock musicians, a Smith College grad student decided to go to the sources themselves. Five years later, Tanya Pearson—writer, musician, archivist—has amassed a world-class archive of digital interviews and transcripts and is...

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SON OF A GUN: NEAL CASSADY’S SON JOHN TELLS ALL

Laura Marie Braun·May 2, 2019

John Allen Cassady, now 67, reflects on growing up with the king of the counterculture, the inspiration for Dean Moriarty in On the Road, the driver of Kesey’s Merry Prankster bus. It was a lot more stable of a childhood...

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Jack Kerouac based his muse/lover “Mardou Fox” in The Subterraneans on Alene Lee, a mixed race (Black/Cherokee) bohemian writer and intellectual who was a part of the NYC Beat circle of Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and Lucien Carr. Despite her intimate connection to these writers, the real Alene Lee is nowhere to be found in most accounts and biographies—partly due to her own reticence to speak. Erika Blair did some digging and presents a more rounded portrait of this fascinating woman. Read more!

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SAM CUTLER: LIFE WITH THE STONES, THE DEAD & OTHER WONDERFUL REPROBATES

ALL THE RAJ: HOW ‘NORWEGIAN WOOD’ UNLEASHED THE ‘INDIAN INVASION’

THE KNACK … AND HOW TO GET IT: AN INTERVIEW WITH PRESCOTT NILES

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PLEASE READ ME: THE BEST OF PKM FOR 2021, PART II

UTOPIA PARKWAY: THE ENDURING MYSTERY OF JOSEPH CORNELL

RUTH UNDERWOOD: A MOTHER OF INVENTION

ROCKSTARS AS KIDS!

LEW WELCH: A BEAT POET’S DISAPPEARING ACT

TOM BAKER: DRINKING IT UP WITH JIM MORRISON

Best Of

TORN BETWEEN TWO LOVERS: KEITH MOON & WAYLON JENNINGS

VIVIEN GOLDMAN AND REVENGE OF THE SHE-PUNKS

‘WHERE’S THE BAG, MR. KARDASHIAN?’: OR, HOW I EXPOSED O.J. SIMPSON’S ACCOMPLICE AND SET THE STAGE FOR A TV EMPIRE

ON THE ROAD WITH BOB DYLAN, REVISITED: A ROLLING THUNDER REVUE STORY

PRIDE TV: THE QUIET GAY HEROES OF SIXTIES SITCOMS

HERE’S WHY KAREN CARPENTER MATTERS

WHAT WAS THE FIRST ROCK & ROLL RECORD? DEKE DICKERSON SAYS IT’S ‘ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK’

EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG: ROCK & ROLL WAS INVENTED IN WILDWOOD, NEW JERSEY! – BY DEKE DICKERSON

JACK CASADY: THE BASS MAN SPEAKETH

SEASON OF THE WITCH: WHEN AN AMERICAN RESHAPED BRITISH POP MUSIC

UNKNOWN PLEASURES: JOY DIVISION’S MASTERPIECE AT 40

PETER LAUGHNER: AN UNFINISHED LIFE

Women of Rock Unite!: Oral History Project founder/director Tanya Pearson Explains How

SON OF A GUN: NEAL CASSADY’S SON JOHN TELLS ALL

SAM CUTLER: LIFE WITH THE STONES, THE DEAD & OTHER WONDERFUL REPROBATES

ALL THE RAJ: HOW ‘NORWEGIAN WOOD’ UNLEASHED THE ‘INDIAN INVASION’

THE KNACK … AND HOW TO GET IT: AN INTERVIEW WITH PRESCOTT NILES

POLY STYRENE: BREAKING DOWN THE BONDAGE

WE NEVER LEARN: GUNK PUNK IN THE 1990S