National retailer Saks Fifth Avenue wants Salon Fifth Avenue, a longtime downtown Olympia business, to change its name and logo because they falsely imply that the salon “is affiliated with or sponsored or approved by Saks,” according to a cease-and-desist letter....

Saks Fifth Avenue is based in New York City and generated about $3 billion in net sales last year, according to its annual report. The company doesn’t operate a store in Washington, according to its website.

Salon Fifth Avenue has been based downtown for about 30 years. It was on downtown’s Fifth Avenue for years before moving to 111 Capitol Way N. McConkey bought the business after it moved and hasn’t changed the name or business cards, although her son, a graphic designer, recently created a new design for the business logo, she said...

Heavy. Rough timing, but damned straight!

I hope if I make it to 62, I'll be able to consider no longer stage diving. (Hey wait, I've never stage dived...dove...err, whatever.) In any case, Iggy Pop has announced his retirement from the practice during his concerts. Seems that a Carnegie Hall audience didn't get the concept and simply parted like the Red Sea as Iggy launched himself into them:

Pop later recounted the incident to WENN, and how it seemed like a fitting end to one of his classic stage moves.

“When I landed it hurt and I made a mental note that Carnegie Hall would be a good place for my last stage dive. The audience were just like, ‘What are you doing?’”

Boy, it's sad how our culture changes. Soon we'll have forgotten the aesthetic pleasures of smearing peanut butter all over one's chest.

Sad, sad news. Alex Chilton has passed away.

Teenage soul savant, power-pop progenitor, indie rock idol and Memphis music legend Alex Chilton has died.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal confirmed the news Wednesday night, but rumors flew through South By Southwest, where Chilton’s influential 1970s band Big Star was scheduled to play Saturday night at Antone’s.

“Chilton, 59, had been complaining of about his health earlier today,” according to the Commercial Appeal. “He was taken by paramedics to the emergency room where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death is believed to be a heart attack.”

SXSW director Roland Swenson found out late Wednesday and said he was not sure about the status of Big Star’s showcase, which could become a memorial show. The other members of Big Star are scheduled to be on a panel on the group’s history and legacy Saturday afternoon.

A lot will be written about Chilton in the coming days, but Paul Westerberg already wrote the best tribute to the man.

If he was from Venus, would he feed us with a spoon?
If he was from Mars, wouldnt that be cool
Standing right on campus, would he stamp us in a pile?
Hangin' down in Memphis all the while

Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round
They sing "I'm in love. What's that song?
I'm in love with that song."

Cerebral rape and pillage in a village of his choice.
Invisible man who can sing in a visible voice.
Feeling like a hundred bucks, exchange good lucks face to face.
Checkin' his stash by the trash at St. Mark's place.

Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round
They sing "I'm in love. What's that song?
I'm in love with that song."

I never travel far, without a little Big Star

Runnin' 'round the house, Mickey Mouse and the Tarot cards.
Falling asleep with a flop pop video on.
If he was from Venus, would he meet us on the moon?
If he died in Memphis, then that'd be cool, babe.

Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round
They sing "I'm in love. What's that song?
I'm in love with that song."

From the St. Petersburg Times:

Here, nestled against the plump white pillows of a hospice bed, tucked under four soft blankets and sipping coffee through a straw, lies a man who does not exist. He is very old, and maybe a little deaf. His hair has gone white and his teeth have gone missing. He will tell you he is 95. But later he might say 94, or 93. He says he has traveled the world as a hobo. Slept under trucks, on park benches, in barns. Played football with Burt Reynolds and baseball with Fidel Castro. But his stories shift and change, and he admits he hasn't always been truthful. But no one knows why. He carries no identification. He swears he's never smiled for a passport photo. He has no birth certificate, no Social Security card. No family. Just a couple of old friends. And before he dies, even they want to know: Who is Roger George?

This is the type of story you won't see much in the 21st century. Worth a read.

