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Weekend Rock List: ’80s Hip-Hop Songs

Newcleus-Jam On It

DIAZ | MySpace Video

Newcleus’ Robert “Chilly B” Crafton — who features in the electro classic “Jam On It,” above — passed away this Tuesday, February 23rd following a stroke, Newcleus’ MySpace page solemnly writes (via Pitchfork). He was 47. As “Jam On It” is one of our favorite jams, this week’s Rock List looks back at Newcleus and other icons of ’80s hip-hop. All styles, genres and subgenres are fair game, as long as they were recorded between 1980 and 1989. Leave your picks in the comments, and on Monday we’ll tally the votes. Until then, here’s a small sampling of our faves below:

• Slick Rick – “Children’s Story”
• Boogie Down Production – “The Bridge Is Over”
• Run-DMC – “My Adidas”
• Newcleus – “Jam On It”
• The Beastie Boys – “Paul Revere”

Flashback: Remembering Johnny Cash on His Birthday

When news broke that Johnny Cash’s “Guess Things Happen That Way” was the 10 billionth download on iTunes, Cash’s daughter Rosanne remarked on Twitter that the honor was the perfect birthday present to her father, whose 78th birthday would have been today. Earlier this week, Cash’s final album of posthumous recordings, American VI: Ain’t No Grave hit stores, and today we’re paying tribute to the Man in Black by looking back at his remarkable career and the legendary musicians he inspired. Above is a clip of Cash and Bob Dylan performing Nashville Skyline’s “The Girl From the North Country” on the premiere episode of The Johnny Cash Show in 1969.

“In plain terms, Johnny was and is the North Star; you could guide your ship by him — the greatest of the greats then and now,” Dylan wrote in Rolling Stone in the days following Cash’s 2003 death. To read tributes to Cash by Bono, Merle Haggard and more, click below. Plus, watch a 1959 performance of Cash’s “Guess Things Happen That Way,” iTunes’ 10 billionth song:

• Remembering Johnny: Dylan, Bono and more remember his extraordinary impact

Billy Joel Dismisses Rumors He Yanked Tour With Elton John

Photo: Flanigan/FilmMagic
“There was never a tour booked this summer!” says Billy Joel, responding to Internet claims that he pulled the plug on a summer tour with Elton John. He continues, “Obviously, this has the smell of a really juicy story: ‘Why did they cancel? Did Billy and Elton have a fight? What’s going on?’ The truth is, there’s nothing going on. I had made up my mind a long time ago that I wasn’t going to work this year.”

Though the duo are currently performing together on their recurring Face to Face tour, these shows — which swept up the West Coast, and continue until March 11th in Buffalo — are make-up shows, rescheduled from canceled 2009 dates. Joel insists that rumors about 2010 summer tour were leaked by insiders at certain venues around the country. He explains, “There were a couple stories that came out that we were supposed to play Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, and I think Pittsburgh was mentioned. Booking agents hold real estate. They like to research what’s available when, to see if they can put together a series of dates. Then they’ll come back to the artist and say, ‘Look, if you wanted to, you could play such and such and such.’ These rumors probably came from somebody at one of those venues who had to be a big shot and call the local newspaper and say, ‘Hey, Billy and Elton are going to play here this summer.’ ”

Elton John even perpetuated the story himself. In a recent interview, he was quoted saying, “Billy just wants to take a year off. I’m so disappointed because when we came to Wrigley Field last year, it was like playing in the church of baseball.” Joel responds, “Elton and I don’t really sit down and discuss our future plans with each other. We see each other backstage and we hang out and kibitz and talk about music and life. When Elton did that interview, he’d just found out from his booking agent that I wasn’t going to be working this summer, and therefore Elton’s quote puts a spin on it that I’d changed my mind all of a sudden, or suddenly decided to cancel the tour, which is nonsense. There was never a tour booked!”

