Rocker Billie Joe Armstrong Kicked Off Southwest Flight

At NME, "Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong ejected from US flight over pants dispute."



And so what the heck? Some Green Day live. Those Japanese fans rock:

'Don't You (Forget About Me)'

Listened to Simple Minds during yesterday's drive time, on The Sound LA:

8:25 - Don't Stop by Fleetwood Mac



8:29 - Don't Stop Believin' by Journey



8:33 - Don't Take Me Alive by Steely Dan



8:44 - Don't Tell Me You Love Me by Night Ranger



8:48 - Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds



8:53 - Don't You Worry 'bout A Thing by Stevie Wonder

I'll have more blogging tonight:

'For All We Know'

If you clicked through at the Sheri Donovan interview the other day, recall she confesses that she's got The Carpenters on her iPod, but "don't worry, I won't play them on The Sound."



Actually, I wouldn't mind hearing The Carpenters once in a while. I had a crush on Karen Carpenter when I was a kid:

Britney Spears at VMAs: The Modern-Pop Definition of 'Statuesque'

From Spencer Kornhaber, at The Atlantic, "Lady Gaga and Britney Spears Share a Surreal Moment at the MTV VMAs." Here's the kicker:

The two almost kissed, and then broke off at the last moment. But Gaga kept leering, standing uncomfortably close to Britney as she attempted to give a barely felt acceptance speech. What's more, Britney had to simultaneously thank the world and introduce the next performer, Beyonce Knowles. It was a moment of weird indignity for Spears: a younger star awkwardly hogging the spotlight, a roughly contemporary diva waiting in the wings to take the stage.



But the optics of the things were the most striking. Britney, at 29, remains sturdily, conventionally beautiful. Outfitted in boots and a short but glamorous black dress, she appeared the modern-pop definition of "statuesque." And then there was Gaga as Calderone: blonde hair replaced by dark mop, her features elfin and unspectacular, her get-up shapeless and drab, her stature tiny. By pairing the two for a kind of lifetime achievement award, MTV was necessarily asking us to contrast the women. Gaga, it seemed, had picked out her shtick for the night in part to play up that contrast. And why not? With her endless parade of costume changes and her guilt-free lyrical message, Gaga's obsessed with remaking standards of beauty and achievement so that they're set by individuals, not establishments. She's the incredible, cross-dressing, anti-Britney.

Video at the link, in case this one gets yanked.



RELATED: At London's Daily Mail, "What a difference four years makes: Britney Spears gets her sparkle back as she returns to scene of THAT awful MTV performance."

'Under Pressure'

Well, I'm back to my weekday commute and tuning into The Sound LA regularly. And that's good. I had Foster the People on the brain there for a while.



Anyway, this should hold readers over until tonight when I'm back home and can blog. That Queen concert is something else, by the way, and David Bowie's live version is below. Until then...

On the Road to Vegas for Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil

I imentioned it a week or so back. As this post goes live, I'm heading out the I-15 to catch up with my family at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. My oldest boy invited his (sorta) girlfriend along, so it's a big deal. A couple of weekends ago my wife and I went over to talk with (sorta) girlfriend's mom for a couple of hours. We shared stories and (sorta) girlfriend's mom laid down the line. She said she trusted her daughter. It was everybody else she was worried about. We assured her that we don't give our son too much free rein, that he's only allowed to walk across to the New York New York Hotel to ride the roller coaster there. All the hotels are connected by walkways so it's not like you're being accosted by a bunch of drunks or beggars down on the Strip. Anyway, girlfriend's mom loves my son so much permission for her daughter to go with us was a foregone conclusion.



The show's tomorrow night. I'll have regular blogging tonight, once I get set up in Vegas.



PREVIOUSLY: "The Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil." Plus, "'A Day in the Life'," and "Impressions: The Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil."

'Rhinestone Cowboy'

Heard it yesterday while out driving my wife's new Jeep Liberty (been meaning to post pics, and no excuses other than lagging). She's got Sirius radio in there, and she loves it. What a variety!

'In For The Kill'

At the request of my youngest, and I really like La Roux:

Another version here (reminds me of Siouxsie Sioux).

'Pumped Up Kicks'

When you drive around with a teenager you get bombarded with the lastest hipster pop music. And I like Foster the People:

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, outrun my gun.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, faster than my bullet (link).

Lady Gaga on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'

I didn't even know she was in L.A.

At Los Angeles Times, "Lady Gaga takes over Hollywood Boulevard, peacefully."

Here's the clip. It might be taken down for copyright violation, so enjoy it while it lasts:

And at MTV, "Lady Gaga Finally Confirms 'You And I' As Her Next Single."

RELATED: At Daily Mail, "Lady Gaga takes the plunge in a daring low cut number slashed to the thigh", and "Forget your skirt Lady Gaga? Cheeky singer leaves little to the imagination in a pair of see-through tights." Gaga looks a little chunky at that last link.

Dan Peek, 1950 – 2011

Just learned of Dan Peek's death, at Wizbang, "Dan Peek, RIP."

I posted this clip last year, "This Is For All the Lonely People..."

See the write-up at Ultimate Classic Rock, "FOUNDING AMERICA MEMBER DAN PEEK DIES AT 60." Also Aaron Goldstein at American Spectator, "Dan Peek, R.I.P."