There are times when I wish I had a ready archive of old rock mags to use as reference to refresh my memory about this band or that album. Someone at Google Books must feel the same way, because they've put up every issue of Spin magazine - going all the way back to May of 1985 - online. Have at it, reader users...

...this latest charge against NY governor Paterson is pretty fucking stupid.

So he got World Series tickets. Whoop de damn do. Does the phrase 'perks of the job' ring a bell with anyone?

Besides - doesn't anyone remember that St. 9/11 not only got tickets, but his pick of World Series swag and a goddamn Series ring?

Geeze. Can we get a little perspective here, please?

I've long held the opinion that Joanna Newsom is a brilliant songwriter and musician, and she offers further proof with her new album, 'Have One On Me.' If you have a couple of hours to kill listening to one of America's most endearingly quirky recording artists (even though her voice has matured quite a bit from the first album, Milk Eyed Mender), NPR Music will let you listen to the whole album online. Well worth your time.

This comes out of the blue. Sad news.

T-Bone Wolk, best known for his work with Hall And Oates, died Saturday, 27 February, of a heart attack at the age of 58.

Since the late '70s, Wolk has been one of the steadiest-working bassists in popular music. A small sampling of his discography is as follows: Carly Simon, Shawn Colvin, Elvis Costello, Roseanne Cash, Cyndi Lauper, Harry Nilsson, Amanda Marshall, Grey Eye Glances, Paul Carrack, Diane Ziegler, Charlie Musselwhite, Jewel, Ivo, Jellyfish, Avril Lavigne, Billy Joel, Joe Pesci, Leslie Miller, John Eddie and Chynna Phillips.

Wolk's two highest-profile gigs, however, were his long-standing stints with Hall And Oates, which began in 1981 (he got the job after playing on Kurtis Blow's breakthrough rap smash, The Breaks) and his on-camera role as bassist in the Saturday Night Live house band, in which he was paired with fellow Hall And Oates band member, guitarist GE Smith.

But Wolk wasn't simply a bass player. He co-produced several Hall And Oates albums, and recently, on Daryl Hall's continuing Internet Show, Live From Daryl's House, he played guitar and served as musical director.

T-Bone was an exceptionally gifted bass player. As my soul-playing friends would say, he always knew where The One was. RIP, Tom.

Anybody want to buy one of the most historic recording studios in history? I'd grab it, but I'm a little short this week...

Cash-strapped music company EMI Group Ltd. is seeking a buyer for Abbey Road studios, where The Beatles recorded some of their most famous songs, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday.

The person said talks had been going on for several months, but a buyer had not yet been found. The individual spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

A spokesman for EMI refused to comment on the sale bid, which could raise tens of millions of dollars for the label.

EMI, whose artists include Coldplay, Lily Allen and Robbie Williams, has struggled financially since it was bought in 2007 for 2.4 billion pounds by private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners.

[...]

EMI bought the Georgian town house in London's residential St. John's Wood neighborhood in 1929 and turned it into one of the world's most sophisticated recording studios.

Since the 1960s, it has been one of the world's most famous rock music studios. Albums recorded there include Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," Wings' "Band on the Run" and Radiohead's "OK Computer."

It is most closely associated with The Beatles, who recorded most of their albums there. The crosswalk in front of the north London studio was immortalized on the cover The Beatles' final studio album, 1969's "Abbey Road."

Skippy introduced me to ReinaDelCid, for which I am eternally grateful.

"Bull Riding Babe" Official Music Video from rma productions on Vimeo.

For folks of a certain age...folks that like NRBQ....folks remembering driving around in cars in the summer with a first love...here's Jim Boggia ready to get ya all wistful:

Never heard of this guy before until Crooks and Liars linked to a different version of this song. So I got the album, and it just goes to show there's real good stuff out there that'll feed your Power Pop Jones (althought I gotta admit, I prefer the album version a bit more, what with being more electric. So when Boggia sings "Big Al took a solo and it sounded like this", well, it does, since NRBQ's Al Anderson guests on the track. Good stuff that puts a grin in your step. Glide in your stride is optional.