Before their February 22nd show in Denver, Joel approached John about his comments to the press. “When I saw him backstage, I said, ‘Elton, what were you told about this supposed summer tour?’ He goes, ‘Well, I just found out you weren’t going to be working this year, and I was heartbroken because I was looking forward to doing it.’ ” In his statement to the press, John also seemed to convey that their hugely successful Face to Face tour — which has brought in big crowds since 2004 — would be ending for good in Albany. “We’ll probably pick it up again,” says Joel. “It’s always fun playing with him.” He insists there is no bad blood. In Denver, their conversation ended thusly: “Elton said, ‘Are you mad at me?’ I said, ‘No, I’m not mad, I just want to clarify what’s going on here.’ Everything’s fine.”

Joel says the thought of retirement looms in his mind, but he’s always drawn back to the stage. “I see pictures of myself onstage, and I look at them and say, ‘There has to be some kind of mandatory retirement age for doing this gig,’ and then I watched the Super Bowl and saw the Who and I figure, ‘Well, I guess there is no mandatory retirement age.’ ‘I hope I die before I get old,’ — that went out the window. It’s always possible that I’ll tour again, whether it’s with Elton or on my own. I love my job. For now I’m going to stop, but I won’t sit around for the rest of my life and rot.”

Joel claims last year was a rough one. “There was an incident with my daughter that was very shocking,” he says of daughter Alexa’s suicide attempt. “I got divorced. I worked a lot. I promised myself more personal time this year. I’m going to Italy, and I’ll probably go to Paris. I’ll probably take my boat to New England and hang out on the coast. I’ll ride my motorcycle. I’ll just be a bum.”

Is Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” About David Geffen?

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

For nearly four decades, the identity of the subject of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” has remained an official mystery while fans speculated that icons like Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger and the singer’s ex-husband James Taylor were the egocentric man. But now Simon has reportedly offered up a major clue thanks to a newly recorded version of “You’re So Vain” — she’d previously told Uncut that the vain man’s name would be heard when listeners played her new version of the track backwards. The U.K.’s Sun got their hands on the clip, and the backwards track simply reveals the name “David.” (Listen to the reversed clips here.)

The Sun speculates that the David in question is David Geffen — a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010 — the head of the label that released “You’re So Vain,” Elektra Records. Allegedly, Simon was displeased with the way Geffen supported her musical rival Joni Mitchell after the Blue singer signed with Geffen’s Asylum Records. The timeline seems to make sense, as Mitchell’s first Asylum album For the Roses came out in November 1972, just weeks before the release of Simon’s “You’re So Vain” in the December of that year.

Simon had long claimed that the person in “You’re So Vain” represented a “composite” of different men she encountered in the early 1970s, and then later refined that statement to say that the subject of the song had the letters A, E and R in their name. WARrEn Beatty and Mick JAggER both fit into that category, but with the revelation of “David” being vain, they’re automatically eliminated. David Bowie and David Crosby have also been mentioned as possible “Davids” from that era, but Crosby lacks the necessary “E” and Bowie had never before been linked to Simon in any capacity. So where’s the “R” in “David Geffen”? The Dreamworks man’s full name is “DAvid LawRence GEffen.” While we’re not stating as fact that “You’re So Vain” is about Geffen, he seems like the most logical candidate.

So the mystery of “You’re So Vain” might finally be solved. At least we still have the curious case of “You Oughta Know.” (Cough)

Sirius XM Posts First Profits Since Merger, But Will Stern Stay?

For the first time since their 2008 merger, Sirius XM radio are in the black with a $14.2 million profit in the fourth quarter of 2009, the New York Times reports. That might not sound like much — it equates to less than penny gain per stock share — but considering Sirius XM lost $245 million in the year following the merger, the profit represents a financial shift for the company. Sirius XM were helped by the fact that the automobile industry, an indispensable partner for the satellite radio company (people love their car stereos), showed signs of post-recession recovery. Sirius XM anticipated another half-million new customers by the end of 2010.

At press time, Sirius XM’s stock currently sits at $1.03 — again, not a huge number — but the stock had sunk to as low as 12 cents in the past 52 weeks while the company narrowly avoided bankruptcy at one point. As Rolling Stone previously reported, last May Sirius XM reported its first-ever drop in subscribers — and many listeners were initially rankled by station shifts as the company consolidated channels. According to the NYT, lower costs and an increase of new-car buyers purchasing a subscription after their free trial expired also contributed to Sirius XM’s turnaround.

