Rave's Raves Blog

RAVE’S FAVES (on the air)

Alien Ant Farm (“Smooth”), System of a Down, Sum 41, Travis, Gorillaz, Cake, Pete Yorn, Weezer (“Island”).

System’s (“Chop Suey”) has been #1 requested at KROQ for weeks. It will be big. Did you happen to catch Sum 41 on the MTV 20th Anniversary show? They were the highlight to me — a great live band with a great CD that’s much like the single. Just in the nick of time, Virgin has gotten behind “Clint” as the Gorillaz single. Assuming it becomes a pop hit, they should sell at least 2 million in this country. How nice to see that Daft Punk have just gone gold in the US. Strong, current CD’s include Gorillaz, Sum 41, Travis, Crystal Method, and Linkin’ Park. I see that Columbia are re-releasing “Teenage Dirtbag” again. You’ll probalby remember the song, which features a young kid wanting to ask the girl of his dreams to an Iron Maiden concert. It became a world wide hit after having had alternative radio success in this country. The hope is that pop radio will make it a hit single this time around.

80’s COLLEAGUES

The Knack have a new studio CD(Normal as the Next Guy) coming with a live set as well. Watch for a great new song called “Les Girls.” In addition, they just shot a live show for a DVD release. Feedback from their shows continues to be very strong and people are blown away. See them if you can. If you’re in LA, they’re playing at the House Of Blues on September 25. The newly-married Weird Al dropped by the DVD shoot, and he still lists them as one of his favorite bands. Al has been laying lower, following his 18-month tour. Martha Davis of the Motels has been playing her new material this month at The Knitting Factory. She’s got some great stuff, and I won’t be surprised if a label decides to give her a shot. Missing Persons were very pleased with their LA shows as well.

INTERNET

Chris Carter says he may not return with his new music show. This would be a great loss. Meanwhile, WOXY and KCRW continue to play great stuff. If you have a good internet source for new music, please let me know.

LA RADIO

No, it hasn’t changed much lately. Uncle Joe’s show is better than ever (I was out of town during part of ARROW’s strange experiment with Bob Rivers’ talk and comedy show — boy, did the audience’s instant rejection of that Seattle staple take the station by surprise!). LA’s a great place for classic rock, but we have limited sources for new rock music. The latest census shows that LA had the largest percentage decline in white population, so our current rock shortage is no coincidence. Meanwhile, and this had to happen, we’ve now had two 90’s weekends lately. Our adult Top 40 (Star 98.7) packaged 90’s oldies in a way where the decade sounded almost as positive as the 80’s or 60’s. Of course, this is no surprise. Their soccer-mom orientation actually made Nirvana and Pearl Jam sound perky.

THIS JUST IN

It turns out that we’re getting a number a hits from people doing internet searches for “raves.” We should have known! We welcome those folks and hope you come back.

I hope you’re doing well, and until next time…

RAVE ON!!!