Nothing from Peaches and Herb?

British radio station Planet Rock conducted a poll of the top 10 Rock Songs, and here are their results:

The Top Ten Greatest Rock Songs of all time are:

1. LED ZEPPELIN - STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
2. LYNYRD SKYNYRD - FREE BIRD
3. QUEEN - BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
4. DEEP PURPLE - SMOKE ON THE WATER
5. BLACK SABBATH - PARANOID
6. LED ZEPPELIN - WHOLE LOTTA LOVE
7. THE EAGLES - HOTEL CALIFORNIA
8. LED ZEPPELIN - ROCK AND ROLL
9. AC/DC - HIGHWAY TO HELL
10. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE - ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER

What do you think?

LED ZEPPELIN - STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN VOTED TOP ROCK SONG

Ah, Ashlee and Britney and Janet and William Hung - what a great year

The top music happenings of 2004 from MSNBC.com.

Merry Christmas from the MEB

We wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone the best during this holiday season. And we hope that 2005 is even better for you than the exciting 2004 was for us.

As our Christmas gift, visit our website's homepage to download our special recording of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town."

Happy Holidays and have a Funky New Year!

Mike, Jeff, Steve and Paul

The Purple One rakes in the most Green in '04

Prince collected the most money on the road this year, grossing $87.4 million with a 69-city, 96-show tour. Metallica was #6, Dave Matthews Band at #12, and John Mayer #25 ($23.6 million).

Prince reigns over concert realm in 2004

Some assembly required?!?!

One of the biggest challenges of parents these days is putting together the toys that they got for their kids. I can still remember the horror stories of a friend who spent hours on Christmas Eve trying to assemble a bike (or was it a scooter?) that never did quite work out the way he had planned.

In that spirit, MSNBC has a list of the The toys that we hate.

Since we're all about drinking ...

Just in time for your holiday get-together, the Food Network gives us recipes for a whole bunch of holiday beverages. Enjoy the Holiday Spirits!

Food Network: Christmas

Sports? Sex? In 2004? Really??

ESPN.com has a wonderful tradition of recapping the year in sexy sports stories. From the Olympic athletes posing in FHM to Anna Benson's threat to the omnipresent wardrobe malfunction, it was a wonderful year.

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!!

ESPN.com: Page 2 - Final score: Sex 26, Sports 25

Home, Home Again

This last summer we played at the Paper Mill Island Amphitheater in Baldwinsville, opening for a Pink Floyd tribute band that performed the Dark Side of The Moon while the Wizard of Oz movie played on large video screens. It's a very interesting combination which I'm sure you've heard about. Here's a web page that describes all the eerie coincidences.

Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd) : Wizard of Oz Synchronization

Did you hear that the terrorists are buying UPS uniforms on eBay?

I love a good urban legend, and here is a list of the top 10 hoaxes and urban legends in 2004.

My favorite is the "Altoids as a Sexual Aid."

Top 10 Net Hoaxes / Urban Legends of 2004

Homemade commercials are an interesting concept

This guy made a commercial/little movie about his iPod, and now it's spreading around the web. And Apple loves the free publicity. Interesting.

Article at Wired News, with a link to the video.

Can I get a parent/teacher conference?

Looks like Jenna Bush wants to teach in an inner-city public school in D.C. Hmm, that might be interesting.

An Apple for Miss Jenna? Bush Eyes Washington Teaching Job (washingtonpost.com - registration may be required)

2005 Rock Hall of Fame Inductees

• U2
• The O'Jays
• Percy Sledge
• The Pretenders
• Buddy Guy

Jambase.com

Steve "The Lush" Orlando turns thirtysomething

Junior celebrated his birthday on Friday night, and we had a great party at Wacky Wyatt's at our gig, and at Brenden's for the post-gig festivities. And a big ole Happy Birtday to Jim "Doc" Willoughby, too.

Nope, he didn't drink the pitcher of Long Island Ice Tea in one breath, and he had a serious brain-freeze halfway through. Wussie.

Thanks to all for coming out and enjoying the night with us, especially Steph & Brian, John, Smitty and the Phelps Racing crew, and a special mention to the Dr. Weeks crowd for coming after your Christmas party.

Click the thumbnails below for full-size pictures.

