Two and a half years ago, we explored
the early history of Cartoon Network... but it wasn't the only player in the youth television game.
As a matter of fact,
Fred Seibert -- the man responsible for the most inventive projects discussed in that post -- first stretched his creative legs at the network's
truly venerable forerunner:
Nickelodeon.
Founded as Pinwheel, a six-hour block on Warner Cable's innovative
QUBE system, this humble channel struggled for years before Seibert's innovative branding work transformed it into a national icon and capstone of a media empire.
Much has changed since then, from the mascots and game shows to
the versatile orange "splat." But starting tonight in response to popular demand, the network is
looking back with
a summer programming block dedicated to the greatest hits of the 1990s, including
Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Double Dare, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and
All That.
To celebrate, look inside for the complete story of the early days of the network that incensed the religious right, brought doo-wop to television, and slimed a million fans -- the golden age of Nickelodeon.
(warning: monster post inside) [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jul 25, 2011 -
116 comments
This Isn't Happiness — what we remember weblogs to be a decade ago, like MeFi, it's all about the links. It features art and photography, music and books, even occasional politics. But it never fails to be beautiful. [occasional nsfw image]
posted by netbros
on Feb 27, 2011 -
33 comments
How can bands claiming to want to make a difference write a song about, say, ending the war and then hold on to it to make a perfectly polished recording of it for their album which will come out in a year...? We don’t have any interest in that. We write songs about things that are happening now, record them, and release them with the hopes that they can be a small part of a big conversation that leads to real progress.
Max and The Marginalized are a
band and a
blog. Mastermind Max Bernstein writes and records a new song every week (
available to download),
punk political broadsides aimed at
anything and
everything wrong with the world today.
posted by saguaro
on Jul 28, 2008 -
19 comments
HONK! is a showcase and annual festival for a "new kind of street band": motley, theatrical, activist protest groups working within the
marching band tradition. From this central site, link to
video and
audio from
twenty bands currently playing in the "honk" genre, from New York's
Rude Mechanical Orchestra to to Atlanta's
Seed and Feed Marching Abominables to Portsmouth, NH's
Leftist Marching Band. Heavy on the brass and percussion, rousing, raucous, and fun, these bands form part of a
worldwide musical phenomenon.
posted by Miko
on Jul 30, 2007 -
19 comments
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is pumping out a pile of podcasts that have covered
the importance of offensive comics to Art Spiegelman,
600 bands over 54 shows,
Captain America versus the American government,
Amy Sedaris and geekdom,
the journey of young immigrants,
French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut and Harper's publisher John MacArthur discussing Europe and America perspectives since 9/11,
the after life,
sex with monkeys,
what radio producers do,
the french word "corps",
Bonnie Fuller's "The Joys of Much Too Much: Go For the Big Life — The Great Career, The Perfect Guy, and Everything Else You've Ever Wanted (Even If You're Afraid You Don't Have What It Takes)",
Veteran Washington reporter Helen Thomas and some other bits & bobs [Breakdown inside]
posted by boost ventilator
on Jun 5, 2006 -
25 comments
thepartyparty.com hosts a set of mindblowingly amazing mixes using the recorded speech of American political figures -- mostly President Bush, but others, like Hilary Clinton and Gov. Schwarzenegger, both make appearances. It's a brilliant exercise in free speech, using the words of the administration against them, especially in the middle and later parts of
Who's The Nigga? (
Streaming m3u and
downloadable mp3.) And did I mention it rocks? Because it rocks- after it breaks your head completely. You must listen to this.
posted by blacklite
on Oct 14, 2005 -
28 comments
Kid Rock To Play Bush Inauguration ... The Bush Twins have invited
Kid Rock to play their inauguration bash after their father is sworn in to a second term. Rock also played the Republican National Convention. This is a guy who stuck his head through an American flag at the Superbowl and has lyrics that say all women are whores and extol drug and alcohol abuse. (The link has actual lyrics from Rock, so if you are offended by cursing don't follow it.)
posted by nathanrudy
on Jan 4, 2005 -
173 comments
Art rock/metal band
A Perfect Circle are releasing a
new album consisting of mostly politically orientated covers, including John Lennon's
Imagine. With
so many bands pumping out the politics recently why is this strange? Because for so many years the band, and frontman Maynard James Keenan (also the lead singer for Tool) have usually kept right out of politics, opting for a more mysterious and individualistic approach to their music.
