Back in the early ’80s, David Lee Roth did not seem to care much for new wave music. His line about Elvis Costello — that critics like Costello because most of them look like him — is the kind of thing that haunts people in my profession to this day. At the time, Diamond Dave was Van Halen’s wildman lead s...

In The Alternative Number Ones, I’m reviewing every #1 single in the history of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs, starting with the moment that the chart launched in 1988. This column is a companion piece to The Number Ones, and it’s for members only. Thank you to everyone who’s helping to keep Ste...

Lowell George, the late Little Feat leader and Frank Zappa sideman, is the focus of a new tribute compilation called Long Distance Love, which was put together by the Swee Relief Musicians Fund. That compilation is out today, and it includes contributions from Ben Harper, Bedouine, Jonathan Wilson, the Bird And The Bee, Gaby Moreno, and more. El...

Elvis Costello and ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons are both legendary veteran road-dog types with long resumes and distinctive looks, and both of them did pretty well on MTV in the network’s early years. Still, Costello and Gibbons are not necessarily two people I would necessarily consider to be natural collaborators with one another, s...

“Once he gets the shape of a melody he won’t negotiate"The post Elvis Costello recalls Burt Bacharach’s rigorous approach in the studio appeared first on NME.