Music History
Rare pressing of Velvet Underground & Nico single sells for $30,000
There are less than 10 known copies of this original promo still in existence. Rare Pressing of Velvet Underground & Nico Single Sells for $30,000 Mary Siroky
Warren Ellis Saved a Piece of Nina Simone’s Gum for 20 Years and Wrote a Book About It
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-20T15:56:46+00:00“>May 20, 2021 | 11:56am ET Once upon a time, a musician found inspiration in a piece of gum chewed by none other than Nina Simone. That’s the true-life story behind Warren Ellis’ upcoming book, the aptly-titled Nina Simone’s Gum. In the tome, the Australian multi-instrumentalist and film composer — who plays with acts like Dirty Three and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds — recalls finding the piece of used gum on Simone’s piano following her set at the 1999 Meltdown Festival in London’s Royal Festival Hall. The event happened to be curated by Ellis’ longtime collaborator, Cave. On a whim, Ellis decided to pick up the gum, saving it in a Tower Records bag for nearly 2...
Famous David Bowie Locations You Can Visit
Editor’s Note: Today, we continue our celebration of the life and art of David Bowie with On Location, a recurring series that brings to life the places you know from songs, album covers, and music history. Keep checking back all weekend for more new and reshared content reflecting on our favorite Starman. And, if you’ve missed anything, you can experience it all again here. While this week marks the five-year anniversary of David Bowie’s passing, it goes without saying that his indelible legacy makes his presence everlasting. Forever fueling his musicianship with innovation, Bowie left behind a tapestry of work that boasted colorful characters, imaginative lyrics, and an intoxicating nexus of fantasy and reality. In short, he was a visionary in every sense of the word. In addition to a vi...
Prince’s Blue Angel Cloud Guitar Sells For $563,500 in Auction
Prince’s Blue Angel Cloud 2 guitar, which he played frequently between 1984 to 1993, was sold for $563,500 at a charity auction on Friday. The instrument was Prince’s go-to performance guitar throughout the late 1980s and early ’90s. He took it on the “Purple Rain”, “Parade”, “Sign o’ the Times”, “Lovesexy”, and “Diamonds and Pearls” tours; used it to play “Electric Chair” during the Saturday Night Live 15th anniversary special on September 24th, 1989; brought it out for the infamous 1991 MTV Video Music Awards performance of “Get Off”; held it on the cover of SPIN in September 1991; opened his September 9th, 1991 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show by using it for “Let’s Go Crazy”, “Cream”, and “Purple Rain”; and featured it in the music videos for “Cream” and “Get Off”. The hi...
Ed Sullivan Show YouTube Channel Launches with Rare Performance Videos: Watch
The Ed Sullivan Show may be best known for hosting The Beatles’ first-ever live television performance in the US, but there were plenty of other historic music moments that occurred during the show’s 23-year run between 1948 and 1971. Now, for the first time, these performances will be available to stream online via the newly launched Ed Sullivan Show YouTube Channel. The initial batch of uploads include Marvin Gaye’s 1966 performance of “Take This Heart of Mine”; The Beach Boys’ 1968 performance of “Good Vibrations”; Neil Diamond’s 1969 performance of “Sweet Caroline”; and The Jackson 5’s 1969 performance of “Stand!”. There are also clips featuring The Supremes, The Temptations, and Gladys Knight & The Pips. Over the next three years, thousands of additional videos will be added to th...
Pearl Jam Unearth Uncensored Version of “Jeremy” Video: Watch
In recognition of National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 5th, Pearl Jam unearthed the uncensored version of their 1992 video for “Jeremy”. To date, “Jeremy” remains one of Pearl Jam’s most chilling and affecting songs, based on the real-life suicide of high school student Jeremy Wade Delle, who shot himself in front of his classmates in January 1991. The accompanying video depicts the incident in graphic detail, though the edited version zoomed in on Jeremy’s face so that his gun could not be seen. The uncensored version includes the haunting final scene with Jeremy putting a gun in his mouth. “The increase in gun violence since the debut of ‘Jeremy’ is staggering,” Pearl Jam wrote in an accompanying social media post. “We have released the uncensored version of the video which w...
Prince and the Revolution 1985 Live Album Finally Released: Stream
The companion album to the 1985 concert film Prince and the Revolution: Live has finally been unlocked from the vault. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. The recording was made on March 30th, 1985 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York, as Prince and his famed backup band The Revolution toured in support of 1984’s Purple Rain. The set included all nine tracks off of Purple Rain, as well as a smattering of hits and B-sides from 1999, the Controversy cut “Do Me, Baby”, and even a “Yankee Doodle Dandy” interlude. Sheila E., who opened for Prince, joined him on “Baby I’m a Star”, and the concert ended with an 18-minute rendition of “Purple Rain”. To capture the performance in all its luscious glory, the tapes have been remastered by The Purple On...
Mobb Deep Crafted Their Own Language
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS For decades now, rap and hip-hop has been the most fertile soil for slang and new language across pop culture. But when looking back on Mobb Deep, the duo didn’t just have their own slang, they had their own language. In this bonus episode of The Opus, host Andy Bothwell breaks down the history of “The Dun Language” with rappers Slug (of Atmosphere) and Evidence (of Dilated Peoples), who discuss the influence that language has played on their own work. Editors’ Picks Shortly after, we’ll hear from original member Havoc, legendary hip-hop photographer Chi Modu, and The Infamous executive producer Schott Free, who shed a light on the oft-elusive, secret third member...
10 Famous Beatles Locations You Can Visit
On Location is a new series that brings to life the places you know from songs, album covers, and music history. Consider it a blur between travel guide and liner notes to your favorite albums. The Beatles: you’ve heard the songs, seen the footage, and heard about the places. What you may not have done yet, though, is step into their world. The Midas touch of the Fab Four has turned everyday locations from London to Liverpool — such as a crosswalk, an office building, a local street, and a pub — into some of the most iconic locations in music history. To see these locations in person for the first time is like finally being in the same place as a partner with whom you’re in a long-distance relationship: they’re always there, but to be able to actually see them adds an almost indescri...
A Lesson on Failing With the Worst Orchestra in the World
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Radio Public The Portsmouth Sinfonia billed themselves as “indisputably, the worst orchestra in the world.” They have brought joy into the lives of millions. In the fifth episode of Ghost Echoes, we learn about the importance and healing effects of failure. For more episodes of Ghost Echoes, subscribe now! Follow on Facebook | Twitter | Podchaser Music and Sound Notes: — The recording of Vivaldi’s Concerto for two trumpets heard here is NOT Matthew Parsons and his colleague Glenn Skelton. It is in fact Michel Rondeau (presumably double tracked) and organist Alaine Letendre, sourced from Musopen. — Here’s Chi-Chi Nwanoku’s BBC performance of Failing by Tom Johnson. — The snippets heard shortly after are from “It Never Entered My Mind” perform...
