living colour
SPIN Presents Lipps Service With Guests Vernon Reid and Corey Glover of Living Colour
On this week’s episode of SPIN Presents Lipps Service, host Scott Lipps caught up with Vernon Reid and Corey Glover of Living Colour. In their conversation, Lipps, Glover and Reid discussed the band’s lengthy history and origins. Glover and Reid also gave Lipps an update on the current state of the band as they discuss upcoming music ahead of their 2021 summer tour. Additionally, the Living Colour duo spoke shared stories about meeting Mick Jagger at the infamous Guns N Roses/Stones show in Los Angeles in 1989. They also outlined the story behind their biggest hit, “Cult of Personality.” Since its beginnings in 2018, the acclaimed podcast has featured many of the biggest voices and personalities in music, including exclusive interviews with Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis, Davi...
Time’s Up at 30: Living Colour Reflect on Prophetic Second LP
By 1990, New York City’s Living Colour were one of the hottest new rock bands in America following the success of their debut LP, 1988’s Vivid, and a cherished opening stint on the Rolling Stones’ Steel Wheels tour. “When we got to Time’s Up, we could reach out to all sorts of people and it was kind of wild,” guitarist Vernon Reid says, noting how the band landed most of their cameo wish list for the recording sessions. “I mean, we got one of our heroes, Mr. Richard Penniman, who just passed away, to appear on ‘Elvis Is Dead.’ Mick Jagger also appears on that song. The other special guest we had on there was Maceo Parker. So we had Little Richard and Maceo Parker on the same track. Then we had Queen Latifah come through for ‘Undercover of Darkness,’ Doug E Fresh for ‘Tag Team Partner...
The 25 Best Soundtrack Albums of the 1990s
In the 1980s, music and film collided for cross-promotional blockbusters both transcendent (Purple Rain) and transcendently cheesy (Footloose). In the ‘90s, soundtracks continued to sell in the millions, capturing cultural moments like the Seattle grunge of Singles or the Britpop and electronica of Trainspotting. Auteurs like Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson reached deep into their record collections to set the mood while movies like Above the Rim and Menace II Society pioneered the concept of soundtracks as hip-hop mixtapes. A great soundtrack can propel an unsuccessful single, like Seal’s “Kiss From A Rose,” to the top of the charts, or revive a decades-old hit, like Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It can also push a cult singer-songwriter like Elliott Smith or Aimee Mann to an Oscar perf...
30 Great Albums From 1990 That Deserve Their Own 30th Anniversary Pieces
Every decade takes a couple of years to feel like itself, but the 1990s, in particular, had a soft launch. While 1991 would bring a bumper crop of era-defining albums from the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, U2, and Red Hot Chili Peppers that would set the tone for alternative rock for the rest of the decade, the music of 1990 often feels like an outgrowth of the previous decades. Even the year’s biggest rock debut that was positioned as a contrast from hair metal was the decidedly retro Black Crowes. Billboard’s Modern Rock chart, which had just been launched in late 1988, was still dominated by established British bands like The Psychedelic Furs and Gene Loves Jezebel. Depeche Mode and Sinead O’Connor became the year’s unlikely crossover stars. Observe the chart in the last week of&nb...
Living Colour Shares New Version of ‘This Is the Life’ With Protest Footage
Rock legends Living Colour dropped their sophomore effort Times Up nearly 30 years ago, but an updated video for one of their songs from it makes the collection feel just as relevant today. Over the weekend, the group released a live video for their 1990 track “This Is The Life,” pairing it with recent footage of Black Lives Matter protests. As the group wrote on Twitter: “Sadly we’re still fighting the same fight.” The song, in which Living Colour sings of another life where you “never have to cry” and where your “loved-ones never die,” includes lyrics that stand the test of time amid recent police brutality protests. “If you don’t like the current agenda, it’s your responsibility to go out an [sic] VOTE,” the band said. Check out the group’s latest video below. [embedded content] Yo...
