The son of George Hamilton, stepson of Rod Stewart, former competitor on "Dancing With The Stars" and a correspondent on "Extra"....listen, we know Marvel is thrifty, but this is pretty ridiclous... But believe it or not, Ashley Hamilton -- one of People's most beautiful people in the world sometime in the '90s (hilariously, even IMDB can't be bothered to find out when) has joined "Iron Man 3" as the villain Firepower. To Wikipedia! Essentially, Firepower is another guy-in-a-metal-suit-with-weapons, the brainchild of Edwin Cord, rival businessman to the currently treehugging Tony Stark. Or depending on which storyline you're ...

Frontiers Records 2012 Michael Thompson is a guitarist known for his studio work with a list of who's who in the music industry. He has worked with Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, 'N Sync, Toni Braxton, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, the Scorpions, Vince Neil, Christina Aguilera, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Bette Midler, Madonna, Babyface, En Vogue, Gloria Estefan, Stanley Clarke and Ricky Martin. "Future Past" is actually the second release from this talented guitarist to be issued under the Michael Thompson Band (M.T.B.) moniker. The first was the well-received 1988 album "How Long". Now just like ...

“Didn’t this used to be a rock song?” Out in the car yesterday and Miss Plain Or Pan had pricked up her ears, for once, at what was shuffling on the iPod. Normally she can’t stand my music (see Rod Stewart post below). When she’s out with me in the car, she usually asks for [...]

Singer will fill Kelly Rowland's shoes while bosses hunt for permanent replacement

Ageism and rockism are strange and inextricable bedfellows, limbs inconveniently entangled. Conventional wisdom dictates that, more or less, rock n’ roll belongs to the young and furious. Time serves to either tame or shame. Rod Stewart makes blue-eyed soul for the cataract set, while Alice Cooper’s continued desperate insistence on eyeliner and leather appears even [...]

Ageism and rockism are strange and inextricable bedfellows, limbs inconveniently entangled. Conventional wisdom dictates that, more or less, rock n’ roll belongs to the young and furious. Time serves to either tame or shame. Rod Stewart makes blue-eyed soul for the cataract set, while Alice Cooper’s continued desperate insistence on eyeliner and leather appears even [...]

Booker T. & the M.G.’s : Green Onions (Live) [ purchase ] I woke up early this morning to two pieces of news—first, that our theme for the week was “The Plant Kingdom,” and second, that Donald “Duck” Dunn, the bass player who was a member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s, had died. I naturally thought of posting “Green Onions.” Then, I found out that Dunn joined the band after the song was released. On the other hand, having been a member since 1964, I have to assume that he played the song maybe a million times, so I ...

Bass player and songwriter Donald "Duck" Dunn, a member of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame band Booker T. and the MGs and the Blues Brothers as well as a studio musician for the legendary Stax studios who played with countless musicians including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Jerry Lee Lewis and later in Los Angeles Rod Stewart, Neil Young, Eric Clapton and others, has died in Tokyo. He was 70.

Celebrated singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith has had a long career, been praised by luminaries like Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello, been covered by the likes of Feist, Emmylou Harris, and Rod Stewart (though in my opinion, you can skip Rod’s version of “Secret Heart”).  Not too shabby.  His latest, Long Player Late Bloomer was produced by Bob Rock, yet sadly does not sound like Metallica and Bon Jovi.  Maybe next time.  Sexsmith is playing The Queen Elizabeth Theatre on May 17 and … →

"Just what the world needs: Another record company." No, this is not the motto of Ripple Music, but the slogan that Frank Zappa used in 1968 to launch his record company Bizarre Records. Distributed through Warner Bros. because of a deal with Frank Sinatra's label Reprise, Bizarre and it's counterpart label Straight released some of the weirdest shit you've ever heard - Uncle Meat, Trout Mask Replica and Pretties For You are the three best known releases but there was a lotta other crazy stuff that's really hard to find. If you like those records then you ...

Where have all the outsiders gone? The savants, the nut jobs, the angel-headed hipsters fit to burn the heavenly cosmos of night? All are sadly lacking in the UK right now, with chequebook indie and dollar sign Grime bulldozing the fragile archicture of our pop heritage. Sometimes it feels like only a few genuine, bona fide outsiders are left. Luke Haines , therefore, is an endangered species. Creative lynchpin for The Auteurs and Black Box Recorder, his new book 'Post Everything: Outsider Rock & Roll' seems to profile the music industry just as the post-Millennial malaise set in. ClashMusic caught up with Luke Haines to define the fall of the outsider... - - - You’re obviously looking back on your own work now, do you see yourself sitting in a tradion of outsiders running through British pop music? Yes, absolutely. I’m not comparing myself, but people like John Cale, Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers, especially those kind of people on Harvest Records maybe in the early ‘70s - which was a bizarre kind of setup where by people were seemingly allowed to do whatever the hell they like and there didn’t seem to be that much interest into taking off into the mainstream. In a way Hut Records was a bit like that with me, because I was very much shielded from the accountants. I think I’m one of the few people in rock ‘n’ roll to have an A&R; man who actually let me do what I wanted to. Remember, I was on Hut for 10 years ...

I’m of an age where Tim Hardin‘s Reason To Believe is heard first and foremost in the voice of a late-career Rod Stewart – an inauspicious echo for a song so powerful, and so well-covered. But a good coverwatcher learns to spot trends among the liner notes as he gathers in the sheaves. And so, [...]

Nigel Lythgoe (“American Idol,” “So You Think You Can Dance”) is teaming up with E! for new music reality series, “Opening Act,” which debuts July 9  on the NBC Universal cable network. The show will focus on rising YouTube talent and surprise them with the chance to perform on an A-list artist’s tour, which includes Nicki Minaj, Rod Stewart, LMFAO, Brad Paisley, Jason Alden, Jason Mraz and Gym Class Heroes.

Black Earth.  Dwell on the words for a second.  Imagine it.  Inhale it.  Feel it in your hands. Black.  Rich.  Pungent.  Dirty.  Fertile.  Moist. Six words that best describe the uber talented shit kickin’ powerhouse three piece from Austin, Texas.  Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Black Earth. The essence of our existence is the earth itself.  Where all good things come from.  Under the sun.  Holding the water.  The earth.  Black loam.  The kind that gets under the nails and stains your cuticles. (cute testicals?).  In the same gritty vein as Americana rocker greats Leroy Justice and the Brought ...

In honor of The Faces’ recent induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame we wanted to share a video that shows the band at the peak of their powers. This 40-minute clip was filmed on April Fool’s Day in 1972 and features the classic lineup of Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart, Kenney Jones, Ian McLagan and Ronnie Lane. The quintet tackles Three Button Hand Me Down, a cover of Paul McCartney’s Maybe I’m Amazed, Too Much Woman/Street Fighting Man, Miss Judy’s Farm, Stay With Me and I’m Losing You. The Faces – Live 1972 ...