Waffle Whiffer has the lowdown on a childhood favorite - Hostess ® Ding Dongs ® (drool). I wish I could still eat that kind of junk and not feel bad about it! Having a Ding Dong was like a decadent luxury when I was a kid. And twinkies? Fuggedabout it.
I remember this Ding Dongs commercial from the early '70s:
"This must be King Ding Dong's castle!" "Look at all those Ding Dongs!"
Like with many classic, mainstream pop/rock bands (The Beatles, The Who, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, The Police, U2, etc., etc., etc.), there was a time when R.E.M. just got better and better with each album release. I remember not being able to believe how good Automatic for the People (1992) sounded when I first heard it. Almost every song seemed to be good, and I was knocked out by the production (lush, slick, deep and echoey, intermittently atmospheric and melancholy) and Peter Buck's multi-layered instrumentation.
Buck was definitely another one of my guitar heroes when I was a teenager. His influence has probably lasted the longest (other than The Beatles', who are musically, "chromosomaly" part of me) and still remains in my playing. Michael Stipe's voice was really great on the album too.
Who would've thought R.E.M. could top both Green (1988) and Out of Time (1991), commercially or critically? Stipe's best songs are on it (IMHO). Perhaps one of the best known from Automatic for the People is "Man on the Moon." The Wikipedia:
The song makes numerous references to the comedian Andy Kaufman, including his Elvis impersonation and work with wrestlers Fred Blassie and Jerry Lawler. The song was released as a single in 1993.
The song gave its name to a 1999 film Man on the Moon, and was used in the film's soundtrack.
The song was placed on R.E.M.'s Warner Bros. Records "best of" album In Time - The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 in 2003. It was one of four songs from Automatic for the People to make the compilation, more than from any other album.
"Sugar Walls" is the second single from Sheena Easton's 1984 album A Private Heaven. A top ten hit in the United States on both the Pop (#9) and R&B (#3) charts, the song was composed by Prince, utilizing the pseudonym "Alexander Nevermind."
Imagine that! An entire wall of sugar. Wow!! Walls...of sugar. Sugar walls. Nifty!
Yoko has allowed Apple's iTunes to offer downloads of John Lennon's post-Beatles catalog. From the Houston Chronicle:
Apple Inc. has begun selling downloads of tracks from 16 of John Lennon's post-Beatles albums, including Working Class Hero and John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, on iTunes, the company said Tuesday.
The albums represent Lennon's recording output while he was with Capitol Records, a unit of Britain's EMI Group PLC.
While many of the late singer-songwriter's solo recordings have been available for download commercially elsewhere, this marks the first time they have been available on Apple's market-leading online music service.
Songs on two albums — Lennon Legend and Acoustic — were being made available for download exclusively on iTunes, the company said.
Video content was also being included with the purchase of some of the albums for a limited time.
The Lennon tracks will also be available without copy-protection restrictions and in higher-quality audio for $1.29 each. Regular versions are priced at 99 cents each.
"John would have loved the fact that his music will now be available in a format suited to a new generation of listeners," Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, said in a statement released by Apple.
I'd suggest simply getting Shaved Fish, but that's just me. I come to you from the ancient era of LPs and cassette tapes, so what do I know?
And this news warmed the cockles of my heart. Paul McCartney was seen hanging out with Christie Brinkley last weekend at the Hamptons, supposedly "cuddling" during a James Taylor concert. I hope she realizes a relationship with Paul will ultimately require her to sign over ownership of her breasts to him. The previous blonde apparently didn't understand that, or if she did, she had some issues with it. She was probably a little more sensitive about losing body parts than most.
"Love Kills" is one of two songs (the other being "Dum Dum Club") Joe Strummer did for the Sid and Nancy (1986) soundtrack. I've always thought this would have worked great as a Clash song.
This video for it features a young Gary Oldman, who of course played Sid Vicious in the film. An irony about the soundtrack was neither Sid Vicious nor the Sex Pistols are on it, yet Gary Oldman performs on two songs - "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "My Way." I have no idea what the heck is going on in this:
Waffle Whiffer has the lowdown on a childhood favorite - Hostess ® Ding Dongs ® (drool). I wish I could still eat that kind of junk and not feel bad about it! Having a Ding Dong was like a decadent luxury when I was a kid. And twinkies? Fuggedabout it.
Like with many classic, mainstream pop/rock bands (The Beatles, The Who, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, The Police, U2, etc., etc., etc.), there was a time when R.E.M. just got better and better with each album release. I remember not being able to believe how good Automatic for the People (1992) sounded when I first heard it. Almost every song seemed to be good, and I was knocked out by the production (lush, slick, deep and echoey, intermittently atmospheric and melancholy) and Peter Buck's multi-layered instrumentation. 
Who would've thought R.E.M. could top both Green (1988) and Out of Time (1991), commercially or critically? Stipe's best songs are on it (IMHO). Perhaps one of the best known from Automatic for the People is "Man on the Moon." The Wikipedia:
From Wikipedia's "Sugar Walls" entry:
Yoko has allowed Apple's iTunes to offer downloads of John Lennon's post-Beatles catalog. From the Houston Chronicle:
"Love Kills" is one of two songs (the other being "Dum Dum Club") Joe Strummer did for the Sid and Nancy (1986) soundtrack. I've always thought this would have worked great as a Clash song. 
This video for it features a young Gary Oldman, who of course played Sid Vicious in the film. An irony about the soundtrack was neither Sid Vicious nor the Sex Pistols are on it, yet Gary Oldman performs on two songs - "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "My Way." I have no idea what the heck is going on in this:
