Clare Grogan, the Original Manic Pixie DreamPop Girl

Before Stacey Q, before Cyndi Lauper, before Madonna, before Gwen Stefani there was the original recipe manic pixie dream girl, Clare Grogan. It was her work with the band Altered Images where the hyperactive, estrogen-drenched, squeaky-voiced adorableness many singers would later take to the bank first truly burst into the public consciousness. 

Sunday Sabbath: After Forever

The funny thing about Sabbath is that they could do a tune whose lyrics read like a Fundamentalist sermon, yet still sound like they are channeling Azathoth. 

That's a talent.

Front 242 Friday: Don't Crash

 

 My favorite moments in my Rock and Roll memory are when I encounter a band that seems at once familiar and yet alien and unknowable and frightening. My first encounter with Belgian Industrial mavens Front 242 was like that. 

Elëvën Nü Mëtäl Söngs Thät Didn’t Tötälly Sück

I was clearly not the target demographic for Nü Metal. I was in my thirties by the time it rolled around, had already cycled through all the genres that fed into it, and had also spent a lot of time listening to the progenitors of the form (namely Faith No More and Nine Inch Nails). 

So if I tell you Nü Metal seemed utterly prefabricated — and for the most part, supremely irritating — to me, I hope you’ll understand where that’s coming from. It’s coming from a place of love.