Sometimes the British just annoy me

And rock critics are also often the target of my wrath.

So when you get British rock critics telling us about the bands they think are overrated, I really get my hackles up [and I didn't even know I had hackles].

Pretty much everybody gets skewered here - The Beatles, Elvis (both of them, Presley and Costello), The Clash, U2. And the list goes on. I'd like to take their bangers and mash and shove them ...

Deep breaths, deep breaths.

Not that all the bands on this list aren't at least a little worthy of our criticism, but please.

Guardian Unlimited | Arts features | Don't believe the hype

Once again, the MEB is shutout

Mike didn't get any Grammy nominations again this year, and I'm more than a little ticked off.

OK, maybe not. There are some interesting choices here, though, including the Song of The Year nominees. What do you think?

Song of the Year (songwriter's award):

• "Daughters," John Mayer (John Mayer)
• "If I Ain't Got You," Alicia Keys (Alicia Keys)
• "Jesus Walks," C. Smith and Kanye West (Kanye West)
• "Live Like You Were Dying," Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman (Tim McGraw)
• "The Reason," Daniel Estrin and Douglas Robb (Hoobastank)

E! Online News
And here's the complete list of nominations

Download us all you want

CNN.com - Survey: Net file-sharing doesn't hurt most musicians - Dec 6, 2004

There is no way to explain this ...

And here are the rules for the "Cooter Race."

"Cooter" Handler Rules

1. Once race begins Cooter handlers may not touch their Cooter. Pushing, pulling or rubbing one's Cooter will be grounds for disqualification.
2. No drugged Cooters will be allowed to compete. If the judges suspect a Cooter has been drugged and the Cooter Veterianarian verifies, the parties responsible will be fined, or better yet, sentenced to clean up the Cooter Race Track Area after the Race.
3. No foreign substances such as grease or oil can be placed on one's Cooter to increase its speed.
4. Shouting, yelling, and coaxing one's Cooter during the race is encouraged.
5. Cooter handlers are required to provide a safe environment for their Cooters before and after the race.
6. The Cooter Committee will provide a Cooter holding tank for those Cooter handlers unable to return their Cooters to their natural habitat after the race.
7. Cooter handlers found mishandling or mistreating their Cooters will automatically be disqualified.
8. Any violations to the Cooter Race Rules will force the Cooter judges to disqualify the Cooter Handler from the Race Competition.
9. Decisions of Cooter judges are final and there are no appeals.

Spring Cooter Fest

"Rules" for getting the band back together

Someday, when we're old and busted and it's time for an MEB reunion tour, we'll try to follow these rules for bands that want to do it "One More Time."

Guardian Unlimited | Arts Friday Review | One more time

Bob Dylan: 'I'm no prophet'

CNN.com - Bob Dylan: 'I'm no prophet' - Dec 2, 2004

We promise this will never happen to us

According to this article, the boys from the band Busted have become tired of their fans flashing them at shows. We pledge never to get tired of our female fans flashing us at shows.

NEVER - NEVER - NEVER - NEVER

Sky Showbiz - Busted Sick Of Fans' Boobs
(link has some slightly NSFW images, and it's a UK website so you'll have to translate it into real English ...)

The NHL should listen to U2

John Buccigross from ESPN.com talks about how the new U2 CD "How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" can teach the NHL some lessons about the "lockout." A little weird, but an interesting read for music fans and hockey fans alike.

ESPN.com - NHL - Buccigross: How to dismantle ...

U2's new CD is released today

And this reviewer says it's good - much more than just an iPod commercial.

CD reviews / U2 returns to soulful form on 'Atomic Bomb'

"Peer Impact," eh?

New file-swapping service from Universal, Sony/BMG and Warner. Veeeeeeery interesting.

Will you use it?

MSNBC - 3 music giants create new online service

Just love this lady and her voice

Alison Krauss and Union Station are one my guilty pleasures. She's beautiful, has a great soothing voice, and the band is just perfect behind her. Pick up a copy of her stuff, you'll enjoy it.

The Official Site of Alison Krauss & Union Station

Rock'n'roll to blast across new frontiers

Rock'n'roll to blast across new frontiers. 21/11/2004. ABC News Online

Now here's a different kind of collaboration

Kanye West and John Mayer - now this is gonna be interesting.

