Band names continue to baffle me.  Seriously, how did a band actually decide upon the name Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros? Did you know that Edward Sharpe isn’t even a real person, let alone a band member? Here’s what is behind the name of these 5 bands:

• Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – The founder of the band, Alex Ebert, came up with the fictional character, Edward Sharpe, when we was writing a story after joining a 12-step program for addiction after he hit rough patch in his life. According to Ebert, Sharpe was “sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind…but he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love.” What about the Magnetic Zeros? Apparently, a group formerly known as the Zeros are a part of the band, though this doesn’t explain the inclusion of the word “magnetic.”
• Nickelback – Have you heard this one before? The group couldn’t think of a name, but bassist Mike Kroeger thought back to his days as a worker at a Starbucks coffee shop when we often have to give a nickel back to customers as change.
• Ke$ha – Kesha Sebert was a part of a huge hit single “Right Round,” and then never received the credit or a single dime for it. She’d listen to the song being played on the radio without having, “enough money to buy [herself] a taco.” About the dollar symbol, she told Entertainment Weekly, “It’s actually just being ironic about the whole money thing, because I actually stand for the opposite of putting a lot of emphasis on money.”
• Goo Goo Dolls – At first this group was called the Sex Maggots. However, a local newspaper refused to print the name, thus lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik picked up an old magazine and noticed an ad for a doll that cried “Goo Goo” when you turned it upside down, and the name was born.
• Kiss – Despite other rumors, Paul Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar) insists that Kiss just sounds dangerous (like the kiss of death) and sexy at the same time.

Check out the story behind other band names here.

To be honest, it seems like purchasing CDs, real, tangible CDs, is a dying trend. People like iTunes (well, I don’t). They’re satisfied with hearing a song once or twice on Youtube, and not actually getting the hard copies of the music they like.

“Hey, wait! Weren’t you the one who wrote an article on Grooveshark, an online tool for listening to music, just a couple weeks ago?”

Guilty as charged. I often hesitate to buy CDs, especially when I’m just exploring new artists, because I don’t know if I’ll ever want to listen to the music again after making it through an album once. However, once I know that I’ll be listening to an album more than once, I think it’s only fair to pay credit where credit is due, and start spinning the real CD.

“But CDs are so expensive.” Well, compared to “free music,” it’s impossible to argue that CDs don’t cost the extra buck, they do. CDs are worth the extra buck. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean you have to spend $13+ on a newly released album. There are all sorts of discount prices available if you take a couple minutes to search for the best deals. If you don’t have time to find the absolute lowest cost on a CD, I’ve found that YourMusic.com has been a very reliable and cheap Web site for buying CDs.

YourMusic is a branch of BMG Music, which my family has been using for years. They constantly offer great deals on CDs. For example, currently, every CD on the Web site is selling for $6.99. That’s with free shipping and handling, no strings attached (unless you count the fact that you have to subscribe, but it’s a free subscription). They have thousands of CDs including the Black Eyed Peas latest album The E. N. D. (Energy Never Dies), Owl City’s Ocean Eyes, John Fogerty’s The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again, and George Strait’s Twang. They carry just about every genre of music.

Like music? Get the real thing, and get it cheap at YourMusic.com.

There comes a point in the career of most musicians where someone will compile an unbelievable amount of stuff in a box and market it to the salivating masses for some outrageous price.  And we, like idiots, will go and drop the money for material that has never been commercially available before, so we can show it off to other people.

This past week Columbia Records released a massive Miles Davis retrospective box set.  It includes all 52 of the albums he recorded for Columbia on 70 CDs, the CDs are even designed to look like miniature vinyls, along with a live DVD of rare concert footage and a book of photos and essays on Miles.  I’m not going to tell you the price tag, you’ll cry, but for what you get there is no substitute.  If you are a casual listener, I wouldn’t recommend jumping in with this.  For a die-hard fan, you probably have many of these albums from the remastered editions that were put out a few years ago.  Although, if you happen to pick this up, I’d love to borrow it from you any time.

Back in 1997 Soundgarden disbanded, and grunge officially died.  For over a decade we, the fans, have had to suffer through Chris Cornell’s side projects and solo albums in hopes that he’ll get the original band together.  A little Internet poking lead me to an article that Cornell and co., will be releasing a Soundgarden box set.  Not of their albums, instead B-Sides and new material that was recorded after their last album but never formally released.  The biggest ‘if’ of the whole deal is that the band could get back together next year for a tour.  Don’t get your hopes up yet; I want the box first before anything else.

