Tag Archives: pop music

This is in contention for my song of the year.

Hal David, the legendary songwriting partner of Burt Bacharach, has died at the age of 91. David died of complications from a stroke Saturday morning in Los Angeles, according to Jim Steinblatt, spokesman for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. David was a longtime member and former president of ASCAP. Bacharach and David wrote many top 40 hits …

From the coming album. (Tipped by JMG reader Dwight)

“I think honestly, some people who think they’re gay, they’re confused. People can misconstrue closeness for love. People can feel connected, they bond. I’m not saying all [gay people are confused]. Some people have a desire to be with the same sex. But that’s them.” – Stevie Wonder, commenting on Frank Ocean’s coming out. So disappointing. UPDATE: Wonder has apologized …

Australian electronic duo The Presets aren’t gay, but they do love to put a lot homoerotic imagery into their videos. They first came to my attention when they played Folsom Street Fair in 2008. Nice guys in person, too.

Taken from her coming album culled from unreleased master tapes, here’s Barbra Streisand’s 1971 cover of the Randy Newman standard. Newman himself plays piano.

You might recall me posting about South Korean pop vixen BoA a couple of years ago when she played San Francisco Pride. Her real name is Kwon Boa but her Ke$ha-esque stage name is spelled BoA, which stands for “Best of Asia.” In BoA’s new single below you’ll probably be able to spot influences from Britney and Janet to Christina.

This week’s Swag Tuesday prize is the new album from gay rocker Bob Mould. Silver Age goes on sale nationwide on September 4th and is currently being streamed in its entirety by Rolling Stone. Their review: Alt-rock icon Bob Mould has made his share of confessional albums layered with deeply personal sentiments, but his latest project isn’t one of them. …

Buzzfeed has posted a compilation of famous album covers overlaid on their present-day Manhattan locations. The West Side Story soundtrack image was shot in Hell’s Kitchen. KISS posed on the corner of 23rd and Eighth in Chelsea. More here. Remember album covers? Weren’t they great?

Barbra Streisand has plumbed her vault of never-released master tapes to create a new package of tracks, some of which date back to 1963. Via press release: Highlights include: “Didn’t We” written by Jimmy Webb – recorded in 1970 for an unreleased album project titled The Singer; the standard “Willow Weep For Me” – an unreleased track recorded in 1967 …

“I emphatically denounce Paul Ryan’s use of my band Twisted Sister’s song, ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It,’ in any capacity. There is almost nothing he stands for that I agree with except the use of the P90X.” – Dee Snider, also raging against the Ryan machine. Snider is now being denounced as a washed-up has-been on Breitbart, the same site …

Stereogum review: “It’s fucking nuts. There’s no real narrative here; best to think of it as a headlong plunge into Grimes’ mall-mystic aesthetic. Flaming swords! Deserts! Pythons! Extreme makeup decisions! Floor-length bright-pink braids! Escalades! There’s a lot going on here, and it’s all fun and weirdly beautiful.” This somewhat reminds me of Sabres Of Paradise.

Here’s the video for the kicking first single from Mould’s new album Silver Age, which will be released on September 4th.

A couple of years ago I went on a brief spate of K-pop postings, much to the horror of some of you. I’m not going to do that again (probably), but I do like the latest from top South Korean boy band Super Junior, whose press materials advise that the “official color” for the group is Pearl Sapphire Blue. And …

Here’s a bunch of swimsuit-wearing cute boys mocking Mitt Romney. Whaddya want now, a pony too?(Via Boy Culture)

Lots of cute gay couples and scenes of the city from San Francisco pop-rocker Matt Nathanson.(Tipped by JMG reader William)

Rage Against The Machine member Tom Morello is not thrilled that Paul Ryan loves his band’s music. Via Rolling Stone: Paul Ryan’s love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades. Charles Manson loved the Beatles but didn’t understand them. Governor Chris Christie …