From VH1.com: Kanye West And John Mayer Collaborate But Won't Elaborate

What Their Mommas Named Them

If you've ever wondered about Hip Hop and R&B artists and what their real names are, this page is for you. Like Big Boi (Antwan Andre Patton) or Nate Dogg (Nathaniel Dwayne Hale) or Stevie Wonder (Steveland Judkins) or Bo Diddley (Otha Elias Bates McDaniel). Lots of fun.

real names of hip hop and r&b artists - whudat.com

Still no MEB songs on this list, either

Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone is No. 1 in Rolling Stone's latest list. This time, they've taken it upon themselves to declare the '500 Greatest Songs of All Time.'

HoustonChronicle.com - Rolling Stone names all-time best songs

Wilco streams their new album for free

Wired News: 'Music Is Not a Loaf of Bread'

Michael Jackson releases a new 5-disc box set

Not sure how I feel about this, but I think Steve O. will immediately pick up a copy.

Boston.com CD reviews / The thriller is back with 'Ultimate' set

We weren't even nominated?

So they held the American Music Awards last night. Yeah, it's just another made-up awards show, created by Dick Clark to fill some Sunday night programming for ABC and to dump more cash into his bank account. But they gotta find a way to make it a little more relevant to the real music scene.

For example, here's the nominees for "Favorite Male Artist — Pop or Rock"

• Josh Groban
• Lenny Kravitz
• Michael McDonald
• Usher

What!?!? A quasi-opera singer, a guy on the downhill slide that keeps doing annoying covers, a phone commercial guy who was last relevant 20 years ago, and one guy that acutally fits this category (luckily, he won).

Not that I don't appreciate all four of them, but are these the top 4 male artists of the year!?!?

God, I hate this stuff almost as much as those troughs at the Dome (see below).

From LiveDaily.com

I'm all for ending those troughs

New Group Fighting For Better Toilets

Now here's some real alcohol abuse

Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Derailment spills 20,00 gallons of beer

There might be a new Who album on the way

Roger and Pete are getting together to play a little music and see what comes of it. It won't be the same without Keith and John, but it's bound to be interesting.

From Yahoo! News - New Who Album May Appear Next Spring.

Get rid of Internet Explorer and its security issues

I use Mozilla Firefox almost exclusively when I'm on the web instead of Internet Explorer, so I'm one of the 8% that don't use IE. My browser of choice is Firefox, and I like it a lot better. It's faster, more secure, has lots of cool add-on tools (searching, blogging, viewing images, etc.). The tabbed browsing is really useful, and I love a lot of the little features about it.

I've been using a preview release, but the full version (1.0) has been released today. Download it and give it a try. You can import all your IE Favorites, so you won't miss a thing.

Some people say that it's only popular with tech geeks (which I admit that I am), but I think it's a great new tool for all users. I think us tech geeks use it for a reason, and that's because it's better.

At the bottom there are instructions for downloading it. Since today is the official release, the links may be a little slow, but try it later if you can't get to it. It's worth the wait.

• Article at Boston.com
• Download it at Mozilla.org
  
• Mozilla Firefox 1.0 Released - MozillaZine

Band Aid rides again

CNN.com - Geldof gets tax refund for Band Aid.

Lil' Kim coming to talk to SU class

Syracuse University students taking "Hip-Hop Eshu: Queen B@#$H101 -- The Life and Times of Lil' Kim" will have a guest speaker Wednesday -- the multiplatinum recording artist herself.

From CNN.com

Even the British royals are bowing down to King Clapton

Clapton Gets Honor From Buckingham Palace

Songs to inspire you on Election Day

MSNBC - Turn up the volume and cast your vote

Guess Jay-Z and R. Kelly aren't getting along

Yahoo! News - R. Kelly's Camp Considers Legal Action

Avril is a little annoyed at Ashlee

“You know what? There are a lot of people out there today, who have become stars or famous musicians -- I wouldn’t really define them as a star -- with a record only because they have connections and only because they have money and for the wrong reasons,” Lavigne, 20, told Billboard.com.

“And it sucks. Actually, I know for a fact there are some young female artists who don’t even sing on their own records and who don’t sing live. And that is pathetic.”

