The Week In Chicago Rock

Curation By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk

You shoulda been there.
1. Michelle Chamuel at Lincoln Hall on Monday night.

Posted on December 19, 2014

The Weekend In Chicago Rock

Curation By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk

You shoulda been there.
1. Black Joe Lewis at Thalia Hall on Sunday night.

Posted on December 17, 2014

The Week In Chicago Rock

Curation By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk

You shoulda been there.
1. Cat Stevens at the Chicago Theatre on Tuesday night.

Posted on December 12, 2014

The Weekend In Chicago Rock

Curation By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk

You shoulda been there.
1. Slayer at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond on Saturday night.

Posted on December 8, 2014

The Week In Chicago Rock

Curation By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk

You shoulda been there.
1. St. Vincent at the Chicago Theatre on Tuesday night.

Posted on December 5, 2014

Song Of The Moment: Fight The Power

By Public Enemy

“In 1988, shortly after the release of their second album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy were preparing for the European leg of the Run’s House tour with Run-D.M.C.,” according to the song’s Wikipedia entry.
“Before embarking on the tour, film director Spike Lee approached Public Enemy with the proposition of making a song for one of his movies. Lee, who was directing Do the Right Thing, sought to use the song as a leitmotif in the film about racial tension in a Brooklyn, New York neighborhood.
“He said of his decision in a subsequent interview for Time, ‘I wanted it to be defiant, I wanted it to be angry, I wanted it to be very rhythmic. I thought right away of Public Enemy.’
“At a meeting in Lower Manhattan, Lee told lead MC Chuck D, producer Hank Shocklee of The Bomb Squad, and executive producer Bill Stephney that he needed an anthemic song for the film.
“While flying over Italy on the tour, Chuck D was inspired to write most of the song. He recalled his idea, ‘I wanted to have sorta like the same theme as the original ‘Fight the Power’ by The Isley Brothers and fill it in with some kind of modernist views of what our surroundings were at that particular time.’
“The group’s bass player Brian Hardgroove has said of the song’s message, ‘Law enforcement is necessary. As a species we haven’t evolved past needing that. ‘Fight the Power’ is not about fighting authority – it’s not that at all. It’s about fighting abuse of power.'”

Posted on December 4, 2014