Author: Tim Sommer

Remembrance Rock Roots 

Huey “Piano” Smith: Mardi Gras, Punk Rock and the Boogie Woogie Flu

February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 Tim Sommer 1 Comment Dr. John, Eddie Cochran, Fats Domino, Huey "Piano" Smith, Jelly Roll Morton, Louisiana, Motörhead, New Orleans, Professor Longhair, Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu

Farewell to one of the true kings of Rock ‘n’ Roll

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Music Journalism 

Handicapping the 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

February 7, 2023February 7, 2023 Tim Sommer 36 Comments 2023, A Tribe Called Quest, Bongripper, Iron Maiden, Lizzie Mercer Descloux, Missy Elliott, Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Sheryl Crow, The White Stripes, Warren Zevon, Willie Nelson

With minimal snark and maximum intuition, we see the odds on this year’s class

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Alternative Rock Art Pop Electronic Industrial New Wave Post-Punk Punk Rock 

PiL Scale Another Peak With The Extraordinary “Hawaii”

January 12, 2023January 12, 2023 Tim Sommer 7 Comments 2023, Eurovision, Hawaii, John Lydon, PiL, Public Image, Public Image Ltd.

The song is the sound of the heart looking skyward, watching vapor trails dissolve

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Bruce Music Journalism Rock Soul 

Bruce Springsteen: The Last Civil War Widow and the Happy Death of Minstrelsy

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022 Tim Sommer 1 Comment Bo Diddley, Bruce Springsteen, Captain Beefheart, Chuck Berry, Columbia Records, Fleetwood Mac, Kraftwerk, Little Richard, Neurosis, Only The Strong Survive, Sleep, The Alarm, The Beatles, The Clash, The Kinks, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones

Is the latest Boss album the final straw for a certain kind of cultural appropriation in rock?

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Punk Remembrance Rock 

Wilko Johnson: Punk Rock Patient Zero 1947-2022

November 25, 2022November 25, 2022 Tim Sommer 0 Comments Dave Davies, Dr. Feelgood, Elvis Costello, Game Of Thrones, James Williamson, Joe Strummer, Johnny Thunders, Mick Ralphs, Paul Weller, Pete Townshend, RIP, Roger Daltrey, Ron Asheton, The Stranglers, The Who Sell Out, Wilko Johnson

Remembering the iconic, resilient Dr. Feelgood guitarist

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Punk Rock 

The Missing Link: The Damned’s Strawberries Turns 40

November 22, 2022November 22, 2022 Tim Sommer 1 Comment 1982, Blondie, Captain Sensible, CHEAP TRICK, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, Dave Vanian, Machine Gun Etiquette, Moody Blues, Strawberries, The Black Album, The Cars, The Damned, The Doors, The Kinks, The Who, Van Morrison

How did we miss out on one of the greatest classic rock bands of all time?

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Experimental Progressive Rock Psychedelics Remembrance Rock 

Remembering Nik Turner By Celebrating Hawkwind

November 17, 2022 Tim Sommer 3 Comments 2022, Bruce Springsteen, CHEAP TRICK, Cherry Red Records, Dave Brock, Elvis Costello, Hawkwind, Lemmy, Nik Turner, Paul McCartney, Remembrance, Stereolab, Steve Miller, Voivod, We Are Looking In On You

As we mourn the loss of an archival Hawk, we revel in the brilliance of their new album

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Music Journalism Pop Punk 

Why I Don’t Hate blink-182

October 14, 2022October 14, 2022 Tim Sommer 0 Comments Aaron Copland, Blink-182, Bon Jovi, Crass, Dry Cleaning, Iannis Xenakis, Krzysztof Penederecki, Mark Hoppus, Punk, punk rock, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, the Dils, The Weirdos, Tom DeLonge, Tony Conrad, Travis Barker

It’s okay if people are excited about their reunion

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Music Journalism 

Jann Wenner, Bruce Springsteen and Me (Well, Not Really Me)

September 22, 2022September 24, 2022 Tim Sommer 1 Comment 2022, 92nd St. Y, Bruce Springsteen, Hootie and the Blowfish, Jann Wenner, Jim DeRogatis, Rolling Stone, the New York Observer

Why the ex-Rolling Stone publisher’s response to HootieGate was total nonsense

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Glam Rock 

A Funky Little Boat Race: Mott The Hoople’s All the Young Dudes at 50

September 19, 2022September 20, 2022 Tim Sommer 7 Comments 1972, 50th anniversary, All the Young Dudes, David Bowie, Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs, Mott the Hoople, The Clash, The Kinks

What makes it one of the weakest albums from one of the greatest British rock bands

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Experimental Folk Heavy Metal 

Heilung: Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow in the 10th Century

September 14, 2022September 14, 2022 Tim Sommer 0 Comments Black Metal, Bo Diddley, Drif, Edith Tudor-Hart, folk, Heilung, Krzysztof Penderecki, Pink Floyd, Season of Mist, Soviet Union, The Beatles, The Who, United States

The Northern European folk-metal collective have made the first truly great album to emerge from the Neo-Primtive Movement

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Rock 

When Eddie Cochran Invented the Modern 

September 2, 2022September 2, 2022 Tim Sommer 1 Comment Dave Davies, Eddie Cochran, Generation X, Heilung, Manic Street Preachers, MC5, Motörhead, Pixies, Sex Pistols, Somethin' Else, The Kinks, The Monks, The Trashmen, The Who

Looking back at the exact moment Rock ‘n’ Roll was transformed forever

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Music Journalism 

What Are Your Rock Stars Going to Say?

June 29, 2022June 29, 2022 Tim Sommer 0 Comments Bill Kunstler, Billionaire, Brecht, Money, Rachel Maddow, Rock Star, Roe v Wade, Steve Earle, Tom Hayden

We only promised you a raised fist, not the revolution it was a symbol of

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Art Pop Experimental Rock 

The Shimmer Shiver That Knows All

June 22, 2022June 22, 2022 Tim Sommer 0 Comments 2022, Colin Newman, Gliding and Hiding, Malka Spiegel, Swim, Wire

With Gliding and Hiding, Malka Spigel has made one of the most beautiful new/old albums of the decade

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Pop Punk Television 

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Bay City Rollers

June 13, 2022June 13, 2022 Tim Sommer 1 Comment Bay City Rollers, David Bowie, Doctors of Madness, Dr. Feelgood, FX, Glen Matlock, Hawkwind, John Lydon, Malcolm McClaren, Paul Cook, Pistol, Roxy Music, Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious, Steve Jones, Stuart "Woody" Wood, T.Rex

Stuart “Woody” Wood talks to us about the connection between the Rollers and the Sex Pistols

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