03.09: On this day in 2004, Jack White, he of many bands (mainly The White Stripes, but also The Racounteurs and The Dead Weather) and production credits (most elegantly on Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose), guitarist, drummer, singer, and provocateur got into a little trouble with Johnny Law, when they hauled him in for public fisticuffs upon an unwilling person. Well, he got into a fight with a former friend, beat the crap out of said former friend, and was subsequently arrested for said beating the crap out of said former friend. Pleading guilty to aggravated assault, Jack paid his fine and took his court-ordered anger-management classes. He didn't back down or deny what he'd done and took his punishment like a man. The fight stemmed from an ongoing argument over production credits that Jack had solely claimed, to the consternation of another party who also claimed production credits, on The Von Bondies' Lack Of Communication. We don't really care who produced what or who beat up who. We just know that Jack White's band work, solo work, and production work puts to shame anything The Von Bondies have ever done, and they should've embraced and exploited Jack's name instead of trying to take it to his grill. Then people might know who they are today. Nuff said. Love ya, Jack.
03.12: Who does the phrase "singer/songwriter" make you think of? Bards wandering the English countryside, singing tales of yore and adventure? Itinerant musicians going from dustbowl town to dustbowl town during the Great Depression, singing for their supper, spinning tales of despair and loneliness? Yeah, us neither. To us a singer-songwriter is someone like Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie and our good friend James Taylor, who, coincidentally enough, is celebrating a birthday this week. Born in Boston on this day in 1948, Taylor went on to become the most sensitive of all the sensitive singer-songwriters, sensitively singing sensitive songs, such as "Fire & Rain" and Carol King's "You've Got A Friend." Taylor was to the '70s singer/songwriter what Lil' Wayne is to the '00s rapper. That is, ubiquitous, über talented and on top of his game (though not doing time for illegal gun possession). Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby James!
03.12: U2 scored their first #1 album in the UK on this day in 1983, with their first openly political set of songs, the phenomenal War. Since then, they've scored eight additional #1 albums in the UK. (Strangely, maybe it's just us, they didn't have a #1 album in their home country of Ireland until 2000's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. Weird, right?) Highlighted by the iconic and amazing "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "New Year's Day," and "Two Hearts Beat As One," War heralded a new U2, moving them confidently toward a worldwide audience and the stardom that would soon be theirs. Indeed, almost 26 years to the day, U2 scored their latest #1 album with the release of No Line On The Horizon, their seventh #1 album in the U.S. and their ninth #1 album in the UK. Overall, they guys have sold over 145 million albums and won 22 GRAMMYs. Whoa! We love Bono, The Edge (what a great name), Larry Mullen, and Adam Clayton. The fact that they've been doing their thing for so long, together, evolving and morphing along the way to the times and to their whims, proves that they, like so few bands and performers then and now, have it. We hold U2 in the highest regard, almost as high as the true greats. You know, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Spinal Tap. If any band deserves to be at the right hand of The Beatles, we say that band deserves to be U2. Great job, guys, all the way around.