Blog: 30 Days Out

We must have been in a hurry to put up our last post on this subject because we missed a whole bunch of holiday stinkers. Here is the rest of our list of the best of the worst Christmas songs of all-time: "Last Christmas" by Wham Released in 1984, shortly after we were introduced to George Michael and his white short shorts. "The Chipmunk Song" by Alvin and the Chipmunks [...]

I bought tickets in September for my family's annual trek to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra here in Houston. Although the band has changed slightly from year to year, there are a few mainstays that we expect to see. The guy who tops the list is vocalist Tommy Farese, who sings "Ornament" and "This Christmas Day" from the multi-platinum Christmas Eve and Other Stories collection, and acts as the MC. Come to find out, Farese (as well as many other "mainstays") is not with the band anymore. He was let go in June. So we decided to give him [...]

Recorded last year, this is the last song Clarence Clemons played with the E Street Band. RIP Big Man . Bruce Springsteen Official Website Backstreets Magazine

Recorded last year, this is the last song Clarence Clemons played with the E Street Band. RIP Big Man. Bruce Springsteen Official Website Backstreets Magazine

Shirt of the Year: Brian Posehn's Exodus shirt, right, and the runner-up's "Cheap Ass Slayer shirt." (Click to enlarge) Is there anything worse than these "Best Of" and "Worst Of" lists around this time of year? How about endless re-posts of Christmas music? Ha ha. I know you're just kiddin'. Me too! But, ah, seriously ... there was a lot of good music this year and a handful of really good albums. We won't bore you with what we think is the best - we don't know ourselves - but here are some things [...]

Forty years ago, John Lennon and Yoko Ono released their Christmas song, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." It was originally a protest song but has now become a holiday classic. Ono is celebrating the anniversary with a website where you can download posters like the one above, and spread the message of peace this holiday season. War Is Over (If You Want It) website YouTube: War Is Over (If You Want It)/"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" [...]

• Yoko Ono - John & Yoko, The Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Last Christmas Daryl Hall invited Jose Feliciano over to jam on his outstanding Live from Daryl's House webcast and it was unbelievable. Here are few clips from that day. I could not find the best one, "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear," but I advise you to go the website and check it out. Feliciano is so good it's ridiculous.

Herschel Berry (center) and the Natives, featuring the great guitarist Rock Romano (at left). Back in the 1980s, Houston was reeling from the still-fresh oil industry crash but its music scene remained vibrant. Clubs like Rockefeller's, the Bon Ton Room, the Satellite Lounge and Fitzgerald's were popular hangouts where one could hear some of the best rock and roll bands of the day. And the kick was, most of these great musicians were all from Houston! One of the most crankin' bands of all was Herschel Berry and the Natives, led by this wiry, [...]

The four remaining Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and Al Jardine, are hitting the road this year to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary. It all kicks off at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in April. No other dates have been announced yet, we just know there are 50. The band went back into the studio recently to re-do the symbolic "Do It Again," a great mid-tempo rocker that doesn't get the recognition of the other hits in the band's incredible collection. The tune will be part of a new album set to be released next year. [...]

It was December, 1994 and I was looking for a holiday story. I was working at KTRH Radio in Houston at the time and I had the idea of putting together a montage of artists who had performed "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" to celebrate the song's 50th anniversary. But in the end, I didn't think that would do the song justice, so I had the bright idea of calling up one of the song's composers, the incomparable Mel Torme'. I had interviewed him the year before when he played with the Houston Symphony and had his [...]

The NBC Tuesday night drama follows the ups and downs of the Braverman family. It's all-star cast features Peter Krause (Six Feet Under), Monica Potter, Lauren Graham and Craig T. Nelson as the crotchety, vietnam-era, hippie dad. It's a good solid show with some good storylines, but the best part of the hour each week is the music. The show is giving stellar unknown artists like Slaid Cleaves, James Blake ("A Case for You," a Joni Mitchell is one of the most interesting vocals ever), The Lennings (who deliver a slow, folky version of "You're the One That I Want" from Grease), Civil Wars, Fink, and [...]

Hundreds of artists from Slim Whitman to the cast of GLEE have gotten behind the mic to record yuletide classics. While I like the majority of holiday tunes, there are a few that I just cannot stomach. Here are the worst of all-time: 1. Grandma Got Run Over by A Reindeer - Elmo & Patsy Like a needle in your eye. Someone kill me now if I have to hear this tune one more time. 2. Santa Baby [...]

After releasing his first album, Cold Spring Harbor , in 1971, Billy Joel decided he wanted to hideout, so "he headed out to California." Los Angeles to be exact. The album was mastered at the wrong speed making Joel sound like a chipmunk. Needless to say, it was a disaster. Desperate to get out of his record contract with Family Productions to sign with Columbia Records, he hid out in a bar playing under the name Bill Martin while his lawyers worked behind the scenes. From that six month experience came the song "Piano Man," a song as much [...]

OK, now is about the time you start wishing the whole thing was over with already. You know, they should have Christmas in January - that's when they have all the good sales! Ho, ho. Here's a Christmas blowout: MP3: "Four Shopping Days Left Until Christmas" Ad jingle MP3: "Stop Giving Me Crap For Christmas" by Bobby Gaylor MP3: "Santa's Too Fat For The Hula Hoop" by Thurl Ravenscroft with the Pixies [...]

For the first time since the song was written in 2001, it's actually true. A dramatic last second, come from behind win in Cincinnati gives the Houston Texans their first division championship and first trip to the playoffs. Onward and upward. Sing it, Houston.

Since 2007, Nils Lofgren has spent two years on the road with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, played the Super Bowl, had hip replacement surgery and lost close friends, E Street Band members, Danny Federici and the "Big Man" Clarence Clemons. Lofgren throws the emotions from these events and more life experiences into one pot and stirs up an excellent 12-track collection called Old School . On the rockin' title track, Lofgren gets a little help from former Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm and takes a shot at all those whiners who would rather complain than get out and actually do [...]

Bruce Springsteen hops onstage with hometown boys The Gaslight Anthem last night in Asbury Park to perform "American Slang," the title track from the band's latest excellent effort. The Gaslight Anthem Official Website

I was never a big Emerson, Lake & Palmer fan, but this little ditty by bassist Greg Lake is, in my opinion, one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time. Check out the song above and the interview below.

Just six weeks ago, I was in ecstasy. The St. Louis Cardinals, my favorite team in all of sports since I was 5, had come back from 10-1/2 games down in late August to win the World Series. Game 6 was the best game I had ever seen and my love of baseball was restored. I had lost the desire to watch it over the past few years. There seemed no loyalty anymore. Players were going here and going there and it just wasn't any fun to watch, whether at home or at the ballpark . But then there was the 2011 [...]

This greatest hits collection is Neil Diamond's 37th since bursting onto the scene in 1966. You heard me, 37th. How many times can you release "Sweet Caroline?" Apparently, at least 37 times. So this begs the question...do we really need The Very Best of Neil Diamond ? The answer is a definitive yes! I remember back in 1992 buying "The Greatest Hits: 1966-19923 and being extremely disappointed because it included awful live versions done in the 80s and early 90s including a version of "Red Red Wine" where Diamond actually says "UB40 We're Number One." Dreadful. This remastered [...]