From Spinner: Sky Saxon, lead singer and bassist of '60s garage rockers the Seeds, died Thursday in an Austin, Texas hospital. He had been in the ICU since Monday suffering from an undisclosed illness -- doctors suspected an internal organ infection -- until his wife, Sabrina, announced his passing via Facebook. Influenced heavily by the Rolling Stones, Saxon -- born Richard Marsh -- founded the Seeds in 1965 in California. The next year, the psychedelic rockers released two albums, 'The Seeds' and 'A Web of Sound,' and had hits with 'Can't Seem to Make You Mine' and 'Pushin' Too Hard,' their most successful song. In 1967, the band released two more albums: 'Future,' a psychedelic rock album, and 'A Full Spoon of Seedy Blues,' which was credited to the Sky Saxon Blues Band and featured liner notes by the legendary Muddy Waters. After some lineup changes and a few more commercially unsuccessful albums, Saxon dissolved the band in the early '70s. He joined a California commune, the Source Family, adopted the name Sunlight and occasionally performed with their trippy house band, the Ya Ho Wa 13. In 1989, Saxon reformed the Seeds to tour with other '60s acts like Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Arthur Lee and Love. They toured again in 2003, and Saxon kept busy musically, releasing an album last year, and recording with the Smashing Pumpkins. Though he fell ill last Thursday, Saxon still managed to play a short gig on Saturday night at Austin rock club Antone's. Earlier today, Sabrina Sherry Smith Saxon wrote on her Facebook page, "Sky has passed over and YaHoWha is waiting for him at the gate. He will soon be home with his Father. I'm so sorry I couldn't keep him here with us. More later. I'm sorry." No other announcements have been made.

They're already halfway there. Gene Simmons presently has two of the current members wearing makeup made famous by Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

I'm guessing you meant The Respectables. The Replacements ceased to exist circa 1990. Last night I saw Marah at the Pour House in Raleigh.

Cracker's playing a free show here Saturday as part of Raleigh's Downtown Live concert series. Sunday, the Church are playing the State in Falls Church, VA. I'm kinda on the fence about that one but would love to see the Church.

Yes. Check out some of the artists I've posted about, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

THE BLACK CROWES ANNOUNCE RELEASE OF NEW CD AND GIVE FANS A FREE SECOND ALBUM ‘BEFORE THE FROST…UNTIL THE FREEZE’ DUE IN STORES SEPTEMBER 01, 2009 A LIMITED EDITION VINYL AVAILABLE THE BLACK CROWES will release their new studio CD, Before the Frost... on September 1, 2009. A second album, titled …Until The Freeze, will be given away for free exclusively through a unique download code which is included in Before The Frost… as a “thank you” to their fans for two decades of continued support. Before the Frost..., and its corresponding free album …Until The Freeze, were recorded over a series of five nights at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. Although both are studio albums, all the new material was performed and recorded in front of an intimate audience of the band’s fans, making them a part of The Black Crowes musical history. The innovative technique of inviting fans into the studio as part of the process during recording is a rare experience. Before the Frost... features eleven new and previously unreleased Black Crowes songs including Good Morning Captain, I Ain’t Hiding, Been a Long Time (Waiting on Love), and other original songs that will serve to spotlight the bands ability to make emotional connections through their music. The free album …Until The Freeze is a nine-song collection featuring eight new original Black Crowes songs plus a cover version of the Stephen Stills classic So Many Times. A limited edition vinyl release of Before The Frost…Until The Freeze, featuring all 20 tracks, will also be available on September 1, 2009. Chris Robinson conceived the concept of Before the Frost...Until The Freeze. “I think we fulfilled a musical commitment to continue on the golden road of artistic independence. Approaching 20 years into our careers, we still are ambitious enough to push ourselves to create something unique that we have never done before.” As The Black Crowes approach the upcoming 20th anniversary of their release of one of rock’s most influential records, Shake Your Money Maker, which produced such hits as Jealous Again, She Talks To Angels and Hard to Handle, they are time and again hailed as one of Rock and Roll’s best live acts. Before The Frost… (CD Track Listing) Good Morning Captain Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love) Appaloosa A Train Still Makes A Lonely Sound I Ain’t Hiding Kept My Soul What Is Home Houston Don’t Dream About Me Make Glad And The Band Played On Last Place That Love Lives …Until The Freeze (Free Download Album Track Listing) Aimless Peacock Shady Grove Garden Gate Greenhorn Shine Along Roll Old Jeremiah Lady Of Avenue A So Many Times Fork In The River Before the Frost…Until The Freeze was produced by Paul Stacey and will be released through The Black Crowes' label, Silver Arrow Records and Megaforce Records. For more information, go to blackcrowes.com.

