Tagged: localhistory

Big Star/Box Tops legend Alex Chilton's sad, unexpected death continues to reverberate throughout the music industry. Tributes are pouring in, from the LA Times and Rolling Stone to the NY Times a... Continue reading "Alex Chilton's Missouri Ties: How the First Big Star Reunion Happened in Columbia" >

Fact: '80s hellraisers The Dead Milkmen are awesome. The snot-nosed-punk yin to They Might Be Giants' goofy-pop yang, DM skewered pop culture like no other band (cf. "Instant Club Hit," the timele... Continue reading "St. Louis Video: Dead Milkmen, "Notorious/Kill Duran Duran" at Mississippi Nights, 1987" >

One of my coolest recent finds on Google books is a searchable archive of Spin magazine's entire collection -- from the magazine's very first issue (Madonna was the cover star, May 1985) through l... Continue reading "Flashback: The Evening Whirl in Spin Magazine" >

The Knack's "My Sharona" spent over a month at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard singles chart in late summer 1979 -- from August 25 to September 29. In that period, the band apparently performed to... Continue reading "Fun Facts: The Knack Once Played at Kirkwood High School" >

The great piano man Johnnie Johnson passed away in 2005. However, thanks to YouTube, his effortless playing lives on. Here's footage of an encore from a Sheldon concert. Johnson is performing with... Continue reading "St. Louis Video: Johnnie Johnson and David Krull" >

Now this is a fine way to end the week: After my post about Animal Collective playing the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, Raglani -- who uploaded the video -- clued me in that he just uploaded anot... Continue reading "Hey, Here's Footage from Interpol's Rocket Bar Show" >

Electronic musician Raglani has been keeping busy in non-performance ways lately: He's been uploading video after video of vintage St. Louis performance videos to a Vimeo account. The result is a ... Continue reading "Animal Collective Once Played at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center" >

Yesterday, a video of local thrash-metal legends Conquest surfaced on YouTube. The clip features the band performing "Evil Times Two" in Forest Park, as seen on the now-defunct local music program... Continue reading "Conquest Doubles Their Evil on Video, Opens for Anvil " >

Fellow members of Generation X who attended the second annual Pale Divine reunion show: We are getting old. Remember snickering when our Baby Boomer parents went to cheesy Beach Boys reunion... Continue reading "Show Review + Photos: Pale Divine at the Pageant, Tuesday, December 29" >

​And now what you've all been waiting for: The second and final installment in RFT's carefully curated hastily thrown together assemblage of YouTubery that reflects the KSHE Klassics of our (or so... Continue reading "KSHE Klassics -- A YouTube Compendium (Part 2)" >

​In this week's issue, Annie Zaleski heralds the arrival of In Concert: KSHE and 40+ Years of Rock in St. Louis, a scrapbook of the area's latter-day music history. Reading "Raised on Radio" ... Continue reading "KSHE Klassics -- A YouTube Compendium (Part 1)" >

ozarkmusicfestivalexhibit.comT he Ozark Music Festival kicked off 35 years ago last Saturday, July 18, at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia. Concert promoters had assured Sedalians that they wo... Continue reading "Woodstock (or Altamont) in the Ozarks -- The 35th Anniversary" >

On Tuesday, July 7, the recording and Internet radio industries finally agreed on how the latter will compensate the former for streaming music via the web.The resolution was a long time coming. Forme... Continue reading "Three Years After: 3WK and Online Broadcasters' Royalty Payments Established" >

What I'm assuming is band member Eric Netherland uploaded this video of his '80s local cover band Sceptre, taking Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart" to the next level with an ARSENAL OF SYNTHESIZERS. The ... Continue reading "St. Louis Video: Sceptre, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" " >

Here's the Minneapolis band Soul Asylum at Mississippi Nights in 1987, tearing through some songs like the scorching punk band it once was. Fun fact: Guess who opened for 'em? Why, the Flaming Lips!"W... Continue reading "St. Louis Video: Soul Asylum, "Tied to the Tracks" and "Whoa!/Passing Sad Daydream"" >

Back in 1983, a young St. Louisian named Amy Hardin needed a liver transplant. Friends, family and even President Reagan expressed support for the child -- although perhaps the biggest donor to the ca... Continue reading "Vintage St. Louis Video: KISS Gives Back To Toddler Who Needed Liver Transplant" >

Here's a YouTube clip of Alejandro Escovedo headlining Twangfest last week at the Pageant. Escovedo prefaces the song "Sensitive Boys" with a recollection of a wild night (or two) he spent playing the... Continue reading "Video: Alejandro Escovedo at Twangfest; Recalling Wasted Night at Cicero's" >

Kudos to Jaime for finding this awesome 1994 news segment about "the world of rave" and children going to "so-called rave parties," which are "all the rage." Alexis Tucci is mentioned, as is the recor... Continue reading "Video: St. Louis Rave News Story, April 1994" >

This is one of my favorite YouTube finds, one I didn't get a chance to post before the Springsteen show in August. It's a 1988 local TV clip about the time Bruce Springsteen was in town in 1981, and w... Continue reading "St. Louis Video: Bruce Springsteen Sees a Movie, Gets Home-Cooked Meal" >

Sinister Dane playing "Absence of Angels" at the old Fire House in 1994. Tony Hawk is there skateboarding on a half-pipe. What? ... Continue reading "St. Louis Video: Sinister Dane, "Absence of Angels" + Tony Hawk Skateboarding" >