This blurry photo was taken by my Blackberry Curve at Boston's House of Blues last night. A relatively sparsely attended She Wants Revenge and Psychedelic Furs Double Bill turned out to be a blast. As I do with most shows I held off buying a ticket until the night of the show. I wasn't sure I was attending as I was supposed to be in two places at once, but I was able to shake free to take in this show. I'm glad I went. The show cost a whopping $25. I wish all shows cost $25. I showed [...]
Forget the singles you may have already heard from Broken Social Scene's long awaited new LP Forgiveness Rock Record . Don't get me wrong, they are OK, but they don't do this album justice. I'm talking about singles such as Texico Bitches and World Sick. They are fun, upbeat songs, but if you came to pick up Forgiveness Rock Record after hearing those singles, and peel back to the next layer of work on this album, you will be in for a great surprise. This is the classic BSS so many have come to know and love. If you [...]
I don't know about you folks, but when a great TV show makes a habit of playing great music during its killer scenes that can really lock you in as a fan. One show that absolutely did that for me was Homicide: Life On The Street. The Show ran on NBC for seven seasons between 1993 and 1999. I don't think I missed very many episodes during that time. I found out about it from my friend Stacy who would rave on about it. I probably missed half of season one, but I'm sure I caught them all eventually. It's [...]
What's that? Another review of High Violet? This review is sure to get lost to page ten in the long list of Hype Machine bloggers covering the National's new release, but we press on anyways. I've been a fan of the National dating back to their 2005 album Alligator . I marked their last album Boxer atop my 2007 Best Albums of The Year list. They are back in 2010, at the complete top of their game. This album achieves perfection, without ever reeking of over-perfection. I'm convinced The National are destined for major success. Unfortunately when [...]
Last night was the first time I got to lay eyes on Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. Hopefully it won't be the last. I own two Grace Potter records, but I was kind of surprised at the show I just witnessed. I thought their 2007 record, This is Somewhere, was great, but I hadn't listened to it in a while and I was trying to absorb their new release, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, in time to prepare for what I might hear at the show. I might have gotten through it twice in its entirety. That's not much to [...]
John Fogerty was born on May 28, 1945. I know a lot of the readers of The Giant Panther can't quite fathom the effect a guy like Fogerty had on Men and Women of a Certain Age. All you know is if you never hear Travelin' Band or Proud Mary ever again you wouldn't mind. I get that, but Creedence Clearwater Revival was a monster of a band in the last 60's & early 70's. It's hard to think of anyone quite like them. Yeah I know they were Born On The Bayou and skipped flat rocks across the Green River. [...]
I'm sure I've mentioned in the past that I am a Fleetwood Mac fan. In all of their incarnations. I love Peter Green to death. I am a big Lindsey Buckingham fan. I loved Bob Welch's 1977 LP French Kiss. I love Christine McVie. I love the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band. And I am a sucker for gravelly voiced women in Rock. Hell, I even like gravelly voiced men in Rock (see Stewart, Rod). When I think of Stephanie Lynn Nicks I can't help but think of Demi Moore for some reason. It's the voice. The women themselves are beautiful, no [...]
The Giant Panther was recently contacted wondering if we might have interest in giving away a pair of tickets on our site for The Grace Potter & The Nocturnals show this Friday May 28th at The House of Blues in Boston. I am one of those music fans that loves Blues, Soul, Rock and leggy lead singers all folded into one band so I didn't have to think very hard to decide... Who wants to see Grace Potter & The Nocturnals this Friday May 28th? The show is in three days so the winner of the contest will [...]
Robert Allen Zimmerman was born May 24, 1941 if the good folks at Wikipedia have their story straight. A living legend if there ever was one, I was turned on to Bob Dylan by an Uncle (who really wasn't my Uncle) at age nine because I apparently showed an aptitude for music. No, I couldn't play an instrument, but I guess my Uncle figured I could recognize a good tune when I heard one and I already had a 45 RPM collection going. He lent me his copy of Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (I say lent, but I don't think he expected [...]
Two weeks ago at the bar I DJ at, I threw on the first track "Dance Yrself Clean" from LCD Soundsystem's (aka James Murphy) new album This is Happening . I stood there giddy like a little kid, just waiting for the explosion to happen around 3 minutes in. I thought to myself, "this is going to rock their fucking worlds, or at least get a few heads bobbing." Then it kicked in, the massive synth, the syncopated rhythm, the cowbell. I looked for bobbing heads. Instead I saw turning heads, looking up to me like "what the hell [...]
