Even as a former journalist for a small-town community newspaper, I became well acquainted with the inescapable truth that bad news almost always makes for better headlines than the good, ... Read More

Throughout the half-century or so of rock music history, styles have shifted and trends have waxed and waned, but good old raunchy, ragged rock and roll has never once gone ... Read More

Here's something we all must face. When you study the last two millennia of history, you can't just skip over the Roman Empire because you're more interested in the spiritual ... Read More

If you were a heterosexual male rock music fan in the '80s and Madonna's stylish, lacy sex-kitten image didn't really do it for you, then chances are you noticed with ... Read More

The difficult-to-categorize Cheap Trick, though still active more than 30 years after its founding, has always been and probably will always be recognized as a '70s rock band that uniquely ... Read More

I don't know if it's the accent, Crocodile Dundee or the prevalence of poisonous snakes in Australia, but it seems like we Americans often expect anything from "Down Under" to ... Read More

Now that Steve Carell's character from last year's well-received The 40-Year-Old Virgin has leaped into the dating scene with both feet, one would imagine he and his companion will be ... Read More

I can't help it. I'm a sucker for sports teams that haven't won much for a long time, and I lose interest in and frequently begin to loathe the ones ... Read More

"Essential" is a word that gets tossed around quite a bit when it comes to music analysis, compilations and the kind of musing you routinely find in this space. And ... Read More

As a highly under-the-radar force in the '80s, singer-songwriter and power pop veteran Jude Cole may have escaped the notice of many fans of the era's music. But that doesn't ... Read More

When it comes to the '80s and the groundbreaking funk/R&B outfit Kool & the Gang, most people probably think about one of two things. One is the overplayed, overrated and ... Read More

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to view Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out, Stewart Copeland's home-movies-based documentary on his former band. Aside from being an insightful, intimate look ... Read More

For much of the past decade, Whitney Houston has made headlines not for her music or her acting but for chaotic episodes from her personal life involving her equally rambunctious ... Read More