Interesting to read what some of their
fans think?
posted by Jase_B
on Oct 19, 2004 -
16 comments
All Songs Considered offers a sample of new tunes for the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election. "In this election year it seemed a good idea to put out a call for music about politics. What we wanted was satire; what we got were earnest and passionate songs that mostly bashed the incumbent president." There's also "a sample of the songs used to pump up crowds at political rallies" by both sides.
posted by mmahaffie
on Aug 28, 2004 -
9 comments
Free songs from a free record label, Protest-Records.com. Punk, folk, rock, rap. Thurston Moore and NY designer Chris Habib curate. State smashin' stencils for download too.
posted by damehex
on Mar 28, 2003 -
10 comments
Buzzcocks singer Pete Shelley shouted down for yelling "Fuck George Bush!" by an angry crowd at the Inland Punk Rock Festival in California (about halfway into the article.) At least according to a friend of some guy who writes for the Weekly Standard who took his teenage daughter to the concert and had no idea who the Buzzcocks were. Was anyone there? Did this really happen?
posted by transona5
on Oct 8, 2002 -
76 comments
The Plastic People of the Universe are a reminder of how powerful and important a force rock and roll can be for positive change. Many American and British acts spoke of revolution, but they usually only meant it in the cultural sense, for these guys living in Iron Curtain-era Czechoslovakia, they were talking about the real life-or-death McCoy. Inspired by the Beatles, Frank Zappa, and future Czech president (and sometime collaborator)
Vaclav Havel,the Plastics created some
amazing music and were often surveilled or imprisoned as "enemies of the state" for their trouble. Thankfully, they lived to see a free Czech republic, although founder Milan Hlavsa passed away in early 2001. Special props to my main man rodii, for jogging my memory about the Plastics in
this comment
posted by jonmc
on Mar 25, 2002 -
6 comments
Gore parties the night away... even though he lost. According to the article, Jon Bon Jovi was so upset at the boring party they originally had that he called up some friends and announced there was a "Party at Gore's House!!" The
cover photo and interior shots from the Daily News have Gore looking as if he had one hell of a time.
posted by Cavatica
on Dec 15, 2000 -
23 comments
Smithereens? On whose blog did I find a link last week about Pat DiNizio, late of the
Smithereens, (a) running for New York senate and (b) whoring himself out to anyone who wants him to perform in their living room, assuming you find 100 people paying $25 each and hand over 80% of that cash to Pat?
As I now know all too well, browsers, including (in this case) MSIE 4 for Windows, do a lousy job of remembering all the pages you've visited, forcing us to resort to the hackneyed "Did anybody read that article, and if so where?" technique straight out of a Howard Hawks film. Any help appreciated.
posted by joeclark
on Mar 18, 2000 -
3 comments
I'm interested in folks opinions on what they find to be the most thought provokoing album from a lyrical perspective.
For me, it has to be
The
Holy Bible by the Welsh band, the
Manic
Street Preachers. Written from a socialist / communist angle, the
lyrics
are quite explicit (see the first track "Yes"), and used intentionally
to shock people, but the way the album is written is brilliant. The use of samples
is very good, again with "Yes" and used with particularly disturbing
effect (IMHO) on the 12th track "The Intense Humming Evil", where
the sample is a piece about the Nuremburg War Trials where the commentator talks
of Holocaust victims taking revenge on their murderers.
Topics are wide ranging, and all focusing on negative aspects on humanity.
I'd be interesting in seeing what Americans here think of the second track "ifamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart"
All in all, very bleak, quite disturbing, and quite brilliant. An interesting
glimpse into the mind of Richey Edwards, the former lead guitarist and lyricist
( and manic depressive among other things) who disappeared in 1995.
Take a look at their last two albums also - nowhere near as bleak as this one,
they are still excellent.
If you want a listen and can't get the album, I'll do an MP3 of a couple of
tracks for you - as long as you get rid of it soon after :-)
posted by tomcosgrave
on Jan 21, 2000 -
2 comments
