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Growing up, Don Hertzfeldt first fell in love with animation while attending screenings at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Every year in the ’90s, the venue held an annual animation festival, which his parents took him to, where he spent hours watching short films from animators as diverse as Bill Plympton, “Wallace & Gromit” creator Nick Park, and future Pixar directors.

“For a kid, growing up with Saturday morning cartoons and Disney movies, seeing that there’s an independent world out there was mind-melting,” Hertzfeldt told IndieWire in an interview. “You know, I had no idea you could do this independently, by yourself. And it was massively inspirational. I think seeing those indie films made me want to be an animator, and thinking ‘maybe someday I can have a movie in one of these programs.'”

Now, Hertzfeldt is doing one better and making an animation festival himself.

Frank Zappa’s 1975 prog-rock masterpiece One Size Fits All will receive a 50th-anniversary reissue this fall featuring a new remaster, unreleased session tracks, live recordings, and more.

One Size Fits All: 50th Anniversary Edition, out Sept. 26 via Zappa Records/UMe, boasts the original LP — featuring Zappa classics like “Inca Roads,” “San Ber’dino” and “Andy” — along with two discs worth of outtakes from the album sessions, plus an entire 1974 concert from Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

“The first thing I think about when I hear One Size Fits All is its sonic impact,...

Exclusive: Unfolding in New York’s East Village in 1978, the Nova Convention has gone down in history as a legendary counterculture meeting headlined by Naked Lunch novelist William S. Burroughs, and also featuring Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, Allen Ginsberg and Laurie Anderson.

Aaron Brookner and Rodrigo Areias documentary’s Nova ’78 – which debuts out of competition at the Locarno Film Festival in August – revisits the three-day event which ran from November 30 to December 2, 1978 in the Entermedia Theatre, now the Village East by Angelika cinema.

It uses original newly restored and digitized 16mm footage shot at the Nova Convention by Aaron Brookner’s uncle Howard Brookner, Tom Dicillo, and Jim Lebovitz, with direct sound by Jim Jarmusch.

Howard Brookner originally started filming Burroughs for a NYU film project, which evolved into a long-term collaboration, culminating in the 1983 work Burroughs: The Movie, broadcast by BBC Arena and produced by Alan Yentob and the filmmaker.

Two titans of New Wave, the B-52’s and Devo, will team up this fall for the co-headlining Cosmic De-Evolution Tour.

Although the B-52’s embarked on a farewell tour three years ago — they’ve since confined themselves to a Las Vegas residency — the idea of joining the “Whip It” troupe on the road proved too enticing to ignore. The two bands recently linked up (alongside Fred Armisen) at the all-star SNL 50 concert and discussed the venture.

“In 2022, I swore I’d never get on a tour bus again, but...

To answer the question in the headline of this article, the short answer is: yes. Jim Parsons actually taught himself how to play the theremin for "The Big Bang Theory."

In the episode "The Bus Pants Utilization", the lead characters gather together to invent an app that lets users solve differential equations. Such an app, they figure, is specialized enough that no one else has published one yet, and they begin to have fantasies about potential wealth and fame. Sheldon, however, begins to fantasize that their roommate Penny (Kaley Cuoco) might be angling to steal their idea, even though she clearly wants nothing to do with it. Sheldon also becomes preoccupied with their team's command structure and who the leader might be. He becomes caty, cruel, and vindictive, making fun of his teammates to assert his leadership over them.

Sheldon is eventually, understandably, kicked off the team. As revenge, he...

In June of 1974, Frank Zappa and his rapturous band, the Mothers of Invention, invited a small audience to the their rehearsal hall on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, Calif. Together, they performed for over two hours while a small film crew captured the evening, and a mobile recording truck picked up on the audio. Unfortunately, the audio and video weren’t synchronized.

As a result, the June concert that Zappa planned to pitch to TV networks was never released — that is, until May 9, when the special dubbed “Cheaper Than Cheep” is set to arrive via Zappa Records/UMe.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to welcome you to the world’s cheapest television special, which is being manufactured for your edification right here in the midst of our Mothers of Invention rehearsal hall at 5831 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, California,” Zappa says in the footage. “Can you all turn around and look at...