MSNBC.com

Fergie robs the cradle with JT

Seems that when Fergie (now from the Black Eyed Peas) was 23 and Justin Timberlake was 16 (and still in 'NSync), the two used to play a litte "hide the trousersnake." I'm really not sure how I feel about this.

From Melbourne Australia's Herald Sun.

Those wacky Brits are at it again

From The Guardian/Observer UK, here is a list of the ten worst cover tunes. I obviously have never been to the UK, 'cause I have no idea what most of these are.

The Observer - The ten worst cover songs.

Howard Stern is calling in to radio shows to confront the FCC

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Howard Stern criticizes FCC chairman

I don't think this guy likes Eminem's "Just Lose It"

Boston.com / A&E / Music / Eminem picks wrong candidate for release.

Say it ain't so, Miss Ashlee 'Milli Vanilli' Simpson!

In case you haven't seen this, you'll get a kick out of it. Ashlee Simpson was the musical artist on Saturday Night Live this week, and they normally perform two tunes. First up, she did her song, "Pieces of Me." When she came on for the second tune, she was expecting to play "Autobiography," her new tune. But instead, you could hear the "guide vocal" track from "Pieces of Me." Whoops!

The band, trying their best to make it work, joins in with "Pieces of Me." Ashlee dances around for a while, then walks off stage. The band keeps going for a bit, but then SNL takes it to commercial.

Lots of folks are making this out to be about her lip-synching, but this is done all the time (the guide vocal track), especially on TV or other "live" performances. What really irks me is that she's blaming this on the band. "My band played the wrong song." No, the SNL audio guy cued up the wrong track, then the band did the best they could to go with the flow. Don't blame this on the band.

Here's a comment I found from an audio engineer:

Just chiming in as an audio engineer; While it is entirely possible that she lipsynced the entire first song, I'm with the other poster who suggested that they only had the vocal intro to the song sync'd so it would be a perfect pick up, then it fades out and she continues to sing live. We also do sample tracks for vocalists who have trouble hitting a high note in a song where we'll have that sampled and we just trigger the sample playback when the high note comes along.

That's what I think happened, and some audio enginner at SNL is probably going to be looking for a new job in the morning, for cueing up the wrong song intro. I can't say I blame Ashley, I mean singing the same song twice would be kind of stupid, so what do you do? The band did good to keep going, but they didn't really have a lot of other options.

Here's an article on CNN.com.
And here is a site where you can see the video.

MEB heads west, young man

This Friday the MEB takes a road trip (well, everyone except Jeff). The guys will be heading into downtown Rochester for a ‘one night only’ show at Brü.

Brü is located in the spot that the Empire Brewing Company used to be (Jeff is still heartbroken as he used to spend many, many a night at EBC in Cuse… the ORIGINAL!). But the owners of Brü sure got it right… great bartenders, great atmosphere, great food, great brew & this Friday… great live music!

If you are a MEB virgin… you must attend this show. It’s taken them 6.5 years to make it to Rochester, who knows when the next time may be (Jeff has to get off his ass & book some shows in Roch).

On Saturday night, the MEB trio makes a pit stop in Auburn, NY at Spirits. Mike, Paul & Steve will be rockin’ out Saturday night with a little different flair. If you haven’t seen the band in this format, you need to stop by. We promise that there won’t be any politicians throwing down at Spirits, not this weekend!

So to recap…

1. The Mike Estep Band performs this weekend in Rochester & Auburn
2. Jeff only has a 20 minute ride instead of the usual 1.5 hours+
3. There’s only one place to be on Friday night... Brü
4. You need to follow up Friday with an evening with the MEB trio at Spirits in Auburn on Saturday night.

We’ll see you there.

"A friend" left it in my backpack ...

Carmelo Anthony charged with marijuana possession.

ESPN.com - NBA - Carmelo charged with marijuana possession.

What if you could turn off any TV anonymously?

A guy has invented the TV-B-Gone that will, with a click of one button, send out a "power off" signal for hundreds of TV models. Not sure why you would need this and how many people you would piss off (imagine using it in a sports bar in the bottom of the 9th), but it's interesting.

Wired News: Inventor Rejoices as TVs Go Dark.

