Zappagram #44
Filed under "what else is new": Roger Waters and Steve Albini are both being dicks, Happy birthday to Henry Rollins, and R.I.P. to Burt Bacharach and Dave Jolicoeur of De La Soul
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Hey friends,
As you know, this past week legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach died at the age of 94. This week’s playlist features three of his songs, particular favorites of mine: ”God Give Me Strength” performed by Elvis Costello, “Anyone Who Had a Heart” performed by Shelby Lynne, and the timeless “What the World Needs Now is Love” performed by Jackie Deshannon.
What the world needs now is definitely love. Maybe a good ass-whoopin’ too. But then lots more love.
Also, tonight I learned that Dave Jolicoeur, a.k.a. Trugoy the Dove of hip-hop trio De La Soul, has passed away at the too-young age of 54. Jolicoeur was always dedicated to making music from the heart, soul music that was true to who he was as an artist. A genuine legendary hip-hop artist and good man, his immense contribution to music and culture over his 30+ year career cannot be quantified. His is a tremendous, heartbreaking loss and my deepest sympathies go out to all his family and friends. De La Soul’s new track—just released last month—“The Main Number” is included in this week’s playlist.
Damn, you guys. We’ve got to love each other while we can because tomorrow is never guaranteed. It’s beyond unsettling how many great artists we’ve already lost this year, and it’s only February.
As my friend
said recently, “The deaths are stacking up in my psyche.”It makes one feel like holding their breath for the remainder of 2023. I’m genuinely afraid of what comes next. Of course, we lose great artists all the time, but 2023 seems like it’s off to a savage start.
Okay. Enough worrying over something I have no control over.
Take your protein pills. Put your helmet on.
Here we go…
“You need a little bit of insanity to do great things.”
—Henry Rollins
ROCK THE VOTE
:: MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
WEEKLY PLAYLIST #44
:: NEW MUSIC EVERY WEEK
Featuring: Kiersten Blue, Tennis, Disaster Fantasy, Bleach Lab, Devon Gilfillian, Gaz Coombes, Joesef, Depeche Mode, Paramore, Ex Pilots, De La Soul, Shelby Lynne, Elvis Costello, Jackie DeShannon
MASTER PLAYLIST (ALL WEEKS)
RECENT ARTICLES
:: BY CHRIS ZAPPA
Bands You Should Know: Tennis
The dynamic husband and wife duo nail 70s nostalgia
10 Awful Songs From Great Bands
They can’t all be winners
The Worst Album Titles of All Time
Volume one (of many)
MUSIC NEWS
:: WHAT’S GOING ON
Burt Bacharach, Master Pop Composer, Dead at 94
The songwriter died of natural causes on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. [RollingStone]
Trugoy the Dove, De La Soul Co-Founder, Dead at 54
The rapper and producer, Dave Jolicoeu, was one-third of the pioneering hip-hop group. A cause of death has not yet been revealed. However, Trugoy was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in recent years. Notably, he did not join fellow De La Soul members Posdnuos and Maseo at last weekend’s Grammys tribute to hip-hop. [Consequence]
BRIT Awards 2023 Winners: Beyoncé, Harry Styles, Wet Leg, and More
Fontaines D.C., Aitch, Flo, Becky Hill, the 1975 and others were recognized at the ceremony in London. [Pitchfork]
U2 to Reportedly Unveil Las Vegas Residency During Superbowl Ad
Rumored for some time, the residency would see U2 become the first act to perform at the new MSG Sphere in Las Vegas when the arena opens. [NME]
