8My Chemical Romance Broke Up; Hot Topic Is Devastated

My Chemical Romance, a fantastically mediocre band, broke up. I guess I’m in the minority in thinking they’re very whatever, considering they’ve been around for 12 years and produced four records and got one Grammy nomination.

They left this statement on their site:

Being in this band for the past 12 years has been a true blessing. We’ve gotten to go places we never knew we would. We’ve been able to see and experience things we never imagined possible. We’ve shared the stage with people we admire, people we look up to, and best of all, our friends. And now, like all great things, it has come time for it to end. Thanks for all of your support, and for being part of the adventure.

Okay, great.

Some of their noteworthy hits include “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”, “Helena”, “Welcome To The Black Parade” and “Honey This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough…”

For fans of My Chemical Romance, do you think it was time for them to disband or do you think their best stuff was ahead? I’m not being snarky here, I’m just curious, not knowing a whole lot about their music.

March 23, 2013 at 4:00 pm by Catherine St. Ives

1Billy Joel Is AWESOME; Lets Fan Play Piano With Him Onstage

Billy Joel may not be known as the “coolest” or “edgiest” musician but there’s no denying the guy’s talent or the awesomosity of treating a fan to an experience of a lifetime. Mr. “In The Middle Of The Niiiii-iiiight I Go Walking In My Sleep” Joel was giving a part lecture part concert at Vanderbilt University when shit got real during the Q&A. Superfan and college freshman Michael Pollack told his idol that New York State of Mind is his favorite song and asked if he could accompany him on piano. Mr. “To The Mountains Of Fame (Mountains of Fame) To The River So Dee-eeeeep” Joel paused for all of 2 seconds then said, breezily, “Okay.”

The students cheered as Pollack got on stage, discussed with Mr. Billy “I Must Be Searching For Something, Something Sacred I Looo-ooooosst” Joel what key to play it in…and then tore that f-cking piano apart, killing it. In the best possible way. He got every nuance, every flare, and you could tell Mr. Billy “But The River Is Wiii-iiide And Too Hard To Crooossss” Joel  was duly impressed.

After the intro, Joel started to sing, and of course killed it too. And then you have this wonderful video capturing this wonderful moment of a ballsy talented kid playing piano on stage with motherf-cking Billy “I DON’T WHYYY I GO WALKING AT NIIIGHT BUT I’M TIRED AND I’M NOT GONNA WALK ANYMORE” Joel.

At the end of the performance, Joel declared, “That’s Michael Pollack. Remember that name.”

It reminds me of when Pete Townshend of The Who, unable to deal with drummer Keith Moon passing out onstage due to his love of taking horse tranquilizers, asked the audience, “Does anyone know how to play drums?” And lucky fan Scot Halpin got to jam with The Who.

After the Billy Joel jam sesh, Pollack said that he was so psyched over it that he then failed his calculus exam. But he told TMZ, “I have no shame. I got a 69 on the test, compliments of Billy.”

Thanks to The Huffington Post for this happy story.

March 15, 2013 at 3:30 pm by Catherine St. Ives

9Lana Del Rey Wins Over Alicia Keys, Rihanna, And Taylor Swift

Lana Del Rey beat an impressive list of nominees in the International Female Solo Artist category at the 2013 Brit Awards. And I care about this because I love Lana Del Rey and am glad that somewhere in the world someone is recognizing her talent and not just hating on her nails and lips because obviously if a woman has fake nails and fake lips (allegedly), she’s untalented trash.

The other nominees for best International Female Solo Artist were Alicia Keys, Cat Power, Rihanna and Taylor Swift.

Man, the Brits do a lot of things better than Americans. Over here you would never see Cat Power on the same list as Rihanna and Taylor Swift for anything.

From NME:

Best International Female was Lana Del Rey. “I lived here and I love it here and I wrote my record here and I’m honoured,” said the US singer songwriter on receiving her award. She also thanked her management for helping to turn her life into a “work of art.”

Don’t get on me for spelling “honored” with a U, I’m quoting a British publication. They do things differently there. For example, their awards aren’t gold and shiny like ours, they’re…this:

Hey, that’s fun. They also appear to change each year depending on the theme of the show. This year I guess it’s polkadots. Neat.

Also, Lana, I love you, but I don’t love what you’re wearing or what your hair is doing. But I still think you are a beautiful and talented woman.

Ms. Del Rey arrived with her boyfriend-or-fiance?, Scottish alternative Folk musician, Barrie-James O’Neill.

February 20, 2013 at 4:30 pm by Catherine St. Ives

3Kelly Clarkson Calls Clive Davis A Liar

Kelly Clarkson is accusing Clive Davis of lying in his new memoir. After reading what she posted I’m inclined to believe her. I’ll back up.

Davis writes in his book that he fought with Kelly Clarkson about her album Breakaway. He said that he had to fight with Ms. Clarkson to include Since U Been Gone on the album and that Clarkson burst into tears over it. Davis was also very vocal (haha see what I did there?) about his dislike for Clarkson’s third album, My December. He hated it, didn’t think there were any potential hits on it, and wanted nothing to do with Clarkson. And even after Clarkson’s success, he refers to her in the book as a “talent contest winner” and that if not for her win on American Idol, he wouldn’t have signed her. It’s kind of a weird thing to say about her considering that she’s done very well for herself and has the stats to prove it. Clarkson gives us her insight.

