RICHARD KAUFMAN REMEMBERS: Tower Records, so many bittersweet memories. In those crazy go-go days of the early ’90s, there was so much optimism for the future. Papa Bush was imploding faster than a smart bomb, Fast Eddie was mayor, the Eagles had a mobile QB that would finally lead us to the promised land, and flannel-wearing rockers were starting to turn the rock world on its head. The word around the water cooler was that Tower was going public, and all of us smelly, underpaid buyers and clerks would get in on the ground floor. The Tower model seemed to […]

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: They Might Be Giants, World Cafe Live, December 9, 2006 MA PHAWKER REPORTS: For a minute there toward the end, during “Birdhouse in Your Soul,” when the shorties were tired out and the gin and tonics were kickin’ in, it almost felt like we grownups had gotten one over on the kids we had squired to the show.See, one of the many chapters missing from the parenting books is the one discussing the wretched entertainment you’re doomed to sit through — the animated movies that don’t make any sense, the cheesy kid-friendly musicians, the unconvincing birthday […]

SARA SHERR REPORTS: We got the news on that fateful Friday, but that was only the half of it. Most of us went home thinking we were going to be working for mall record store behemoth Trans World Entertainment, and inexplicably, one of the last music retailers standing. Would we still have a good selection? Would we have to wear those dreadful polos? About an hour or two later, the Internet would reveal that Trans World would lose the auction by $500,000 to liquidator Great American, and we’d be out of work sometime in December. Ironically, the latest news is […]

THE WORKING GIRLS ARE FINE: The Pernice Brothers, Johnny Brenda’s, December 7th EVA SAYS: Once again I am the youngest person in the crowd, but like with the Bob Pollard or Randy Newman concerts, I take it as a sign of good things come to those who grow old. And Johnny Brenda’s has already won me over as a patron, so all odds are working in favor of the Pernice Brothers. In fact, it seems almost automatic- when Joe Pernice opens the set with his wonderful whine, I sway and shuffle in sync with each song like every one is […]

PEACE BE UPON YOU: Lupe Fiasco, Trocadero, December 7th, 2006 [FLICKR] EVA SAYS: The boss saw great talent and predicted that with this great talent will come great success, but I was skeptical of all the hype surrounding Lupe Fiasco. The New Kanye, he said. It only goes to show why he is master and I am young grasshoppa. (Laying it on a little thick, don’t you think?–Ed.) As per the Power 99 DJs hosting the show, Lupe Fiasco was just nominated for three Grammys, including Best Rap album for Food & Liquor. He had the crowd from the get-go […]