In the minds of many, Luther “Luke” Campbell, born 51 years ago today, seems to court controversy. Despite his many guises — performer, entrepreneur, promoter, opinion-maker, politico — his chief role seems to be that of firebrand who’s never backed off when confronting authority. Best known from early on as the…
Glimpses of the South Florida Scene is a column devoted to the artists thriving within Broward and Palm Beach counties featuring interviews with the folks making it happen. This week, Bleubird.Mostly-rapper Bleubird–a.k.a. Jacques Bruna–is a local polymath: filmmaker, poet, storyteller. We already told you about his video travel blog, FREEEBIRD…
Jonathan “Numonics” Rosenfeld, possibly Broward County’s hardest-working hip-hop producer, knows how to make an entrance. Hip-hop blasts from the speakers of the 27-year-old, red-haired studio savant’s red Ford Explorer when he arrives to meet New Times at Deerfield Beach’s Cove Shopping Plaza. This random meeting place, replete with Brazilian restaurants…
Glimpses of the South Florida Scene is a column devoted to the artists thriving within Broward and Palm Beach counties featuring interviews with the folks making it happen. This week, Honey Train. When I first saw Honey Train live, I felt like I was in a time warp. Self-proclaimed purveyors…
Bessie Regina Norris, better known to the world as Betty Wright, is a South Florida home girl, one who’s gone from our local environs to international stardom. Born on December 21, 1953, she first started singing at the age of two, joining her siblings in a gospel group called the…
Nicki Minaj has always had a knack for the classroom flow — at least according to Better Education Place, who named her Teacher of the Year — but this lesson is best left for her regular sparring partner Lil’ Kim. It comes in the form of “Stupid Hoe,” a new…
Although he built his later success on the foundation of the Alan Parsons Project, Alan Parsons had a rewarding professional career well before he turned his attention to the ambitious ensemble that would later bear his name. In 1967, at the age of 18, he was hired as an assistant…
The news that the Beach Boys are reuniting for an album, tour and all the general hoopla that’s certain to accompany their 50th anniversary festivities set to start in earnest next year, rings with a certain irony. Not to mention, plenty of marketing manipulation. Anyone who caught Brian Wilson, the…
As an official South Florida welcome to New Times contributor and Brickell transplant Jesse Serwer — who recently dug up Blowfly/Clarence Reid’s best tracks for us — here’s a heavy nudge to check out his “The 50 Best Miami Rap Songs” list at Complex.com.The usual suspects like Trina, DJ Khaled,…
There’s no mistaking William Frederick — better known as “Billy” — Gibbons as one of two densely bearded front men in that Little Ole’ Band from Texas, ZZ Top, a distinction he shars with bassist Dusty Hill. Never mind that beardless drummer Frank Beard has the appropriate name but lacks…
Yes, this is happening. The Beach Boys have been an entity for 50 years, but their architect Brian Wilson has been absent from the band for the past 15. In honor of hitting the half-century mark, the closest thing to an original lineup — being that Wilson’s brothers Dennis and…
It can be said without any hesitation whatsoever that no one individual better epitomizes the image of the outlaw rock star than Keith Richards. No one! Keith turns 68 today, December 18, a remarkable accomplishment, not only for the fact that he’s a senior citizen and as irrepressible as ever,…
Over the course of pop music’s evolution over the past century or so, history continues to repeat itself. New stars are “the next (fill in the blank),” genres are hyphenated versions of established music styles, and unless you come up with song titles like “The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory” or…
We can credit Donnie Wayne “Don” Johnson (born December 15, 1949) with a number of things — a checkered acting career, a series of checkered romances, and a checkered music career. Inevitably though, the role for which he will be best remembered is his portrayal of Sonny Crockett, the fashion-conscious,…
“I always used to think I’d go up onstage and say, ‘Boy, I hope you like us tonight. We’re going to try to do a great show for you,'” says shock rocker Alice Cooper in faux-sweet tones. “But you have to just grab the audience by the throat and say,…
There was a huge online response following the news of the West Palm rock station Buzz 103.1’s sudden ouster from FM radio on Monday, December 5. With its departure — it will continue as an online and HD radio station — the spot on the dial is occupied by Now…
Although it only just happened last week, the reverberations of the Buzz 103.1’s format shift are being felt deeply in South Florida.More than 225 comments have piled up on the original news report of the Buzz leaving the FM dial posted on December 5, and subsequent entries focus on the…
Despite the fact that he’s turns 63 today and he’s proceeded past the age of eligibility for Social Security, Ted Nugent remains the manic guitar slinger he was in his younger days, a man still bristling with the unrelenting energy and the unrepentant attitude that became his signature style early…
The future of rock radio is currently in question in South Florida with CBS eliminating the rock format of 103.1 The Buzz to a possibly sexist playlist geared towards today’s chart topping “hits” minus rap. This sudden change comes only days after the station put on their annual Buzz Bake…
Palm Beach-based beat maker Shawn Wayne flies his boom-bap colors high and proud on his solo debut, The Wayne Event, released recently on FootWork4Self. Cut from a cloth of men who like their samples soulful, their drums gritty, and their beats between 85 and 95 beats per minute, Wayne’s 15-track…
In some cases, the old axiom “like father, like son” could be expanded to state “like grandfather, like father like son” as well. It might apply in the case of Shelton Hank Williams — better known as Hank 3, the grandson of country music’s most enduring icon. Born December 12,…
Born December 10, 1974, Megan Martha White, known to White Stripes fans simply as “Meg,” isn’t your typical rock goddess. Exceedingly shy to the point of paranoia, she forced the duo to cancel a 2007 tour due to her acute anxiety. She gladly ceded the spokesperson role to bandmate Jack…
