December 2020 News

by 101.5 KGB



KGB New Year's Eve LIVE will be a celebration of LIVE MUSIC. You'll hear LIVE tracks from all the rock bands that would have played in San Diego in 2020 - it's like the concert that wasn't!

Join us from 10pm to Midnight on December 31st and ring in 2021 with some of the greatest LIVE performances from the world of ROCK, including: The Rolling Stones, Journey, the Pretenders, Steely Dan, Santana, Bob Dylan, Foreigner, Kansas, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison, JOAN JETT, Black Crows, Sammy Hagar & The Circle.

by TV News Desk



Long Island Music Hall of Fame (LIMHOF) announces its New Year's Eve Best of the Awards Galas TV special. The 90-minute show is being presented by Jovia Financial Credit Union and will air on Thursday December 31st at 9pm simultaneously on News 12 plus (optimum channel 61), Fios (Verizon channel 530) and stream on Facebook Live (facebook.com/news12li).

"We are thrilled to present many highlights from our past Induction Ceremonies in this 90-minute presentation, presented by Jovia Financial Credit Union, and benefiting the Long Island Music Hall of Fame's educational and scholarship programs," said Ernie Canadeo, Long Island Music Hall of Fame Chairman. "It is a testament to Long Island's diverse musical heritage with appearances and performances by so many world-renowned rock, folk, jazz, blues, hip-hop and classical artists. This New Year's Eve presentation represents a finale to 2020 and a new beginning to live events in the new year."

The show will be hosted by Zebra Guitarist and Vocalist Randy Jackson and will feature a mix of the best speeches, performances and special moments from past LIMHOF Induction Galas from 2006 through 2018.

by Elena Wills



Your little Grinch heart will grow three sizes upon hearing these rad covers.

Are there any arguments more divisive than the appropriateness of Christmas music during any given time or place? Sure, there's the whole "pineapple on pizza" debate, but does that really get your blood boiling like being assaulted with holiday merriment?

There are a number of reasons why anyone might be ill-disposed toward seasonal jingles. Maybe they incite flashbacks to nightmarish retail shifts or a particularly unhappy winter. Perhaps they just grate on your nervesÑand that's justified, too.

Whatever your grounds may be for keeping a set of earbuds on hand this time of year, it doesn't mean you can't feel the spirit of the holidays in your own way. Read on to discover 10 totally cool alternative covers of Christmas classics that won't make your ears bleed.

"Little Drummer Boy" - JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS (Trapp Family Singers cover)



When JOAN JETT breathed new life into this Katherine Kennicott Davis-penned classic in 1981, we doubt she knew it would hold up 40 years later. We're not so surprised. At its core, the original song is pretty catchy and coolÑit just needed that added rock element. Of course, JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS delivered, transforming it into something simplistic but gritty.

"We Wish You A Merry Christmas" - Weezer (Arthur Warrell cover)
If any song is going to make you tear your hair out, this repetitive, demanding carol will likely be it. Incredibly, WeezerÔs take makes it not only bearable but rather enjoyable. It helps that they kept the cover short, trimming the redundant lyrics, but we're particularly taken by the rock backing.

"You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" - Misfits (Thurl Ravenscroft cover)
Admittedly, the Misfits could put their name on anything, and we'd probably be all over it. Something about a punk spin on the signature ghoul of Christmas really sparks our little black hearts, though. Between the punchy drums and sinister vocals, this cover sure hits hard for even the Grinchiest among us.

by NATALLI AMATO

"There are moments just like a throwback to 1976, 1977, when I was there with Miley," photographer says.

When Brad Elterman met Miley Cyrus, the photographer felt as if he'd gone back to his early days on the Sunset Strip, where he'd cut class as a teenager to take a candid shot of David Bowie walking down Fairfax Avenue and followed his runaway muse and friend Ñ JOAN JETT Ñ from the Tropicana Motel to the Santa Monica Pier. "When I was taking her picture: It's interesting. She turns her head a certain way in a certain pose, and she really reminded me of Joan back in the seventies," he tells Rolling Stone.

It's a fitting comparison, as Miley's newest album Plastic Hearts features JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS on the track "Bad Karma." Jett isn't the only seventies rocker to appear, either, as Billy Idol and Stevie Nicks both feature on the anticipated album. "There are moments just like a throwback to 1976, 1977, when I was there with Miley," says Elterman. "I mean, It's forty-plus years ago. It's so surreal."

The pop star's energy and style may have been a throwback, but her vision and artistry are entirely her own, even when it came to this shoot. Elterman describes himself as shy, and even after 40 years in the business, he still gets anxious before a shoot. With Miley, though, the pre-shoot anxiety quickly relaxed into "a beautiful rhythm." Elterman sometimes has to encourage subjects to get comfortable enough in front of the camera to strike memorable poses. Miley, who posed topless, needed no such coaxing. (He describes her as the one to "drive the spaceship.") Her eye for a photo impressed the photographer. "I had some input too, but she really knows how to perform to the camera," says Elterman. "And the camera obviously adores her."

This was Elterman's first cover shoot for Rolling Stone, but not the first time that his photos appeared in the magazine. Like the rest of his origin story, his history with Rolling Stone starts on the Sunset Strip. Elterman remembers borrowing his parents' car to drop off photos for Rolling Stone's "Random Notes" section, which was edited at the time by Kurt Loder. Not a lot of Elterman's pictures were taken for the section, but enough did to leave an impression. Soon, he got an assignment - to go to the Tommy party.

"It was some kind of speakeasy in West Hollywood; kind of like an underground club," he remembers. "So I was there, and there was Elton John." For Elterman, the night didn't continue with after-parties or even sleep. He would return home to develop the photos in his mother's basement studio. "By the time the sun was coming up at six o'clock in the morning, I was washing the prints in the kitchen sink. My mom would come in for her morning coffee."