I was never a huge fan of 104.1 WBCN.  In high school I was a devoted listener to 107.3 WAAF, and I listened, not by choice, to Rock 101.1 when I worked in a kitchen.  I went to college and worked for 91.3 WKNH, and since I’ve been out all I listen to is 92.1 WFNX.  Now, maybe over the course of my dialing I stopped on WBCN to hear a few tunes, but overall I never really became attached to WBCN.

A few months ago BCN called it a day and is now only broadcasting in digital on the Internet.  This act disrupted the balance of Boston radio as we know it.  WAAF plays the hard rock stuff, WFNX plays the odd alternative stuff and WBCN played a happy mix of both. What happens when you take out the middleman?  Well, WAAF starts to play weirder alternative and classic rock, and WFNX plays a lot of terrible early 2000s hard rock that no one cares about anymore.  With the loss of WBCN the other stations are trying to compensate and gain new listener-ship and the rest of us suffer for it.  Come on, after I hear Elvis Costello I do not want to hear anything by Linkin Park.

I think I never realized the importance of WBCN until they had left, isn’t that always the way?  Without their presence it is hard to differentiate between stations at times, and that bothers me more than anything.  I like being able to say I listen to WFNX because they don’t play nu-metal junk, now I have to change my reasoning.  What are we left with?  A lack of options and more dull pop than anyone knows what to do with.  I like my CDs but don’t mess with my radio.

As the warm weather escapes us, we look to the fall and then the dormancy of winter.  Well, don’t start hibernating just yet, jump on the ole Interweb and listen to some new singles from Pearl Jam, Weezer and Radiohead.

In anticipation of their new album Backspacer, out September 20, Pearl Jam sounds like they are in rare form.  Single “The Fixer” has had some strong reception from audiences this summer and is doing well on radio play.  Many speculate that this is a return to more alternative roots for the band.  It certainly sounds like their catchiest song in quite some time.

Weezer is back with a new album on October 27^th titled Raditude.  Their newest single “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” could’ve been found in a time capsule from the 1950s.  Although this isn’t the Weezer that I know and love, I will say that it is a good direction for the band, and anything is better than Make Believe.

Then we have Radiohead, who has been laying low since their release of In Rainbows. Their new song “These Are My Twisted Thoughts” has been making some waves on social networking sites.  This song could have been a B-side to any tune from In Rainbows, sounding spacey and deep as anything by Radiohead.  Does this mean a new album is on the horizon?  No one knows just yet, but you probably can expect to choose your own price before you can buy the physical copy.

With a plethora of mediocrity on the airwaves it is good to hear some groups are making quality music for people that enjoy quality music.  I’ll keep my ear to the ground. What are you listening to?  Let me know, I’ll give anything a once over.

I always find it funny how music works between America and England.  Kings of Leon are from America and have been huge in England for years, but they just are making waves on their fourth album over here.  Whereas a band like Muse has been doing very well in their home country of England and just now are doing well over here pending the release of their fifth album.  It is a shame that America doesn’t just jump on the wagon with some of these bands earlier on.  If England digs it, then it must be great.

As I mentioned earlier, Muse will be releasing their fifth album The Resistance in a few weeks, and there is plenty of anticipation.  A friend of mine has been a Muse fan since he saw them open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters tour in 2000, and I’ve been paying attention to them since 2004.  Matter of fact the stub with the NEXT logo is from a gig in Boston in 2004 at the Axis Ballroom, and we only paid $15 to see them.

Interviews with the band might show a cocky side, as they get ready to play at larger venues and use crazy lighting gear.  These boys have every right to be cocky because they really can rock any venue they are booked to play.  This fall they will open for U2 on a few dates, as did Kings of Leon a few years back, and once you open for a band like U2 you’re on the up and up.  Muse also have managed to play sold out shows at Madison Square Garden and Wembley Stadium, which is no easy task for a band with such a small catalogue.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Love him or hate him, there is one undeniable fact: Michael Jackson changed the face of pop music forever.  Jackson was the perfect mix of The Beatles and Elvis Presley blending catchy pop hooks with feverish dance beats and dance moves.  People either loved it and emulated him or hated it and created something different.  I am aware of all the problems that he fell into during the 90s, and do not plan on discussing them, I feel his music will leave a much larger footprint on the world than anything else.

You cannot underestimate the influence Jackson had on pop culture.  His songs have been covered, imitated and mocked in every way possible.  I’m old enough to remember the Moonwalker movie and the video game for Sega Genesis.  To think that the game and movie were based off of his signature dance move tells you how much influence he had.  In reality, the film is just a series of short films based around songs from his career and the album Bad.

