Larry Smith, producer of some of the most cherished hip-hop records of the Eighties, including Run-D.M.C.’s first two albums, died Thursday at the age of 63. Radio host Combat Jack broke the news on Twitter, writing: “Just spoke to his family. RIP Larry Smith, the original King of Beats who passed…… Source: RollingStone Link: Run-D.M.C. Producer […]

Miguel has spent the last few months hinting at the possibility of new music, and this morning, the R&B singer posted three new songs to his SoundCloud. The first, “NWA,” features a guest verse from L.A. rap legend Kurupt; the second, “Hollywooddreams” addresses a down-and-out actor looking to make it big;…… Source: RollingStone Link: Hear Miguel […]

Introduced to Cuba in 1866, and played professionally there since 1878, baseball is an integral part of the island nation’s culture, and the list of great Cuban ballplayers is a long and immensely colorful one. Unfortunately, thanks to the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba, relatively few of them have been…… Source: RollingStone Link: The 10 […]

Paul McCartney revealed that he recently tried writing a song about the killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson and Staten Island in an interview with The Associated Press. While the former Beatle admitted his initial attempts proved fruitless, he hasn’t given up on the song. “I was thinking recently about all these…… Source: RollingStone Link: Paul […]

You don’t mess with a country outlaw… especially when he’s packing.  Related: Flashback: Watch a Johnny Cash Christmas Clip From 1978 On December 19, 1985 — almost 30 years to the date after the release of “Folsom Prison Blues,” during which Johnny Cash’s character shoots a man in Reno just to watch…… Source: RollingStone Link: […]

Nobody expected the Decemberists, the theatrically-minded indie-folk band from Portland, Oregon, to ever hit Number One on the Billboard album chart. So what did they do after their sixth LP, 2011’s The King Is Dead, made it all the way to the top? They took four years to release its…… Source: RollingStone Link: YA Books, […]

The Foo Fighters’ latest stop on the Sonic Highways promotional tour brought them to The Tonight Show where they delivered a smashing, Herculean performance of album closer, “I Am a River.” The track starts out small, with frontman Dave Grohl crooning a tale of finding salvation underground, while he and guitarists Pat Smear and…… Source: RollingStone Link: See […]

During the early months of 2014, Garth Brooks dusted off his Stetson — or, as he’s more prone to wearing these days, his Garth-branded baseball cap — and launched the biggest comeback the country-music industry has seen in years. Technically, though, the guy came out of retirement nearly a decade ago. After spending…… Source: RollingStone Link: […]

One week after wrapping up a string of shared shows in the Southwest, Jenny Lewis and Ryan Adams teamed up again last night, when both songwriters hit the stage during an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. Lewis was the show’s musical guest, in her last gig of a busy year…… Source: RollingStone Link: Watch Jenny […]

It has been awhile since my last broadcast: Deadlines, shows, roadwork, and, sadly, obituaries got in the way. They also had a big impact on the records that have filled the last weeks of this year: Pink Floyd’s tribute to their late keyboard player Richard Wright; U2’s controversial gift to…… Source: RollingStone Link: Fricke's Picks […]