A long-in-the-vaults Frank Zappa television special, recorded in June 1974 but never aired, will finally be released next month as a concert film and live album.

Cheaper Than Cheep captures Zappa and his Mothers of Invention on June 21, 1974, performing to a small crowd in their intimate Sunset Blvd. rehearsal hall.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to welcome you to the world’s cheapest television special, which is being manufactured for your edification right here in the midst of our Mothers of Invention rehearsal hall at 5831 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, California,” Zappa said at the onset.

There's much more to animation on Netflix than classic family favorites like Kubo and the Two Strings or The Mitchells vs. the Machines. You have seen them, right? The five films below are definitely not all rainbows and ponies. Parental discretion is heavily advised. Heck, they might be too much for you.

Animation has moved far beyond the heyday of Bugs Bunny - and what the heck is wrong with Warner Bros., taking classics like that off their streaming service? I mean, I know we lose shows on Netflix every month, but that's beyond stupid on their part.

As for animated movies, they can tell stories far deeper than the adventures of your friendly neighborhood teenager who slings webs. Yes, you can still catch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Netflix, and you really should. Yet some animation delves into topics that even adults have difficulty facing. Somehow, they make it just a bit easier.

Frank Zappa’s son Dweezil is reminiscing about an interaction he had with Eddie Van Halen during his childhood. On Wednesday night, Dweezil spoke at a Discogs event at W Hollywood’s The Loft, where he talked about some of his favorite vinyl records, including Fair Warning by Van Halen, as he shared an anecdote about a surprise visit from the late Van Halen.

“My mom answers the phone and she’s like, ‘This guy says he’s Edward Van Halen.’ I’m 12 and I’ve never heard him speak before,...

Friday’s “The Drew Barrymore Show” welcomes a childhood friend and a culinary expert for a lighthearted end to the week. Moon Unit Zappa, daughter of the legendary musician Frank Zappa and author of the memoir “Earth to Moon,” joins Drew for a trip down memory lane. Having known each other since childhood, the two will […]

The Drew Barrymore Show: Moon Unit Zappa, Nicole McLaughlin...

In the history of Saturday Night Live, was anything as secretive and anticipated as the moment this season right before Timothée Chalamet appeared onstage to sing the first of three Bob Dylan numbers? Which songs would they be? How would he sound? For me, it was all strangely familiar — a throwback to the moment when a lucky bunch of us in the SNL audience witnessed a complete-unknown music moment of its time, and from an equally unexpected source.

I can’t remember how we knew about it, but in the...

Since 1975 nearly a thousand hosts have graced the stage at Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center for “Saturday Night Live.”

Actors, comedians, musicians and even politicians have taken the stage to make America laugh on Saturday night for 50 seasons. Twenty five of these hosts have been inducted into the “Five Timers Club.” The club was first introduced during Tom Hanks’ 1990 monologue, featuring Steve Martin, Elliott Gould and Paul Simon.

During Martin Short’s December 2024 appearance, several Five Timers Club members popped up on the show to welcome him into the club, including Emma Stone, Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Kristen Wiig and more, to give him the ceremonial robe.

Alec Baldwin has hosted the show 17 times, the most in the series’ history, with Martin, Hanks, Buck Henry and John Goodman following close behind.

As the show celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, we have rounded up every person who has hosted the sketch show.

David Edward Byrd, who created psychedelic posters for Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Grateful Dead shows and for such Broadway productions as Follies, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar and Little Shop of Horrors, has died. He was 83.

Byrd died Monday at a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, rep Jerry Digney announced. Jolino Beserra, his partner of 40 years, said on Facebook that he died of pneumonia.

One of the foremost graphic artists of 20th century pop culture, Byrd did lots of work for rock promoter Bill Graham’s Fillmore East, which opened in the East Village in Manhattan in 1968, and designed a poster for the original Woodstock festival (it turned out it wasn’t used when the event was moved).

