Great nails, or greatest nails?

Jessica “Megan Draper” Pare sat in with the Jesus & Mary Chain last week in Toronto.

h/t: @Mrs_Ornery

Mike breaks down TV On the Radio for you.

Mr Tom Waits was on Letterman last night. Click in the bar to skip to about minute 32 to start with the interview, or minute 38 for just the performance.

Waits will be on Fallon tonight. Plan your evening accordingly.

Here’s the widely linked video of an employee of the Chicago Music Exchange playing 100 rock riffs chronologically in one take, which is entertaining in its own right, but real music nerds will notice that the truly impressive bit is that he retunes on the fly a couple times.

Anyway, enjoy.

Unhappy with their ex-label, it appears that Def Leppard are re-recording their biggest hits to release electronically instead of agreeing to let Universal release the originals.

Think about that for a minute.

TechDirt’s post ends with this probing question: “Makes you wonder if there are any acts who feel they weren’t screwed over by their major label…” My guess is “no.”

From this NYT interview:

Has your relationship with your penis changed?

I would characterize it sort of like a powerful interest group within a political party at this point. It used to be the entire political party.

I’m curious how your tour is going. You have a new album, “Aprés,” and you’re out there with the Stooges. You resolved in 2010 that you wouldn’t stage-dive anymore after you had a mishap.

I said that after doing a concert for Tibet at Carnegie Hall, which I did because Philip Glass asked me to. [Emph. added — Heathen] But yeah, I am a little impulsive, and Lenny Kaye was playing “I Want to Be Your Dog” too damned slow, and I just ran out of ideas and I thought, Well, let’s just stage-dive. Nobody caught me, because it was the Carnegie Hall-Tibetan-whatever audience. I was a little miffed. We’ve done two gigs this year, and I haven’t done one yet. Stages are getting higher and higher, and I’m getting older and older.

Amanda Palmer had David Byrne as a guest the other night. Madcap delight ensued.

MeFi points out that the entirety of Siouxsie & the Banshees’ 1983 concert and film Nocturne is available on YouTube.

You may or may not recall that, during this period, the Cure’s Robert Smith was part of the lineup.

From this Guardian piece, pointed out to us by BoingBoing:

In 1987, he was invited to a White House dinner by Ronald Reagan. Few of the guests appeared to know who he was. During dinner, Nancy Reagan turned to him and asked what he’d done with his life to merit an invitation. Straight-faced, Davis replied: “Well, I’ve changed the course of music five or six times. What have you done except fuck the president?”

Ahmadinejad Kind of Getting Back Into Old REM.

Two bits:

• From Chuck D:

Last night, I took a 14 hour flight to Sydney, Australia from LA, embarking on PE’s 80th tour in 25 years. I just landed to 65 texts with the news. Adam and the Boys put us on out first tour 25 years and 79 tours ago. They were essential to our beginning, middle and today. Adam especially was unbelievable in our support from then ’til now, even allowing me to induct them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I consider myself a strong man and my father says be prepared to lose many in your post-50 path of life. Still, I’m a bit teary-eyed leaving this plane.

It bears noting that, when Public Enemy and the Beasties first toured together, PE was the opening act.

• We watched the most recent, and now much more poignant, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction (fro April 14) on Saturday night. Chuck D was joined by LL Cool J for the Beastie introduction, and LL noted something I didn’t know: It was the Beasties who played his demo for Rick Rubin and launched his career. (BTW, Chuck D and LL’s full remarks are here.)

They may have been initially perceived as a joke or novelty act based on the frat-rock antics of “Fight for Your Right,” and if you tuned out or never paid any attention to real hip-hop, you might be forgiven for not realizing just how deeply important the Beasties were to the development of an entire genre of music.

If you, as we at Heathen Central, are baffled by how the band LMFAO — they of “Sexy and I Know It” — got a record contract, well, wonder no more:

LMFAO is an American electro pop duo consisting of rappers, singer-songwriters, producers, dancers and DJs Redfoo (Stefan Kendal Gordy, born September 3, 1975, age 37) and his nephew SkyBlu (Skyler Austen Gordy, born August 23, 1986, age 25).The group formed in 2006 in Los Angeles, California. Redfoo’s father, music mogul Berry Gordy, is SkyBlu’s grandfather.

In the event you are too lazy to click: the elder Mr Gordy is the founder of Motown Records.

Daryl Hall and Cee Lo Green played “Fuck You” together on Hall’s web show.

BoingBoing points us to a bunch of early photos of the Beasties by Glen E. Friedman.

Eight years ago, on Letterman:

It was bad news when Adam “MCA” Yauch was absent at their Hall of Fame induction last month. I’m afraid it’s worse news today. MCA died today at 47 after a three year battle with cancer.

Go watch this for old time’s sake.

What Amanda Palmer has just done with her Kickstarter campaign should make you very, very nervous.

She sought $100,000 in a 30 day campaign. With 29 days to go, she has raised (at this writing) $368,711 from 6,615 backers.

That sound? It’s the balls of a thousand greedy exploitative middlemen shrinking into their abdomens.

And, as Scalzi notes, it’s not the first of May without Jonathan Coulton.

Lyrics, it should be noted, NSFW.

Levon Helm died this afternoon. He was 71.

“This isn’t an obituary. This is a celebration.”

