Category Archives: Music

Donna Summer, 1948-2012

By Roger Catlin | Published: May 18, 2012
There were a lot of disco divas back in the day, but only one disco queen. But more than that, Donna Summer, who died Thursday at age 63, was an artist. Her electronic experiments with Georgio Moroder were nothing less than art rock – but that rare kind that also sold a lot, and helped [...]
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Considering the Beach Boys, a 60s Act Deep in their 60s

By Roger Catlin | Published: May 10, 2012
The discussion began when a friend with whom I had often shared enthusiasm in music sent another friend and me a note out of the blue regarding the reconstituted Beach Boys and their new song “That’s Why God Made the Radio”: The new BBoys single is generating a lot of positive attention–from USA Today to [...]
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The Beatles for Sale

By Roger Catlin | Published: May 8, 2012
One campaign in Sunday night’s “Mad Men” involved getting some young, peppy song that sounded like the Beatles. Getting the Beatles themselves was out of the question – even if they would sell, nobody could afford it. So they get a minor single by a group called the Wedgewoods, a cover of “September in the [...]
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On TV Tonight: Beasties in the Hall

By Roger Catlin | Published: May 5, 2012
How did the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction (HBO, 9 p.m.)end up on premium cable? In recent years it was run on Fuse or VH1 after several years of not being seen at all. It probably had something to do with HBO stepping in to help run the big 25th anniversary hall [...]
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Remembering Adam Yauch, 1964-2012

By Roger Catlin | Published: May 4, 2012
Sad to hear of the passing of Adam Yauch, the mighty MCA of the Beastie Boys Friday in New York. He was just 47, but will seem forever younger than that. Not just because of his bratty presence, but for his youthful spirit in bringing awareness to Tibetan freedom. That first Beastie Boys album was [...]
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‘What’s Going On’ Forty Years Later

By Roger Catlin | Published: May 4, 2012
Forty years after Marvin Gaye put on an historic concert at the then-new Kennedy Center – presenting his breakthrough “What’s Going On” album before a hometown crowd on what would be called Marvin Gaye Day in D.C., they did it all over again Thursday. John Legend took the vocals, aided by the Dap Kings, Sharon [...]
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Remembering Dick Clark

By Roger Catlin | Published: April 19, 2012
Like Ryan Seacrest, who began the “American Idol” telecast Wednesday saluting his New Year’s Rockin’ Eve boss, Dick Clark, who died at 82 Wednesday, was a conduit to pop culture. A cheerful and rather bland entity in himself, he was smart enough to put teenagers on TV to dance to the music they liked and [...]
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Bruce Springsteen in Philadelphia

By Roger Catlin | Published: March 30, 2012
Bruce Springsteen’s affinity with Philadelphia goes back decades to “before the E Street Band,” he said at the Wells Fargo Center Thursday, the second of two sold out shows. Almost back to the days of Wells Fargo itself, maybe, but not quite. He and his scruffy band thought they had really made it, crossing the [...]
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Springsteen Caps His Week on Fallon

By Roger Catlin | Published: March 3, 2012
Many a late night host has fallen under the spell of Bruce Springsteen. Conan O’Brien played host, sat in on guitar and employed his E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg for years. Fellow New Jersyian Jon Stewart hosted and mostly gushed in a way he never did with anybody else. Now Jimmy Fallon seems to [...]
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Davy Jones, Dead at 66

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 29, 2012
Sad to hear of the death of Davy Jones, the irrepressible lead singer of the Monkees who stayed out on the road for more than a half century – including some shows earlier this month. I last saw him in Beverly Hills, where he was talking up a PBS special at the TV Critics summer [...]
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