Play | The Rhapsody Editorial Music Blog

R.I.P. Levi Stubbs (1936-2007)

Fans of any '60s icon share a similar gripe: the legacy of too many great artists is inextricably tied to too few of their songs in heavy rotation on oldies stations. These select tracks get played and played out, and eventually even the lifelong Beatles fan reaches for the dial during the third daily course of "Yellow Submarine." Today, I cued up the Four Tops after reading about the passing of the band's leader, Levi Stubbs, who died in his sleep in his Detroit home at the age of 72, and was reminded about how this predicament is particularly hard on the stable of artists from '60s Motown: The Jackson 5 is relegated to "I'll Be There"; Stevie Wonder, a Motown artist with as deep and wide-ranging catalog of any, is on three times an afternoon with "For Once in My Life." For the Four Tops, the heavy-rotation hits come between 1964's "Baby, I Need Your Loving" and their final Top 10 in 1973, "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)." Of the handful of stuff between these bookends, some, like The Big Chill-approved "It's the Same Old Song," represent Motown's streamlined mainstream operation. Others, like "Reach Out, I'll Be There," speak to the group's power in the studio. But it's the outlying, oddly successful hit "Bernadette," a tune that is among their most popular and their most enduring, that best demonstrates Stubbs' power as a performer. It's the rare example of a heavy-rotation hit that lives up to its responsibilities. 

He Said/She Said: Fall Preview

• Fall Album Preview: 50 Cent, Britney Spears, T.I. & More
• Celebrity News

Summer is but a distant memory. [Sigh.] The temperatures are falling -- and so is your morale. Besides, maybe, Halloween and bloated holiday debt, what else have you to look forward to, you ask? Awesome music, that's what. Myriad releases from the juggernauts of pop will put the kibosh on your Seasonal Affective Disorder -- and nourish your Attention Deficit one. MTV News rundowns what you can expect this autumn -- new releases from T.I., Beyoncé (hallelujah!), Fall Out Boy, Britney (yes, please!), Kanye and more. And while we agree with most of them, we've got a few suggestions, too.

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]

2008 VMA Diaries: Red Carpet Memoirs

by Angela Bruno

The very gracious Paramore.

Objective: Survive. Status: Just barely. [Ha!] As I began to ponder the last few days, I now know why celebs need to be bathed in unicorn's milk and massaged thrice weekly: Parties. Open bars. Free food. Late nights. No-problems-at-the-door. The sense of entitlement. Expensive hotels -- with turndown service and peanut butter cookies. What a tough life. [Sigh.]  Fame (or, well, the mere observation of it, in my case), you are a fickle mistress. But just like that -- the VMAs are over. You watched the show, you be the judge. There will be no VMA punditizing here. Just behind-the-scenes moments of the big day from the Patagonial regions of the red carpet. Walk in my (luckily flat) shoes -- for 12 hours on the Paramount lot.

2008 VMA Diaries: T-Pain Puts a Hurtin' on Rhapsody Rocks

by Angela Bruno

Objective: Wind up in T-Pain's top hat by the end of the night. Status: A girl can dream. I started the evening off at the Lifebeat/Rock Band benefit show at House of Blues, where people were having the most wholesome time of their lives, playing Rock Band, watching other people play Rock Band, and waiting for Plain White T's and Panic at the Disco, who were looking Euro-crisp, to perform. But wholesome isn't the name of the game at the VMAs and T-Pain waits for no one, so I had to run to the Roxy for the Rhapsody Rocks party -- the most high-energy show of the pre-VMAs. Shoutout to DJ Stretch Armstrong, who warmed up the crowd of hipsters and cool kids like a polyurethane jogging suit. Photos, set list and everything you didnt know you ever wanted to know about T-Pain after the jump.

2008 VMA Diaries: Tag (Yes, the Body Spray) Official Kickoff Party

by Angela Bruno

Objective: Find tangible evidence that humans do, indeed, swing from chandeliers. Status: Negative. However, I did find that scenes from The Hills do, indeed, occur in nature. (See, the show is real!) L.A. culture shock set in around dinner time last night at Katana, a super swank pan-Asian situation. Or maybe it was before that, when I checked into my hotel room on the Sunset Strip and had to sign a waiver -- there's a $500 penalty for trashing the room. Aka, god knows what hath hit the fan here before, god knows what will hit the fan here again. Celebrity/model sightings at Katana were numerous, counting an ANTM finalist (they're everywhere) and Melissa Ford, aka Jessica Rabbit, who I saw again later at the Jermaine Dupri-hosted Boost Mobile -- I mean -- Tag Body Spray official VMA kickoff party at Avalon, where I ended up working/rubbernecking on the red carpet. A curious experience to say the least. Waited for Weezy. Didn't happen.

