When Led Zeppelin’s founding drummer, John Bonham, died due to an alcohol overdose in 1980, the classic-rock band broke up, and its three surviving members vowed to never reunite. Guitarist Jimmy Page, vocalist Robert Plant and bassist John Paul Jones did so informally a few times, mostly for tribute events.
But it wasn’t until a 2007 concert celebrating the life of music executive Ahmet Ertegun – who signed Led Zeppelin to his Atlantic Records – that Page, Plant and Jones played a full set for the first time in almost three decades. The show was so historic, and demand to attend it was so high (with 20 million ticket requests tallied), that Led Zeppelin set a new Guinness World Record.
Archive for the Features Category
Led Zeppelin Officially Broke Its Post-Breakup Vow — and Set a Ticket-Sales Record
Posted in Features with tags Ahmet Ertegun, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant on 05/30/2026 by Kurt OrzeckPet Sounds #86: Black Heart Procession Leader’s Love for His Cats Can’t Be Beat
Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags Black Heart Procession, Pall Jenkins, Pet Sounds, Solid Brass Records, Three Mile Pilot on 05/29/2026 by Kurt OrzeckThe Black Heart Procession was the most funereal, and one of the most entrancing, bands on revered Chicago indie-rock label Touch and Go Records’ roster during its heyday in the 1990s. That they fell under the umbrella of “indie rock” was evidence that the term didn’t really signify a sound as much as an ethos, that being the prioritization of art in song craft and the value of musicians’ creative freedom over corporate control.
Founded and led by Pall Jenkins – who could’ve used “Bearer” as his stage surname had he wanted to put a fine point on his aesthetic – the band’s recorded material was as darkly contemplative and emotionally wrought as that of Nick Cave. At The Black Heart Procession’s live performances, Jenkins often dressed in all black but wore a battery-powered beating red heart as a corsage-like flourish to his attire.
Continue reading‘Send Help’: An Analysis of the Eye-Gouging Scene(s) in Sam Raimi’s Breakaway Horror-Comedy Hit
Posted in Essays, Favorite Films, Features with tags Dylan O'Brien, horror, movies, Rachel McAdams, Sam Raimi, Send Help on 05/26/2026 by Kurt OrzeckJust two weeks ago, we raved about the best movie of the year so far, Sam Raimi’s Send Help. But just as we can’t stop rewatching the deliriously entertaining horror-thriller-with-a-smile, we keep finding more in-jokes (or Easter eggs, if you prefer) with each subsequent viewing.
The most obvious one is the golfing motif, which is not unlike the collectible coin/button storytelling device that Raimi used in his last great horror-comedy, Drag Me to Hell. (The Bad Penny still maintains the latter flick is the better of the two discussed here.) Just as the coin/button completed the narrative circle of Drag Me to Hell with a sinister smirk, Raimi similarly introduces the golf club and brief discussions about golf at the very beginning and very end of Send Help.
Continue readingRock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #14
Posted in Features, Fun And Games with tags fun, rebus on 05/25/2026 by Kurt OrzeckSonny Rollins, Master Saxophonist and Jazz Pioneer, Dead at 95
Posted in Features, News with tags jazz, Miles Davis, Obituary, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk on 05/25/2026 by Kurt OrzeckSonny Rollins, widely considered to be one of the greatest saxophonists of all time, has died, according to a Sunday post on his Facebook page. He was 95 years old.
“It is with deep sorrow and profound love that we announce the passing of Sonny Rollins,” read a statement posted on the page at approximately 10 p.m. ET. “The Saxophone Colossus died this afternoon at his home in Woodstock, NY, at the age of 95.”
The post continued with a 2009 quote from Rollins, a jazz tenor saxophonist known as a jazz music purveyor and improvisational extraordinaire.
“I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence,” the Rollins quote read. “I’m a person who believes this life isn’t the be-all and end-all of everything. A spiritual person doesn’t feel like that.”
Continue reading10 Best Free Bandcamp Downloads #12: Orchestra Gold, Sadness, Lux, Pet Mosquito, LAPêCHE, Products Band
Posted in Features, Lists, MP3s with tags Feral Kids, FesterDecay, free downloads, free MP3s, LAPêCHE, Lux, Orchestra Gold, Pet Mosquito, Products BAnd, Sadness on 05/24/2026 by Kurt OrzeckThe 12th and latest installment of The Bad Penny‘s Bandcamp Freebie series features our strongest offering of free music to date. In addition to pay-what-you-want releases by a handful of artists that the site has featured (and thus recommended) in various posts, there’s only two singles among the bunch. The rest are full-lengths and short-players that the bands we’re featuring deserve hi-fives for posting for no cost on Bandcamp. So, without further ado, let’s dig in.
(Note: If you’re financially capable of supporting any of these artists and/or labels, please consider doing so.)
Continue readingFeral Kids: Get to Know Finland’s Freshest, Fiendish Fivesome – Before They Dethrone Guns N’ Roses
Posted in Features, Interviews, The Visionaries, Videos with tags Guns N' Roses, The Feral Kids on 05/24/2026 by Kurt OrzeckIn their first video interview with an American music journalist, Helsinki’s brand-new, red-hot hard-rockers the Feral Kids talk about how they came together, what matters most to them as a band, and which Guns N’ Roses song rules above all the rest. The Feral Kids consist of Anti (vocals), Renko (guitar), Wuffe (guitar), Krisu (bass) and Rudy (drums).
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