Jaan Uhelszki Creem Rising to the Top By Jay S. Jacobs “America’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll Magazine.” That’s a pretty brash statement. A little defiant. Perhaps even a touch naïve. That’s why the catchphrase fit the legendary rock mag Creem – the magazine was proudly all of those things. Born in Detroit in the late 60s, Creem took a bunch of people who knew nothing about running a magazine, let their passions and their quirkiness loose, and became the bible of rock and roll nerds a

Ken Sharp – Beauty in the Backseat Ken Sharp – Beauty in the Backseat (Jet Fighter) Power Pop Heroes is not just the name of rock journalist and musician Ken Sharp’s recent multi-volume book series – an oral history of the critically-beloved musical style interviewing some of its biggest stars – it also is an accurate description of Sharp and his band. That band has become a well-tuned machine, as Sharp and co-producer (and in-demand session player extraordinaire) Fernando Pe

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons Exercises His Freedom to Rock by Ken Sharp For a group routinely dismissed by short-sighted critics as a flash in the pan, a joke band comprised of talentless, cretinous musical goons soon to be forgotten and quickly discarded on the junk heap of failed rock bands past, KISS are having the last laugh. Detractors be damned, 46 years since the original band – Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss – first came together, in 2016 KISS co

Tom Jones – Theater of the Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA – May 17, 2013 The youthful and charismatic Prince of Wales of yore has matured into a slightly grizzled and hardened King.  While the years have passed and life has challenged, he still retains at 70 years old the chiseled handsomeness and bellwether voice that so mesmerized your mother (or grandmother) that she threw her panties up on stage back in the staid 60s, when they just didn’t do that kind of thing.  (I apolo

Lisa Marie Presley LISA MARIE PRESLEY NOW WHAT…? By Ken Sharp Throw out all your pre-conceptions and dispose of the unyielding weight of those unfair comparisons to her father, Lisa Marie Presley is the real deal. Her new CD, Now What is a strong collection of immaculately crafted, emotionally charged songs that showcase Lisa’s distinctive smoky voice and display her uncompromising artistic vision. Opening with the infectious “I’ll Figure It Out,” the album explores a myriad