News & Updates — rock

Moments of Ecstatic High Energy Melt Into Soft Expansion "It takes audacity to start a song with questions as big and unanswerable as 'Where did we come from? Who are we really?' But for Western Massachusetts duo Home Body, those kind of grand cosmic queries are totally natural, fitting snugly into music that digs deep and shoots for the stars. The soaring voice of Haley Morgan and the throbbing, hovering electronics of Eric Hnatow create songs that are always on the rise, grounded by cardiac beats but unafraid to fly into the sun. On their ambitious second full-length record, Spiritus, Home Body ruminates on darkness, the...

Guitarist and vocalist Iván Fariñas de Armas is the “Grandfather” of Cuban rock ‘n’ roll. Yes, you heard right, Cuban rock ‘n’ roll has an ‘abuelo’ — maybe you didn’t know there even was such a thing as ‘el rock cubano’ — but there is, and even if he’s not a household name, Iván Fariñas should be, as he’s extremely talented and is arguably the oldest still practicing rockero from behind The Mango Curtain since he started in the 1950s. He claims to have written and recorded the first Cuban blues-rock tune in English — over 40 years ago. Fariñas...

Eddie Cochran, rockabilly icon of the '50s who perhaps set the template for the rebellious, tough rocker image, was born on this day in 1938. He was an innovative guitarist, a proto-punk influence and an early experimenter of overdubbing and multitracking. He remains one of the great heroes of early rock & roll. Originally from Minnesota, as a teenager he moved with his family to Los Angeles. He started off playing drums as a kid before learning guitar. He was into blues & country and dropped out of high school to become a professional musician. In '54 was part of a...

One of my favorite '60s rock singers, Dutch gypsy vocalist Mariska Veres had a powerful presence as front woman for the arty psych band Shocking Blue, one of the great teenage rock bands of the era. Best known for their original version of "Venus" (covered thousands of times, literally, around the world) and their FAR SUPERIOR original version of "Love Buzz" (covered by Nirvana), they had a lot of great tunes! Other great tunes from them are the Indian-tinged "Acka Raga", "Send Me A Postcard" and other killers. Born in The Hague, her father was a Hungarian/Romani gypsy violinist and...

Happy birthday to singer/songwriter/dancer Frankie Lymon, teenage superstar of the '50s. His tune "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", with his group The Teenagers, is still a perennial classic to this day. Born in Harlem, he sang gospel with his sister. He dropped out of school at 10 to work in a store. At 12 he joined a doo-wop group that ultimately became The Teenagers, an integrated vocal group. At the 1956 session for "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", the lead singer was late so Lymon's sweet soprano took the lead and the rest is history. He became an...