He designed posters for The Rolling Stones’ tour of the U.S. in 1969 and The Who’s performance of their rock opera Tommy at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1971 and album covers...

In Frank Zappa’s 1974 song “Cheepnis”, he sings of the poodle-shaped monster “Frunobulax,” and his adoration for the 1956 B-movie It Conquered The World where one could see the 2x4 being used to prod the titular It towards its unsuspecting on-screen victims. "Can y'all see?", the song’s narrator asks, “The little strings on the Giant Spider? The Zipper From The Black Lagoon? The vents by the tanks where the bubbles go up? And the flaps on the side of the moon?” The song is a celebration of reveling in the trashiness of some of these films, seeing the literal seams, and reveling in their handcrafted ineptitude. In the case of the 1950s films Zappa is singing about, these were entirely un-ironic mistakes, and for the acute viewer taking these in at the cinema or, even more likely, on late-night television, these elements, like battle scars, illustrate how these janky yet...

Jon Hamm has done plenty of voice acting over his career, but voicing 1950s FBI agent-turned-private investigator Jack Bergin has proven unique.

Instead of recording his lines in a silo, Hamm was joined in the recording studio by a murderer’s row of performers — including Alia Shawkat, Ana de la Reguera, Bradley Whitford, Giancarlo Esposito, Omar Epps, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Hamm’s “Mad Men” co-star John Slattery — for the Audible Original series 2022’s “The Big Lie” and the upcoming new installment “The Big Fix.”

“This is better in every way, but mostly because the story is so intimate that it’s super helpful to have the personal connection with the person that you’re acting opposite,” Hamm said, discussing the series, created by John Mankiewicz and directed by Aaron Lipstadt, during Variety & Audible’s Cocktails and Conversations at Sundance. (Watch the full conversation in the video above.) “It’s like...

The Bob Dylan song choices Timothée Chalamet picked for his “Saturday Night Live” musical appearance were… well, completely unknown to most of the viewing audience. The actor’s dip into more obscure choices delighted many Dylanologists who tuned in, even as his picks defied expectations that he would recreate songs he performed as Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” which turned out to be the furthest thing from his mind.

In his opening monolog as host, Chalamet signaled that viewers would be surprised by the choices during his musical segment. “You might not know the Bob Dylan songs I’m performing, but they’re my personal favorites,” he told the audience. “I’m so grateful ‘Saturday Night Live’ is still doing weird stuff like this 50 years in. They’re either really nice for letting me do this or incredibly mean and this is all a big prank.”

In an unbilled cameo,...

Why do celebrities keep trying their luck in politics? It, perhaps, may be that as long as there are cameras, microphones, and eyeballs involved, celebrities will keep chasing the dream of the White House. Even someone like Frank Zappa once seriously considered running for president, hoping to shake things up with ideas like lowering taxes and sticking closely to the Constitution.

While quite a few (say Clint Eastwood and Arnold Schwarzenegger) have done more than just voicing their plans, but also taking public office and finishing full terms, others believed that their fame was enough to carry them all the way to the Oval Office. Has that ever been the case? Rarely.

A still from All the President’s Men | Credits: Wildwood Enterprises

Let’s look into some of the most memorable celebrity presidential bids, their platforms, promises, and, often, their pitfalls.

Ronald Reagan

Celebrity bids for the presidency prove that in America,...

Maria Callas was a person of mystery long before her untimely passing. The world wanted to know about the opera singer, and many attempts have been made to dissect her life. The most recent and widely reached has to be Angelina Jolie’s film, which took some very interesting approaches to her story.

Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria | Credit: Netflix

There is one very interesting approach that the film took with the aspect of “Mandrax,” turning the drug into an actual person and leaving it to the audience to figure out if he was real or not. However, one cannot help but wonder what the real-life Callas’s relationship with the drug was.

The Personification of an Addiction

Many works over the years have tried to capture the essence of Maria Callas, following her through her life and success as an opera singer. However, Angelina Jolie’s film,...

Heavy metal veterans W.A.S.P.’s concert at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Saturday (November 16th) turned into a quasi-rally for president-elect Donald Trump leading into the final song of the night.

