Not a porno album title per se, but the goddamn sexiest album cover in the history of rock and roll music!
Are you ready to get into the swing of things? Continue reading »
Dec 172007
Dec 172007
Rock ‘n roll photography is rife with provocative images, but perhaps none is as provocative as the following Money Shot. Although this is an image the Web Sheriff would prefer to maintain on his client’s behalf, we feel posting it on Rock Town Hall is worth the risk of a Purple Arraignment…after the jump! Continue reading »
Dec 172007
Manson shows her stripes
The focal point of the underrated Garbage has been fiery Scottish singer Shirley Manson. Although the music has always been the band’s undeniable master, Manson is quite comfortable with providing fans with a visual show that matches her vocal prowess. Because the examples of how she’s made the most of her petite frame are not fit for the workplace, you’ll have to check them out in the privacy of your home, after the jump… Continue reading »
Dec 172007
Dec 172007
Years ago, when hot artists like Madonna, Prince, and Cher were first pushing the boundaries of MTV with daring videos that incorporated the artists’ own sexuality into their art, I used to think that MTV needed to create a premium channel that would allow these artists to see through their visions to their – and our – complete edification.
Remember when Madonna was crawling cat-like across the floor in that green dress to lick milk out of a bowl? And then, as the video faded, she was sitting on a bed, her brazenly artistic nude body nearly fully revealed while some buff guy walks into the room? Smokin’! The video for that song, “Expose Yourself”, was so close to perfection.
Later, Madonna tried to push it another step further in that “Justify My Love” video with the guys writhing around in doorways wearing Danskins and the harsh chicks with riding crops. She was boldly speaking for a broader, sexually liberated audience, but there wasn’t enough of the artist herself. It was provocative, surely, but was it was a retreat from the more personal art she had previously been working toward, art that did not fear to fully expose the artist herself. Later videos, in which she sat pimped out in the back of a limo and one in which she donned Danskins herself and made like Travolta’s dance partner from Saturday Night Fever signaled a further retreat from a completely personal form of expression.
I don’t want to belabor the background here, because what I really want to talk about is the work of modern-day rapper Spank Rock, who is doing groundbreaking work in bringing his sexuality to the fore in his music, sometime to the extent of obscuring the music altogether, but Prince’s video for “Cream” was another example of an artist embedding his personal vision of sensuality as deeply as any of the grooves provided by the crack backing musicians. There were some truly expressive moments in that video, moments as essential to that song as, say, any key lick in a Beatles song.
Cher is another artist who rarely gets credit for her merging of a unique, personal sensuality with hot, rockin’ grooves. I’m not talking about her work with Sonny, in which she had to submerge her sexuality so as to limit her natural dominance over her man, but her solo work. A little-discussed running theme of her Cher’s revolves around the sort of issues French director Louis Malle explored, of innocent incestual and otherwise sexual relationships between children and their mothers. Remember that video with her wearing little but a leather jacket and thong as she paced across a ship’s deck with her son (the spawn of her and Gregg Allman) wailing on lead guitar? Better yet is the opening shots from her forgotten, X-rated, 1969 film, Chastity. The plot is pretty twisted – and hot – and right off the bat, as the opening credits roll, she parades her slender, bra-less body in front of some young boys. No joke: check out this clip and watch closely around the 7-minute mark for the acting debut of one of our Townspeople. It’s no wonder the flaxen-haired youth of the video grew up as comfortable in his skin as he is today.
Now onto this Spank Rock guy…
Continue reading »
Dec 172007
An RTH video exclusive! An anonymous source has supplied Rock Town Hall with an “acquired” copy of a Gwen Stefani sex tape. And there’s No Doubt that it’s Gwen. She totally shows us her true stripes.
Due to the highly graphic nature of this hot, nasty video, you’ll need to view it after the fold.
Dec 152007
We’ve got an honest-to-goodness contest to announce for those of you with a strong constitution and creative writing skills.
The fantastic Wolfgang’s Vault site, which holds an incredible amount of otherwise unreleased streaming audio concerts from the “exquisitely preserved, original archives of Bill Graham Presents.” There are classic concerts by all the big arena names of the past, from Aerosmith through ZZ Top. You can even hear The Sons of Champlin‘s legendary 1972 gig at Winterland!
One gig that never occurred to me as being available at Wolfgang’s Vault, however, is Billy Idol’s 1984 show at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. I don’t know, I would have figured no one would take care to preserve such a recording.
To my surprise, Billy Idol’s 1984 show at the Oakland Coliseum has been preserved, and now you can listen to it in streaming audio at Wolfgang’s Vault. Check out this excerpt from the concert summary:
This show was captured for the King Biscuit Flower Hour Radio Concert Series in 1984, when Billy Idol was at the peak of his popularity. He had become a poster child for MTV, and his Elvis-inspired “snarled” upper lip and spiked blonde hair had become a popular pop culture image all over the American landscape.
Although this set only features about half of the songs played during the entire show, it’s almost a greatest hits collection. Included are air-tight versions of “Rebel Yell,” “Dancing With Myself,” “Hot In The City,” “Mony Mony” (his rocked-out cover of an old Tommy James & The Shondells song), an extended version of “White Wedding,” as well as a blistering eight-minute version of “Flesh for Fantasy.”
You get that last part, which promises a blistering eight-miinute version of “Flesh for Fantasy”? I dare you, Rock Town Hall, to listen to this concert. Who among you is brave enough to take on this task?
The Townsperson who reports back to us with the most detailed, descriptive, vivid review of this streaming concert will win something even better than the patented RTH non-prize: a limited edition Rock Town Hall t-shirt, like the ones our models have been advertising. No joke! I know this is a difficult mission. You have until midnight, Sunday, December 16, to post your review here, in the comments field accompanying this post. The winner will be selected shortly thereafter and contacted regarding shirt size, address, and the so forth.
I dare you, Rock Town Hall!
