Filed under: The Hit List Stevie Wonder famously sang that "superstition ain't the way." But that doesn't stop an estimated 21 million Americans from fearing Friday the 13th, believing the day brings bad luck. While a fear of Friday the 13th -- called paraskevidekatriaphobia, if you can pronounce it -- may seem silly, people will avoid flights, put off business deals or just plain lay low [...]
Filed under: The Hit List Although hip-hop has always had "hip" in its name, a surprising amount of geekery has made it into rap. Lupe Fiasco released an album called 'The Cool' but has popularized manga, self-consciousness and asthmatic-sounding breath control. And since MF Doom's and Kool Keith's entire outputs are the hip-hop equivalent of Comic-Con, we've bypassed their nerdy verses for 10 less obvious pocket-protector-friendly [...]
Filed under: The Hit List It's textbook: Songs about university life typically have little to do with academia, unless beer, pizza and romantic conquests can be considered courses of study. With a new academic term just around the corner, we've created an advanced curriculum of songs about the best seven years of our lives. [...]
Filed under: Concerts and Tours , The Hit List Lollapalooza returns to its home in Chicago's Grant Park this weekend and will try to top past years with incendiary headliners Lady Gaga and the Strokes . Grant Park's Buckingham Fountain is stunning and everything, but when the microcosm of overpriced beer, loud music and heat gets to be too much, explore the [...]
Filed under: The Hit List , Free MP3 Download of the Day In a summer concert circuit crowded with large-scale music festivals, George Wein's Newport Folk Fest consistently stands out for its impressive multigenerational lineup of blues, folk and bluegrass acts. This weekend, an eclectic mix of artists including Andrew Bird, the Swell Season, and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings will be taking the [...]
Filed under: The Hit List , Free MP3 Download of the Day Since its 2005 rebirth, Perry Farrell 's Lollapalooza has garnered a reputation as one of the hottest lineups in the summer festival circuit. Beginning on Aug. 6, tens of thousands of music lovers will head to Chicago's Grant Park to brave the brutal heat and catch some of the biggest [...]
Filed under: The Hit List As the "MTV generation" has slowly but surely taken over Hollywood, music geeks have become as common on the big screen as they are in the world's universities, blogs and coffee shops. In the movies, they come in all shapes and sizes -- from the superfan to the pretentious snob to the music-obsessed loner -- but there's a little bit of [...]
Filed under: The Hit List They put Southern California on the map. (Not that Rand McNally didn't know how to get to the San Fernando Valley.) Punk climbed out of the hovels of London and New York when Bad Religion first emerged. Thirty years later, on their anniversery, the band still makes turbo-charged melody. Like the band name implies, linchpin Greg Graffin [...]
Filed under: The Hit List In American culture, Coney Island epitomizes a New York summer, conjuring images of hot dogs, amusement park rides and hormonal teens. Rich with metaphors of fleeting youth, desperation, love and and nostalgia, it's no wonder this world-famous Brooklyn resort spot pops up in so many songs. With the 10th annual Siren Music Festival taking place on Coney Island once again, we [...]
Filed under: The Hit List It stands to reason that several big-name film directors, such as David Fincher , Spike Jonze and Gus Van Sant cut their teeth making music videos. What may be less evident is that plenty of small- and big-screen actors started out their careers in videos, too. Whether affording a brief cameo or a full-on starring role, [...]
Filed under: The Hit List Geek rockers are deceptive. On the one hand, they're geeks. They write about robots and wizards. If they sing about sex, it probably has to do with not getting any. And, chances are, they're way more familiar with computers than Keith Richards . On the other hand, geek rockers are still rockers. And the second they pick up [...]
Filed under: The Hit List Nothing gladdens a music fan's heart more than finding out that the cooler-than-cool gal, guy or group he or she has devotedly followed since time began is really, when the stage lights go off, as nerdy as that performer's legions of followers. To that end, we at Spinner are very glad -- relieved, really -- to be able to present our gallery of geeks -- comic book geeks to be precise -- for your viewing pleasure. Of course this will probably make you geek out even more, and [...]
Filed under: The Hit List In olden times, the World Cup and pop music kept to their respective sides of the cultural playing field. Not anymore. The Greatest Show on Earth[TM] has long been deemed incomplete without a raft of pan-global, world-uniting themes, a full set of inspirational team anthems and countless less-than-official supporting efforts by professional and nonprofessional musicians alike. We bravely ventured into this [...]
Filed under: The Hit List 45. Bette Midler, 'Wind Beneath My Wings' ('Beaches,' 1988) The theme from the ultimate chick flick is one of those songs we all make fun of in front of our friends. But admit it -- you know you get misty every time you hear the Bette Midler tune playing at Barbara Hershey 's funeral at the end of ' Beaches .' It's ok, so do we. -- MM 44. Stealers Wheel, 'Stuck in the Middle [...]
Filed under: The Hit List 15. The Beatles, 'Twist and Shout' ('Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' 1986) On his ninth sick day of the school year, Ferris Bueller takes over a float during Chicago's Von Steuben Day parade (even though the real event actually takes place in September). His spontaneous lip-synch of the Beatles ' cover of ' Twist & Shout ' inspires an entire city to cut a rug. We especially love when "Team Thriller" turns it out! -- JP [...]
Filed under: The Hit List In celebration of summer movie season, we've whipped up this "definitive" list of the most memorable movie songs. We reviewed hundreds of films to find these 77 gems. Everything was fair game ... EXCEPT MUSICALS (if you're looking for 'Rent,' go to Broadway). Enjoy the show. 77. Coolio, 'Gangsta's Paradise' ('Dangerous Minds,' 1985) Michelle Pfeiffer 's character uses tough love to keep inner-city students in school and away from crime in ' Dangerous Minds ,' but the real [...]
Filed under: The Hit List 30. The Shins, 'New Slang' ('Garden State,' 2004) When quirky, disaffected 20-somethings meet in their shrink's waiting room, they need something cool and sensitive to bond over. Good thing Natalie Portman had the Shins on her discman in ' Garden State ' -- a move that helped the band sell buttloads of albums and made Zack Braff the John Hughes of his generation. -- JP 29. B.J. Thomas, 'Raindrops Keep [...]
Filed under: The Hit List 60. The Knack, 'My Sharona' ('Reality Bites,' 1994) The Knack 's ode to cradle robbing inspired a spontaneous convenience-store dance party in Ben Stiller 's slacker classic , proving just how much those Gen-Xers love their one-hit wonders. Surprisingly, Winona Ryder never dated anyone in the band. -- JP Watch Video 59. Madonna, 'Into the Groove' ('Desperately Seeking Susan,' 1985) The only thing that eluded [...]
Filed under: The Hit List The blues, as they say, is a feeling. You don't have to be descended from a line of sharecroppers to know that life can be a heavy load, and that the effort to transcend it by celebrating your burden is a natural human instinct. Rock acts from Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix to the White Stripes [...]
Filed under: The Hit List , Free MP3 Download of the Day Every summer, music fans from New York and elsewhere come with beer and Nathan's hot dogs in hand to the daylong Siren Festival in Brooklyn's Coney Island . Those braving the heat for this year's 10th anniversary concert on July 17 will be treated to sets from some of the biggest names in indie rock. Before you head to Brooklyn, help yourself to these free MP3s from some of the Siren Fest 2010 performers. [...]
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The Corner Laughers “Poppy Seeds”
