
More tips, stories, and wisdom from veteran musician Frank Doris based on his decades playing in bands. This time, it’s all about what to do if you’re stuck on a small stage.

In the early 1960s, as the world turned its gaze skyward, captivated by the dawn of the Space Age, a British instrumental piece named โTelstarโ emerged, encapsulating the eraโs spirit of innovation and exploration. Crafted by the enigmatic producer Joe Meek and performed by The Tornados, โTelstarโ not only mirrored the technological marvels of its…

On December 19, 1955, Carl Perkins stepped into Memphisโ Sun Studio with a song that would become a cornerstone of rock โnโ roll history. But like most great music moments, the creation of Blue Suede Shoes wasnโt so much a straight line as it was a tangled web of stories, late-night drives, and serendipitous inspiration.…

On August 3rd, 1956โA cultural hurricane primed to shake the Olympia Theater to its foundation. The tickets were a mere $1.50, but what unfolded inside those walls was priceless: three explosive performances at 3:30, 7:00, and 9:00 p.m., each more electrifying than the last. This was no ordinary concert; it was a seismic moment in…

It was December 14, 1969, a cold Sunday night, but the stage at CBS Studio 50 was sizzling with energy. The Ed Sullivan Show, a revered institution in American television, had introduced countless icons to the worldโThe Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Supremes. That evening, five brothers from Gary, Indiana, became the latest in that storied…

Imagine itโs a chilly December 1 evening in 1957. TV screens across America flicker to life with that iconic Ed Sullivan introduction: โAnd now, ladies and gentlemenโฆ Buddy Holly and the Crickets!โ For just a few minutes, Buddy Hollyโonly 21 at the timeโcommands the national stage, bringing rock โnโ roll into Americaโs living rooms like…

In this episode, writer and self-taught musicologist Claude Lemaire chooses Iron Butterfly, Jeff Beck, and even the Beatles as pioneering heavy rock influencers.

Affordable hi-fi tweaks like ferrite cores, Sorbothane pads, and mains conditioners offer subtle but measurable improvements, tackling interference, vibrations, and noise in your audio setup.

November 21, 1955, wasnโt just another Monday. For Elvis Presley, it was the day a $35,000 contract (equivalent to $400,000 in 2024) pulled him out of a regional spotlight and thrust him onto the global stage. RCA Records, sensing that the young singer from Tupelo, Mississippi, was more than just a passing trend, purchased his…

Walt Disneyโs radical 1940 film Fantasia demanded a sound system that didnโt yet exist. In response, William Garity and J.N.A. Hawkins built Fantasoundโthe first surround sound, decades ahead of Dolby. The system flopped commercially but changed cinema forever.

In the glittering circus of pop music, where smoke, mirrors, and synthesized beats reign supreme, few scandals hit harderโor landed messierโthan the Milli Vanilli debacle of 1990. This wasnโt just a little hiccup in the pop machine. This was a full-on implosion, a moment when the flashy veneer of the music industry was peeled back,…