HOT
See Ya, Later
Cheers to Ovation for airing episodes of the excellent, classic Brit music/chat television show Later ´ With Jools Holland. A curious music fan's dream, Later's groovy, somewhat brainy house party vibe is uniquely creative in approach. The eclectic musical lineups on each episode feature acts that have little in common with each other, other than usually being above par (for example, one episode had Joe Jackson, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Grandaddy, Steve Winwood, the Latin music teaming of Celso Fonseca and Cibelle and Neo Soul upstart Terri Walker). Holland's highly musical brain (he's a renowned musician himself, playing with Squeeze in their heyday and maintaining a fairly successful solo career over the years) enables him to give the interview sections gravitas — no scandalous tabloid questions here, just conversation about the music, thank you very much. The in-the-round set-up, with all of the acts lined up in a circle around the studio, adds an intimate, lively flair. Worth the price of digital cable or satellite TV alone. Well, almost. Check ovationtv.com for air times.
WARM
He's Hot, He's Sexy, He's ... Not Dead?
Jim Morrison is alive and well and working on a horse ranch in Oregon. That's what some guy (or, should we say, whack job) named Gerald Pitts is saying, anyway. Pitts claims that he began seeing Morrison several years ago at — where else? — rodeos in the Oregon area; Pitts says he eventually befriended the Lizard King and found out that he was — what else? — raising show ponies on his ranch. Pitts, whose story was featured on a recent edition of that bastion of investigative journalism, A Current Affair, has a photograph to prove his assertion. He says he superimposed the recent photo over an older one of Morrison and it was a perfect match, though most accounts report it looks as much like Bigfoot as it does Morrison. In related news, Minimum Gauge swears Jimi Hendrix cooked up our sliders last weekend during a drugged-up, late night pit stop at White Castle.
COLD
Does He Have to Return the Gold Watch?
If Congress can spend its time investigating such monumental issues as steroids in sports (the shock!) and bias in the media (the horror!), maybe we can get them to go after musicians who promise to "retire" (or at least take some time off) only to return to the biz in the blink of an eye. The latest "comeback" is increasingly insignificant rapper DMX, who — despite announcing he was done with the Rap game a couple of years ago — has a new album due in late June with the somewhat defeated title, Here We Go Again (say it with an exasperated sigh). Oddly enough, one of DMX's Ruff Ryders colleagues is taking his place in retirement land — rapper Jin is apparently leaving the industry after just one album. On his myspace.com Web site, the moderately successful Asian-American MC (who won several freestyle battles on BET's 106th and Park) wrote a cryptic yet heartfelt message about his decision and posted what could be his last recording, the self-explanatory "I Quit." (Yeah, see you in a couple of months, Jin.) For Mr. X, getting back into the job market is probably a good idea, since his "golden years" have been filled with more arrests than a Star Wars bootleg party. We suggest a Pop Star Retirement Home in Florida with a Roach Motel philosophy (they can check in, but they can't check out). Next up: hearings on fake "last ever" tours by aging stars. Cher and The Who, your subpoenas are in the mail.
