There is sad news in the music industry today, R&B singer Amy Winehouse is dead at the age of 27 Amy Winehouse will share the legacy of the other members of the 27 Club. The 27 Club includes Stones founder Brian Jones, guitar god Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and godfather of grunge Kurt Cobain. All of these great talents like Winehouse passed at the tender age of 27. Read the rest of this entry »

What is HURTSMILE? If you’ve heard of Tribe of Judah or Atunga or Flesh you know that these are groups that have the distinction of having one of the Cherone brothers from Malden, MA.  participating in the music making. Hurtsmile has the added bonus of two of the Cherone clan working side by side, Markus and Gary. Read the rest of this entry »

What is Readercon, you ask? This 22 year old convention for Science Fiction and Fantasy readers is an essential event held annually at the Burlington Marriot in Burlington, Massachusetts. As I write this the four day event is in high gear, parties in some of the suites, authors talking to fans, tons of books for sale in a huge dealer’s room set up smack dab in the middle of the festival. Read the rest of this entry »

2011 marks the 20th Anniversary of 1991: The Year Punk Broke , a pivotal film centered around the lives and experiences of avant-garde music pioneers Sonic Youth during their 1991 European festival tour. The film documents their headline tour as they introduced a new breed of bands who were on the verge of taking on the world and forever changing the course of music. Read the rest of this entry »

Gretsch celebrates the legacy of George Harrison with the G6128T-GH George Harrison SIGNATURE Duo Jet guitar, modeled on the instrument that the legendary guitarist referred to as his “first real decent guitar.”

Features include distinctive appointments and modifications found on and inspired by Harrison’s original 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet, which he purchased secondhand in the early 1960s. These include a lightweight mid-’50s-style chambered body, all-black color scheme (arched maple top, mahogany back and sides, and back of the one-piece mahogany neck), Bigsby® B3C tailpiece with a black Phillips head tremolo arm pivot bolt, and an offset strap button on the lower bout. Read the rest of this entry »

Songs such as “Ride Like The Wind” had real drama and introspection and as massively popular as the three main hits from the first album were – “Sailing” and “Never Be The Same” along with “Ride Like The Wind” (“Say You’ll Be Mine” was a fourth top 20 hit from that affair as well) Christopher Cross has become a sort of an artistic asterisk in the history of popular music. AMG’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine hits in on the head noting how Cross was embraced by the industry but not the critics. Not that one has to satisfy critics but…when those reflecting on artistry across the board find a musician too bland to keep on the radar screen it is problematic. Read the rest of this entry »

On the 2nd anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death new allegations have come to light. Boy band has-been Aaron Carter told Australia’s OK! magazine about his drug and alcohol fueled sleepovers with the King of Pop. Aaron Carter now 23 told the magazine “This is the first time. … I miss Michael. … I have spent such incredible times with him. I did things with him that nobody else did.. … But I was also troubled about what he did to me.” Read the rest of this entry »

The interesting thing about this new release from the Doobie Brothers…almost 20 years after it was recorded – is how mainstream the band went after delivering the music co-founder Tom Johnston created with the group back in the day…their first show in Boston in the early early 1970s…opening for Marc Bolan & T Rex (Bolan’s first show in America, by the way) was amazing.  To the chagrin of 680 AM, the former Top 40 powerhouse WRKO they opened the show with their current hit, “Listen To The Music”, but were an interesting match with Bolan, who later went on to open for Three Dog Night at the Boston Garden.  Good on paper, but when Marc didn’t have the hits in the U.S.A. that he had in Great Britain, well…it was something more for the connoisseurs than for the mainstream.
Read the rest of this entry »

Guitarist/singer Peter. Calo will be performing at 8 PM on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at Passim in Harvard Square, 47 Palmer Street Cambridge  with pianist Rob Morsberger.

The club press release quotes WBZ-TV in Boston as saying  “Calo stands out as an exceptionally versatile and accomplished talent on the crowded music scene.” and notes that, along with being long-time music director/guitarist  for Carly Simon,  Calo “has recorded and performed with such legendary Grammy Award winning artists as James Taylor, Hall and Oats, Read the rest of this entry »

To celebrate the May 23rd release date of Lady Gaga’s third studio album, Born This Way, the Zoo is giving away ONE copy of the CD, courtesy of Mandee.com, to ONE lucky winner.

Details:
Lady Gaga’s third studio album “Born This Way” was released in May. You can now it for a discounted rate of $7.99 with any online mandee.com purchase. Click here to take advantage of this offer. Read the rest of this entry »

In what could be deemed a preview for her upcoming leaked sex tape Jennifer Lopez had a nip slip this week. the wardrobe malfunction happened at a private photo shoot which makes us wonder if these pictures were “leaked” on purpose.

