POLY STYRENE: BREAKING DOWN THE BONDAGE
A new documentary film, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché, clears up some of the mystery around the...
Musicians
WE NEVER LEARN: GUNK PUNK IN THE 1990S
Eric Davidson, front man of the Ohio-based New Bomb Turks, is equally adept at rocking, rolling and writing....
BREAKIN’ THE LEVER OFF WITH HASIL ADKINS
The amazing West Virginian Hasil Adkins (1937-2005) was a one-man band (guitar, drums) who took rock ‘n’ roll,...
WHY BARBRA STREISAND MATTERS
As she nears her 80th birthday (April 24), Barbra Streisand remains a singular figure in American entertainment. By...
THE FALL AND RISE OF ERVIN NYIREGYHAZI, L.A.’s SKID ROW PIANIST
A one-time prodigy from Hungary, who was composing music at age 5, wowing audiences with his percussive piano...
LEADERS OF THE PACK: THE ‘GIRL GROUP’-PUNK CONNECTION
Is there a link between the Ramones and the Ronettes? The Stooges and the New York Dolls and...
TOWNES VAN ZANDT: FOR THE SAKE OF THE SONG
Townes Van Zandt (1944-1997) was a singer-songwriter whose work was popularized by Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard...
I HATE WORK: AVANT-GARDE DRUMMER MIKE PRIDE TRANSFORMS MDC HARDCORE INTO PIANO JAZZ
Two worlds came together when Mike Pride, a powerful presence on the NYC underground jazz and experimental music...
RICHIE HAVENS REVISITED
Brooklyn born and raised, Richie Havens (1941-2013) began hanging out in Greenwich Village in 1959, as a street...
IN THE KEY OF LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS: THE MAN & HIS MUSIC
Texas bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins (1912-1982) played, sang and lived by his own rules. When a sideman once asked...
KINK FOR A DAY & OTHER ROCK ‘N’ ROLL ADVENTURES OF BRIAN STANLEY
Brian Stanley with Bill Wyman backstage after opening for the Stones with Garland Jeffreys at Hartford Civic...1981. Photo courtesy of Michael Halsband
THE DRONGOS: FROM THE CALM OF NEW ZEALAND TO THE STREETS OF NEW YORK
Stranded in the States after a tour with a New Zealand theater troupe, drummer Stan Mitchell and his...
‘THE SINGER’S LABORER’: BARRY REYNOLDS ON WORKING WITH MARIANNE FAITHFULL, GRACE JONES & OTHERS
Songwriter and musician Barry Reynolds has lived an itinerant life. By age 15, in the mid-1960s, he’d left...
GREG IRONS: A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST
Greg Irons sampled every conceivable creative outlet the 1960s counterculture had to offer—first as a rock musician in...