Throwback Thursday!
For this week’s Throwback Thursday we asked you, the listener, what artist you wanted to be highlighted. We got a bunch of really great responses and ended up deciding to highlight the British punk group, Siouxsie & The Banshees.
Siouxsie & The Banshees first rose to fame in 1978 with the release of their first single, “Hong Kong Garden”. The group then went on to release 11 studio albums before their breakup in 1996.
The group was highly influential in creating the “goth-rock” look and sound that we know today and a lot of that influence came from the group’s enigmatic frontwoman, Souxsie Sioux. Sioux’s now-iconic gothic look has been influencing fashion for the past 30 years.
Make sure to tune into Throwback Thursday today at 5pm! It shall be a fun one!
- Mariel
Matthew McConaughey is back as David Wooderson!
Remember a little movie called Dazed And Confused from back in 1993? I know I do–though I was only three in 1993 so I didn’t see it until years later. The first character that I always think of when I think of Dazed and Confused is Matthew McConaughey as David Wooderson. He didn’t have a particularly large part but he had an unforgettable line.
“That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.”
And now he’s back and L-I-V-I-N in the new Butch Walker and The Black Widows video. It’s for the song, “Synthesizers”. Butch plays the bartender. Check it out!
-kendall
Throwback Thursday!
Every Thursday WERS goes back to the past and celebrates an artist by playing a set of their tunes. Today we celebrating singer, Etta James, who passed away last Friday at the age of 73.
Etta James rose to fame with her debut album, At Last!, which was released in 1960 on Chess Records and featured the hits, “I Just Want To Make Love To You”, “A Sunday Kind Of Love” and the title track, “At Last”. She followed this album up with the also successful albums “The Second Time Around” and “Etta James Sings For Lovers”. James continued making successful music throughout the late 1970s.
Despite taking roughly 10 years off from music between 1978-1987, James signed a deal with Island Records in 1989 and continued to release albums all throughout the 1990s and 2000s, with her final release being “The Dreamer”, which was released in November of last year.
James’ influence on music can be seen everywhere as she was a game changer and one of the first female singers to experiment heavily with jazz, soul and pop. Artists from Christina Aguilera to Amy Winehouse to this past year’s breakout superstar, Adele all have felt influenced and inspired by Ms. James.
Hence why her death last week was so saddening. She was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2011 and it was the cancer that ultimately led to her death. She will certainly be missed by many.
Make sure to tune into Throwback Thursday today at 5pm as we celebrate the life of Ms. Etta James.
- MW
Throwback Thursday!
Make sure to listen in to WERS tomorrow at 5pm for our weekly Throwback Thursday feature. This week we are celebrating what would have been Janis Joplin’s 69th birthday by playing a set of her music (with a few surprises thrown in!!!). Also, check out this video of Janis performing “Try” at Woodstock in 1969!
R.I.P. Janis! We miss you!
- MW
Shut Up And Play The Hits
As James Murphy himself once sang, “I was there.” I was one of the thousands who sold out Madison Square Garden in minutes for LCD Soundsystem’s final performance. I can say with confidence that it was the best concert I’ll see in my life; four hours of amazing technical musicianship, constant energy, lots of surprises (the Arcade Fire!), and a sense of overwhelming joy like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I know I wasn’t the only one crying during “Someone Great,” but it wasn’t from sadness so much as amazement. Everyone knew exactly how lucky we were to be there.
It’s that sense of joy that hits me in this trailer. “Shut Up And Play The Hits” premieres at Sundance, and it follows LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy in the 48 hours surrounding their last concert, their retirement party to end all retirement parties. People are already calling it the “Last Waltz” of our generation. I don’t know about that, but I do know that this is the closest I’ll come to reliving this once-in-a-lifetime moment. I can’t wait.
-Ella
New Killers Record Set to Drop in 2012!
It’s no secret that The Killers have been in the studio working on a fourth album to follow up 2008′s Day and Age. But the question has been when we’re going to hear it! “The Cowboys’ Christmas ball” the Christmas single from the quartet was a good teaser and served to remind us that the boys are working together. “The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball” was their sixth consecutive annual Christmas single and won’t be featured on the upcoming album, but it was released on December 1st (World AIDS Day) and all proceeds went to (RED). As happy as I, and my fellow Victims were to have this tiny taste of something new it left us wanting so much more!
That’s why I was so happy to hear that Brandon Flowers told the BBC on January 4th that a new Killers record is definitely dropping in 2012. He just isn’t sure if it’s going to be in the summer or the winter. Flowers described the band’s feelings on the album saying, “we don’t want to make Hot Fuss 2, or Sam’s Town 2, or Day and Age 2. We’ll maybe take all that stuff, the best of it and do what we know how to do.”
Get ready, victims. The future is now.
-Kendall
Oh, and here’s the BBC interview.
Kathleen Edwards’ “Voyageur comes out January 17th!
Canadian sing-songwriter Kathleen Edwards’ fourth studio album is only twelve days away! The new record, Voyageur, was produced by Edwards, herself, and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver). Voyageur features guest appearances by Norah Jones, S. Carey and others. The video for the single “Change The Sheets” has been out since December 6th but I’m adding it in here because it’s that good, and it’s a nice preview of what to expect from the rest of the album.
-Kendall
Throwback Thursday!
Patti Smith turns 65 tomorrow and in celebration we have dedicated this week’s Throwback Thursday to her! Tune in today at 5pm to hear a set of Patti Smith tunes! Also check out a video of Patti performing one of my favorite songs from her, “Because The Night”! Enjoy!
- Mariel
We Bought A Zoo!
We Bought A Zoo, the latest film from writer, director and producer Cameron Crowe, was released on December 23rd. Crowe, who is most celebrated for his films, Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous, is known for giving music a central role in his movies. Almost Famous was a narrative about a rock band, Elizabeth Town does not focus on music for the plot but there is an iconic scene in which Orlando Bloom is taking a road trip across the country by himself in order to be alone with the music. We Bought A Zoo is the story–based loosely off of the memoir of the same name–of Benjamin Mee (played by Matt Damon) a single father of two. After the death of his wife, Benjamin buys and moves to a zoo in order to give his family a fresh start.
Crowe, a former/sometimes still is writer for Rolling Stone Magazine, made the perfect decision when choosing Jonsi of Sigur Ros to write the score and soundtrack of We Bought A Zoo. The Icelandic singer wrote eleven new tracks strictly for the film, but the soundtrack also features the classic Sigur Ros song, “Hoppipolla” as well as four previously released solo tracks from Jonsi. It has been rumored that “Gathering Stories”, the movie’s theme song co-written by Crowe, is on the short list for an Oscar nomination.
-Kendall
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