pop culture
Modern, popular, and iconic pop culture moments in music. From current events, to trending topics and more.
My Karaoke No-Fly List. Top Story - January 2020.
I love karaoke. You could say that I am like a duck in water in regards to it. No, not the Asian type karaoke where you rent out a room and croon to close friends and try to decipher the remote iconography that is in a different language, but more of our Western style karaoke where we perform in front of audiences that in a utopia also includes people who aren’t other singers and where there is the KJ running the show. A KJ (karaoke jockey) who provides order to chaos, brings energy and personality to the show, a good sound system, and whenever possible, a large variety of quality backup tracks.
By Jim Gleeson6 years ago in Beat
The Passing Of A Drumming Giant
When news started trickling in that iconic Rush drummer Neil Peart had passed, I didn't believe it. Working at home from my office, a friend of mine had sent me a message to alert me of the news, but I had been through this before. In fact as early as the early 1980's, there were always rumors that Neil Peart had contracted any number of debilitating cancers or had died. But this was disturbing enough for me to check into. Then upon my own investigation on the internet, I started seeing announcements of his death from some other music websites that I hadn't heard of before. More suspiciously, Nick Mason's (drummer of Pink Floyd) picture had appeared where a picture of Neil was supposed to be so I had further doubts as to the validity of this announcement. I had also read that a week or so earlier Neil's first drum teacher, Don George, had passed away so I was sure that somehow, the wires had been crossed and Neil was fine enjoying his retirement, his family and his life. In fact, I even wrote back to my friend with the headline saying "False Alarm".
By Steve Komito6 years ago in Beat
Is Lizzo Unlikable?
Lizzo is one of the biggest stars of the past year and implored us to ask the philosophical question: why mean great till they gotta be great? She made a lot of noise with tracks like “Juice,” “Truth Hurts” “Good as Hell” and “Tempo.” Her rise to stardom was something that we hadn’t seen before as her most notable tracks were released years ago and only recently made their way to the tops of the charts.
By Azaria Brown6 years ago in Beat
Rocking Beats: Why Hiring a Professional Dj Service is Your Best Bet?
So, you are celebrating the success of your project, you are throwing a birthday party for family and friends, or you are bidding a rocking farewell to a colleague. Oh, you are hosting a marriage reception. All these auspicious events call for celebrating music on the beats of which your guests can shake a leg. You may arrange for all other aspects of a party, but setting up a DJ system that can make your attendants groove to its beats is something you should leave onto the professionals. Read on to know more about a professional DJ system and why you need one for every party.
By Lauren Williamson6 years ago in Beat
The Story of TV's Lloyd Thaxton—In His Own Words
During the 1960s, THE LLOYD THAXTON SHOW was the favorite TV spot for millions of teens and preteens throughout the United States. From the Monkees to the "Mashed Potato," Lloyd gave the kids an awesome mix of dance, special musical guest stars—and the great Thaxton humor. When the show left the air, he went on to produce Fight Back! with David Horowitz, over 200 segments of the Today Show, gain five Emmys, and cowrite the popular book, STUFF HAPPENS—And Then You Fix It! Just prior to his passing, he was producing a new DVD chronicling his famous teen show. I caught up with Lloyd in May of 2007 and he graciously consented to this interview:
By Chuck Hinson6 years ago in Beat
Everyone Hates Country
If you ask someone what music they like, they might easily answer “anything but country.” Unless a person explicitly likes and often listens to country, then they probably detest it. It’s incredibly common, and I think there’s a lot of reasons why.
By E.A. Forster6 years ago in Beat
This Is the New Shit
In recent years, music has almost experienced a paradigm shift. From the 50s to 2016, rock was the zeitgeist of music, from the Beatles to rock infused pop music (ie. Elton John and others). It was in 2016 that it was officially announced that tastes have shifted from rock to hip hop, a departure that was, while a necessary one, a surprise all the same. Kurt Cobain himself said in a 90s interview that he believed besides punk rock, the most important genre of music was hip hop and rap. This was the first time in music we had seen a genre born of a racial minority gain a status such as this. Radio waves became saturated with rap music, especially with artists such as Drake infusing pop and rap, exploding to super stardom, idolized in the same way the rockers of the 70s were. This departure is a cultural marvel, as well as a musical one.
By Sara Al Mahdy6 years ago in Beat
Vic Mensa's "Camp America"
Vic Mensa’s name has been in headlines for lots of reasons: some good, some bad. I’ve known about Vic Mensa and his presence in music for the better part of five or six years, but I’ve never felt inclined to listen to his music, for whatever reason. However, I think his latest release and comments on CNN are not being talked about nearly enough in the music commentary sphere.
By Azaria Brown7 years ago in Beat
