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Music’s worst format. That’s one of the monikers most frequently given to the cassette tape. Others include obsolete, antiquated, and out-of-date. Still, the compact cassette refuses to die, thanks to the small but mighty group of nostalgic music nuts, fanatical collectors, and...

Drummer or chef? That was the question Stan Frazier pondered when he was growing up in Newport Beach, but fortunately he was able to pursue both music and the culinary arts. As the drummer and principal songwriter for the popular band Sugar Ray, Frazier toured the world, had six...

It’s Election Day, but Dave Wakeling can’t vote. Although he’s lived in Los Angeles for the last 20 years, the frontman and guitarist of seminal new wave-ska band The English Beat that plays at The Coach House Nov. 26 is still a green card-er: a citizen of the United Kingdom, his...

They had 21 consecutive Top 40 hits, 12 gold albums, three #1 hits (“Mama Told Me Not To Come,” “Joy To The World,” and “Black & White”), and launched numerous careers for songwriters like Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson (and one wine-loving bullfrog named Jeremiah). Between...

 Jazz lovers, take note: October 7 through 9 will be pure musical heaven as Segerstrom Center offers three days of jazz concerts that range from musical salutes to Miles Davis to the centennial celebrations of four musicians born in 1917: Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Mongo...

It’s sunrise in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Ottmar Liebert is taking a stroll on his ranch, listening to music through his headphones. But it’s not just any music. The Grammy-nominated guitarist has been working on a new solo album, and he listens to the tracks as he records the...

Funny how time flies when you’re a member of the most famous all-girl rock and roll band in history. In the summer of 1978, Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin (then called Jane Drano), and several other Hollywood punk scene-makers decided to do what nearly every other L.A. punk was...

If you google Frankie Valli, a lot of informational articles will pop up, most of them beginning something like this: “Frankie Valli is an American singer and frontman of The Four Seasons. He is known for his falsetto voice.” “He is known for his falsetto voice,” seems like a...

Looking for an auténtico Mexican cultural experience this Cinco de Mayo? José Hernández and his Mariachi Sol de Mexico have just the thing. In celebration of the festive day, as well as Sol de Mexico’s 35th anniversary, the Grammy-nominated bandleader and Newport Beach resident...

The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” may have been the first music video played on MTV, but with today’s single-driven music industry, the advent of YouTube, and multi-million dollar production budgets becoming the norm, video makes the radio star might be a more fitting...

“Stay seated, this is not Hee Haw,” Pacific Symphony conductor Carl St. Clair quipped, dispelling any confusion as to what the audience was about to experience with the banjo-accompanied rendition of the hoedown classic “Camptown Races” that opened the Symphony’s program at...

Loreena McKennitt is a busy woman. Besides being the face of today’s Celtic music, an authority on Celtic history, one of the most successful independent musicians of all time, owner of her own record label, Honorary Colonel of the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the founder of the...

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young are a monument on the musical landscape. The first real super group, they stand as a hulking behemoth of talent, history, and legend, not unlike Mount Rushmore. If CSNY are in fact the Mount Rushmore of music, David Crosby is definitely the Teddy...

When one hears the word “Rockabilly,” images of Elvis Presley and Gene Vincent come to mind, but what about Wanda? Whether you call her The Queen of Rock, The Queen of Rockabilly, or just her plain old name, Wanda Jackson is a living legend and the absolute matriarch of the...

In 1979, Pink Floyd unleashed the double-album behemoth “The Wall” on the world. A large-scale rock opera, it follows a character named Pink, loosely based on Roger Waters and ex-member Syd Barrett, who loses his father in WWII, becomes a rock star, and brick by brick isolates...

September 11th has become a day of remembrance, a time to reflect on fallen Americans and, in more recent years, a time of patriotism and celebration of the resilience of the American spirit. It was only fitting that on such a night, the classic country music of American icon...

Summertime must be tribute time, as Lido Live has booked a handful of tribute band shows that appeal to a variety of audiences. Last weekend, one of those shows featured tributes to Van Halen and Billy Idol. Of course, any fan of Van Halen knows that they are currently on tour,...

A feeling of nostalgia was in the air when Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell took the stage last Thursday night at the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa, celebrating the 45th anniversary of their band, America. The duo graduated high school together in 1969 and have been making...