W.A.S.P. are currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of their self-titled debut, performing the LP in its entirety before playing an encore of songs from other albums. Just prior to playing the evening’s final song, “Blind in Texas,” frontman Blackie Lawless addressed the crowd, eventually referencing the fact that Trump was down the street at a UFC event in Madison Square Garden. The singer’s full speech (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), reads as follows:

“We’ll do something a little different tonight. We are in the appropriate city to do this. You know, it was Shakespeare that said, ‘Some are born to greatness. Some have greatness thrust upon them.’ It was the Greek historian...

Eve Babitz, the “dowager groupie” who wrote Slow Days, Fast Company and was known for her relationships with the likes of The Doors’ frontman Jim Morrison and Steve Martin, and Joan Didion, the author of Play It As It Lays and The White Album, who wrote Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson’s A Star Is Born, are unquestionably two of Los Angeles’ most-revered writers.

A new book – Didion & Babitz written by Lili Anolik – highlights the relationship between the pair, helped by the author unearthing scores of previously unseen letters.

The book, which published today by Simon & Schuster’s Scribner, also explores their contrasting relationship with Hollywood (the town) and Hollywood (the industry).

Didion wrote a slew of screenplays with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, including the aforementioned A Star Is Born, 1971’s The Panic In Needle Park, which starred Al Pacino, 1981’s True Confessions, which starred Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall,...

Does Cillian Murphy think James Bond should be a woman? (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Cillian Murphy threw his hat out of the ring in an era where the “Bond” mantle is up for grabs. Instead, he suggested a woman should don the iconic 007 tux. His perspective? “It did feel kind of pivotal,” Murphy remarked, signaling a departure from Bond’s classic mold. This was classic Murphy, blending introspection with a sharp awareness of cultural evolution. But if there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about shaking up old molds, it’s Murphy himself.

In the summer of ’96, Murphy was at his pivotal moment, a young man at a crossroads in Cork. His law exams at University College Cork? Flunked. The record deal with his funky, Frank Zappa-inspired band? Declined. And then came Disco Pigs, the play that would change it all. Murphy jumped in, untrained and uncertain, alongside then-unknown writer Enda Walsh.

Saturday Night Live first aired on NBC in 1975. Created by Lorne Michaels, the late-night sketch comedy has had its ups and downs throughout the years. Each episode features a celebrity host and musical guest, some of which have been incredible additions to the series lineup, while others just didn't hit the mark. Below we chronicle a list of 10 of the worst hosts featured on SNL.

Louise Lasser (1976) Actress Louise Lasser on Television Set | Lynn Goldsmith/GettyImages

Louise Lasser hosted during the debut season of SNL during the penultimate episode. She was well known for her work in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, which earned her place as host. Earlier that year, her personal life took a nose dive when she was given six months probation for cocaine possession. During her episode, she refused to perform with the cast, making an exception for Chevy Chase and a dog.

Her opening monologue focused on her struggles,...

In its 50-year history, Saturday Night Live has seen all kinds of hosts. Some are absolute geniuses on the show, have huge hits with the audience, and come back multiple times. Others were “flash in the pan” stars whose gigs are mostly forgotten. And then there are hosts who were absolutely terrible and never invited back.

Some go the extra mile and are openly banned by SNL, although it’s sometimes tricky to figure that out. Contrary to opinion, Charles Grodin wasn’t banned, but it was his own choice not to return as he didn’t feel he worked on the show. Many bans are for the musical guests, but these stand out as the SNL hosts were so awful they were banned from returning, and some big names on this list.

Steven Seagal Smash Global V Pre-Oscar Fight - Arrivals | Paul Archuleta/GettyImages

In the annals of SNL,...

Legendary bassist Tony Levin, best known for his work with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel, has announced the new album Bringing It Down to the Bass. The LP features contributions from Robert Fripp (King Crimson), Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Vinnie Colaiuta, and more.

The album arrives via Flatiron Recordings on September 13th, one day after Levin kicks off the highly anticipated “Beat” tour celebrating the music of King Crimson with Adrian Belew, Danny Carey, and Steve Vai. According to Levin, the album is a long-time coming, as he’s been working on a number of the songs for years, if not decades.