This morning, I found this video by The Band on one of my “coffee sites.” I didn’t realize is that this 1976 performance — from their Last Waltz farewell film — was the last time Levon Helm played “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” but that’s the sort of thing you learn when you see a random video you enjoy, and start a little wandering on Wikipedia.

Sadly, I also discovered a bit of news that is almost certainly the reason the video was on Merlin’s Tumblr in the first place.

Yesterday, this was posted on Helm’s site:

Dear Friends,

Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.

Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration… he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage…

We appreciate all the love and support and concern.
From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy

Godspeed, Levon.

Heathen Nation, put down your beverages and watch this.

How Wilco engages technology and the Internet stands in stark contrast to how the RIAA and labels see it, but the recording industry as a whole would do well to take a lesson here.

For years, I’ve enjoyed Sarah Hepola’s writing, so it’s no surprise that her very long meditation on her “career” of Waits fandom pleases me quite a lot. Pretty much Waits fans only, and even then only Waits fans over about 35.

In 1971, Ginger Baker — yes, that Ginger Baker — shot a few minutes of a Fela Kuti performance in Calabar.

This is worth your time, friends.

Those fuckers over at the Houston Press have the unmitigated gall to remind us that Number of the Beast was released thirty years ago this week.

Ow.

He’s right; this is completely awesome. Stay with it, and keep in mind they’re doing this in a van. On a highway. Driving to a “real” gig.

By the way, Bluhm and her pals have other songs in the Van Sessions series.

Is it time, I wonder, to rehabilitate Hall & Oates?

This is very, very good news.

More at the band’s site. Houston show is on 4/20 (heh) at, sadly, HOB.

..this six-minute video of an elderly, invalid man hearing “his” music again, via iPod, is really extraordinary. Ordinarily unresponsive, Henry positively comes alive when he’s given headphones — and the stimulation lasts after the music is taken away. He answers questions, names his favorite artist from his youth, and even sings a bit of his favorite song.

Amplifier god Jim Marshall — founder of the guitar amp company that bears his name — has passed away at the age of 88. If you love rock and roll, you know the sound his amps make, and what they look like onstage.

Until this moment, I had no idea that the founder and company are both British. More, of course, at Wikipedia.

The Joshua Tree was released twenty five years ago this month.

Previously and also here.

Apparently, Nine Inch Nails made a (lip-sync’d) appearance on something called “Dance Party USA” in 1990.

It seems unlikely this video will last long.

Le Petit Prince is an art project by Troy Gua wherein a certain Artist is rendered as a Thunderbirds-style marionette.

Do not miss this. It seems inevitable that the Purple One will be unamused when he finds it.

(Via MeFi.)

Here is Bruce’s 50-minute SXSW keynote. Enjoy.

From The Awl we get the altogether bizarre information that, in 1992, Ian McShane recording an album of mellow covers called “From Both Sides Now.” Included are such hits as “Really Love To See You Tonight” and, freakishly, “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” from Genesis.

Even worse, apparently at no point does the record include the word “cocksucker.” My head hurts now.

(Do I really need to tell you a link on the word “cocksucker” isn’t safe for work?)

Joey D has a version of Gimme Shelter with the vocals isolated. For immediate goosebumps, skip to 2:50, but the whole thing is worth your time.

This video about competitive dog herding would actually be completely fascinating even if the dog owner and narrator wasn’t David Lee Roth.

This is pretty great, but the best part may be the ref to a Slashdot commenter, who said:

Audiophiles don’t use their equipment to listen to your music. Audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment.

What is the most hauntingly beautiful song? (Widely linked.)

At some heretofore unknown time in the early 90s, Mr O’Shea Jackson — known to you, no doubt, as Ice Cube — experienced something known colloquially as A Good Day. And yet despite the many notable events — no smog, no gunplay, public endorsements by airborne advertising — scholars have been unable to determine the exact day to which Mr Cube refers.

Until now. It’s sad to realize we missed its 20th anniversary just 10 days ago.

Fiona Apple completely owns Elvis Costello’s “I Want You” in this clip; on guitar, of course, is Declan himself:

I wish I knew what this was from, and where I could get an audio copy (i.e., other than a youtube rip). It’s apparently from the VH1 Decades concert series back in 2006, whose concept was “classic artists and new artists together.” Hard to believe any combination was more successful than this one. More clips from the Costello edition are here.

Apparently, Little Earthquakes was released 20 years ago — in the UK, at least; it didn’t drop in the US until a month later.

Neil Gaiman as at this early TV performance as her guest, and has graciously shared it on his Tumblr.

I remember this Tori. That record was suddenly everywhere, even in Alabama.

Stop what you’re doing, right now, and call 719-26-OATES.

No, really. I’m serious.

(Via MeFi.)

(Explanation, sorta.)

Just watch.

Via Merlin Mann. BTW, if your name is “Dorman” or “Mantler,” you are doubly encouraged not to miss this.

Before they were gods, and long before they were wastrels, Van Halen did a record store appearance. Wow.

(Via MeFi.)

There is so much awesome in this picture.

The this New Pornographers video, the band is played by actors, and Wyatt Cenac eats a cocaine pizza. You can’t beat that. Also starring John Hodgeman, Horatio Sanz (whom you will not recognize), and John Oliver.

(Yes, I’m clearing out the backlog. Enjoy.)

Heathen favorite Joe Henry sat down for a Tiny Desk Concert over at NPR. 20 minutes, 3 songs, and full of delight. Go. Listen.