Casablanca Records: The Label Disco Made
Early years It all started with a man named Neil Bogart and his partners, Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris (Bogart’s cousin) and Buck Reingold. The company had a rough start, but it quickly found the sound of the 70’s and became the label of both disco and excess, churning out hit after hit. Until September 1973, …
The Story Behind the Song: “Layla” by Eric Clapton
From the very first driving notes of the intro to the song “Layla,” written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, you know this tune’s gonna rock. Originally released by their group, Derek and the Dominos, in November 1970, the song initially wasn’t very popular. Two versions later it achieved chart success, the first in 1972 …
Jeff Buckley: The Last Goodbye
Incandescent. That word fully describes Jeff Buckley to a T. His meteoric rise to fame was a brilliant flash of light, only to be snuffed out by his apparently accidental drowning at age 30. Born in Southern California, Jeff spent his early years growing up in Orange County. He began playing guitar at the age …
Tina: The Documentary
On March 2, 2021, the documentary, “Tina Turner,” debuted at the Berlin Film Festival where it received a very favorable rating. The Oscar winning documentary duo, Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin, went on to watch HBO release in the U.S. on March 27, and saw it garner the largest HBO audience for a documentary …
This is Spinal Tap: A Retro Review
The “mockumentary,” This Is Spinal Tap, is considered to be one of the funniest movies ever made. While it’s about a lot of obscure, abstract things, the main thing is the way the real story is not in the questions or the answers, but what is continuously and hilariously occurring in the background. The movie …
Commodores: Still Sailin’ On
Funk and soul band, Commodores, were first formed in 1968 at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) from two former student music groups, the Mystics and the Jays. The new six-man band featured Lionel Richie, Thomas McClary, and William King from the Mystics … Richie later described some members of the Mystics as “jazz buffs;” and …
MTV’s “The Real World” The Original “Reality Show”
In the early 90s, Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray were looking for new ideas and watched a 70s show on PBS called “An American Family.” It was a chronicle of the daily life of the Louds, an upper middle-class family in Santa Barbara, California, but ended up documenting the break-up of the family when the …
Gram Parsons: A Life Cut Short
Gram Parsons’ star blazed bright, but sadly, burned out far too soon. Born Ingram Cecil Connor III in Winter Haven, FL, his early life was badly shaken when his biological father committed suicide when he was 12. His mother quickly remarried, and young Gram took the surname of his step-father, Robert Parsons. For a time, …
Where Are They Now? A Selection of 60’s Bands
One question we often hear from fans at Pop Daze is “Whatever happened to XYZ band or artist?” Sometimes seemingly successful bands suddenly disappear or fade quietly away. Often members of a band go on to very successful solo careers, while others move forward to have success with other bands. In our quest for knowledge …
Neil Peart: The Drummer’s Drummer
Ask any drummer for their top 5 favorite drummers, and Neil Peart’s name will pop up on a larger percentage of those lists for a variety of reasons. Peart was a “drummer’s drummer,” so technically spectacular that he was nicknamed “The Professor” for his pure mastery of the craft. Peart elevated expectations for proficiency of …