earsucker

If you weren’t a fan of Katy Perry’s latest song, California Gurls (or it’s spelling), then you are not alone. She branded the song as her answer to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ NYC tribute, Empire State of Mind. But is it really a good answer? Sure, the song has Snoop Dogg on it, but he really makes the song, not her.

So, instead of blaring that from your iPod, we’ve got a list of seven California songs that would be much better suited to your eardrums. Enjoy. (continue reading…)

Joe Perry recently outed Steven Tyler for auditioning for Led Zeppelin. Now, the singer comes forth with the story and why he loved the experience.

Perry said that the auditions were “shambolic” because Steven was under the impression that they were recording new material.

Of the auditions, Steven said, “The kid in me was dying. I got to sing every song from ‘Black Dog’ up and down and I’ll never forget it as long as I live. I don’t think a band like theirs needs a singer like me. They already had the best; they were the best.”

Talent knows talent, what can I say? He wouldn’t have been great in Zeppelin, but Aerosmith is nothing without him.

According to Contact Music, Steven Tyler auditioned to be Led Zeppelin’s frontman right after Robert Plant bailed from their planned reunion tour in 2008. Who knew?

Joe Perry said Tyler tried out for the job but rehearsals between him, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were chaotic.

Perry said, “Steven disappeared and I called around. Somebody said he was in London trying out for Led Zeppelin.” (continue reading…)

With the Grammys wrapping up Sunday night, we’ve had a moment or two to reflect on the talent that has received those awards.

Deserving or not, if they made a splash last year, then they probably were awarded a Grammy. Not to say that Taylor Swift didn’t deserve her Grammys, but it’s giving way to more popular folks getting the awards, rather than those who actually deserve to win, strictly based on talent.

I was given a link to this nifty website, which points out the top ten musical talents who never received recognition by the recording academy.

The top ten:

• 1. The Who
• 2. Bob Marley
• 3. Diana Ross
• 4. Led Zeppelin
• 5. Grateful Dead
• 6. Queen
• 7. Jimi Hendrix
• 8. Lynyrd Skynyrd
• 9. The Doors
• 10. Buddy Holly

Are you surprised at this list? Some of the most prominent names in Rock N Roll today are on this list. They built the foundation for which rock music was made and yet, were never recognized by the recording academy. Yet they grant four Grammys to Taylor Swift. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Your thoughts?

For all of you Adam Lambert fans out there (my mother included), we’re happy to announce that Adam has let us in on the release date of his debut album.

He tweeted this early Wednesday:

over 86K raised by http://www.donorschoose.org… !! thank you guys so much! keep it coming! fyi my album drops Nov 24th !

I hope there’s a cover of Muse’s “Starlight” on there. That has to be my favorite cover by him. Well, that, and “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin. What’s yours?

Lily Allen has blogged on her official MySpace page that she was informed by her record company that her new album, “It’s Not Me, It’s You” has a pretty good chance of going to number one here in the U.S.

She says:

Im currently sitting behing Alison krauss and Robert plant, who, quite rightly are sitting at no 1 . ive never had a number one album in England , never mind the US ,and all of this is a bit crazy . I could well be up for no1 here(America ) , which makes me want to cry a bit . Iv’e never begged you to buy from me ever,but I am now . this will be the only time ever in my life that this could happen for me. Help me get to no 1 , go to I tunes and download the album, you’re the only hope ive got guys. Ill love you forever.

Ps thank you to everyone who has brought me this far.

I love you alwys x

I hope it does go to number one. I can’t stand Allison Krauss and what she’s done to our Robert Plant. She’s turned him from rock god to country whiner and it ticks me off that she’s probably the reason why Led Zeppelin won’t get back together. Grrr.

Back to Lily, she definitely deserves to be number one, I can’t stop listening to “Fag Hag”.

Image Credit: Bauer-Griffin

The Guitar Hero franchise has become quite the staple of family gaming in my house. We love them, the kids love them, and seemingly, the rest of the music gamers out there do, too.

Alas, this is the only Guitar Hero game we’ve yet to purchase, but never fear, we will soon. We’ll play it until the disc dies, I’m sure.

What if you could choose which rock gods came out with a Guitar Hero game? Who would you pick? Here’s my favorite top eight choices, in no particular order.

8. KISS

Can you imagine jamming out to Love Gun or Strutter? How about rocking out to Detroit Rock City or Rock N Roll All Nite? I can’t figure out why Gene Simmons hasn’t capitalized on this idea yet. He’s got the Kiss name on everything else under the sun. Why not a video game?

7. LED ZEPPELIN

This one was just obvious for me. Who wouldn’t break out that Les Paul and wail along to some Led Zeppelin? I want to play Black Dog, Rock And Roll, Misty Mountain Hop, and some Kashmir. This band was a fixture in the 70′s, 80′s and they still are. I wish they would get back together already.

6. VAN HALEN

Jump, Why Can’t This Be Love, Hot For Teacher…I could go on. They could even add some of David Lee Roth’s solo stuff as an added bonus. I’d buy it. Van Halen rocks. Heck, they could probably throw in some Sammy Hagar for good measure, it’d still be alright.