Get Beat Tickets Here

“It could have been done a long time ago, frankly,” Levin said in a press release, “but it’s because of a problem I have, which is a very good problem to have. And that’s that I have a lot of touring and...

Wait, was that Kamala Harris emerging from a record store brandishing a vinyl copy of the Grateful Dead’s Live/Dead? No, it was actually Charli Xcx’s Brat. No, hold on, it was Frank Zappa’s One Size Fits All. Or maybe it was Nirvana’s Nevermind or Gza’s Liquid Swords?

All those answers are right — sort of.

In the week since Harris became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, music nerds have been having fun with a photo, taken last year, of Harris emerging from Hr (Home Rule...

John Mayall, the newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer whose group the Blues Breakers helped nurture many British music legends including Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and several future members of Fleetwood Mac, died Monday in California. He was 90.

His family released a statement on social media confirming the news but gave few details other than citing “health issues.”

“It is with heavy hearts that we bear the news that John Mayall passed away peacefully in his California home yesterday, July 22, 2024, surrounded by his loving family,” the Instagram post reads. “Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world’s greatest road warriors.”

Heralded as “The Godfather of British Blues,” singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mayall had a love of American blues and jazz — and a gift for spotting young talent. In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, he...

Black Sabbath legends Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi have each unveiled an intriguing new product. Somewhat reflective of their respective demeanors, Ozzy is the subject of an official coloring book, while Iommi is offering up his second signature cologne, dubbed “Deified.”

Ozzy Osbourne: The Official Coloring Book is “coming soon” via Fantoons, which has also created activity/coloring books for Iron Maiden, Rush, Frank Zappa, and more.

The Ozzy mega-coloring book features 72 pages of line art that’s ready for coloring. Reads Fantoons’ official description:

“The only official Ozzy Osbourne coloring book has arrived! Revisit his entire solo discography through intricate illustrations by the award-winning Fantoons animation studio! Get ready for a unique book featuring Ozzy and the universe he built throughout his unmatched career. The perfect gift for casual or die-hard fans alike. Get ready for a crazy train ride… A must-have for Ozzy fans around the globe! Disclaimer: Bats not included.

The first hit album of Frank Zappa’s career, Apostrophe (‘), will be expanded into a comprehensive box set for its 50th anniversary. Available in a variety of formats on Sept. 13, the reissue in its most extravagant form, a super deluxe edition, will feature a remastered edition of the original album with bonus tracks, live recordings from Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City, and Dayton from 1974, and a Blu-ray that includes the album in 5.1 surround sound and its original quadrophonic mix in addition to high-res audio.

The release, available to preorder now,...

Actor, comedian, and musician Martin Mull, known by many as Gene Parmesan, Private Eye, from “Arrested Development” or Colonel Mustard from “Clue: The Movie,” died Thursday at the age of 80 according to an Instagram post shared on Friday by his daughter, TV writer Maggie Mull.

“I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness,” she wrote. “He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and — the sign of a truly exceptional person — by many, many dogs. I loved him tremendously.”

Mull was born in Chicago, but grew up in Ohio and Connecticut.

In news that will certainly devastate fans of comedy and prolific character actors, it was announced today that comedian, actor, musician, and painter Martin Mull has passed away. The star of shows like "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," "Fernwood 2 Night," "Roseanne," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," "Arrested Development," "Danny Phantom," and countless comedic movies (including the cult hit "Clue") was 80 years old. The news first broke on a post from his daughter Maggie Mull's Instagram. Her caption reads below:

"I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness. He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians,...

Martin Mull, the comedian and actor known for his rolls in Clue, Roseanne and Arrested Development, has died at the age of 80.

His daughter, Maggie Mull, announced the news on Friday, writing, “I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness.” She added, “He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny.”

“My dad will be...

Martin Mull, the comic musician and actor who started with 1970s TV series “Fernwood 2 Night” and went on to appear as Colonel Mustard in “Clue” and on “Arrested Development” and “Roseanne,” died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 80.

