Ryan Book

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  • Los Angeles House of Blues Closing 2 Years Earlier Than Expected

    The House of Blues on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles will close during the first week of August, ending a more than 20-year run in operation. The announcement is somewhat of a surprise, as previous reports suggested that the venue would remain in business until 2017. According to Billboard's report, no indication has been given as of yet why the demolition of the venue has been numbed up by nearly two years.

  • The Foo Fighters Headlining at Glastonbury 2016? Reports Say 'Yes'

    The Foo Fighters were forced to pull out of its headlining slot at Glastonbury as a result of Dave Grohl's leg injury a few weeks ago, but reports are already suggesting that the band might be in the driver's seat again for 2016 already. Organizer Emily Eavis has stated that the festival has already booked its headliners for next year (despite the 2015 event taking place this weekend), and British tabloid The Sun claims to have knowledge that the Foo will be among them.

  • James Taylor, Tony Bennett and Tom Petty: Longest Streaks Before A No. 1 Album

    James Taylor is a legend. The dude's been around for nearly 50 years. He's seen fire and he's seen rain. But there was one thing that the songwriter never saw during his lengthy career in music: A no. 1 record. That finally changed this week when 'Before This World,' his first album of original material in more than 13 years, peaked at the top of the Billboard 200. That got us at Music Times wondering...what performer took the longest to get their first no. 1 album? We ranked the Top 5, from "least" years to most..including Tom Petty, Tony Bennett and more.

  • Casting David Bowie in Musical Adaptations: Labyrinth, The Last Temptation and More

    David Bowie has been working on a musical adaptation of the 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth for some time now, and today fans were greeted with the news that the title character Lazarus would be portrayed by Michael C. Hall of Dexter fame when the off-Broadway theater production begins its run later this year. Unfortunately, alas, Bowie himself won't play a role in the actual stage portion of the production, although he will work with Tony-winning writer Enda Walsh (Once) to write original songs and arrangements for the performance. Hall is a solid choice for the role of an alien who comes to Earth, seeking water for his famished planet, only to be turned to the temptations of drugs and sex. If you've watched him in Dexter, you know how much emotion he can bring to a character that struggles with expressing emotions. Hall has a decent block of Broadway work as well however, including stints in Hedwig and The Angry Inch, Chicago and Cabaret. It got us thinking…if we were to create musical versions of other Bowie films, who would we put in the Thin White Duke's shoes? Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983) Certainly one of Bowie's more challenging and underrated roles in film, the performer's turn as Major Jack "Strafer" Celliers during Nagisa Oshima's Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence demands an actor that can sincerely portray the sexually ambiguous nature of Bowie's character, along with all of the other traumatic occurrences that take place during a film set in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. Celliers serves as a foil, perhaps even a romantic one, to the character of Captain Yonoi (played by Ryuichi Sakamoto), but there is no hope to be had. One man is executed before the war is over and the other is executed after the war has concluded. We recommend Andrew Garfield for a potentially breakout role…he was Tony-nominated for his role in Death of A Salesman during 2012…does he have the voice to make a musical out of Merry Christmas? Labyrinth (1986) If any of the films suggested in this list have the potential to hit Broadway, Labyrinth is probably at the top. Although a commercial failure upon release, children of that generation and later have formed a cult audience around what is probably Bowie's best-known film appearance. Also consider the fantasy realm in which the film takes place and the current pro-puppet attitude on Broadway (Avenue Q, Warhorse) and this Henson Studios is just begging for a rebirth. Bowie of course plays Jareth, the goblin king, and we're going to play the Neil Patrick Harris card here. Sure, it seems like a obvious notion, casting NPH in a prominent role in a musical, but think about it: for all of wacky musical numbers he's done on awards shows, rarely have we gotten to see him play anyone…weird (outside of Dr. Horrible). Just imagine him with Jareth's blonde coif and the rest of the glimmering outfit will just fall into place. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) If you think Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ is too touchy for Broadway…you obviously haven't been on Broadway recently. Religion is as fair game as anything, from The Book of Mormon to Jesus Christ Superstar. The latter is actually a rather watered-down version of Christ, one of the most controversial films of the '80s. Bowie, alas, did not play Jesus, but he did play a rather hard-up Pontius Pilate (give Scorsese credit…while many directors try to make Pilate out to be a sympathetic character, Bowie wants blood). It's not a headlining role, to be sure, but it's a necessary one that Bowie performs with his usual pleasant intensity. We're going for a more strapping Pilate, played by an actor who has excelled at keeping his cool while dropping the axe for years on Mad Men: Jon Hamm. Basquiat (1996) The focus of the film Basquiat should of course be upon the work of real-life artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (and the excellent performance of Jeffrey Wright in the role) but inevitably attention heads back to one of the most possessing cultural figures of the 20th Century, the artist's friend and sponson Andy Warhol. The pop art figure dominated the cultural landscape of New York City simply by knowing how to present himself, and anyone planning on featuring Warhol in a stage of film project needs to present him in a similar way, regardless of how little the plot focuses on him. If you want a replication-level performance, it's tough to do much better than Daniel Day-Lewis. The guy takes method acting to the extreme, and the results are usually good. And yes, he's sung a bit…although Nine was one of his least popular works. The Prestige (2007) This production—a battle between two turn-of-the-century magicians—hardly revolves around Bowie's character at all, yet the musician plays one of the most curious characters in both science history and regular history: Nikola Tesla. We want to throw out Joseph Gordon-Levitt's name to play the genius and theoretical physicist…and maybe not just for the sake of a Prestige musical but a whole project dedicated to Tesla himself. It got us thinking...if we were to create musical versions of other Bowie films, who would we put in the Thin White Duke's shoes?

