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Music News

Watch the trailer for ‘35,000 Watts: The Story of College Radio’ documentary. Before there were music blogs and streaming services, one of the only ways you could hear new, independent, underground music was college radio, and bands like R.E.M., Pixies, The Smiths, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2 owe more than a little of their success to sleep-deprived DJs who cut class for their on-air shifts. New documentary 35,000 Watts looks at the heyday of college radio and features interviews with members of The Pixies, Bratmobile, Apples in Stereo and more. [Brooklyn Vegan]

Upcoming documentary , "It Came From Aquarius Records" tells the story of San Francisco's much-loved, much-missed Aquarius Records, which closed in 2016 after 47 years. The director interviewed famous customers, musicians and former staff members, including Matt Groening (The Simpsons), Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips), Bruce Ackley, John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats), Ty Segall, Liz Harris (Grouper), and more. [Brooklyn Vegan]

Apple discontinues making the iPod [Spin]

Who had one of these beasts? [Image courtesy of Apple.]

‘This is Spinal Tap’ is getting a sequel Deadline reports that 'This is Spinal Tap', the iconic, influential and endlessly quotable 1984 hard rock mockumentary, is getting a sequel, with Rob Reiner returning to direct and original stars/writers Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer reprising their roles as Nigel Tufnel, David St Hubbins and Derek Smalls.[Brooklyn Vegan] 

Naomi Judd Died from self-inflicted gunshot sound, says Daughter Ashley [Consequence]

Jon Bon Jovi goes viral for “shockingly poor” concert vocals. Check out a cringey video here. [Stereogum]

World-class charmer Liam Gallagher slams “cancel culture”: “Bring It Fucking On, You Fucking Squares” [Consequence]

Lyle Lovett : The Aquarium Drunkard Interview 

Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie plans debut solo album Having already won a best original song Academy Award for his work with The Muppets, Flight of the Conchords co-founder Bret McKenzie continues stretching beyond his beloved duo’s comedy-driven folk rock on his debut solo album, Songs Without Jokes, which is out on August 26 via Sub Pop. [Spin]

Nicholas Braun, who you know and love as Cousin Greg on HBO's Succession, is developing a series for the network revolving around the "Meet Me in the Bathroom" era early-'00s indie music scene that gave us The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, etc. [Brooklyn Vegan]



Music History
[Courtesy of calendar.songfacts.com ]

May 9
1960: The birth control pill is introduced in the US, inspiring Loretta Lynn to sing a song about it.

May 10
1999: Shel Silverstein, the prolific author of beloved children's books who was also a top songwriter, dies of a massive heart attack at age 68. He wrote "A Boy Named Sue" for Johnny Cash. Here's a version with Shel singing it...

May 11
1981: Bob Marley dies at age 36 after a long battle with cancer.

May 12
2013: After the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield records the David Bowie song "Space Oddity" on board the International Space Station, his sublime rendition is posted to YouTube, quickly garnering millions of views.

May 13
1985: The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) holds a meeting in a Washington church where they foment support for their agenda: a ratings system for albums and concerts like those used for movies, and also to keep offensive album covers out of view in record stores. Their efforts lead to warning stickers on albums with offensive lyrics.

May 14
2015: B.B. King dies at age 89. Bonnie Raitt says, "Without a doubt, B.B. King has influenced more rock and blues musicians than anyone else in history."

May 15
2002: The Wu-Tang Name Generator goes online. The app turns your real name into one suited for the rap collective. Donald Glover gets his stage name from the generator, becoming Childish Gambino. I will now be known as Vanquished Bold.

 

Released 28 years ago this week:
Weezer's self-titled blue album

Released 36 years ago this week:
Run-DMC release Raising Hell which featured groundbreaking rap tune "Walk this Way".

Released 55 years ago this week:
Jimi Hendrix releases his first album, Are You Experiencd?

What have you been listening to this week?