5. ELVIS

There, I said it. Elvis Presley deserves a nod on this list, too. He was a great singer and did some guitar playing in his day. If the powers that be at Activision can add Cream into the mix, then why not some of the King? They could put in Don’t Be Cruel, All Shook Up, Heartbreak Hotel, and Blue Suede Shoes. If you haven’t heard of these, please consult the wonderful people at Wikipedia.

4. NIRVANA

Nirvana also deserves a mention on the list of bands that I would love Guitar Hero to make into a new version of the game. Why? Because THEY’RE NIRVANA. Courtney Love can’t take away what they’ve already done for the music industry, but she could probably give this one the go-ahead. Maybe one day in one of her drunken/druggie rants on MySpace, she might have a moment of enlightenment and think of Kurt’s fans. They could include the entire Nevermind album, along with In Utero. I’d eat it up. I always wanted to play Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Are, Heart-Shaped Box, and Lithium, to name a few.

3. OZZY OSBOURNE

Enter in The Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne. I know that he wasn’t the guitarist on any of his albums, but how could you ignore the music that he made. Don’t you want to play Crazy Babies, Crazy Train, or any other “Crazy” stuff he can come up with? I do. He’s classic, for sure. I want to rock out to Mr. Crowley, Goodbye To Romance (even though that’s a slow one), Iron Man (this one would go without saying), and Suicide Solution. RIP Randy Rhoads.

2. GRATEFUL DEAD

A classic band if there ever was one. Even though the lead singer, Jerry Garcia has passed on, him and the Deadheads will always live on. I’d play Touch Of Grey, wouldn’t you? If you were born after 1980, then you’ve probably never heard of these guys. Truckin’ was also a good song to play the guitar to, along with Johnny B. Goode. I know it wasn’t there’s originally, but the Activision gods would probably get somebody to cover it anyways.

1. THE BEATLES

It was already rumored last October that Harmonix (which means it’s likely to go the route of Rock Band) was thinking about doing a video game for The Beatles catalog, so let’s hope that comes to fruition. I want to play Can’t Buy Me Love, Help, Let It Be, which is heavy on the piano playing, but would still make a good track to include. RIP George Harrison and John Lennon.

Who would you add?

Images Courtesy of Amazon.

If you think you’re in for a Led Zeppelin concert anytime soon, then you are sadly mistaken. Jimmy Page has said this in Tokyo recently: “The amount of work that we put into the O2, both ourselves rehearsing and also for the staging of it, was probably what you’d put into a world tour anyway.”

He also went on to say that Robert Plant has a project going on with Alison Krauss and he’s been busy with that, and will be until at least September.

So, we can wait around and hope that they’ll do a full tour. I know I will…I’d go see Robert Plant, but the tradeoff is seeing Alison Krauss sing or something…..and I just don’t think I could put myself through that. It’s just not worth it to me.

After performing a one-off concert, Led Zeppelin have decided to make it a full tour!!!

Members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham have so far refused to be drawn on any future plans to reunite. But a source close to the rockers has confirmed they are in negotiations to put on an 18-month world tour extravaganza later next year.

The pal tells British newspaper the Daily Express, “It will kick off at next year’s Glastonbury after Robert Plant has finished touring with American country star Alison Krauss. “Plant and Krauss have a new album out right now and he is committed to that for the next couple of months at least.”

The rock legends have been inundated with pleas from fans to follow up their hugely successful London show on December 10th with a full-on tour.

Yes, tour, tour, tour!!!

People have been waiting 27 years for Led Zeppelin to reunite and do a concert. Now that the time has come, fans are coming in from all over to see them live. I would if I had the cash, I love Led Zeppelin, they are one of my favorite bands of all time.

Their tour demands have gotten simpler over the years as they’ve gotten older:

Their backstage rider asked for tea, coffee – and an ironing board. The strongest drug Robert Plant, 59; Jimmy Page, 63; and John Paul Jones, 61; consume tonight will be caffeine.

Concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith said: “They are much older now obviously and are very low maintenance.

“They’ve asked for cups of tea and coffee. We’ll have some beer and a bottle of wine for them backstage but they have said they require very little. They are extremely focused and have been rehearsing. They know that a lot of people have been waiting a long time for this gig – it’s going to be a great concert.”

So– for energy, they have caffeine and to look nice, they want to iron their shirts. I can respect that. Maybe they’d come over and play for me, I have coffee, tea, and an ironing board. We could jam out!

Source

Jimmy Page has said that he was too traumatized to deal with anything to do with Led Zeppelin for years due to the death of the drummer, John Bonham. He couldn’t even listen to Led Zeppelin…..

The group disbanded after the accidental passing of the then 32-year-old, who died choking on vomit after a session of heavy drinking – and Page was so horrified he avoided the band for years.

He says, “After John Bonham’s death I spent 15 years not even wanting to think about Led Zeppelin. But I also have difficulty thinking it’s all over. Now at least one concert is planned and I’m incredibly happy about that.”

And it was the music that eventually convinced the guitarist to reunite with his bandmates for a comeback concert.

He adds, “If I listen to our records from that time now, I think, ‘My God, we were incredibly good!’ We really blew everyone else off stage and in that way created a separate status for ourselves in the music world.”

With talent like this, it’s hard to ignore the fact that you must go on and you must make music, because the whole world loves you. And it’s hard to lose a friend and bandmate, but we’re all glad that Led Zeppelin is touring now, and I can’t wait to see them live.