Despite JD's best efforts, the party itself was kinda weak sauce. But maybe I'm jaded. The event was also an intro to Tag Records' first artist, Q, who reminded me of a cross between Jeezy and Stephan Urquelle -- Steve Urkel's cool clone that almost wins Laura Winslow's heart. Operative word here being "almost." (Random, I know.) He performed a few songs, as did Fabolous. Polow da Don, Jazze Pha, Taye Diggs were corralled in the VIP. But not Paul Wall and Raekwon-- they walk amongst the people. JD's GF Janet Jackson was in the building -- and so was Perez Hilton, who walked out two seconds after walking in. Cheers and jeers to follow.

2008 VMA Diaries: Calle 13, Colby O Rip It for MTV Tr3s

by Angela Bruno

Objective #1. See Calle 13. Status: Achieved. Objective #2: Sidle up next to Kim Kardashian. Status: Pending. Perhaps our paths will cross this weekend, but by the time I had arrived at Level 3 for the MTV Tr3s party, she and the rest of the VIPs that RSVP'ed had already departed (with the exception of possibly some dude from this season of Project Runway, Jade from ANTM, Judy Reyes of Scrubs fame and rapper Malverde -- all of which were on the dance floor).

Foolish, because they missed avant-garde emcees Calle 13. Oh, how I love thee. Let me count the ways: frontman Residente is fly (wife me!) and tatted up in a seemingly illogical way à la Marc Jacobs; their lyrics stand for something; they infuriate my mother with their X-rated euphemisms. And, oh yes, Colby O'Donis performed, too. (Check out his exclusive Rhapsody playlist here.) Semi-grown women stormed the stage. And quivered. The bumpin' and grindin' in my periphery made it impossible to get a good shot of him. A little, um, disturbing, but that is neither here nor there. Read on for few highlights and WTH (what the hell; trying to keep it clean) moments, both good and bad.

Brian Wilson Has Never Heard Dennis Wilson

by Nate Cavalieri

An interview with Brian Wilson is best likened to a rickety thrill ride at the county fair: approached with some apprehension, experienced in a jarring haste and over in a blink. I recently had the chance to dial up Wilson and chat about the record he released this week, That Lucky Old Sun, a portrait of the southern California of Wilsons' youth. For the devoted, it's a sight better than most of the elder Beach Boy's late-day fare thanks to the heavy hand of arranger Van Dyke Parks and the carefully calibrated sentimentalism of Scott Bennett's lyrics.

2008 VMA Diaries: Pre-, Pre-, Pre-Show Deep Thoughts

by Angela Bruno

Welcome to the first installment of Rhapsody's 2008 VMA coverage.You will walk away with the ramblings of a blogger's meanderings through red carpets, parties, live shows, etc. I, the fly (girl) on the wall, will walk away with my weight in press credentials, a few sleep-deprivation headaches, a few good stories and nary a libel suit. Hopefully! We're talking an action-packed couple of days. So, watch this space.

I did not have cable until 2002, so the VMAs are still something of a novelty to me. As I sit here anxiously anticipating the unknown (it's a little like the blind leading the blind 'round here in the lead-up), I ponder/hyperbolize what I do know: an albino python and the best pop-star abs on record, rock hard, and the rock upon which the VMAs got their new millenium second wind! We're talking Britney's historic "I'm a Slave for You" performance. She gave you a reason to believe again (2007's performance and whether she will redeem herself this year notwithstanding)! 'Twas/is/forever will be the ultimate VMA moment. But maybe 2008's Russell Brand-hosted VMAs will find a way to usurp this notion. Other than Brand's noir/predatory/second-coming-of-Jessie Camp stylings, here's a few possible reasons why.

Electioneering: Democratic National Convention

by Chris Ryan

The Democratic National Convention wound down with all the subtlety of the final homerun scene in The Natural; with all the fireworks, banners and cheer, I was half-expecting Randy Newman's rousing, mythos-invoking score to blast out of the Invesco Field PA system after Barack Obama concluded his historic acceptance speech. It would have been less surprising than what we did hear: the Brooks & Dunn happy-hour-in-the-USA anthem, "Only in America," a song that frequently concluded the rallies of another presidential hopeful eight years ago: George W. Bush.

Ronnie Dunn found the song's useage both "ironic" and "flattering" (how's that for a bi-partisanship?), but in truth, it was somewhat out of place, both given its place as a bookend to the epic sweep and save-the-world message of  U2's "City of Blinding Lights," which served as Obama's intro music, and the decidedly non-Music-City vibe that surrounded the Dem Party gathering. Here's a wrap-up of the convention's musical moments.

Q&A: Matthew Dear

by Justin Farrar

To declare Matthew Dear this generation’s Brian Eno just begs for angry responses from incredulous readers. But there’s some truth to the idea, however controversial. Like Eno, one of his heroes, Dear blurs the lines between electronic music and avant rock, experimenting with just about everything under the sun. When using his Audion moniker, he unleashes minimal techno that as relentlessly crushing as a meat mincer – crank the Suckfish collection for the neighbors sometime. As just Matthew Dear, meanwhile, he has blossomed into one of indie pop’s most unique voices.