I was wondering whether it was just my perception that there were even more (piss-poor) political commercials on TV this time around. There were: Candidates, parties and their special interest supporters spent a record $1 billion on television ads in the 2002 election cycle – double the amount spent in …

We’ll send this one out to Glenn Reynolds, who digs ’em. For a brief but very intense period from 1969 through 1971, Creedence was the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in America, generating nine Top 10 singles in a row (“Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising/Lodi,” “Green River,” “Down On the …

While we’re on the topic of reggae, did you know that remixing and rap can both be traced back to Jamaica? That’s one musically influential little island. The art of remixing, used ubiquitously in dance music of every stripe since the late ’70s, can be traced back to Jamaica and …

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked something like this, as my son did just the other day: “Okay, I know Bob Marley is the greatest reggae dude, but who is second?” The complicated answer is that reggae has always been more producer/songwriter-based than artist-based, and to …

I don’t mean to gush overly, but I love the new remastered CD version of Chralie Byrd’s classic Bossa Nova Pelos Passaros, originally recorded in 1962-63, at the very apex of the American bossa nova explosion. There is a freshness and a subtle excitement (bossa nova is always subtle) to …

Another in an occasional series: “British Royals to Probe Alleged Rape”. Most unfortunate choice of words, and a revolting story period. UPDATE At 2:46pm Yahoo! changed the headline, a pity.

Johnny Griffith, keyboardist for Motown backup group the Funk Brothers, has died at 68. Launch reports: This news came just a few hours before the red-carpet premiere of the film about the Funk Brothers, Standing In The Shadows Of Motown, in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham, Michigan. Griffith, 68, had …

Eric Olsen hates Bohemian Rhapsody with a vengeance. Damn those Brits!

The Hollywood Reporter says that Sony Pictures Entertainment and Deutsche Telekom’s mobile phone division have signed a multiyear deal in which Sony will deliver film-based content to T-Mobile’s cell phones: The deal, signed Monday, marks the first ever multiyear content deal between a Hollywood major and a global mobile operator. …

The Bush administration, and in particular the sometimes waffling Colin Powell, deserve full credit for successfully executing the intricate gavotte required to unanimously pass the new Security Council resolution requiring full disclosure and disarmament of Iraq. But, having accomplished this, December 8, the deadline for full disclosure, becomes a critical, …