Ozzy capitalizes on unintelligibility for cell ad

In case you aren't watching at the right daypart, here's the newest ad from Ozzy Osbourne.

Is there a moment when as this legendary rocker capitalizes on "I'm just an unintelligible old coot" that he thinks "Maybe this isn't a good idea?"

Upside - his hair looks great.

Jarvis Cocker embraces Too Old To Rock Too Young To Care Mantra

This quote from Pulp's frontman comes courtesy of The Guardian and my dear friend Brian:

He had been about to hit 40 when he considered walking away from music before.

"I just thought, 'You're too old to be in a band.'"

Does he think that he's too old now he's 45?

"Yeah, but who cares? I am too old. I have resigned myself to the humiliation that goes with it now."

I laugh.

"I have!" he protests. "I have, because I realise it's the only thing I was born to do"."

Read full text here

Prince - Now A Bible-Tapper

An atmospheric piece about Prince has hit the current New Yorker which is entirely worth reading if not just to read the description of him as "a small fifty-year-old man in yoga pants wearing platform flip-flops" and talking about how as a Jehovah's Witness he goes door to door spreading the good word. Years ago I remember seeing an MTV 'where are they now' special where Vanity of Vanity 6 talked about how she prayed for Prince's soul every day, well I guess that worked!

By the way, what with those religious stances, you can likely count Prince among the folks who voted against gay marriage in California. Way to kill a fanbase.

Bus Stop Label in the News

The Onion in Milwaukee did a nice piece on one of my favorite 20+ year old indie labels, The Bus Stop Label - read it here.

Flaming Lips love Guitar Hero

Now here's something pleasing. Enjoy Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips describing how they made their promo for NBC (also features the B-52's) and gives us a tour of his souped up double neck guitar - one guitar and one guitar hero.

Yma Sumac, queen of avant-tiki - dies at 86

Oh Yma! How sad am I to know that after 86 years on this planet you decided to take off to the afterlife and I never got to see you live and in person even once! Boo hoo!

For those of you who have no idea who Yma Sumac is, I could probably not tell you in greater detail than our friends at the NY Times Obit department, so I'll leave it to them. What I will say is to hear the incredibly strange 4-octave voice of this avant-garde Peruvian chanteuse is to believe it. With a sound like Ricky Ricardo's freaky sister, her albums of mambos and cha chas were the perfect soundtrack to throwing a dozen mai tais with friends, you know, just before going on a date with a witch doctor or throwing yourself into an erupting volcano.

Still interested? Well why not download her songs yourself for free from this incredibly obscure Russian website? Ah yes, I knew you'd like that. While you're there be sure to check out the extensive selection of songs by A-ha (how many singles did they have?) and "AC and DC". Hurrah for lack of copywright.

Yes We Can: I love Obama, but it makes me throw up a little

I awoke this morning to a new kind of America, one where there is new hope at last for all of our collective futures.

I awoke this morning to a new kind of President. One whose marketing has been so slick, he's the only presidential candidate I can ever recall not only having a logo for his name (what is he, Prince?), but also who has released a celebratory compilation album upon election. "Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement" features songs like "Signed Sealed Delivered" by Stevie Wonder, "American Prayer" by Dave Stewart and Keb' Mo' taking a stab at "America the Beautiful". This Triple A-fest of soft rocking songs designed to inspire venti latte drinkers at your local Starbucks certainly not the kind of thing I would ever want to buy, but how can one not be intrigued by the sheer marketing genius of it all? I mean, when was the last time you recall a presidential election ending in a compliation album?

So even though "Yes We Can" is full of the kind of hokey, goody-two shoes 'inspiring' music that makes me throw up just enough that it gets stuck at the top of your throat and then goes back down and you have heartburn for an hour afterwards, on the upside, this is still way better than whatever the album would have been if John McCain had won.

Yip Yip Aliens love Rock n' Roll Radio

Will someone please please please sample the Aliens saying "Radio" into a song?