The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM to cognoscenti) one of the lesser known but most influential movements of the past quarter century. After the
innovators of Metal ran out of steam in the late 70's and were stampeded in the maelstrom of punk, heavy metal (and testosterone-soaked delindquents everywhere) found itself in a quandary). A number of UK acts took some cues from the punks, shortened the songs, reigned in the self-indulgence and speeded up the tempo, and upped the relevance and intelligence of the lyrical content, while still retaining the vocal prowess, instrumental pyrotechnics and young warrior energy that makes it Metal in the first place.
Some groups became world famous. Others only
big in Europe. Some great ones
missed stardom by just a
notch. Many of these acts have been cited as inspirations by Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Napalm Death and the thrash/death metal hordes, and even many post-punks. An interesting summary for fans, and a good introduction for non-mans who may have to recalibrate their opinion of the genre after checking some of these bands out.
posted by jonmc
on Dec 17, 2003 -
17 comments
Seems that public discontent with with the state of radio is finally being heard at some major outlets. The most telling part of the story is this:
Those most likely to turn off the radio: teen-agers, long among the medium's mainstays. Along with MTV, the radio practices mentioned in this article are the reason a lot of good music never gets heard. A listener said it best:
He longs for the free-form format of his teen years, when you could hear anything from Elvis Presley to Elvis Costello, the Supremes to the Sex Pistols. . Are you listening Clear Channel? And more important are we? I'm still of the opinion that (pending legaliteis aside) the internet will be what saves radio, but it's not quite there yet.
posted by jonmc
on Jun 20, 2002 -
38 comments
This evening
20/20 broadcast a
report on the new payola.Names are named. This explains a lot about the current state of music radio. Ironically, one of those complaining the loudest was good ol' Hilary Rosen of the
RIAA who are doing their damnedest to
destroy internet radio, along with college and public radio, the only alternative to the institutional corruption she decries. But in this case, she's on the side of the angels, it would seem. This report is timely though and does illustrate what's wrong with concentrating media power in too few hands.
posted by jonmc
on May 24, 2002 -
22 comments
Put a glide in your stride and dip in yo' hip and step on board the
Mothership*. Finally, a comprehensive site for one of the most influential musical agglomerations of the last 30 years. All hip-hop, and most modern R&B and Rock would be unimaginable without these guys. More
Cyberbetabuckdown here if that wasn't enough, plus a great essay by Scot Hacker
here. Like the man says "Uncle Jam Wants You!"
*Flash site. Let the intro finish, then comes the good stuff.
posted by jonmc
on May 14, 2002 -
20 comments
When I was a newspaper-slinger back as a youngster, I became acquainted with that odd funnypages subgenre-the
soap opera comic strip(i.e.
Winnie Winkle,
Rex Morgan, M.D. and the pinnacle of the genre
Gasoline Alley).
Moving at the brisk pace of 4 panels a day, these entertainments must have seemed quaint even in their early radio days infancy, yet they gained devoted followings and
Dr. Rex and
Skeezix and the Gang are actually still active. While the strips are published on the web, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a whole-hog revival of the genre. Heck,
Brenda Starr could be truly funky hip modern woman if the right person retooled her a bit and I imagine many web community administrators could relate to
Mary Worth at times.
posted by jonmc
on Apr 28, 2002 -
25 comments
Tooling around today, I happened upon small but burgeoning subculture-
gay Heavy Metal fans. Headbanging and Rainbow Pride stickers may seem like an odd combo until you think of the number of openly gay performers in Hard Rock (Roddy Bottum of
Faith No More, Doug Pinnick of
King's X-a gay
Christian metalhead, and of course the great Rob Halford formerly of the legendary
Judas Preist. I dunno whether this is a large trend or merely people coming out of yet another closet, but it's nice to see metal shaking off it's homophobic image.
posted by jonmc
on Mar 21, 2002 -
17 comments
During my day's aimless surfing I was feeling a mite wistful, and it did my heart a load of good to stumble on the internet home of
Funny Face mugs. I also found the
Mr. Men and Little Miss Club. Both of these bits of pop culture were objects of devotion to me as a tyke. Looking at the sweet simplicity of the products today, it amazes me how easy it was to invest plastic mugs and simple line drawings with meaning and personality. I wish there was a place for them in today's
Kiddie Kulture which seems to be about filling in all the blanks before the kids get to use there imaginations.
posted by jonmc
on Feb 24, 2002 -
7 comments
If you've ever worked in retail, you MUST download this song. Apparently, back in the mid 1960's, Woolworth decided that the best way to motivate their managers was to hire one Michael Brown to compose and sing a
snappy pop tune just for them, with predictably bizarre results. Here at the store, it's become our new anthem. For more info the tune and it's creator go
here and scroll down.
posted by jonmc
on Feb 9, 2002 -
24 comments
Now here's a product who's time has come. I spied a bag of this on the shelf of the local supermarket yesterday and an impulse buy was born. I'm munching some right now and it's quite tasty, grease, cheese, salt, serious heat, all your junk food needs in one package. This and other recent snack products like Wormz in Dirt(gummi worms rolled in Oreo crumbs) lead me to believe the food companies are hiring stoners to work in product development.I'm sure you guys can cite other examples to prove my point.
posted by jonmc
on Dec 2, 2001 -
21 comments
Jerry Falwell being defended by ACLU.(via FARK) Now I've heard everything. Now, I like Falwell about as much as the rest of you, but he may have a case. To give the ACLU their due, they always stand by their principles regardless of whose rights are being violated and whose political sensibilitie it might offend. I hope however, this will keep ol' Jerry from villifying the group in his sermons from here on out.
posted by jonmc
on Nov 29, 2001 -
9 comments
It's nice to see something on the web living up to it's name. Raremusic.com is a rare instance of truth in advertising. In a world where pablum like Bush and Limp Bizkit qualify as 'alternative' (whatever the hell that means) this site is a godsend. It hasn't been updated in a dogs age but there's plenty of sounds here to keep you busy, some great, some funny, some just weird. For instance, If you wondered where that flute in the Beasties 'Sure Shot' came from, they've got the source. Also, theres a Moog version of 'What's New Pussycat?' that must be heard to be believed. Requires the latest Shockwave plugins.
posted by jonmc
on Dec 5, 1999 -
1 comment
