Olivia Newton-John should be hurled into a burning ring of fire for desecrating the Johnny Cash classic, which was co-written by his wife June Carter and Merle Kilgore.
This discofied version of “Ring Of Fire” is a re-mix of the track that first appeared on Newton-John’s 1977 album of country covers, Making A Good Thing Better - a misleading title if there ever was one.
Just a photo of David Bowie with a beard in some Japanese rock mag. I wish I knew what the rest of it says.
It’s not often that you see The Dame with facial hair.
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
David Bowie with a moustache, 1966
Via Nerdcore
Already a big deal in hip-hop and beyond, it you haven’t seen this yet it’s pretty mesmerising.
For the last couple of years, battle rapping has been getting more and more mainstream, and in Dizaster the form possesses a bona fide maestro (his inspired 2011 battle with rhymester DNA has now been viewed by over a million people).
Enter – with an aging fighter’s muffled shuffle – Canibus. Although accurately considered one of hip-hop’s braver, smarter and more interesting writers, Canibus has a long habit of picking fights,having jump-started his career with a duel against LL Cool J, and relying upon rancor ever since when he deemed his fortunes in need of an especially strong shot in the arm. But during a King of the Dot pay-per-view battle last week – smoked out by what you imagine is an increasingly rare thing for him: a respectable payday – Canibus very definitely overdosed. Live by the sword, etc.
Just as tennis becomes increasingly harder and faster with each new professional generation, so does battle rapping, but the interim that divides Canibus’s battling heyday from the present encloses an evolutionary aeon. For the first couple of rounds against Dizaster, Canibus’s witless and mostly homophobic rhymes were the lyrical equivalent of a wooden racket, particularly in the face of all Dizaster’s fizzing, dazzling and highly personal spite.
Bad enough, but then Canibus found himself unable to remember his verses, and not only resigned the contest but whipped out his notepad, attempting to continue by reading aloud his prepared lyrics. Of course, most “freestyle” requires a partial suspension of disbelief from an audience, the line between preparation and improvisation being understandably vague… but you don’t pull out a notepad. Memory is a large part of the point. Reading aloud is a little like a ventriloquist moving their lips.
Worse still: despite having conceded the battle and alienated the audience, Canibus still had to endure Dizaster’s own third round, at which point the appropriate analogy is not boxing, or tennis, but bull fighting, as Dizaster buried his sword deep into the baby-soft flank of Canibus’s fairly ludicrous public image, while the victim looked on with the perverse smirk of someone staring catastrophe in the face…
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“Machine Dreams.”
A new video mix I cooked up for Dangerous Minds’ fans and friends. NSFW.
1. “Wild In Blue” - Suicide
2. “Of All The Things We’ve Made” - OMD
3. “Love Can Never Die” - Iron Curtain
4. “Under The Thunder (Ignore The Dub)” - Alien Sex Fiend
5. “I Want To Tell You Something” - Anand
6. “Accretions” - Shriekback
7. “Alliance Of Hearts” - Damon Edge
8. “Doctor Kiss Kiss” - 5000 Volts
Iggy
Talk about yer strolling bones…
To be fair to these aging rockers, anyone, and I mean anyone over the age of 40 would look unsightly photographed this close-up.
John Lydon
More after the jump…
Just in time for Summer BBQs, Motörhead unveils their latest beverage, Bastards Lager.
As Cherrybombed puts it, “I was hoping for a bit more than a 4.7% punch from a lager with the words “Motörhead,” and “Bastards” on it.”
Anyway, it looks like it’s only available in Sweden, but you can order it online from System Bolaget.
Not a good week for the NME. First, publishing an apology to Morrissey, and now this. Oh dear.
M83’s “Midnight City” (one of my top ten tunes of 2011) and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s formidable “Bad Moon Rising” fuse with chilling beauty, both sonically and in their shared dark vision, in this exceptionally cool mash-up from LeeDM101 and Thriftshop XL
This took a couple of listens before I came to appreciate just how inspired it is. At first, I resisted. But when it all comes together, I surrender. “On the rise, on the rise, on the rise….”
R. Raccoon, down but not out.
As far as crimes against rock go (and specifically the Beatles), this one’s just a misdemeanor. While the arrangement of “Rocky Raccoon” sounds like it belongs in Tobe Hooper’s The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Lena Horne’s campy theatrics saves the tune from utter disaster.
This performance is from an episode of the Flip Wilson Show aired in 1973.
Holy-motherfucking shit, our friends at Cinefamily (here in sunny Los Angeles) have outdone themselves (yet again) for what looks like an incredibly fun time this coming Saturday night:
An Evening With Paul Williams
Why are there so few songs about rainbows? Because Paul Williams wrote the absolute definitive one for all-time with “The Rainbow Connection”, and no one else since has dared to go near the rainbow zone. This one feat alone doesn’t make a career—but the theme song to “The Love Boat” and huge chart hits for The Carpenters, Barbra Streisand, Helen Reddy and Three Dog Night sure do, as well as the smash soundtracks for Phantom of the Paradise, Bugsy Malone, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas and A Star Is Born, all in conjunction with an incredible acting career in which he’s played boy geniuses (The Loved One), sleazy businessmen (Smokey And The Bandit) and monkey dudes (Battle For The Planet of the Apes). WHEW!Short in stature but towering in talent and charisma, Paul Williams was one of the faces of 1970s American pop culture—you couldn’t tune into late-night TV without seeing his joyful, bespectacled grin. Deserving of every accolade every bestowed to him, Paul is a national treasure, one fully deserving of rediscovery. Join us as we sit down with this living legend for a juicy career-spanning convo, moderated by Steven Kessler (director of the brand-new doc Paul Williams: Still Alive) and peppered with rare archival footage of Paul at his best!
Phantom of the Paradise Tribute Concert
One of the most intense, baroque and satirical films of Brian De Palma’s filmography deserved an equally shimmering, catchy and reference-laden rock score—and that’s exactly what Paul Williams bestowed upon De Palma’s 1974 movie musical masterpiece Phantom of the Paradise. Starring in the film as well as singing several of its cult-hit earworms, Paul cemented an unforgettable legacy as “Swan,” the Svengali-like evil spirit chairman of Death Records—in addition to penning other soulful, memorable numbers for his co-stars, tunes that giddily run the gamut from glam rock sleaze to doo-wop parody, singer-songwriter sensitivity and beyond. The Phantom songbook is instantly hummable and forever meaningful to lovers of pop pastiche—and after our live Q&A session with Paui, it’s time for a full-on live tribute show to this epic showstopping soundtrack! The evening’s vocalists include Eryn Young, Django and Sam Stewart, Sierra Swan, Tim Young and Heather Porcaro—and the band is manned by Tim Young, Kaveh, Aaron Sterling and Steve Porcaro. Thrill to this ace team’s renditions of “Faust,” “Old Souls,” “The Hell of It” and more!
An Evening With Paul Williams begins at 6:00pm and the Phantom of the Paradise Tribute Concert begins at 8:30pm, Saturday June 16th. Get tickets here.
(The evening prior, Cinefamily will be screening a Paul Williams double bill of The Muppet Movie and Phantom of the Paradise. Info here.)
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Paul Williams sings in his ‘Planet of the Apes’ make-up
Below, Paul Williams sings “Just an Old-Fashioned Love Song” on The Muppet Show: