The Pop View Blog - Bands on tour

• The Chicago Way

  Last Friday, Democratic candidate Barack Obama was speaking in Philadelphia. Obama promised a tough response to Republican attacks. He warned that the general election campaign could get ugly. “They’re going to try to scare people. They’re going to try to say that ‘that Obama is a scary guy,’” he said....(read full post)

  Artists mentioned:
  • You ON TOUR (US/UK)
• More Stripes Covers

  Following on yesterday’s post, two more White Stripes covers from a few years ago. I can’t make up my mind about Joss Stone. Is she a blue-eyed soul wannabe? A cross between Hannah Montana and Janis Joplin? I’ve never paid close enough attention to make up my mind. What I...(read full post)

  Artists mentioned:
  • Circuits
  • White ON TOUR (UK)
• Come dance with the Stripes

  Continuing with finds from London record shopping, you get not one, but two covers of the same White Stripes song. The tune in question is “Seven Nation Army,” the lead track off the White Stripes’ 2002 album Elephant and the Stripes’ biggest hit. It’s been covered a number of times,...(read full post)

  Artists mentioned:
  • Elephant
  • Nostalgia 77
  • White ON TOUR (UK)
• Come dance with Fela

  The thing about English record shops is that they know their stuff. They’ve got the cool records. But they also know what they’re worth. You will not find a bargain in such an environment. There is a certain kind of experience I only have in a London record shop. In...(read full post)

  Artists mentioned:
  • Evolution ON TOUR (US)
• Sounds from London

  Last Friday, I had the day to myself. I was in London, one of the great cities of the world, full of culture. I chose to go shopping for vinyl records. There are many good neighborhoods for this, but I was close to Soho, so that’s where I headed. There...(read full post)

  Artists mentioned:
  • Estelle ON TOUR (US/UK)
  • Jools Holland ON TOUR (UK)
  • Kanye West ON TOUR (US)
• Signature on Britain’s Got Talent

  Speaking on British television, even before I went over, I was fascinated by an act on the second series of Britain’s Got Talent. In the performance, Suleman Mirza, a trainee lawyer, does a Michael Jackson impersonation. Then, Madhu Singh, a Sikh, wanders out on stage, pushing a broom, interrupting the...(read full post)

  Artists mentioned:
  • The Talent
• Images of Bourbon Street

  Tags: New Orleans, Bourbon St....(read full post)

  Artists mentioned:
  • New
• Images of New Orleans

  I’m in New Orleans this week and this is some of what I’ve seen. These photos were taken in Bywater, which is in part of the Ninth Ward. Tags: photos, Bywater, New Orleans...(read full post)

  Artists mentioned:
  • New
• When NYC was an urban hell

  From Blye, Private Eye (1976), by Nicholas Pileggi The South Bronx, often referred to as Fort Apache by the policemen assigned to the area, is an urban war zone. To live there is to live in a nightmare. The streets are ruled by addicts, drunks, and psychotic adolescents, and for...(read full post)

  Artists mentioned:
  • The Bronx ON TOUR (US)
• Doughty’s “Fort Hood” Video

  The lead track off Mike Doughty’s new album Golden Delicious is called “Fort Hood.” It’s not an anti-war song, but it is about the young soldiers who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and about Doughty’s feelings about them. Doughty grew up a military brat and had first-hand experience with...(read full post)

  Artists mentioned:
  • You ON TOUR (US/UK)
  • Young Jeezy ON TOUR (US)