David Bowie: The Man Who Owned the World (Three Years Later)
Sean MurphyONLY THE BEATLES. That’s the sole comparison that comes to mind when compelled to name a musical act with similar impact and importance. The Beatles, as we all know, changed…
The Whiteness of the Whale: Remembering The White Album (Revisited)
Therefore, in his other moods, symbolize whatever grand or gracious thing he will by whiteness, no man can deny that in its profoundest idealized significance it calls up a peculiar…
Something More Than a Superhero: Appreciating Stan Lee
Anyone who has written with some modest degree of success eventually, inevitably, is asked how they got started, who inspired them. My typical, and not untruthful answer, is that Stephen…
Aretha: The Queen of Us All
ARETHA FRANKLIN, 1967, Atlantic Records publicity portrait. Debate will—and should—rage forever regarding royalty and who can claim it: who is The King? Elvis Presley is who white people crowned, Chuck…
David Bowie: The Man Who Owned the World (Two Years Later)
ONLY THE BEATLES. That’s the sole comparison that comes to mind when compelled to name a musical act with similar impact and importance. The Beatles, as we all know, changed…
It Was Fifty Years Ago Today: Celebrating Sgt. Pepper
It was fifty years ago today… But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. To get a proper handle on how revolutionary Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was, it’s imperative…
Murphy’s Laws: 47 Infallible Observations on the Occasion of Turning 47
“With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.” That, from the ever-quotable Oscar Wilde. Does age impart wisdom? Maybe. It definitely provides opinions. Some of them, perhaps, are worthwhile.…
All Hail the King: Chuck Berry Reinvented Music, and America
It’s not important whether or not Chuck Berry “invented” rock ‘n’ roll, and the crucial thing isn’t that he perfected it. It’s that we call rock ‘n’ roll would sound…
David Bowie: The Man Who Owned the World (One Year Later)
ONLY THE BEATLES. That’s the sole comparison that comes to mind when compelled to name a musical act with similar impact and importance. The Beatles, as we all know, changed…
Forever Never Changes: Remembering Arthur Lee (Ten Years Later)
Arthur Lee died ten years ago today (August 3, 2006). I not only am keen to remember --and celebrate-- his life and work, I also appreciate the fact that the piece…