Monthly Archives: December 2012

By Steve Beard When British musician Elvis Costello was asked if he had ever had a religious experience, he responded, “No, but I have heard Al Green.” Not a bad compliment coming from Costello, a musical legend in his own … Continue reading →

By Steve Beard I was 12 years old when I first saw Rocky. Thirty years ago, the film made such a deep impression on me that I actually arose early one morning and guzzled the raw egg concoction that Rocky … Continue reading →

By Steve Beard Some of my churchgoing friends were perplexed by my recent praise of Sinead O’Connor. They still have visceral memories of a brash young woman tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II on national television fifteen … Continue reading →

By Steve Beard It was an oddly surreal experience to be walking down one of the gold-record adorned hallways of Graceland and spotting Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and his then girlfriend Ashlee Simpson in front of me checking … Continue reading →

By Troy M. Meier With his overwrought pompadour rocking and his signature Gretsch hollow-body guitar twanging away, Brian Setzer arrived on the U.S. pop music scene with a vengeance in the early 1980s. Up to that point, American audiences were … Continue reading →

By Steve Beard In the early 1980s, Stray Cats front man Brian Setzer stood up in the moshpit of the punk-rock/new-wave revolution and daringly waved a big, greasy flag for rockabilly. Reviving 1950s-inspired rock ‘n’ roll was far more defiant … Continue reading →

By Steve Beard On Thursday, May 15, 2003, June Carter Cash (1929-2003) died of complications from heart surgery. She was 73. It is strangely fitting that the last time the public saw the face of June Carter Cash was on … Continue reading →

By Steve Beard Six years ago, I was provocatively reminded of the pervasiveness of American culture while I was walking around an outdoor market in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. Amongst the tables full of trinkets and indigenous crafts, I spotted a … Continue reading →

By Steve Beard I found myself shoulder-to-shoulder with a bunch of sweaty rockers at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip while they were complaining about needing a cigarette. We were all crammed in to see Alice Cooper and … Continue reading →

By Steve Beard The recent passing of Charlton Heston sparked a pretty intense childhood flashback from the 1970s, when I was able to stay up past my bedtime to watch The Ten Commandments on television. I was mesmerized with Charlton … Continue reading →