I can remember when The Pretenders first album hit the stores in January of 1980 here in the States. MTV hadn't been launched and hadn't yet started playing "Brass in Pocket" every two hours. I remember my college roommate Tim coming home with a copy of the record and he just started playing it night and day. I have to admit, I didn't get "Brass in Pocket" right away. I liked it fine, but I didn't love it. Since I was listening to both WCOZ and WBCN back in those days I probably heard the song four times a day for [...]
The Giant Panther is now part of the Mog Music Network. To celebrate I created an 80s New Wave playlist. Hoping to convince John to make one of his own, it's always great to get two different perspectives on a particular type of music. Head over to the playlist page to play the songs. I've included the playlist here and a few tracks. 1. Blasphemous Rumours by Depeche Mode 2. Shadowplay by Joy Division 3. A Forest by The Cure 4. Cut Dead by The Jesus & Mary Chain [...]
I've always loved Peter Gabriel records. He's had quite a productive career post-Genesis, and it's tough to pick a favorite with all the great albums to choose from. My favorites include Peter Gabriel 3 and Us, but my absolute favorite is his fourth LP, released in 1982, Security that stands above the rest. It's probably one of his more under-appreciated albums, released after the three self titled albums, lovingly referred to by confused record store employees and critics alike as either Peter Gabriel 1, 2 and 3, or simply Car, Scratch, and Face. He even released this [...]
My first exposure to Ronnie James Dio was a killer 1975 single by Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow called "Man On The Silver Mountain." I had no idea who was singing the song, but I knew I liked it. This guy had pipes as they say. The Heavy Metal genre rarely produces singers you think of as skilled vocalists. I don't say as an all inclusive statement or to denigrate Metal. I've been a Metal fan longer than I can remember. It's just that you don't find that many Metal lead singers consistently in demand once they leave their first band. They are generally thought of as [...]
I think it's safe to say Steve Winwood's legacy was cemented back in the 60's when he sang the lead vocal for "Gimme Some Lovin'" for The Spencer Davis Group. There isn't a self respecting Rock & Roll Soul alive who doesn't instantly recognize that particular piece of music. Steve Winwood joined The Spencer Davis Group at the tender age of 14. They apparently ween their rock stars much younger in the UK. Fortunately his older brother Muff (ouch babe) was also in the band to keep an eye on him. The Spencer Davis Group had half a dozen hits [...]
Scottish born David Byrne was born May 14, 1952. I guess that makes him 58 years of age today. Doesn't seem that old to some of us anymore does it. Ryan and I have both posted about the Talking Heads so I'm not going to break the man's career down or anything. I just wanted to see if I could find a way to post with brevity. It's not my strong suit as you know. I think I'll try tracking rock star birthdays for a while. I'll miss a ton of course, but the ones that I do catch will [...]
Hey Diddley Ho neighbors! It's Mother's Day. The day that probably ranks right next to your anniversaries as the day you fear forgetting the most. Thank God the sports world uses pink bats and ribbons huh? Way to keep us on track. Facebook helps me remember my friend's birthdays, but only if I bother to log in. I don't have that anniversary problem, but I do have a mother. She now hangs her hat in Las Vegas as she enjoys her Golden Years. She goes to see The Gambler (Kenny Rogers) and waxes nostalgic about The Rat Pack as she [...]
With the birth of the digital era of music, came the death of the album cover. Sure they still make 'em, but they don't make 'em like they used to. A good vinyl album sleeve was something to pull out, dust off, roll something on, or stare at while you played the record. Now they're for a select few who still love them or leave them hanging in a frame on a wall. John and I recently sat down as we often like to do to discuss music. We've been doing this, like most people, for years and [...]
In 1979 I was in my second year of college. Something called New Wave music was re-shaping the Rock landscape. It was exciting and things were changing in a hurry. Tremendous bands new began to surface in droves. Off the top of my head, the late 70's into the early 80's produced greats and near greats like The Cars, The B-52's, Blondie, The Call, The Jim Carroll Band, Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, Nick Lowe, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Thomas Dolby, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, The English Beat, XTC, Erasure, The Eurythmics, The Fixx, Gang of Four, Human Sexual Response, The [...]
I'm having all kinds of trouble finding time to blog lately, but don't give up on us. The only way to drive traffic is to put something new up every day. I'd love to be able to do that, but since this job doesn't pay it's kind of difficult to prioritize our blog over daily life. I'm still digitizing my personal catalogue and sometimes I get lost in that. I just bought a Grandfather clock and it chimes every fifteen minutes letting me know that too much of my life is being spent sitting here at this desk. It'll pass, [...]
The Giant Panther
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