While J Lo has no need for additional publicity or fame; this may be her way of controlling how her nude body is perceived by her fans. We reported last month that her ex-husband won a court ruling to release private intimate videos of the superstar. We still do not know if the videos are XXX in nature, but the buzz is this is a sextape. Read the rest of this entry »

James Osterberg keeps on rolling on. I’m a firm believer in the boxed set as the medium to convey the artistry of deep-catalogue performers and this tidy four disc set does a great job of providing a glimpse for the uninitiated into how very credible Iggy is, as well as his unbelievable consistency. We are talking about 32 years of recordings which cover songs that were Stooges’ staples as well as key items from his solo repertoire. Read the rest of this entry »

They’re calling it Motor City Madness when Mitch Ryder and his Detroit Wheels meet James Montgomery Blues Band at 8 PM Thursday night, June 9 at 8 PM at the Kowloon – 948 Broadway (Route 1, North), Saugus, Massachusetts. This is being billed as the “Only New England appearance of the “Godfather of Blue-eyed Soul”…and I can go with that…the hits “Devil With a Blue Dress On”, “Good Golly Miss Molly”, “Sock It To Me Baby”, “Jenny Takes A Ride” and more will rock the venerable restaurant up on the hill of Route 1 North. Read the rest of this entry »

When a perfect pop/rock song like “Soul Shaker” comes along it’s hard to express to people in words what a fun experience they’re in for. But with the internet and artists posting the music to hear for free a great production and solid piece of songwriting like this has a chance to emerge and conquer the planet. Go to JohnLaprade.com to check it out. For those who love “Soul Shake” by Delaney & Bonnie (the lp To Bonnie from Delaney) or the quintessential Flamin’ Groovies track “Shake Some Action” (the 45 RPM from the U.K., more than the Sire lp title track), this could be the parallel world sequel to the Groovies song of love and lust. With Laprade on vocals, electric guitar, Rich Pagano on drums, bassist John Conte and backing vocals by Michael Miller, Barney Miller and Laprade, this song has all the elements. My favorite new release from an artist I’ve not heard of before so far in 2011…it’s just totally brilliant pop and landed on the #1 spot on my JoeVigTop40 blog for May. Read the rest of this entry »

Statement of Michael Lynton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment: The cybercrime wave that has affected Sony companies and a number of government agencies, businesses and individuals in recent months has hit Sony Pictures as well. Yesterday afternoon a group of criminal hackers known as “LulzSec” claimed to have breached some of our websites.

We have confirmed that a breach has occurred and have taken action to protect against further intrusion. We also retained a respected team of experts to conduct the forensic analysis of the attack, which is ongoing. Read the rest of this entry »

To celebrate the June 14th release date of Paul McCartney’s Classic Solo Recordings McCartney and MCCartney II, the Zoo is giving away ONE pair of the Special Edition CD sets, courtesy of the Concord Music Group, to ONE lucky winner.

Prize Synopsis:
Heralded as one of the most beloved solo debuts of all time, McCartney, the smash # 1 album, originally released April of 1970, yielded the timeless tracks “Every Night” and “Junk” along with the immortal classic “Maybe I’m Amazed.” McCartney II originally issued in May of 1980 was McCartney’s return to solo work after nine years touring and having released several massively successful albums with Wings. Reaching #1 in the UK, and #3 in the U.S., the album produced enduring classics such as “Coming Up,” “Waterfalls,” & “Temporary Secretary.”

Paul McCartney personally supervised all aspects of these two reissues. The remastering work was done at Abbey Road using the same team who recently remastered the complete Beatles’ catalog. Both McCartney and McCartney II will be available in a variety of formats.

The musical achievement of McCartney and McCartney II are noted in the annals of music history as they serve as bookends to the historic first chapter of McCartney’s solo career.

McCartney & McCartney II mark the second and third releases from the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, an ambitious reissue program that encompasses 41 years of cherished, classic material from the most successful songwriter and recording artist in music history. In November of 2010, the inaugural title in the Archive Collection, Paul McCartney & Wings’ 1973 classic Band on the Run was released to worldwide acclaim.

Contest Rules:
Entering the giveaway is simple, fill out the form below with your name and email address.

This contest is open to all residents of the U.S. and will close on July 1st, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST.

You can enter this contest once every day until the contest closes.

The winners will be chosen at random and notified via e-mail. Multiple entries in one calendar day by any entrant will result in disqualification. The TMR Zoo will not be responsible for lost or missing mail. Good luck!!

This contest is now closed! Visit our main contest page to see all active contests running at the Zoo.