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Craig Clemens

November 18, 2016
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On This Day

1971 Memphis blues singer and musician Herman ‘Junior’ Parker died aged 39 during surgery for a brain tumor. Parker was discovered in 1952 by Ike Turner, who signed him to Modern Records. Parker then signed to Sun Records in 1953. There they produced three successful songs including ‘Feelin’ Good’ a No.5 on the Billboard R&B charts.

1972 Singer, songwriter Danny Whitten died of a drug overdose aged 29. He was a member of Neil Young’s Crazy Horse and writer of ‘I Don’t Wanna Talk About It’, covered by Rod Stewart, Rita Coolidge and Everything But The Girl. The Neil Young song ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ was written about Whitten’s heroin use (before he died of an overdose).

1993 Nirvana recorded their MTV unplugged special at Sony Studios, New York. Nirvana played a setlist composed of mainly lesser-known material and cover versions of songs by The Vaselines, David Bowie, Meat Puppets and Lead Belly. The album won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in 1996.

2003 Following allegations of sexual abuse of a 12-year old boy, police raided Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch. Jackson denied the allegations, the search came on the day that his latest greatest hits album, ‘Number Ones’ was released in the US.

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Brand New Music
By Jonathan Knox and Craig Clemens

Justice | Woman
The French electro-pop duo Justice are back doing exactly what they do best. Although it’s been almost 5 years since their last significant outing they remain fresh, exciting, and much more than anything else, incredibly fun to listen to. They’ve maintained their high standard of blending an exciting combination of disco and electronic music of which they’ve become famous.

Bruno Mars | 24k Magic
Is this what Bruno Mars is going to be for now on? He’s absolutely got the skills to be someone who copies late-80’s Michael Jackson for the rest of his career – and that’s fine. But the newest one from the superstar Hawaiian is more than a throwback or something that pays homage, it’s a straight up copy. If the president set by the children of Marvin Gaye means anything, the estate of Prince and Michael Jackson are sharpening their claws as I write this. Of course, this is something Mars is already finding himself in court over. All that being said, this LP is so much fun. It’ll sell a million overnight.

Metallica | Hardwired… to Self-Destruct
It’s been 8 long years since Metallica released their last album Death Magnetic, which many felt was the band’s best work since their early 90s classic, the Black Album. Now the boys (all amazingly in their 50s) are back with Hardwired… to Self-Destruct – a double album that impressively improves upon Death Magnetic, but stumbles due to its exhaustive run time. Original Metallica fans will likely brush off anything new from the band, but they should give Hardwired… a chance. Metallica are sounding as heavy as ever and playing as well as they ever have (yes even epic guitar solos!), they just need some help when trimming down their songs and ultimately tracklists.