Queen pictures with tag: rock

Picture: Queens Of The Stone Age Usher In A 'Positively Dirty' New Era

Fricke’s Picks: The Dictators, The Pretty Things and The Wildbirds

Weekend Warriors In August 1973, the Ramones were a year away from their first gigs, sitting around in Queens, looking for something to do, when Bronx-bred bombers the Dictators went into a Columbia Records studio to make the five-song demo that opens Every Day Is Saturday (Norton). It’s a rock-city set of work tapes and outtakes, mostly from the band’s first decade, that doubles as iron-fist proof that the Dictators were punk even before CBGB. The founding triad of singer-bassist Andy Shernoff and guitarists Ross the Boss and Scott “Top Ten” Kempner was deeply glam, too — and truly heavy — in its hooks, slash and crush. With Shernoff’s smart, acerbic songwriting, the Dictators were also arguably America’s funniest and most fearless (if not famous) explorers of the American teenage wasteland. “Sleepin’ With the TV On,” “Faster and Louder,” “Baby Let’s Twist” and “I Stand Tall,” all here in rough, exuberant blueprints of later LP versions, are the equal and more of Killer-era Alice Cooper — atomic pop about fast food, warm beer and salvation noise, sealed with the subway-soul bravado of microphone bruiser Handsome Dick Manitoba. Ironically, the Dictators, who have made only four studio albums since those ‘73 demos, outlived the Ramones, still popping up on singles and stages. “The joke’s on you!” Manitoba crows in “Laughing Out Loud,” cut in 1999. Save your bread for Saturday, and know why he’s right. Also note the radio ad here for the Dictators’ 1977 stand at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles: You could get in for a buck, and some lucky folks got a free copy of the band’s Bloodbrothers album. Those were the days. The Long View For longevity and sheer bloody-mindedness, even the Dictators can’t compete with the Pretty Things, founded in London in 1963 by singer Phil May and guitarist Dick Taylor, an early Rolli

Published: 2008-01-16
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Fricke's Picks, Rock Daily

Picture: Reality Show Recap: MCs Hit the Studio on “The Salt-N-Pepa Show”

Reality Show Recap: Spinderella Mixes it Up on “The Salt-N-Pepa Show”

Every week on The Salt-N-Pepa Show, two MCs from the late Eighties try to prove they don’t hate each other (and the rap game), while our Rock Reality Show Recaps attempt to prove we don’t resent VH1 for exploiting the heroes of our youth (again). Here’s our take on the second episode: Thirty Minutes in Two Sentences: Salt and Pepa meet up with their trusty old DJ Spinderella at VH1’s Hip Hop Honors, and after a bit of third-wheel bashing, decide to support Spinderella at her DJ gig in Atlantic City. Pep parties hard, Salt bounces early and Spinderella is far from the tie that binds. Disowning the Shoop: Salt begins their night in Atlantic City with questionable logic — “I’m gonna party really hard and then I’m gonna read my book.” Pep, on the other hand, is “on the prowl.” In her quest to find some “me time” in the gambling city, Salt leaves the club before midnight, only to be woken up at 4 by Salt, Spin and some Queens men they picked up on the dance floor. Salt packs her bags and leaves early the next day without a goodbye. Whatta Band: The dynamics between the trio remain as tense and awkward as ever when Spin comes on the scene. Spin blasts Pep for initially declining her invitation because she had to do her “hair.” The three argue over who gets the single room at the hotel, and Salt thinks Pep and Spin always team up against her. In the end, there aren’t hard feelings but most-expensive-wine-ordering Pep resolves never to go to Atlantic City with the-club-is-too-loud Salt ever again. Pushin’ It Forward: Salt and Pep are actually hanging out on a friendly non-required basis now, but there’s still no talk of making music or any new performances. Next week, the two attend an outdoor retreat with a life coach to work on their trust issues. Pep will confront Salt about abandoning the group back in their heyday, and Salt will ask for forgiveness. [Photo: Cou

Published: 2008-02-18
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock Reality Show Recaps, Rock Daily