Taylor Hawkins’ Son, Shane, Won the 2022 Drumeo Award For Performance of the Year
The 17-year-old blew our minds at last year's all-star Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts. [Billboard]
Roger Waters Considering Legal Action After David Gilmour’s Wife Calls Him ‘Misogynistic Putin Apologist’
The war of words was apparently in response to a recent Waters interview in a German newspaper. [Spin]
Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy Announces New Book World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music
The third book from the musician arrives in November. [Pitchfork]
Covid Hits E Street as Band Members Miss Bruce Springsteen’s Dallas Show
Steven Van Zandt and violinist Soozie Tyrell are absent due to coronavirus. "I’ve got a very mild case and hope to be back for Houston or Austin at the latest," the guitarist says. [RollingStone]
Morrissey Thinks Capitol Sabotaged His Record Because He’s “Too Diverse”
"Although he does not believe that Capitol Records in Los Angeles signed Bonfire of Teenagers in order to sabotage it, he is quickly coming around to that belief." [Consequence]
Roger Waters Rerecords The Dark Side of the Moon Without the Rest of Pink Floyd
“I wrote ‘The Dark Side of the Moon,'” said Waters, 79, in a recent interview. “Let’s get rid of all this ‘we’ crap.” [AmericanSongwriter]
Drummer Jon Wurster Stepping Back From Superchunk After 31 Years
Bat Fangs’ Laura King will step in for band’s Feb. 17 show in Raleigh. [Spin]
The Last of Us Pushes Linda Ronstadt to Top of Three Billboard Charts
"Long Long Time" is #1 on rock digital song sales as well as Billboard's LyricFind charts. [Consequence]
LINKS OF NOTE
:: MAY OR MAY NOT BE MUSIC-RELATED
All the Best Super Bowl Commercials
Dave Grohl, Ozzy, Billy Idol, and Joan Jett make appearances. [Consequence]
Steve Albini Explains Why He Hates Steely Dan
The producer has been arguing with people on Twitter all week long over whether or not Steely Dan sucks. He says they do. I wholeheartedly and publicly disagree, as do tons of others, including Donald Fagen himself. Obviously. [Stereogum]
Bonnie Raitt Heads to the Grammys, Recognized as a Songwriter at Last
Long renowned as an interpreter, she has quietly built a catalog of her own. Up for song of the year on Sunday, she talked about her nominated track, “Just Like That,” and a lifetime onstage. [NewYorkTimes]
Graham Nash Says David Crosby Tried to Make Peace Before Death: ‘We Were Getting Closer at the End’
The former bandmates had been estranged for years before Croz's passing last month. [Billboard]
Hit Songwriters Tell All, from Thieving Artists to Grammy Snubs
Here's what it's really like to be a professional songwriter in the pop business. [RollingStone]
Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation Helping Hands Concert & Auction Raises Millions For Charities
The third in the band's series of fundraising shows will help fight hunger and aid in disaster relief. [Billboard]
Z-REX
:: ZAPPA’S RECOMMENDATIONS
+ I just discovered Bleach Lab, a four piece band out of South London making some atmospheric, dreamy, and very well-produced music that I’m in love with. I added one of their songs “Old Ways” to this week’s playlist. Look for me to feature a lot more from them in weeks to come.
+ Micah Sifry, writing on Medium, makes valid arguments regarding large parts of David Crosby’s life and legacy that nearly everyone failed to mention in their written remembrances. Check out his piece titled, “What The Media Forgot About David Crosby.”
