Insert Foot’s Christmas playlist. My cat and I just put together our very first playlist of 14 essential holiday songs and it’s super exciting.  Of course, I did most of the work.   I say that because my cat, who answers to “Marlo” (he does, eventually, the third or fourth time…

Actress and singer Irene Cara in Los Angeles in 1983. Photo by Harry Langdon/Getty Images. I had no clue Irene Cara dying would make me sad. The ’80s were horrible for more reasons than I can cram into a column – and those were my high school years; the ones…

Insert Foot on Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift. I had a seemingly insane professor at San Francisco State back in the mid-’90s who had just enough hair on his head to look like someone set off a firecracker on his scalp. He was probably in his 80s then, meaning he’s likely no…

The Smashing Pumpkins perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on Nov. 15, 2022. Steve Carlson/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — “Cherub Rock” was the dividing line. It was getting late in the Smashing Pumpkins’ almost two-hour set Tuesday night at Chase Center. Until then, the crowd was pretty evenly spaced, age-wise,…

Elon Musk, pictured considering whether to record an EDM song. It was a bad week for bullies, which made a great week for the rest of us.  Rendering: Adam Pardee/STAFF. Two of the world’s worst had terrible weeks, during which many of their followers finally screwed their brains on…

Bruce Springsteen, “Only The Strong Survive.” The new Bruce Springsteen record of soul classics is going to be misinterpreted by some. A 73-year-old superstar cashing in on a quick cover record? An old guy making a statement about old music? A fantastically productive songwriting machine for decades running out of gas? Only…

Madonna performs at SAP Center in San Jose on Oct. 6, 2012. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. The other day, my sister sent me a photo of a woman/robot/mannequin with perfect skin, inflatable lips and cheeks reaching so hard for its red hairline that its puffy fake eyes were almost closed. Rendering:…

Insert Foot on high fashion Halloween. When I (believed I) was a big shot Hollywood musician (drummer) long before any of you were alive, my day job was working in the warehouse of a Santa Monica art publisher. When I say “art,” I mean whale and Patrick Nagel posters…

Scorpions perform at Oakland Arena in Oakland on Oct. 18, 2022. Sean Liming/STAFF. OAKLAND — The Scorpions’ show at Oakland Arena Tuesday night felt like a victory lap. As with Iron Maiden, who brought their tour to Concord last month, it’s been 40 years since the bands first gave then-young…

Blink-182 performs at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco during the Outside Lands Music Festival on Aug. 9, 2019. They never really left… Joaquin Cabello/STAFF. My social media which, I admit is full of old people, lit up the other day with some big, big, BIG music reunion news,…