John Cox

Blogs · @wyome

Tagged music · everything

www.udiscovermusic.com

‘The Unforgettable Fire’: U2’s Blazing Rock Statement

Tracing U2's pivot from the muscular, anthemic rock of *War* to the atmospheric, textured sound of *The Unforgettable Fire*, this piece follows the band through 1983–85, from the live document *Under a Blood Red Sky* through the Slane Castle sessions with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois that produced the new album. It roots the record's title and inspiration in a 1974 Hiroshima survivor's drawing and the resulting art exhibit U2 visited in Japan, then charts the album's commercial triumph, the "Pride" single, and Rolling Stone's crowning of U2 as "the band of the '80s."

Permalink musicwarrock

www.nytimes.com

Paul McCartney Is Still Trying to Figure Out Love

During lockdown, McCartney recorded "McCartney III" entirely alone, playing nearly all instruments himself, continuing a pattern established by his solo albums from 1970 and 1980. The interview explores his creative process, his evolving perspective on the Beatles' legacy fifty years after the band's breakup, and how his songwriting has remained remarkably consistent across decades—driven by melody and instinct rather than deliberate attempts at depth or growth. McCartney reflects on his relationships with his bandmates, particularly John Lennon and George Harrison, and discusses specific songs on the new album inspired by everything from Lead Belly to personal grievances with past collaborators.

Permalink musicmagazinebeatlesthe beatles

www.mensjournal.com

Dick Van Dyke Shows Off Dance Moves in New Coldplay Video

At 99 years old, Dick Van Dyke dances barefoot in a new music video for Coldplay's "All My Love," demonstrating the physical vitality that has defined his seven-decade career in comedy and entertainment. The video serves as a retrospective of his iconic performances, from *The Dick Van Dyke Show* to *Mary Poppins*, while capturing his signature ability to blend physical comedy with self-deprecating humor. Van Dyke's continued dancing and willingness to appear goofy in the project illustrates why he remains a beloved figure in American entertainment—his enduring commitment to joyful, energetic performance.

Permalink musicfilmentertainmentnostalgia

www.gq-magazine.co.uk

Paul McCartney: 'I was thought to be the guy who broke The Beatles up'

This is an extensive interview with Paul McCartney conducted during the 2020 lockdown, covering his reflections on The Beatles' reunion through Peter Jackson's documentary, his prolific solo career that he argues is equal to much of his work with the band, and his evolving relationship with fame over six decades. He discusses how he was initially reluctant to acknowledge his Beatles past but has grown more openly nostalgic, while defending his controversial lawsuit against the band that was necessary to save their catalog from manager Allen Klein, and reflecting on depression, self-doubt, and the difference between 1960s fame and today's social media-driven celebrity culture.

Permalink historymusictagsbeatles

www.nytimes.com

Is Gen X Actually the Greatest Generation?

I was born in 1976 and this essay argues that [[Generation X]] — the cohort whose members recall the shared, broadcast-TV moments of the late twentieth century — made outsized cultural contributions, as epitomized by the watershed year of 1994, which included the deaths and headlines around [[Kurt Cobain]] and [[O.J. Simpson]]’s white Ford Bronco chase, the presidency of [[Bill Clinton]] and the coming into force of [[NAFTA]], and the debut of shows like [[Friends]] and [[ER]]. The author situates personal memory (after‑school aloneness, wood‑paneled basements) alongside a cascade of influential films and albums to interrogate where Gen X begins and ends, how its boundaries are contested, and why its artistic output and collective experience warrant reconsideration as a defining cultural force, and its generational legacy in politics and the economy.

Permalink culturetelevisionhistorymusic

YouTube

Eddie Vedder sings The Beatles

Plays from YouTube. Nothing is loaded from Google until you press play.

Oh man, the "You've got to hide your love away" is great! Would've been great to have gone to this show!

Eddie Vedder solo and with Pearl Jam does a couple of Beatles covers. Hope you enjoy it.@0:00 I've Just Seen A Face@0:43 Blackbird@3:50 Rain@6:35 Her Majesty...

Permalink musicvideorock

Apple Music - Web Player

SPIN

The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985-2014) | SPIN

SPIN's milestone 30th-anniversary ranking of the 300 best albums from the past three decades draws on input from over a dozen contributors to identify works deemed masterpieces, enduring pleasures, and new favorites, though the list enforces the constraint that no single artist can appear more than three times. The editors included studio albums, EPs, live records, and select compilations, with each entry accompanied by a brief critical summary explaining why the album merits its position rather than relying on plot descriptions or historical context alone.

Permalink musicreviewsrockclassics

App Store

Mac App Store - Skip Tunes - Spotify, Rdio, and iTunes Controls

Skip Tunes is a Mac menu bar utility that lets you control iTunes/Apple Music and Spotify playback, volume, and track ratings without opening the apps themselves, while also enabling quick sharing to social media and custom keyboard shortcuts. The app has been featured in major tech publications and recently updated to work with Apple Music while maintaining privacy by collecting no user data.

Permalink productivityappsmusicmac

Boing Boing

Ray Manzarek, founding member of The Doors, dies of cancer at 74 - Boing Boing

Ray Manzarek, the legendary keyboardist and founding member of The Doors, died of bile duct cancer at age 74 at a clinic in Germany. Beyond his iconic work with The Doors, Manzarek was also known for co-producing the first four albums of the late-'70s/early-'80s L.A. punk band X, helping establish some of the earliest vinyl punk records. The piece includes archival footage and monologues from Manzarek reflecting on his life and musical career.

Permalink historymusicentertainmentrock

Apple Community

iTunes match issues: Apple Support Communities

iTunes Match hangs on Steps 2 or 3 when your music library contains mixed media formats (MP3s, older AAC files, or protected files) instead of uniform unprotected AAC 256 kbps files—a software bug that leaves files stuck in an endless loop rather than marking them ineligible. Convert all non-compliant files to iTunes 10.5.1 AAC 256 kbps encoding using smart playlists or individual selection, then delete the originals from iTunes, your computer, and iCloud before re-running the match. If Step 3 still hangs after converting all files, the problem is likely a firewall or modem blocking the upload port, which you can identify in Activity Monitor's Open Files and Ports window and resolve through your modem's settings.

Permalink musicappletutorialitunesmatch

bootiemashup.com

Bootie - Best of Bootie 2012

I'm unable to provide a summary of this content. What you've shared is a promotional page for a music compilation album with track listings and download options, rather than an article or written piece with argumentative or informative content that I could meaningfully summarize.

Permalink music2010s

The Marginalian

Beethoven Reimagined as Jazz | Brain Pickings

I appreciate you sharing this, but this appears to be a donation appeal page rather than a saved article to summarize. There's no argument or reporting to distill — just a request for financial support for The Marginalian website. If you'd like me to summarize an actual article you've saved, please share that content instead.

Permalink musicrecommendationsclassics

Readability

Black, Brown, and Beige — www.newyorker.com — Readability

I don't have access to the actual content of these articles—only their titles and publication metadata. To write accurate summaries that distinguish each piece and explain why it was worth saving, I would need you to provide the full text or a detailed description of what each article actually argues or reports. Could you share the content of the specific article you'd like me to summarize?

Permalink culturehistorymusiclongreads