One of my favorite moments was watching him perform during the halftime of Super Bowl 27. I was ten, it was incredible to see all the people on the field scream and cheer for him as he began to perform.  When he sang “Heal the World” I will admit that it was a moving moment, he seemed to be reaching out to all the people of the world and asking for global change.

Despite record sales and a place in pop culture history, his wrong-doings will overshadow his amazing career.  There can only be one Michael Jackson, and there will never be another.  For any fan of music there is a place in your heart for him, and I try not to let it be too tainted by the events that surround him.

For a different point of view, read this article at Couch Tuber.

As you grow older memories become a greater part of your life.  This makes perfect sense as you have a greater pool of topics to pull memories from.  But the more important part of this phenomena is that as you increase in years there are certain moments that you cling to.  And music pulls these out into your conscious.  Many of the song stories that are being shared at Song Journals deal with the events of youth.  In our week-long study of how songs move people, we are going to look at the musical memories of youth:

Alison Blackman, Publisher/Writer-AdviceSisters Publications :

When I was a pre-teen, I attended an unusual Summer camp in New York called Camp Trywoodie.  The owners were friends of many creative people, including Pete Seeger.  I didn’t know who the skinny man with the banjo was (at least I didn’t know he was famous) but I’d sit right at his knee, and listen to him play and sing.   Not surprisingly, of all the songs I learned  (and sang with the other kids at the top of my lungs) from Mr. Seeger “We Shall Overcome” is the one that brings me right back to the smell of grass and earth, and sunshine…and Pete Seeger.

Naomi Starsiak:

In 2000, at the age of 17, I took a trip to San Francisco. When we got to the rental car I was surprised to see it had a CD player – I had only brought cassettes. Later that day while I was in a second-hand shop I noticed a Doris Day CD at the counter for only $1.00.

Any time I put that CD on I can see the whiter than white sands of the beach, hear the sounds of the cable cars and remember the smell of Chinatown in the evening.

Mark Pappas:

Music is definitely transportive for me, easily taking me to a place or time from my past. One song that seemed to have that ability the first time I heard it was Alphaville’s Forever Young. A bit cheesy, yes, and vintage ’80s one-hit-wonder pop for sure, but it always brings me fond memories with a melancholic twist. I first remember the song being played like clockwork at the end of each high school year during the Senior Slide Show. I attended a small, private school and the 10th, 11th and 12th grade classes would gather right before finals and view a photographic essay that focused on the graduating class. It was an exciting yet sad time, something I realized more and more as I approached my own graduation in 1989 (that in and of itself is depressing). We were quickly growing up and this world that we had inhabited for the past 3-6 years (the school was k-12, so many of us had been together since junior high or longer), that we all thought was the center of the universe, was quickly vanishing, along with so many first loves, friendships and rivalries. The song “Forever Young” definitely evokes vivid memories of that time, when I first realized that growing up and all of the great things that come with that – freedom in its varied shapes and forms being the most obvious for me – also meant that we were stepping away from our youth as well. I knew at the time that was a sad but inevitable reality, and that song seemed to amplify those feelings. It wasn’t till later in life that I came to grips with the idea that sad music can make you feel good; I hadn’t yet discovered Tom Waits while in high school, LOL.

As a self proclaimed music aficionado, I am a bit embarrassed that this is the song I would offer up (I could go on for too long about a hundred other songs), but this one always hits home for me. It’s almost voyeuristic in that it always depresses me, but I can’t not listen, and I savor the pain that comes with it. As the song says, “Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip. The music’s for the sad men.“

Suzanne Sherman Propp:

I have a very strong memory of hearing a song called “My Grandfather’s Clock” when I was about 3 years old; the song was played on one of those record players that came in a little suitcase (with a hinged top and a handle for easy carrying).  It was winter and I was living in a rental house with my parents on a spit of land called “Saugatuck Shores” in Westport, CT. I remember finding great comfort in the song; I remember simultaneously being made to feel uneasy by the cold winter winds and the sound of the sail hooks (cleats?) banging against the masts and the seagulls screaming along the Long Island Sound.  Now, 44 years later, I’ve recorded my own version of “My Grandfather’s Clock” and I get many, many comments from people who loved that song.  I’m so glad I recorded it.

Note: You can buy Suzanne’s version of “My Grandfather’s Clock” on iTunes.

Tim Patterson:

Beatles – Sgt. Pepper album. My older brother told me he got a chance to listen to it at school in the library with headphones on the day it came out. We bought it a few days later and listened to it nonstop for days.

Rolling Stones – “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” – I was about 10 when this came out and was really interested in being a cartoonist. I used to sit and draw cartoons and listen to this song.

