I recently received an email from Canadian songwriter Jim Vallance. You may not know his name, but you probably know his work: songs he cowrote include Aerosmith’s “Rag Doll,” Glass Tiger’s “Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone),” and Heart’s “What About Love?” And he collaborated on dozens of songs with Bryan Adams, including “Summer of […]
posted 12 July 2012 in Tasty Bits. 3 comments
If you’re a Rolling Stone subscriber, you have probably already received a copy of “The Big Issue,” a tribute to all things humongous and a reminder of how appealing the magazine looked when printed on larger pages. If not, do not despair–even though the issue isn’t available on newsstands, you can read the whole thing […]
posted 29 May 2012 in Articles, Outside. no comments yet
Quick byline alert: I had a short article in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine, a profile of the clever and congenial Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass, the filmmaking brothers responsible for Cyrus; Jeff, Who Lives at Home, and The Do-Deca-Pentathlon. An amusing side note that didn’t fit into the piece came when I spoke with […]
posted 21 May 2012 in Articles, Outside. no comments yet
Donna Summer wasn’t the diva of the dance floor for me: she was an unearthly voice coming through my AM radio when I was a sixth-grader, my elementary-school channel to the divine. A couple of decades later, she got on the phone with me to talk about the history of disco, and was kind enough […]
posted 17 May 2012 in Tasty Bits. no comments yet
This is one of those articles that was in the works so long, I missed the moment when it actually saw print: my profile of aspiring golfer Dan McLaughlin. But although the April issue of Men’s Journal has left newsstands, I encourage you to click over to their website, because McLaughlin is a fascinating guy: […]
posted 14 May 2012 in Articles, Outside. no comments yet
The Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (to Party!)” isn’t just the rare song with two parentheses in the title, or the MTV debut of Tabitha Soren. Even after a three-decade Beastie career, it remains the cornerstone of their work. So five perspectives on a #7 single: 1. Public Enemy, “Party for Your […]
posted 9 May 2012 in Links, Tasty Bits. 2 comments
I’ve been thinking a lot about Adam Yauch, and how, aside from everything else, his life was a testament to how much a person can change during their time here on Earth. I never met the man (although I did interview his bandmates last year). I’ve been remembering the times I saw the Beastie Boys […]
posted 8 May 2012 in Tasty Bits. 3 comments
My apologies for the unplanned hiatus: I’m in book crunch mode, which has been soaking up every free minute, and many that aren’t free. But I wanted to let you know about an interview I did for Playboy with Grant Morrison, who has been one of my favorite comic-book writers for many years now. I […]
posted 30 April 2012 in Articles, Outside. no comments yet
A short Q&A with the mighty Joe Perry.
posted 30 March 2012 in Outside. no comments yet
Is this: my short report on the Aerosmith press conference today. While I was waiting to interview the band afterwards (followup article soon), I wrote a rough draft on paper, typed it up, emailed it in, and hello world.
posted 28 March 2012 in Outside. no comments yet
