Tag Archives: AC/DC
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Insert Foot: Making classic music a family affair for these famous siblings
Insert Foot Vs. National Siblings Day. Saturday was Siblings Day, which we celebrate by posting photos on social media of siblings harmoniously pretending to get along, not trading blows and not throwing a deceased parent’s false teeth at each other at a funeral home. Don’t ask. I didn’t meet…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Just when we discounted AC/DC, they’re back to ‘Power Up’
For AC/DC to even put out a new record in 2020 is a serious accomplishment. Power Up AC/DC Columbia Records, Nov. 13 7/10 Just in the past few years, the band’s musical backbone, Malcom Young, died in 2017. Brian Johnson had hearing problems severe enough to send him to…
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REWIND: “Dance Macabre” and 4 more songs for your advanced-level Halloween playlist
“Danse Macabre” (1493) by Michael Wolgemut. Not pictured: Ghost’s “Dance Macabre.” OK, enough dancing around it. I’ve done three editions of my Halloween Month and basically none of them has been a legit Halloween list. I’m writing this in advance so there’s no telling what unspeakable horrors have befallen…
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REWIND: A tribute to PG&E, featuring Billy Joel and AC/DC
Billy Joel didn’t start the fire. It was probably PG&E. A trigger warning for our Bay Area and Northern California readers: This column is an ode to PG&E. As our non-Californian readers may have heard, California was recently in the midst of a full-blown apocalypse. There were hurricane-force winds,…
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REWIND: The starting nine songs to get you ready for Oakland Athletics baseball
Oakland Athletics. No juice required. Photo: Sacramento Bee. After so many long, dreary months without baseball, it has finally returned to the East Bay. And to a lesser extent, the rest of the country. In celebration of this momentous occasion, an occasion that should absolutely be a national holiday,…
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Professor Music: Like ‘This is Spinal Tap,’ this column goes to 11
Who knew that the makers of the first electric guitars did so with ‘This is Spinal Tap’ in mind? Distortion is an electronic effect produced by overloading an audio circuit. This simple excess of electrons is responsible for everything from Chuck Berry’s overdriven twang to Jimi Hendrix’s chewy fuzz,…
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RIFF Rewind: Public Enemy, Deee-Lite and They Might Be Giants had the top 10 songs of 1990
So dreamy Double-length edition again! I try to keep to my rules, but it was looking I’d have to cut either Sex Packets or Flood, and I’m just not going to do that. Turns out way too many of my favorite albums came out in 1990 to cut anything. And,…
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10 drinking songs for St. Patrick’s Day
Courtesy Da PugletPugs The one day a year when binge drinking is socially acceptable and every asshole with a Guinness in their hand is suddenly one-sixteenth Irish is upon us again. The RIFF team would be remiss in our duties if we did not supply you, our dear readers, with a soundtrack for…
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REVIEW: AC/DC shakes San Francisco all night long
On the one hand, there’s the clichéd image of Butthead in his constant AC/DC shirt. On the other, it’s a wonder to think how many classics guitarist Angus Young and his various bandmates in 40-plus years have written. The Aussie band is one of the most celebrated names in the hard…