His daughter Maggie announced his death on Instagram, writing “I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness. He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and—the sign of a truly exceptional person—by many, many dogs. I loved him tremendously.”

Mull was nominated for an Emmy in 2016 for his guest role...

Martin Mull, the droll comedian, actor, singer-songwriter and painter who found fame on the soap opera satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and its spinoff Fernwood 2 Night, has died. He was 80.

Mull died Thursday at home after a “valiant fight against a long illness,” his daughter, Maggie Mull, shared on her Instagram.

“He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials,” she wrote. “He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and — the sign of a truly exceptional person — by many, many dogs. I loved him tremendously.”

Mull also enjoyed lengthy stints in the 1990s as the befuddled principal Willard Kraft on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and as Leon Carp, the gay boss and pal...

Martin Mull, the droll comic actor best known for his roles in “Clue,” “Roseanne” and “Arrested Development,” died Thursday at age 80.

His daughter, Maggie Mull, shared the news to Instagram on Friday, writing, “I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness.”

Maggie, who is a TV writer, added, “He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by maggie mull (@mulltoons)

She added that he will be missed by “his wife and daughter, by his friends and coworkers, by fellow artists and comedians and musicians, and — the sign of a truly exceptional person — by many, many dogs.”

She ended her post with, “I loved him tremendously.”

Mull...

Johnny Depp, Iggy Pop and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch are among those sharing memories about tattoo artist Jonathan Shaw in the trailer for the documentary feature Scab Vendor: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist.

Dark Star Pictures releases the movie from directors Lucas de Barros and Mariana Thome in theaters June 14 before it hits VOD platforms July 30. Scab Vendor examines the life of Shaw, who opened his Fun City Tattoo studio in New York City before tattooing was even legal in Manhattan.

The son of bandleader Artie Shaw and actress Doris Dowling, Jonathan Shaw suffered an overdose in his 20s. He bounced back by becoming a go-to tattoo artist in NYC, where he enjoyed a celebrity lifestyle and developed friendships with various public figures. The film also focuses on Shaw’s realization at the height of his career that he needed to change his path.

“My childhood was a typical American-dream nightmare,...

Independence Day is here, and Deep Tracks is focusing on the most essential fourth releases from American classic rock artists! We’re counting down your favorites, as voted by you.

Deep TracksFourths for the FourthListen on the App

Listen on the App

Stream the “Fourths for the Fourth” countdown in the SiriusXM app now, and catch it on-air when it premieres on Deep Tracks (Ch. 308) on July 4 at 4pm Et.

Directions: Vote once for up to 15 of your favorite albums in the poll below before 11:59pm Et on June 16, 2024.

Can’t see the poll? Click here to vote.

Fourth releases from American classic rock artists

These are the possible album choices for this year’s “Fourths for the Fourth” countdown:

Allman Brothers Band – Brothers And Sisters

Aerosmith – Rocks

Al Kooper – New York City (You’re A Woman)

Alice Cooper – Killer

Beach Boys – Little Deuce Coupe

Big Star – In Space...

Looking back, 1974 was a groundbreaking year for new musical releases. To re-create some of the magic that year brought, Classic Vinyl (Ch. 26) is counting down the top “50 Albums Turning 50” — as voted by you, our listeners!

50 Albums Turning 50Stream the full countdown nowListen on the App

Listen on the App

The “50 Albums Turning 50” countdown premieres on Classic Vinyl (Ch. 26) on May 24 at 3pm Et.

Stream it anytime, anywhere, on the SiriusXM app.

Directions: Vote once for up to 20 of your favorite albums in the poll below before 11:59pm Et on May 20, 2024.

Can’t see the poll? Click here to vote.

Albums from 1974 you voted on

These are the possible album choices for this year’s “50 Albums Turning 50” countdown:

Aerosmith – Get Your Wings

America – Holiday

April Wine – Live!