I call him Kenny "Cheeseney". He's one of the many things I find the matter with commercial country music today.

Marah at the Pour House in Raleigh tonight.

That sounds very similar to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival which happens every year in San Francisco, except it's free and is held at Golden Gate Park.

Not so sure I agree about that. A few other things were noticeably different. The youth of America actually took to the streets in great numbers to protest. Today's youth are far too complacent for that, at least the majority of them. Also, you actually saw reportage of the war on the evening news. Today's war coverage is sanitized and pre-packaged for broadcast.

I'm not saying I never noticed any connections to places in the U.K., I've just never given much (if any) thought to visiting them.

To be honest, until this thread I've never really given much though to visiting the UK just to see sites associated with Zeppelin because I never really thought of any. At least not in the same way you think of visiting Liverpool to see sites associated with the Beatles. When I go to foreign places I too, generally avoid the tourist hotspots and seek out the less traveled, off the beaten path places. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that in another thread recently about favorite camping spots. When I visited Costa Rica 10 years ago it was for the adventure aspect, not the vacation one and we certainly did have an adventure. I also agree about meeting other members of forums I belong to. I have done that before as well but it has always been tied into a musical event.

Re: the pledge breaks on PBS. I understand they interrupt so frequently in order to encourage everyone to donate. Unfortunately it has the exact opposite effect on me which is to change the channel. Surely there's a better way to drum up support for Public television.

I've seen an episode or two of it and realize it's supposed to show the more "human" side of Gene Simmons. Still, my opinion of him remains the same. I think he's a fucking asshole of the highest order.

There is.

Is this the same Manowar with all of the shitty album covers? That's just one. There's many more where that came from.

I really don't see the harm in a music oriented visit to a city or country. Perhaps you have it confused with stalking. When I visited the Welcome Center in Athens, GA I was told R.E.M. was the number one reason for tourism there. Should I not visit the towns where some of my favorite bands first made a name for themselves because my visit there would be misconstrued as "stalking"? I've also made frequent trips to Austin, TX which is known as "The Live Music Capital of the World". Should I have stayed home instead of taking a trip to Austin to visit some of the clubs I'd only read and heard about?

A few years back several CDs were released with this type of packaging, among them were the Stones' Exile on Main Street and Some Girls and R.E.M.'s Document. I bought the Stones ones. Within a week my copy of Some Girls was already scratched. That, to me is the main downside to the cardboard sleeves. I agree about their size too, they don't seem to fit into standard size CD storage racks.

I Was Totally Destroying U2 at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh. It was local band I Was Totally Destroying It in U2 mode. The Jackets at the Pour House (also in Raleigh). The Jackets includes members of local band Chatham County Line.

My Vinyl Saturday purchase:

You're referring to digipaks. I don't care for them either. Yes, they may be recyclable but they don't stand up to a lot of wear and tear. I prefer jewel cases, preferably those with a thick spine so I when I file them I can find them more easily. I don't care for the slimline cases. Nor do I care for the cardboard sleeves you mention as they cause the CDs to become easily damaged. I see more and more labels choosing this type of packaging these days which is disconcerting. We can bitch all we want to but they will continue to cut corners in order to save money. I prefer artists who actually listen to their fans when it comes to packaging and go the extra mile to provide good packaging for their CDs. Unfortunately they're few and far between. I'm not going to complain about networks that don't have commercials but when it comes to PBS, the most annoying thing are the interruptions that happen during the pledge drives. I understand they're viewer supported and I don't mind supporting them at all but I'm less apt to stay tuned into a program that is constantly being interrupted as all PBS programming is during pledge drives. As for the no commercial interruption thing, I believe a lot of folks watch the shows they want via Tivo and DVRs these days so they can pause the programs when they need a break. That is, those few that are actually still watching standard broadcast programming. A lot of viewers have found it much less expensive to watch TV via the internet. I believe the technology they use is referred to as "tethering". As I understand it, cable, and the networks as we once knew them will cease to exist in the not too distance future because people are sick and tired of rates going higher and higher through the cable companies.

You might wanna check out this thread.

Those that quote an entire post when replying rather than just the pertinent part. Example, the stats beatbo posted in the Beatles thread in the Newbies section. I have no problem with that post itself at all but considering it's length, I don't really see the need in quoting the entire fucking thing. Not to mention, it was just posted so it's not like anyone missed it.