Elliott Smith's posthumous CD gets reviewed

From troubled singer/songwriter Elliott Smith, who passed away a year ago, this is the CD of material that he was workng on at the time of his death, entitled "from a basement on the hill."

This article has other CD reviews, too - a tribute to Warren Zevon, new music from the Neville Brothers, and a Chinese-American rapper named Jin.

MSNBC.com

I'm a big Minnie Driver fan, but now she's singing?

On Tuesday she releases a CD called Everything I've Got In My Pocket, where she shows her chops as a singer/songwriter. Can't completely write her off, but I gotta hear it to believe it.

USATODAY.com - Minnie Driver, singer/songwriter.

Can you make money playing polkas?

Who knows. This guys has been scamming fans of his polka band {mostly old folks - surprise!} be selling them worthless investmenst and pocketing the money. He needs to be beat with a rubber leiderhosen.

Yahoo! News - Polka Bandleader Faces Music for Swindling.

Asexuality: it's not just for amoebas anymore

I don't think any jokes I could make here could be any better than the actual article itself.

CNN.com - Study: One in 100 adults asexual.

Lots of new music coming out this fall

Leaves are turning, a cold snap is around the corner, hot soup is again a lunch staple, and football is on every other channel. It’s fall, people, and the usual rites of this season still apply:

Crank up the car radio. Re-stock the iPod. Shop for a new stereo, with speakers big enough to rattle the sheetrock.

Just like movie studios wait until Christmas to unveil their prestige fare, record labels use this time of year to trot out highbrow product, both in stores and on the road. It’s the zenith of a popular music connoisseur’s year, a snooty counterweight to the frivolity of summer.

Get down and listen up.

MSNBC - Plenty of hot releases set for this fall

Peter Frampton comes alive - again!

He's back, he's got a haircut, and he's gotten involved in politics. I'm not really sure that qualifies for "coming alive," but it's a nice play on words, anyway.

CNN.com - The new Peter Frampton

Bummer - Melissa Etheridge has breast cancer

One of the best rock'n'roll songwriters of our time is getting treatment for breast cancer and has cancelled her tour. Our thoughts are with you, Melissa. Get better soon.

I've got 4 or 5 of her CDs and there are some great rock tunes on all of them. Heartfelt stuff with an emotional edge and a lot of guts behind it.

USAToday.com

Remember Band Aid? It was 20 years ago

And we all want to know - Where are they now?

Funny you should ask. The Sun (UK's biggest selling newspaper) is there with the story.

We just don't need sweet beer, do we?

Anheuser-Busch says it will introduce a caffeinated, sweet-flavored beer for twentysomething club goers to compete with the flavored rums and vodkas gaining ground on the dance floor.

The new beer B^E -- read as "B to the E power" -- will roll out in several phases starting in November.

Article on CNN.com.
Announcement from Anheuser-Busch.

He was great back in the day, but ...

Bob Dylan has gone from icon and legend to just another wacked out aging rockstar. And it's sad. But I guess it happens.

MSNBC.com takes a look at what Dr. Dylan has become.

Does he play the Grateful Dead?

A FEW MINUTES WITH ... A musical mortician

craigslist, a great website, gets some props

I found this site a few years ago, and it's great. This is where I found tickets to a baseball game at Fenway, where to see a band in Austin, and there's a ton of other stuff here. I can't begin to explain all that this site has, but for over 55 cities, this is the place to hang and get advice from your neighbors. If you live in one of the craigslist cities, you gotta check it out, and it's a great resource for anyone who's traveling, too.

The initial site was for the San Francisco Bay area, so craigslist.org takes you to the SF Bay site. Click on a city to the right to choose that region's info and postings.

"Web board craigslist makes a name for itself" on USATODAY.com.

I'm having a crisis; they're watering down my Jack!!

Jack Daniels is changing from 86 proof to 80 proof, and they claim that their customers prefer it. What!?!?! They sure didn't ask me. I'm way more than a little pissed.

Here's a link to an online petition asking them to change it back. For the sake of all that is good and healthy, please change it back!

Or go to Jack Daniels.com and and send them a nasty note. Man, this is really making my ass twitch.

A rant from the editor at Modern Drunkard Magazine Online.