Argent – Encore: Live in Concert

Bachman–Turner Overdrive – Not Fragile

Bad Company – Bad Company

Bill Wyman – Monkey Grip

Billy Joel – Streetlife Serenade

Blue...

To the average listener hearing Jessica Pratt for the first time, it’s possible to mistake her for an artist from a different era. Her music sounds decades old, like an obscure artist unearthed from the dusty bin of a Midwestern antique shop. But this is not the Langley Schools Music Project, and Pratt is no Connie Converse. Born in 1987, the Los Angeles musician has been surprising people with her otherworldly indie folk since 2012. And now she’s returned with her fourth album, Here in the Pitch, out May 3 via Mexican Summer.

In the summer of 1968, months after the releases of We’re Only in It for the Money and Lumpy Gravy and a few months ahead of the release of Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention found time for a five-hour concert on the Sunset Strip. A new box set, Whisky a Go Go, 1968 — due out June 21 — chronicles the unique evening, which the band recorded for release but, in Zappa’s signature fashion, divvied up for spare parts on other recordings. (Notably, Uncle Meat’s...

Music movies are having a moment — if, indeed, they ever stopped having one. Take the pop-music biopic. There are times, like right now, when it surges in popularity, yet the form has never gone out of style. And music documentaries, a staple of the indie-film world, have only proliferated during the streaming era. This means that they have to compete for visibility, but a ton of them are getting made and (mostly) getting seen. They’ve become a happy epidemic.

A few, like “Amy” or “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?,” are popular and vital enough to have carved out a place in the culture — and, in the case of both those films, to have inspired the creation of a biopic. I have it on good authority that when you’re trying to put together a music documentary, the prospect of it spawning a biopic can be a key selling point.

Dweezil Zappa has announced 2024 tour dates celebrating the 50th anniversary of his father Frank Zappa’s albums Roxy & Elsewhere and Apostrophe.

Kicking off on August 1st in Phoenix, the dates — dubbed the “Rox-Postrophy Tour” — will see Zappa reimagine the music from the two albums with “fan-favorite tracks from each record; replete with unique hybrid arrangements.” After stops in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, and more cities, the tour will conclude with a final performance in Santa Fe, New Mexico on September 11th.

Get Dweezil Zappa Tickets Here

Tickets for the dates will first become available via an artist pre-sale opening on March 13th at 10:00 a.m. local time. For more information on the pre-sale, check out Zappa’s website. General on-sale will begin via Ticketmaster on March 15th at 10:00 a.m. local time, after which tickets can be purchased on StubHub, where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program.

Spoiler Alert: This article continues spoilers for the film “Drive-Away Dolls.”

In Ethan Coen’s “Drive-Away Dolls,” an homage to the colorful, brash world of exploitation cinema, there’s a notable cameo from none other than Miley Cyrus. Cyrus appears in a psychedelic swirl of flashbacks as Tiffany Plastercaster, seen titillating a college-aged version of Matt Damon’s character, who will come to be a conservative Senator in Florida. Plastercaster does as her name implies, crafting a replica dildo for the aspiring politician’s stimulated member.

It may sound far-fetched, but Cyrus’ cameo is inspired by Cynthia Plaster Caster — real name Cynthia Albritton — the artist and groupie who famously cast the genitals of musicians and others in plaster, from Jimi Hendrix to The Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra.

Albritton, who died in 2022, also cast female breasts in later years in an effort to even the playing field, with subjects including Karen O,...

Eddie Wilson could tell stories about the Armadillo World Headquarters, the storied Austin music venue he founded in 1970, for hours. He’ll tell you about how “nowhere else in the world” had ever treated Charlie Daniels so good, or the “phonebook thick” contract Zz Top made him sign, or maybe the times that names like Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, and Stevie Ray Vaughan performed there in the Seventies.

“We got one wonderful picture of Frank Zappa bending over a table with a razor blade,” Wilson recounts in his Texas twang.

