When Greil Marcus published Mystery Train in 1975, it was hailed as the greatest book ever written about rock & roll. Fifty years after it came out, there’s a lot more competition — but no other book has come close. It’s a radically original portrait of America and its music, …
Read More »Farewell, David Johansen, the Ultimate New York Doll: He Was Good-Bad But Not Evil
Goodbye to David Johansen, the last jet boy standing from the New York Dolls. It wasn’t just his madman energy that helped invent punk rock — it was his warmth and soul. He got a loving send-off in the final weeks of his life, after his daughter Leah Hennessy announced …
Read More »Prince, the Clash to Receive 2025 Grammys' Lifetime Achievement Awards
Prince, the Clash, and the Four Seasons’ Frankie Valli are among the artists who will receive lifetime achievement awards at the Grammys’ upcoming Special Merit Awards ceremony, the Recording Academy announced Friday. Pioneering Juice Crew rapper Roxanne Shante, Maze’s Frankie Beverly, blues great Taj Mahal, and gospel singer Dr. Bobby …
Read More »'I'm a City Girl. I'm a Warrior.' Punk-Rock Legend Gina Birch Plays Her Rage Out Loud
Gina Birch has been creating punk art her entire life—but she’s just getting started. What could be more hardcore than dropping your first solo album at 67? She became a legend with the Raincoats, the London punk band she started in 1977, four renegade women inventing their own kind of …
Read More »Keith Levene, Founding Member of the Clash and Public Image Ltd, Dead at 65
Keith Levene, a founding member of the Clash and Public Image Ltd, died on Friday, Nov. 11. He was 65. His former bandmates Jah Wobble and Martin Atkins confirmed the news via social media. Levene, who had liver cancer, died at his home in Norfolk, England, per The Guardian. “RIP …
Read More »The Clash's 'Combat Rock' Gets 40th Anniversary Reissue With Unreleased Songs, Demos
The Clash will mark the 40th anniversary of their penultimate LP Combat Rock with a new reissue featuring unreleased songs, demo and outtakes recorded in the lead-up to the 1982 album. Ahead of the May 20 release of the Combat Rock/The People’s Hall special edition of the album, a pair …
Read More »Ukrainian Punk Band Rerecords the Clash Classic as 'Kyiv Calling': 'A Symbol of Solidarity and Hope'
A Ukrainian punk band has rerecorded the Clash’s classic “London Calling” as a protest song and a resistance anthem against the Russian invasion. Beton, a punk-hardcore trio, received permission from the surviving members of the Clash before recording “Kyiv Calling,” which changes the lyrics of the 1979 single as a …
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