My tribute to Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, the weird, woolly group co-fronted by Dennis Locorriere, who died this past weekend.

“Their records are colored in burnt gold and avocado green, decorated in shag carpet and wood paneling, filled with stale beer and skunk weed. “ Another excellent retrospective from STE

Also worth reading: Okkervil River's Will Sheff watches "Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Live", a 2013 article archived from Gawker. web.archive.org/web/20130208...

Great piece about a great album.

My tribute to Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, the weird, woolly group co-fronted by Dennis Locorriere, who died this past weekend.

Not my rankings, not my rodeo.

neil young hates amazon so much that he even migrated his website off of amazon web services. now that's what i call indie rock! neilyoungarchives.com/news/1/artic...

Squeeze reuniting with Jools Holland to perform “Take Me I’m Yours.” 😍😍 youtu.be/9U1sUro6Qio?...

Thank you, Rick Kogan, for helping the phrase “saloonkeeper” alive! For non-Chicagoans: The Billygoat was the inspiration for the 1978 John Belushi SNL “Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Cheezborger” sketch “No Coke — Pepsi!” “No fries — chips!” Gift 🔗

I choose to think of it as Drake’s Zaireeka, where all three albums are designed to be played simultaneously.

RIP to the singer of one of the most elegantly horny songs ever recorded www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj8e...

what a strange life--a TV star in the '60s, married to Andy Williams, friend of the Kennedys, had a gold record, was accused of killing her Olympic skier boyfriend

Farewell to Claudine Longet.

Thrilled by the announcement of the deluxe 30th Anniversary edition of Ween’s 12 Golden Country Greats, and not only because it has my favorite unreleased Ween song, “I’ve Got No Darkside” among its 14 unreleased songs. The liner notes also appear to be from Ben Vaughn, too.

Attending the Thurs preview for a new Wings exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; it’s the largest collection ever from Paul McCartney's personal archive on display! Looking for an outlet to place coverage, have found no takers yet; reach out if interest!

Reed could be awful, mean (esp to women actors---Marisa Tomei has every right to toast his demise), lazy and occasionally funny. it seems strange now that he was something like a household name at the time: helped that his name sounded like a journalist at the Daily Planet, I suppose.

"he was accused of shoplifting at a Tower Records on the Upper West Side after being found with Mel Tormé, Carmen McRae & Peggy Lee CDs in his coat pocket. It was all a mistake, he said. When she learned of it, Ms. Lee sent him a complete set of her recordings." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/m...

Also worth stating that those of us who do this shit "for a living" still don't know/haven't heard everything. Everyone has blind spots, missing information, etc., etc., even when it comes to artists we love and may have been writing about for decades at this point.

My latest newsletter: reviews of albums by the Lemon Twigs, Ashley McBryde, Neil Diamond and Linda Perry. Plus quick takes on singles by Mike D, Charli xcx and the Rolling Stones.

My latest newsletter: reviews of albums by the Lemon Twigs, Ashley McBryde, Neil Diamond and Linda Perry. Plus quick takes on singles by Mike D, Charli xcx and the Rolling Stones.

Belatedly, I know—I just turned 84, did some hospital time, give me a break—the 2025 Dean's List is finally up at my Substack. If you can honestly say you knew what my #1 would be I will donate to the charity of your choice. I sure didn't until I put my ears to it open.substack.com/pub/robertch...

And just as quickly as it appeared last week, Clovis has been pulled from all streaming services as of sometime yesterday.

Hard agree--Hector also fronted Crushed Butler, one of the great numbskull (complimentary!) bands of all time. They made the Troggs sound like Yes www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI66...

Sad news, the Hammersmith Gorillas were a terrific rock band.

Mark Lewisohn calls and raises with "i've just about finished the 'Beatles For Sale' section"

My review of Clovis, the surprise new album from Charley Crockett that follows Age of the Ram by a mere three weeks. It's the Waylon to AOTR's Willie.

The Prophecy Is Fulfilled: The Cure's Robert Smith appears on Foreign Tongues, the new album by The Rolling Stones.

My review of Clovis, the surprise new album from Charley Crockett that follows Age of the Ram by a mere three weeks. It's the Waylon to AOTR's Willie.

FYI: The U.S. promo edit is FOUR SECONDS shorter than the album version. Just thought you should know...

My latest newsletter: Kacey Musgraves (kind of) gets back to the country on Middle of Nowhere. The Black Keys (sort of) return to the blues with Peaches!

Tyler talks about his dad here. [hat tip: Peter Blackstock]

My latest newsletter: Kacey Musgraves (kind of) gets back to the country on Middle of Nowhere. The Black Keys (sort of) return to the blues with Peaches!

BONNIE & CLYDE, ZABRISKIE POINT, THE GODFATHER TRILOGY, THE CONVERSATION, APOCALYPSE NOW, ONE FROM THE HEART, RUMBLE FISH -- what an artist. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/m...

Farewell to David Allan Coe, an unruly outlaw country singer and genuine American eccentric.

My Ballot and Also-Rans for The New York Times 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters

Celebrate Willie Nelson's 93rd birthday by listening to last year's Workin' Man: Willie Sings Merle, surely the greatest album released by a 92-year-old musician.

My Ballot and Also-Rans for The New York Times 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters

Much love to Iggy Pop for naming Anton Newcombe of the Brian Jonestown Massacre as one of the Greatest Living American Songwriters.

glad to see that Erin Osmon has a new book, and "heartland rock as an ideological sound and geography" is a great topic: nofencesreview.substack.com/p/heartland-...

I was polled for this! Some of my choices made the cut, some didn’t (the ones that pop to mind are Tom Waits and Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham). Wish I had thought of the Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne collective, that’s a great choice.

My latest newsletter: new albums by Sunflower Bean's Julia Cumming, Foo Fighters, Ringo Starr, Noah Kahan, Ella Langley, TMBG, plus RSD offerings by Sonic Youth, Ween and Little Feat.

My latest newsletter: new albums by Sunflower Bean's Julia Cumming, Foo Fighters, Ringo Starr, Noah Kahan, Ella Langley, TMBG, plus RSD offerings by Sonic Youth, Ween and Little Feat.

So far, I didn't tackle any of the factual inaccuracies in the MJ movie on here... ...because I did it here, in my debut for @billboard.com! Read my breakdown on some doozies in the film's timeline. Truly beside myself to have a byline here - please read if you can!!

Dropped everything to listen to this conversation this morning and it did not disappoint.

RIP Gregg Foreman, best known as Cat Power's longtime musical director, but also the livewire frontman for the rama-lama-fa-fa-fa-fantastic Delta 72: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J_2...

You learn something new every day.

Farewell to Dave Mason, a founding member of Traffic who wrote the immortal “Feelin’ Alright.” My obituary for Rolling Stone.

Olivia! No! It's a psyop!

My thoughts on the (very good) Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2026.