+ It’s been called the greatest live performance in the history of rock and roll. It’s been nearly 40 years(!) since Queen took the stage at Live Aid giving this inspired, electrified, and positively brilliant performance, but watching Freddie Mercury command that stage and that crowd still gives me goosebumps to this day. (Recorded at Wembley Stadium / July 13, 1985)
NEW RELEASES
:: RECENTLY DROPPED MUSIC
Bleach Lab: If You Only Feel It Once [listen]
El Ten Eleven: Valley of Fire [listen]
Mogwai: Mogwai Young Team (Remastered) [listen]
Paramore: This Is Why [listen]
The Rolling Stones: GRRR Live! [listen]
Tennis: Pollen [listen]
Yo La Tengo: This Stupid World [listen]
RELEASE RADAR
:: UPCOMING RELEASES
- FEB 14 -
Caroline Polachek: Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
- FEB 16 -
Slow Fiction: Slow Fiction EP
- FEB 24 -
Algiers: Shook
Death Valley Girls: Islands in the Sky
Gorillaz: Cracker Island
Neutral Milk Hotel: The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel
Philip Selway: Strange Dance
The Church: The Hypnogogue
- MAR 3 -
Elvis Costello: The Songs of Bacharach & Costello
LANNDS: Music for the Future
Willie Nelson: I Don’t Know a Thing About Love
- MAR 10 -
Death Cab for Cutie: Asphalt Meadows Acoustic
Fever Ray: Radical Romantics
Lonnie Holley: Oh Me Oh My
- MAR 17 -
100 gecs: 10,000 gecs
M83: Fantasy
U2: Songs of Surrender
Unknown Mortal Orchestra: V
- MAR 24 -
Caroline Rose: The Art of Forgetting
Depeche Mode: Memento Mori
Lana Del Rey: Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon (Live at Wembley 1974)
Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon (50th Anniversary)
Sharon Van Etten: Tramp (Anniversary Edition)
ON THIS DATE
:: MUSICAL HAPPENINGS OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
- FEB 13 -
Birthdays: Peter Tork (1942) • Peter Gabriel (1950) • Peter Hook of Joy Division (1956) • Henry Rollins (1961) • Matt Berninger (1971) • On this day, Friday the 13th, Black Sabbath released their debut self-titled studio album. (1970) • Waylon Jennings died in his sleep after a lengthy fight with diabetes. (2002)
- FEB 14 -
Birthdays: Tim Buckley (1947) • Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls (1951) • Rob Thomas (1972) • Frank Zappa appeared on an episode of the television series Miami Vice. Zappa portrayed a crime boss named 'Mr. Frankie.' (1986)
- FEB 15 -
Birthdays: Record producer Glyn Johns (1942) • Brandon Boyd of Incubus (1976) • Gary Clark Jr. (1984) • Linda Ronstadt went to #1 on the U.S. singles chart with 'You're No Good', the singer’s only solo chart topper out of 12 other top 40 hits. Also, today Ronstadt went to #1 on the U.S. album chart with 'Heart Like A Wheel.' (1975) • Glen Matlock was fired as bass player from the Sex Pistols, being replaced by Sid Vicious. (1977) • Guitarist Mike Bloomfield was found dead in his car in San Francisco from an accidental heroin overdose, aged 37. (1981)
- FEB 16 -
Birthdays: Sonny Bono (1935) • Andy Taylor of Duran Duran (1961) • The Weeknd (1990) • Lesley Gore died aged 68. (2015)
- FEB 17 -
Birthdays: Taylor Hawkins & Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day (1972) • Ed Sheeran (1991) • American musician and sound engineer Bob Casale, best known as a guitarist and keyboardist in the new wave band Devo, died of heart failure in Los Angeles, aged 61. (2014)
- FEB 18 -
Birthdays: Yoko Ono (1933) • John Travolta (1954) • Bryan James of The Damned (1955) • Dr. Dre (1965) • American guitarist Bob Stinson from The Replacements died from a drug overdose, his body was found in his Uptown, Minneapolis apartment. (1995)
- FEB 19 -
Birthdays: Smokey Robinson (1940) • Tony Iommi (1948) • Falco (1957) • Seal (1963) • Kate Radley of Spiritualized (1965) • AC/DC singer Bon Scott was pronounced dead on arrival at a London hospital after a heavy night's drinking. (1980) • Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in San Antonio, Texas for urinating on the Alamo. (1982)
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Until next week,
🤘🏻
CZ
👑🗣️👨🏻🎹🎸🎤🔊💥💥💥🎶🎼🎵
Every couple of months I watch the Live Aid Queen video. I absolutely loved the music they brought us, and the fierce displays of pride by Freddie.