I though we wre trying to FOSTER tech investment: Venture capitalists didn’t need another reason to avoid high-tech investments – but two major record labels have given them one anyway. Still seeking retribution for Napster’s online file-swapping system, industry giants Universal Music and EMI are trying to break new legal …

Grammy-winning, silky-voiced quiet storm superstar Luther Vandross is in critical but stable condition in a Manhattan hospital: Luther Vandross contracted pneumonia after suffering a stroke and had to undergo a tracheotomy to help him breathe, but the procedure didn’t damage his vocal chords, his representatives said Monday. ….His business manager, …

Led Zeppelin: revered and vilified, sometimes by the same person – the personal, lyrical, and sometimes musical excesses (particularly live) are easy to ridicule, especially in retrospect, but there is ample reason why Led Zeppelin was THE best-selling rock band of the ’70s. Over a 10-year career from ’69-’79, Led …

Who is England’s greatest soul singer? Because his greatest work was over 30 years ago and he has drifted off into largely undistinguished MOR, it is easy to forget the answer to the question is Joe Cocker. With his spastic motions and barbed wire bellow, Cocker is a ripe target …

How often does a compilation live up to its title? This one does. As a DJ on hiatus, this collection makes me very antsy to once again assume the throne. A great funk and disco collection covering the mid ’70s to the mid ’80s, this one will get you up …

In all of the media frenzy over the new Apple Music Store, let us not forget a service that people actually seem to use and like: EMusic, whose only problem seems to be that its catalogue is largely confined to the indie label world. Note BJ Johnson’s review from last …

I had the great pleasure of interviewing Curtis Mayfield for the Encyclopedia of Record Producers in the late ’90s. Though his voice was weak and he required frequent breaks to gather his strength during our conversation, his spirit was strong, his soul a thing of beauty. I will treasure this …

We were at a small party Sunday for a friend who ran in the Cleveland Marathon (under 4 hours!). His wife is from Greek Cyprus – though she was largely silent during a long political conversation, when the topic of the border between divided Cyprus being opened last week came …

Diabetics beware: Devin Leonard’s feature on the new Apple iTunes Music Store is so larded with sugar and honey it might induce seizures: The real buzz in the music trade is that Steve has just created what is easily the most promising legal digital music service on the market. “I …

Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and Bull Durham will reunite for a 15th anniversary celebration this Wednesday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, two weeks after the Baseball Hall of Fame canceled out: Both Sarandon and Robbins, who played groupie Annie Savoy and rookie pitcher Nuke LaLoosh respectively, will be on …