  • James Taylor Finally Hits No. 1, Beating Namesake Taylor Swift

    It's been a long-time-coming for James Taylor as his newest album, Before The World, took the no. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, making it the first record in the songwriter's 45-year career to do so (that span, measuring from the release of Taylor's first album to this one, is the second longest span in chart history, behind only Tony Bennett, who went 54 years without a no. 1). Before The World sold 97,000 copies...far from Taylor's best but plenty enough to take the top spot.

  • David Bowie Teams with Michael C. Hall for 'Lazarus' Off-Broadway

    Rumors were rampant earlier this year that David Bowie was looking for a way to bring 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' to the theater, and now it seems he's booked Michael C. Hall to star in the lead role. The stage play will be titled 'Lazarus,' after the main character in the film (slash novel by Walter Tevis).

  • Taylor Swift Can Destroy Your Photo Equipment? Odd Contract Emerges

    Fans of both Taylor Swift and the music industry have praised the pop star over the last year, for actions such as pulling her catalogue from streaming services and for the open letter she recently sent to Apple Music regarding the company's royalty policy. Considering her appreciation of musicians' rights, some were surprised to hear about the contractual stipulations forced upon photographers working her concerts.

  • Tyga Surprise-Drops New Album; Lil Wayne Guests, Kylie Doesn't [LISTEN]

    Tyga became the latest rapper to drop an album by surprise, but we have to wonder if The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty is meant to remind people that he's an emcee...and not just Kylie Jenner's boyfriend. The drop came on June 23 and the album can currently be heard on Spotify exclusively.

  • Mariah Carey Smartest of Pop Stars? New Lyric Study Says 'Yes'

    How much can you tell about someone based on the music they listen to? Well, if you believe one study from SeatSmart, you may come away thinking that everyone who listens to music is an idiot, based on the average reading level required to comprehend the lyrics of popular songs. The blog comprised its surprising findings by gathering every song from the last 10 years that has spent three or more weeks atop the pop, country, rock or hip-hop charts and then come up with an average reading level for each. The results are bad all around.

  • LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy Got Sponsors, Still No Love for 'Subway Symphony'

    Former LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy is looking to spice up his hometown New York City and plans on doing so by creating a "subway symphony." The (for now) theoretical project will consist of subway station turnstiles that play notes...to theoretically perform pieces of music just by swiping a metro card and entering.

  • Louder Than Life Announces Rob Zombie, Godsmack, ZZ Top as Headliners

    Louisville's Louder Than Life Festival will return for a second year, this time featuring headlining slots from ZZ Top, Rob Zombie and Godsmack. Shinedown, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Slash (as well as Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators) are also listed among the top acts at the event this year.
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