From her blog:

So I just heard Clive Davis is releasing a memoir and spreading false information about me and my music. I refuse to be bullied and I just have to clear up his memory lapses and misinformation for myself and for my fans. It feels like a violation. Growing up is awesome because you learn you don’t have to cower to anyone – even Clive Davis.

First, he says I burst into “hysterical sobbing” in his office when he demanded Since You [sic] Been Gone be on my album. Not true at all. His stories and songs are mixed up. I did want more guitars added to the original demo and Clive did not. Max, Luke and I still fought for the bigger sound and we prevailed and I couldn’t be more proud of the life of that song. I resent him dampening that song in any way.

But, yes, I did cry in his office once. I cried after I played him a song I had written about my life called Because Of You. I cried because he hated it and told me verbatim that I was a “sh*tty writer who should be grateful for the gifts that he bestows upon me.” He continued on about how the song didn’t rhyme and how I should just shut up and sing. This was devastating coming from a man who I, as a young girl, considered a musical hero and was so honored to work with.

But I continued to fight for the song and the label relented. And it became a worldwide hit. He didn’t include that in the book.

He also goes on to say My December wasn’t successful because I co-penned the album and it didn’t have “pop hits”. Well, first let me say, I’ve co-penned many of my “pop hits.” Secondly, My December went platinum (It sold 20,000 less than All I Ever Wanted which followed My December.) Hardly a huge failure. Never Again, the ONLY single they released in the US from that record was a Top 10 hit. I am very proud of that and I have my fans to thank. But, again, what’s most interesting about his story is what he leaves out: He doesn’t mention how he stood up in front of his company at a convention and belittled me and my music and completely sabotaged the entire project. It never had a chance to reach it’s full potential. My December was an album I needed to make for myself for many reasons and the fact that I was so completely disregarded and disrespected was so disheartening, there really aren’t words to explain….

Anyway, I love my job. I love my music. I love my fans. I love my label and all of my professional relationships… now. And I am grateful for Clive for teaching me to know the difference.

Cheers to another amazing year! And, as always, thanks for listening!

KC

Boom, Davis. That’s what you get for thinking you’re…Mr. Know It All. YEEEEEEAAAAHHHH!

…actually, listening to that song (Mr. Know It All) it sounds like maybe it could be about Davis…I’m not saying it is…I’m just saying it totally could be.

February 20, 2013 at 4:30 am by Catherine St. Ives

12David Bowie To Release New Single

David Bowie, one of the greatest musicians/performers/songwriters to ever live, period, is set to release his second single off of his upcoming album, The Next Day. This is a big deal because David Bowie is awesome.

Also this is the first new music he’s released in a long time. His most recent album, Reality, came out in 2003. To put this in perspective in 2003 I was psyched to get pink Ugg boots for my birthday.

The single, titled The Stars (Are Out Tonight) will drop February 26th. The first single released from The Next Day is Where Are We Now? and it has a very Berlin trilogy sound. The Berlin triology refers to the three Bowie albums Low, “Heroes”, and Lodger. Now you have trivia you can use that will impress at least four people in the entire world. He also released an accompanying music video that is creepy and not something I ever want to watch again. If you want to watch it, you can see it at the source. The Next Day will be released on March 12th (in the USA).

Words cannot express how I feel, so here’s some Bowie gifs.

February 19, 2013 at 5:30 am by Catherine St. Ives

4Clive Davis Comes Out As Bisexual

Clive Davis, superstar record producer, is coming out as bisexual in his new memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life. The 80 year-old music executive has won 5 Grammy Awards and has launched careers for (to name a few) Whitney Houston, Kelly Clarkson, Barry Manilow, Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Carlos Santa, Leona Lewis, and Christina Aguilera.

Davis describes in his book a sexual encounter with a man at Studio 54 that changed his life. (Classic Studio 54.)

Via Rolling Stone

On this night, after imbibing enough alcohol, I was open to responding to his sexual overtures. [Being with a man] was a welcome relief.

After this experience he divorced from his wife, entered relationships with both a man and a woman at the same time, and in 1990 exclusively dated a male doctor. After that ended in 2004 Davis has dated men ever since.

The book also discusses the aftermath of coming out to his sons, his early years in music, and some career highlights and lows. There’s some interesting stuff in there, like how he convinced Bruce Springsteen’s manager that Springsteen’s 1973 album Greetings From Ashbury Park, N.J. needed more radio friendly songs, and thus Blinded By The Light was added. He also talks about his sadness over Whitney Houston’s downward spiral and his shock along with the rest of the world that Milli Vanilli were not the real voices behind their songs, but were merely lip-synching to another artist’s singing. (Not sure if I believe this one.)

The book is co-written by Rolling Stone Magazine‘s Anthony DeCurtis. It is Davis’s second book, the first being 1975′s Clive: Inside the Record Business.

Good on you, Clive.

February 19, 2013 at 4:30 am by Catherine St. Ives