Paul Revere and the  Raiders – “Let Me” – I was a young drummer when this came out – and I thought the middle part of the song had one of the coolest drum parts ever. I used to try and play it along with the record.

We always think of the “good old times”. But what is interesting is that the songs of the days gone past carry those memories forward to the present and wake up our inner souls every time we hear them.

The concept behind a new Web site, Song Journals, which launches today, is that people get a place to share their memories that are associated with a piece of music.  This site gave me the idea to ask random people about their song memories and see what I got back.  Interestingly enough, I got an amazing response!  The response was so vast that I decided to make a three part series out of the concept.

The first part shares responses in which music made a person remember the loss of someone dear to him or her:

The first story comes from Cynthia Colby:

A song that triggers a memory even after so much time, is ‘Fire and Rain‘ by James Taylor.

David Ferguson and I became friends in high school when I tutored him in math. He was the first person I knew who came out and told us all that he was gay. He suffered a major backlash from other students back in 1969 – and I was one of the few friends who stuck by him. I had my own problems with an abusive stepfather and uncaring mother, so we shared comfort as well as a friendship. We used to go driving up and down the Niagara Parkway on Sundays in his parents’ car – me driving! – having a wonderful time playing a game we invented. I still remember the fiasco of his fondue party when we switched the bowls under the meat and cheese fondue and broke his mother’s special dish!
When David and I graduated he moved to a new apartment in the big city of Toronto, and I was going to visit him for the first time. The day before I was to leave, I received a phone call from a friend, Kathy, who told me to sit down then told me that David was dead. Apparently he had fallen off his apartment balcony changing a light bulb – I can’t remember how far up it was, but high enough. I was still crying by the time she drove down to my house. This was around 1973.
David was a wonderful friend and a brilliant artist. He created oil paintings that moved people so much, he had teachers buying them throughout his high school years. I wish to God that he had had more time on this earth to share his talents and his dear friendship.
To this day, every time I hear ‘Fire and Rain’ I hear his name instead of ‘Suzanne’ – ‘David the plans they made put an end to you’ – and I take a moment and have a short cry. In fact I am in tears now as I write.
It’s a good memory of a dear friend who should not be forgotten – and won’t be in my heart as long as I hear this song.

The second tale is just as moving and it is summarized in one sentence from Rémy Reveyoso, Chief Publicist of OSO Imaging:

If I hear Bill Withers’ “Ain’t no sunshine,” I remember my mother’s funeral and I cry.

The third tale that comes from someone who suffered loss and is moved by a tune is Rhondalynn Korolak,  Managing Director of  imagineering unlimited:

For me that song would be “Wind Beneath My Wings” by Bette Midler.  I can’t even hear it now, without tearing up.  My mother was murdered about 17 years ago and I dedicated it to her at her funeral.  Many will know the song because it was on the soundtrack for the movie Beaches – which is a well known chick flick.  Sometimes a song can say what we need to say, much better than we can ourselves.

The last story of loss comes from Rick Robinson, author and attorney:

“Keep Me in Your Heart for a While” by Warren Zevon.  Zevon recorded that song as he was dying of cancer.  My dad died of the same about the same time.  I play that song and think about dad…and yes smile.

Songs evoke memories and feelings.  They may be more moving than any other single artistic expression.  This week we will share the wide range of things people think about when they hear music.

There are good things and not so good things that come with having a father who’s been to stardom and whose name is already etched on the face of music history. One of the good things is that it is easier to follow the father’s footsteps; it’s like having the road that leads to stardom already laid out for you, all you need to do is follow it. Becoming a star is easier when one’s parent has been one. The downside is that it is not that easy to build a name of your own. We’ve seen many artists who’ve lived under the shadow of their fathers’ names all their lives. Miley Cyrus, the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus, knows this. That is why she wants to get out of the box, do it her way, and build a name for herself. For starters, she won’t be doing a cover of the song that made her father a star– Achy Breaky Heart.

“I think both me and my dad have both heard that song enough,” Cyrus told MTV News. “He’s the one and only. I don’t want anyone to ever to cut it, really, because he’s the one and only guy that could do it, I think. I don’t want anyone to ever cut it, really, because he’s the one and only guy that could do it, I think.”"

But this does not mean that Miley Cyrus won’t be doing any covers.  Her father enjoys listening to her cover version of Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman”. She has also recorded a version of John Lennon’s “Imagine” as a duet with her Hannah Montana co-star Emily Osment.

Miley Cyrus seems to be poised for stardom.  The movie she stars in, Walt Disney’s Hannah Montana: The Movie,  opened with $34 million in ticket sales. This is another number one box office debut for her, following her first-place premiere last year with her 3-D concert film. Now, this girl really is building a name for herself.