Plus a news report at Kansas City Star, "Dan Peek, founding member of soft-rock trio America, dies at 60."

Sixties too young. God bless Peek's family.

Amy Winehouse Sadly Joins 'The 27 Club'

London's Daily Mail has a exceptional report on the death of Amy Winehouse, "Tragic Amy Winehouse 'heartbroken' over split from Reg Traviss as she dies aged 27." (And at Memeorandum.)

Troubled singer Amy Winehouse died yesterday of a suspected drug overdose at her London home.

The 27-year-old star, who had fought a long and well-publicised battle with drink and drug addiction, was pronounced dead after police were called to her £2.5 million three-storey home in North London.

Her untimely death follows a long list of musicians who have all died at the age of 27, known as the 27 Club. They include rock legends Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Rolling Stone Brian Jones.

Amy was said to be devastated and ‘inconsolable’ after being dumped by her on-off boyfriend Reg Traviss, 34, just before she checked herself into The Priory rehabilitation clinic last month.

There's speculation that she killed herself: "Amy Winehouse Death a Suicide?"

But see the appreciation at New York Times, "For Winehouse, Life Was Messier Than Music."

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)'

Well, a change of pace from The Beatles (via GSGF):

It's funny. A Rebecca Black cameo, Corey Feldman and more!

Rebecca Black's 'Moment'

A big essay on Rebecca Black at The Atlantic.

She's from the O.C.

More at WaPo, "With ‘My Moment,’ Rebecca Black premieres follow-up to viral hit ‘Friday’."

RELATED: At LAT, "Rebecca Black's 'Friday': There are a million good reasons you can't get it out of your head."

Paul McCartney at Yankee Stadium

A music review, at New York Times, "A Gentle Reminder of Paul McCartney’s Survival and Vitality."

'Don't Let Me Down'

I've been blasting The Beatles whenever I get in the van.

And I'm learning a lot too. Here's a bit on "the rooftop concert," at Telegraph UK.

'The Beatles Illuminated: The Discovered Works of Mike Mitchell' — at Christie's

I saw this on ABC News last night, "Unseen Photos of The Beatles' First US Concert."

And at Christie's: "Sale Information."

And staff members at Christie's share their memories of The Beatles, from surprisingly profound (Kerry Keane) to embarrassingly lame (John Hays). And from Laura Paterson, insightful honesty:

I love the early albums and movies, Hard Day’s Night and Help! This was the Fab Four at their most carefree and surreal (Yellow Submarine notwithstanding). By the time I reached my teens, they simply weren’t cool (Granny liked them, after all), and I switched my allegiance to their rivals, the much edgier seeming Rolling Stones (Granny hated them). Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate their immense influence on popular music and culture. The Beatles define superstardom; from L.A. to Ulaanbaatar, everyone knows who they are.

Impressions: The Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil

I mentioned previously how moved I was by the show in Las Vegas. Charles Spencer, writing at The Telegraph UK in 2006, really captures the feeling:

Everything that was bold and beautiful, fresh and funny, sad and just plain silly about the Beatles comes together in this ravishing and almost indecently spectacular show. It's what old hippies call a head-trip, a constant 90-minute rush of dazzling sights and sounds.

But for those of us who grew up with the Beatles - and the first record I ever bought was She Loves You, aged eight, in 1963 - this latest piece from Cirque du Soleil is also overpoweringly moving. For it achieves the apparently impossible, allowing you to hear the Beatles with fresh ears. At times you seem to be listening to the music of your childhood and youth as if for the first time.

Spencer's a progressive, but folks might put aside ideological reservations and just enjoy the show. We were kids once. "Let It Be" is my most powerful Beatles memory as a child (and "Hey Jude" is right up there), and sometimes nostalgia is overpowering. And recall that recently I've been moved by George Harrison's songs, and it turns out that the one entirely original song at LOVE is Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." It's just so impressive all around.

I'm taking my kids to see LOVE next time we're in Las Vegas. They'll have to listen to some of the CDs, but they're already familiar with a whole lot of The Beatles from hanging out with me, my musical tastes, and from just the radio environment.

Leftists Freaked Out Over News of John Lennon as Republican

Well, mostly Jon Wiener at The Nation, although Joel Achenbach, at WaPo, "can't imagine" John Lennon as a Republican. Cute, isn't that?

But see James Delingpole, at Telegraph UK, "Was John Lennon a secret Reagan Republican?"

Over at the leftie Nation, historian Jon Wiener is having a massive sense of humour failure at this outrageous slur on a man probably second only to Che as an icon of international left-wing street credibility.

Exactly.

This story is so last month, but I couldn't get it out of my mind this week while visiting The Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil.

'Get Back'

Okay, this clip's from early in the show. Notice at how the dividing curtains fall at about 45 seconds. The theater is divided into quadrants. The curtains are up as guests are seated. Later throughout the performance projections onto large screens are used as part of the performance. There are also a couple of transitional segments with musical choreography projected as well. The crashing bricks here represent something of the Beatles' origins and search for meaning of the rubble of the war. From the commemorative booklet:

The action suddenly stops cold and we flash back further still, to the chaos and devastation of war. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is destroyed. But there is hope: