I can't say I think of them as a "worshiper" band as they took those influences and made them their own. Something that can't be said of a lot of bands that amounted to nothing more than just "Led Clones".

I'm not sure what else Pearl Jam would be classified as but they most definitely sound like "hard rock" to me. Now, The Doors, David Bowie, the Beatles, John Lennon and the Rolling Stones, I'm not so sure of. Some may have elements of that in their music but "hard rock" most certainly isn't the first thing to come to mind when I think of any of those artists.

I sure hope to fuck not. Then again I don't watch any of those shows.

I'm pretty sure it was at my local record store back in the 70s. The song was Sheena Is A Punk Rocker. I'd heard of them prior to that via Creem and other music magazines but I'm almost certain that's the first time I ever heard their music. I also saw Rock n' Roll High School on a triple bill with Cheech & Chong's Next Movie and Ron Howard's Eat My Dust at the local drive-in way back when. All that said, I've never really been a fan of the Ramones or punk rock in general but I certainly appreciate their contributions to the rock n' roll landscape. I may not have realized it at the time but rock n' roll was in dire need of a swift kick to the nads in the mid to late 70s and punk rock provided it.

To my knowledge ZZ Top have never released an album by that name. Perhaps you're thinking of Tres Hombres?

http://www.therockradio.com/2007/12/u2-new...influences.html U2 fans might be in for a surprise when the rockers release their next album, the follow-up to 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Frontman Bono says people will "feel the difference," revealing that the songs will have trance, metal and Moroccan influences. Bono told The Independent, "Normally when you play a U2 tune, it clears the dance floor. And that may not be true of this. There's some trance influences." Bono also said there's some "very hardcore guitar" and "real molten metal coming from guitarist The Edge. He added, "It's not like anything we've ever done before, and we don't think it sounds like anything anyone else has done either." U2 started the album in Morocco last year and are now working through the demos. Bono said, "We have enough material for two albums but it has to be extraordinary. And I think we've got that." The band members said they were influenced by a music festival they went to in Fez, Morocco. Bono said, "It was a real humbling thing for a punk rock shouter, listening to these people who just close their eyes for 40 minutes and sing the most sophisticated melodies." There's no exact release date yet.

* The article below is full of hyper-links, to access them all click on the link below http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/inde...-by-album-guide Zeppelin: The Complete Album-By-Album Guide Packing your bags for next Monday’s rescheduled Led Zeppelin reunion gig at London’s O2 Arena (or just getting increasingly jealous of those who are)? Enjoying the current issue of Rolling Stone, which is chock full of Zep? Here’s a few more goodies: First, check out our complete Led Zep album guide, which provides an expert rundown on every studio album, live disc and reissue from the first album to this year’s Mothership — perfect fodder to continue the debate over the band’s ultimate set list. Then read two more vintage Zep stories from the magazine: Stephen Davis’ profile “The Rise and Fall of Led Zeppelin: Power, Mystery and the Hammer of the Gods” from the July 4th, 1985 issue and Steven Pond’s “Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same,” which examines the band’s lasting impact, from March 24, 1988. And don’t forget to Check out Cameron Crowe’s 1975 Zep profile here. Rolling Stone

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/articl...t_id=1003680943 Bonnaroo Promoters Quash Lineup Rumors Led Zeppelin Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. After a rumor that Led Zeppelin and Metallica would headline the 2008 Bonnaroo festival caused an Internet frenzy in the past 48 hours, the event's promoters have spoken out to quash the reports. "The rumors that are out there about the Bonnaroo 2008 headliners are inaccurate," Superfly Presents and A.C. Entertainment said in a statement released to Billboard.com. "We're very excited about the lineup that we're putting together for this year's festival. We'll be announcing the confirmed lineup toward the end of January/beginning of February. The source of the Zeppelin/Metallica rumor was an anonymous email included last week in industry commentator Bob Lefsetz's newsletter. Led Zeppelin will play its only planned show Dec. 10 in London as part of a tribute to late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun.

That is bullshit from a ticket broker just looking to cash in. I made the mistake of signing up to gotickets.com when I saw a "Led Zeppelin 2008 Tour" announcement on an unofficial Plant site several weeks ago. In addition, Bonnaroo has made an official announcement denying Zeppelin's appearance at their festival next year. Once the actual London concert is over, then I expect we will hear some official word as to whether Zeppelin will be playing any more dates or not.

Zeppelin are just commercially visible in 2007 as they have always been.

I didn't run "screaming" when CDs were released on the market but I did hold off on buying them for as long as I could. We had several local record stores but the one I bought from most frequently was Camelot Music (a chain). When CDs were initially introduced on the market many of them were merely copies of the albums themselves literally. So, what we got was a vastly inferior product to vinyl but like I said, great strides have been made in this area in recent years to improve the sound. That's why the market is flooded with "new, improved" versions of records some of us have purchased several times by now. In some cases they are the result of actual remastering while others have only upped the volume to make it appear they have been "remastered". I am fortunate that I live fairly close to some college towns where local music is still important and thusly, so are local record stores. Believe it or not, there are still artists that release their material on vinyl singles and full length records. As long as this is going on, record stores as we know them will continue to exist, at least in some capacity. As for digital music, not all of it is of MP3 quality. The artists that truly care about their music make sure their music is made available in the best quality format available.

[Photo: Getty] Caryn Ganz The album Kim Deal has been working on since 2002 is nearly ready for release: The Breeders’ fourth full-length, titled Mountain Battles, will hit stores April 8th, 2008 on 4AD, the label she started out on as a member of Pixies. In an exclusive interview with Rock Daily, Deal revealed the band — which now consists of herself, twin sister Kelley, drummer Jose Medeles and bassist Mando Lopez — has been recording on and off for the past five years with Steve Albini in Chicago as well as Erika Sharkey and Manny Nieto in Los Angeles and her Dayton, Ohio, hometown (Lopez’s Fear bandmate, guitarist Richard Presley, has left the band to “sell Porches in L.A. — he loves his job, by the way”). You can read the rest of the article here: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/inde...es-due-april-08

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/articl...t_id=1003680868 Bauhaus Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. The good news for Bauhaus fans: the group is eyeing a March 4 release for "Going Away White," its first studio album since 1983. The bad news: there will be no further activity from the legendary goth band, who reunited in 2005 for the Coachella festival and later toured the world. "We were getting along really well, but there was an incident that occurred," drummer Kevin Haskins tells Billboard.com, declining to elaborate further. "Some of us just felt that we didn't want to carry on as a working unit." As such, "Going Away White," which the band is releasing digitally via iTunes and on CD via its own Bauhaus Music imprint through Redeye Distribution, will close the book on Bauhaus. Haskins, guitarist Daniel Ash, bassist David J and vocalist Peter Murphy recorded the album last year after entering the studio "with nothing prepared," according to Haskins. "I was concerned because history most of the time has proved that when groups reform and record, it doesn't work out," he says. "We all decided, let's just give it a go and see if it's working. What emerged were songs Haskins says stay true to the original Bauhaus spirit, including "Adrenaline" and "Endless Summer of the Damned," which were performed during a summer 2006 tour with Nine Inch Nails. "Now, there's a little bit of an empty feeling because we can't tour with it," Haskins admits. "All the same, it's something we're very proud of, and we feel a lot of people will be interested to hear it."

Zeppelin entered into the "commercial" realm the moment they signed a contract with Atlantic Records. Their presence may seem more high profile now but this is a vastly different world media-wise than the one they existed during the 60s and 70s. Believe it or not their records were well stocked back then and highly visible in record stores. This is also not the first time they've appeared on a plethora of music magazines. Yes, they never issued official singles or gave into every interview requested of them but they didn't reach the status they did by remaining entirely invisible and totally inaccessible.

Digital medium or not, Led Zeppelin would not be forgotten. Before recorded music tunes were passed along on paper and orally from generation to generation. The same has held true since the advent of recorded music, only the means of doing so has changed. Any music that matters will endure, no matter the changing times, Zeppelin is no different.

I didn't experience that with the latest Zep releases but I have noticed it happening more and more with major label releases. Still, I've found the best thing to do is either check online (if possible) or call ahead to be sure they have what I'm looking for first. Beats the shit out of all that driving around.

Traditional record stores are rapidly disappearing from the landscape. I still buy from them when I can but not all of us live close to them, myself included, so they are not always an option. With a few exceptions record stores will cease to exist altogether within the next few years. Even the big box stores you mentioned are beginning to downsize their floorspace for CDs while increasing it for DVDs and games. Speciality-type record stores are taking all kinds of different measures to stay afloat including bringing in a bunch of non-music items, such as memorabilia but it's not working. Downloading is the order of the day and will soon render packaged music as we once knew it totally obsolete. As one who has lived long enough to see things go from vinyl to reel-to-reel to 8-tracks to cassettes to compact disc it's a day I dread. I have not entered the digital age yet but like when vinyl was removed from store shelves and I was forced to buy compact discs by the record industry, I will go kicking and screaming into the digital age. I am fine with the sound as long as it is not compressed as digital has come a long ways in recent years. If not, audiofreaks such as Neil Young wouldn't be prepared to finally release his long awaited box set (we hope). What I fear is the disappearance of the packaging, the physical product itself. I'm of the generation that is accustomed to sitting down with the album cover and liner notes when listening to an album for the first time. Hopefully something will be done to compensate for this in ways we can't imagine now.

The Levon album is amazing. And a miracle, especially considering that he lost his voice to throat cancer. He has obviously made a very remarkable recovery and turned in one of his finest efforts yet with Dirt Farmer. Unfortunately far too many fans of The Band have their heads buried in the past and have no idea of Levon's "Rambles" concerts or that he even has a new solo album out.

I was never a regular at Rootie's either but I did see one of Nantucket's first reunion shows there as well as The Edgar Winter Group back in the early 90s. The Emerald Club mainly has local bands but like The Yacht Club, the DJ seems to have taken precedence so you get more of a dance crowd than people that come out to hear live music. I got XM radio a few years ago so I hear very little local radio these days so I have no idea how much (if any) The Dive advertises. I understand they bring in decent crowds for folks like Marshall Tucker and Blackfoot but I'll be damned if I'm paying $35 to see bands with so few original members. I think the singer is the only one left in Marshall Tucker and Rickey Medlocke is not even in Blackfoot (he's in Skynyrd these days and sold the rights to the Blackfoot name to the surviving band members, he still makes a cut though, I'm sure). Sadly, most of the general public is totally unaware of this and they fork over the bucks anyway. I'm not sure if you read the Terry Anderson blog entry I posted previously about The Dive but they way they treated his band left a very bad taste in my mouth. I'm not saying I'll never set foot in there again but there was no excuse for treating them as shitty as they did. I don't care anything about seeing Joe Diffie either but I still keep track of who's playing The Dive via their MySpace site: http://myspace.com/thencdive Thanks. Like I've said, the Triangle area bands like Patty Hurst Shifter, Tres Chicas, $2 Pistols, Southern Culture on the Skids, The Backsliders, The T's, Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass Kickin' Team, etc. pretty much make up all of my local live music entertainment choices. We're very lucky to live in a state so rich with local music. Not to mention the regional and national touring bands that come to the Triangle area clubs. Not sure if you remember Bikini's and Chevy's at Atlantic Beach (run by Donald Travis out of Goldsboro) but they booked Molly Hatchet, Blue Oyster Cult and a few other decent bands over the years. Way back in the 80s I saw David Allan Coe at Night Moves (or was it The Pumphouse?) on The Circle in Atlantic Beach. Those were the days. We also used to hit Fishtowne Performance Hall behind Clawson's in Beaufort for reggae/ska/soca/calypso from Rolly Grey & Sunfire and The Amateurs. The new defunct Z-103 even put on a reggae concert on the beach one year. There was also Molly's in AB at the Sheraton that had bands play by the pool such as Edwin McCain, Lisa Loeb and The Amateurs. I caught a few shows at Ziggy's By the Sea myself but wish I could have seen more as they booked some very good bands. I saw a Reggae Night there with Rolly Grey and Southern Culture on the Skids a couple of times. Can't say I remember the Southern Rock House in Jax but I did see Molly Hatchet (with Danny Joe Brown) at some warehouse in New Bern back in the early 90s. It was a show sponsored by WSFL. I think that's the last time I ever saw Hatchet. Decoration Day but be warned, they're not everybody's cup of tea. However, that seems to be their most accessible album and a good choice for folks just getting into them. Please let me know what you think, even if you don't like it.

His new album, Dirt Farmer is highly recommended. I've only heard a little of it but what I've heard is very, very good.

I've heard of Zebra. They were actually quite popular when they first came out.

THE CHICAGO WAY | Denver made cloying version of beloved Goodman song his own -- until folk singer Guthrie got on board BY TOM McNAMEE Sun-Times Columnist Here's a story about Chicago, Thanksgiving Day and right and wrong, featuring Steve Goodman, Arlo Guthrie and John Denver. Goodman is the much-beloved singer and songwriter who grew up in Albany Park and the suburbs. He was terrific in his day, fought leukemia all his adult life and died too young. That's him singing "Go, Cubs, Go" at Wrigley Field after every Cubs win. He's the Chicago part of this story. Guthrie is the popular folk singer -- and the stand-up guy, as you will see -- who scored a big hit when he recorded "City of New Orleans," the now-classic train song written by Goodman. Every year on Thanksgiving Day, WXRT plays Guthrie's loopy old hippie song, "Alice's Restaurant" -- all 18 minutes and 20 seconds of it. That qualifies Guthrie for the Thanksgiving Day hook in this story. And then there's Denver, a big star and a real turkey. He's the right and wrong of the story, or at least the wrong. The whole tale, in impressive detail, is told in an exhaustive new Goodman biography, Steve Goodman: Facing the Music, by Clay Eals. You can read the rest of the article here: http://www.suntimes.com/news/mcnamee/65704...Namee19.article

They were inescapable in my household growing up whether it be the TV show or one of my older brothers' playing their albums. One of my favorite bands of all time? No, not really but I do have an appreciation for them. Then again, I also have a deep appreciation for The Banana Splits. One of the truly amazing things to me is the legacy The Monkees left and the impact they had on music, all totally unforeseen at the time. Then there's Michael Nesmith being credited with being one of the pioneers of country rock during the post-Monkees era of his career. With his Elephant Parts television special he's also been credited with being one of the pioneers of the visual arts medium when applied to music. Pretty amazing accomplishments for the guy known as The Monkee that always wore a toboggan (the knit cap, not the sled). From his Dr. Duck's Super Secret All-Purpose Sauce special first shown in 1987 here's a clip he did with Jimmy Buffett for Buffett's song La Vie Dansante. Some of the special effects may seem kind of silly now but believe you me they were considered "cutting edge" back then: http://youtube.com/watch?v=TLvaszLmes4

I have an older brother that was in attendance at both this and the Jimi Hendrix Experience shows. Years later I saw Kiss there, also a triple bill of Derringer-Foghat-The Outlaws. Concerts are still held there, mainly during State Fair time. From what I understand the acoustics there are just as horrendous now as they were back in the day. As for it's odd shape, Dorton Arena is jokingly refered to as "the big potato chip".

While I'm sure the release of all their material in a digital format certainly won't hurt them I stand by my belief that Zep would be remembered anyway. Each new generation has discovered them in a different way and I don't see that changing. There's always going to be that friend, uncle, dad, what have you, etc. that has an has old record (no matter the media format) sitting around.