BBC News has reported that David Soul, the famed star of the 70s police show, Starsky and Hutch, has died at the age of 80. Helen Snell, Soul’s wife revealed that the actor had passed on Thursday “after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family.” She added, “His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched.” Soul is known best for co-starring with Paul Michael Glaser in Starsky and Hutch, where he portrayed Detective Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson. The popular cop drama ran from 1975 to 1979. He would reprise his role in a tongue-in-cheek cameo in the 2004 Todd Phillips comedic film adaptation, Starsky & Hutch, alongside Paul Michael Glaser.

David Soul can also be remembered for his work in Here Come the Brides, Magnum Force and The Yellow Rose. Soul also had a recording career as a singer. Before finding success with acting,...

Actor David Soul, who co-starred with Paul Michael Glaser on the TV series Starsky & Hutch, has passed away.

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Soul died on Thursday at the age of 80 years old. His passing was confirmed by his wife, Helen Snell, with a statement from the family. Snell said that Soul died after a "valiant battle for life in the loving company of family." She added, "He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend. His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched.”

As an actor, Soul is very well known for playing Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in Starsky & Hutch, one of the two titular characters alongside Paul Michael Glaser's David Michael Starsky. A buddy cop show, Starsky & Hutch followed two detectives in Southern California. The series ran...

David Soul, who starred alongside Paul Michael Glaser on the 1970s’ ABC buddy cop show Starsky and Hutch and had a No. 1 hit with the song “Don’t Give Up on Us,” has died. He was 80.

Soul died Thursday after “a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family,” his wife, Helen Snell, said in a statement.

“He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend,” she said. “His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched.”

Soul also appeared for two seasons on the 1968-70 ABC show Here Come the Brides, played one of the corrupt young motorcycle cops brought down by Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan in the thriller Magnum Force (1973) and stood out as a terrified vampire hunter in the 1979 Stephen King CBS miniseries Salem’s Lot.

On two...

For my money, the Monkees are way, way more interesting than the Beatles. 

According to Andrew Sandoval's thorough and invaluable book "The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the '60s TV Pop Sensation," an ad was put in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter on September 8, 1965, looking for "four insane boys" to be the members of a new pre-fabricated pop band. The band would also star in a TV series -- deliberately meant to evoke Richard Lester's 1964 Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" -- that would use their real names, but present their lives as a fictional merry-go-round of kooky shenanigans. 

The producers zeroed in on former child actor Micky Dolenz, a friend of musician Stephen Stills named Peter Tork, a British, boyish heartthrob named Davy Jones, and heir to the Liquid Paper fortune, Mike Nesmith. Their TV series debuted on September 12, 1966, the week after "Star Trek" debuted, and...

Essra Mohawk, who recorded a dozen albums and saw Cyndi Lauper’s cover of her “Change of Heart” hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, died on Dec. 11 at her home in Nashville from cancer. She was 75.

A dreamy singer who described herself as a flower child, Mohawk never quite broke through to stardom. But she carved out a long career nonetheless in a highly fertile music era, performing with Frank Zappa and Jerry Garcia, among others.

She was scheduled to perform at the original Woodstock festival, but her driver took a wrong turn on the way.

“We got there in time to see the last verse of the last song of the last act of the first night, and then the stage went dark before we got to it from the parking lot,” she recalled in a 2009 video interview.

She recorded more than a dozen albums over the years.

In the 1970s,...

At the beginning of his video for “No Es Culpa Mía,” Pink Pablo traipses into frame, pours a beer over his head, takes off his shirt, kicks a keyboard off its stand, knocks over a rack of clothes, and starts screaming into a mic. What you might not know is that you’re watching someone with a master’s in neuroscience practicing what he’s learned.

Pink Pablo, whose real name is Juan Pablo Rivera, has been making music on and off for more than four years now. But it...

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Frank Zappa’s landmark Over-Nite Sensation, and in November, Zappa Records/UMe will celebrate the LP with a deluxe reissue of the 1973 album complete with unreleased tracks, outtakes, two concerts from the era, and more from one of Rolling Stone’s 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Ahead of Over-Nite Sensation: 50th Anniversary Edition’s release on November 17, check out the previously unheard “Face Down,” a demo that would ultimately transform into the album’s television-skewering “I’m the Slime.”

The demo finds the...