Total revenue for Sirius XM was $684 million, beating out industry expectations by $20 million. One dark cloud on the horizon, however, is the possible departure of shock jock Howard Stern, whose massive five-year contract with Sirius wraps up at year’s end.

Watch the Strokes’ Hammond Jr. in the Studio With the Postelles

On Tuesday, the Postelles will unleash a four-track EP called White Night, which features production by the Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr. and a remix by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor. Like the Strokes, the band’s members met in high school on Manhattan’s Upper West Side but soon adopted a downtown musical mentality that captured Hammond’s ear. “They found a cool sound reminiscent of the late Fifties, early Sixties that I really liked, but they had their own take on it,” the guitarist told us when we joined him in the studio with the Postelles last year. Rolling Stone has described their aesthetic as a meld of the Strokes and and the Knack.

Watch bassist John Speyer and drummer Billy Cadden at work with their Strokes mentor in our exclusive studio footage above, as they muse on their influences and how they gel on their new tracks. Plus, grab “White Night” for the cost of your e-mail address here:

“The Runaways” Soundtrack: Stewart and Fanning, Plus Stooges, Bowie and More

The Runaways biopic, starring Twilight’s Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, melted the snow at its Sundance premiere and hits theaters across the U.S. on March 19th. While fans have gotten a few sneak peeks at the film via its teaser trailers, Rolling Stone now has your exclusive on what songs will feature on the film’s punk rock soundtrack. Since this is a film about the Runaways, the group’s catalog features heavily on the disc, and its track list is split between the original recordings and new versions by Fanning, who plays Cherie Currie, and Stewart, who portrays Joan Jett. Rounding out the album are 1975-era punk anthems by MC5, Nick Gilder, Sex Pistols, David Bowie and more.

That’s the soundtrack artwork up top and it’s pretty sweet, with a literal “cherry bomb” against the backdrop of a well-worn vinyl sleeve. The Runaways soundtrack will be available digitally on March 16th, with a physical release planned for March 23rd. You can pre-order both formats over on the soundtrack’s official Website. Until then, check out the entire Runaways track list below, and be sure to peruse our exclusive photos from the film set:

1. Nick Gilder – “Roxy Roller”
2. Suzi Quatro – “The Wild One”
3. MC5 – “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”
4. David Bowie – “Rebel Rebel”
5. Dakota Fanning – “Cherry Bomb”
6. The Runaway – “Hollywood”
7. Dakota Fanning – “California Paradise”
8. The Runaways – “You Drive Me Wild”
9. Dakota Fanning & Kristen Stewart – “Queens Of Noise”
10. Kristen Stewart & Dakota Fanning – “Dead End Justice”
11. The Stooges – “I Wanna Be Your Dog”
12. The Runaways – “I Wanna Be Where The Boys Are (Live)”
13. Sex Pistols – “Pretty Vacant”
14. Joan Jett – “Don’t Abuse Me”

Prince Gives New “Cause and Effect” to Minnesota Public Radio

Photo: Winter/Getty

A new Prince song called “Cause and Effect” debuted this morning on Minnesota public radio, with Prince personally offering the Twin Cities’ the Current 89.3 the world premiere of the song as a gesture in support of independent radio. Stylistically, “Cause and Effect” seems to find the middle ground between Prince’s guitar rock album Lotusflow3r and its funked-up companion disc MPLSound, but with some elements of surf rock and his old school rave-ups like “It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night.” Listen to the rocker above.

This is the second time in as many months Prince has unveiled a Minnesota-centric track: As Rolling Stone previously reported, during the Minnesota Vikings’ NFL run, the Paisley Park native, who was seen in the luxury box at the Vikes’ victory over the Dallas Cowboys, penned a fight song called “Purple and Gold” for the Brett Favre-led team. This isn’t Prince’s first time using radio airwaves to debut new material either, as Indie 103 premiered four songs from Prince’s Lotusflow3r box set back in December 2008.
According to the Current’s site, Prince wants to know how listeners feel about “Cause and Effect” — perhaps surveying fans to see if they like this direction before starting work on his next one-to-three albums — so have your say on the Purple One’s latest work in the comments below.