Music corner

A righteous farewell to Kelly Johnson, the phenomenal lead guitarist for Girlschool, who died yesterday after a six-year battle with cancer of the spine. She was 49. Johnson will always be remembered for writing metal classics like “Hit and Run,” “Kick It Down” and “Yeah Right,” which made Girlschool one of the punkiest and fiercest bands to blow up in the late-‘70s/early-‘80s new wave of British heavy metal. They had their biggest U.K. hit with their 1981 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre EP, a collaboration with their friends in Motörhead. According to legend, the first time Jeff Beck heard Johnson’s riffs on “Race With the Devil,” he snorted, “There’s no way that’s a girl playing,” but Girlschool fans worshipped Johnson for her cool Aladdin Sane-style mullet and her bag of magnesium-flare guitar hooks. Her old pal and tourmate Lemmy from Motörhead had this to say a few years ago: “I thought they were fucking great. I got them on the tour in the first place and everybody else went like, ‘ugh, girls,’ and I said, ‘fuck you, they’re as good as you.’ Kelly Johnson, on a good day, is as good as Jeff Beck in his rock & roll days. She’s a fucking brilliant guitar player.” Here’s a clip of Kelly singing and playing “C’Mon Let’s Go” with Girlschool live on German TV in 1981. She will be missed.

Photo: Adrian Boot/ Retna

Taken from =Rollingstone=

The breakout hit of this year’s E3 video game conference is clearly Rock Band, which is essentially a four-person version of Guitar Hero. MTV Games is publishing the title, and its music-industry muscle has helped get Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Rush, Foo Fighters and The Hives on board. Metallica is making its entire catalog available for the next-gen karaoke treatment, and the game’s creators say that new music will be released every week as soon as the game launches in the fall. Even entire albums will be offered — first up is The Who’s Who’s Next.

So what better way to celebrate this fusing of truly excellent bands with truly excellent game developers than with an intimate live concert, which took place last night in the cozy space that is L.A.’s Troubadour.

(For more on the party and a first look at how Rock Band actually works, read on.)

Though blogosphere rumors abounded that Slash would get up on stage and perform, the mystery musical guests turned out to be Eagles of Death Metal and Queens of the Stone Age, both of whom performed tight sets for an audience that included mostly video game journalists and bloggers, Xbox 360 execs and the typical assortment of B- and C-list Young Hollywood celebs like Scott Caan. The Queens ran through 40-minute set that ranged from “Hit of the Summer” and “Little Sister” to the new “Sick, Sick, Sick” off Era Vulgaris.

Naturally, players will be able to get all of these songs and more when Rock Band comes out this fall. The game works like this: Each person takes an instrument in the form of a plastic video game controller shaped like a guitar, bass, drums and mic, respectively. When the music starts, each member of the band has to press certain buttons on the controllers (or sing correctly) in time with ever-changing symbols on the screen — typical Karaoke Revolution-meets-Guitar Hero gameplay style, only ingeniously designed to work with four instruments at once. Developed by Harmonix Systems, the same company behind the original Guitar Hero, Rock Band is convincing and fun for both novices and rock band members alike.

Taken from =rollingstone=

Yesterday Rock Daily updated you on the Beatles “Yellow Submarine” iPod and in response, lots of you clamored for ‘Pods dedicated to KISS, the White Stripes, David Bowie, Prince and the Rolling Stones — so we made them for you. Click here for a look at how we imagine these special-edition iPods might look.

But whichever actually manufactured iPod you wind up with, beware: CNN reports that iPod users are suffering severe electrocution burns after getting struck by lightning while jamming to their favorite tunes. An unidentified Canadian jogger was running during a thunderstorm when lightening hit a nearby tree and jumped to his body, throwing him eight feet and leaving red burns where his iPod was strapped to his body. Last summer, 18-year-old Jason Bunch suffered a similar fate while listening to Metallica as a storm brewed nearby. Both victims had ruptured eardrums, as well.
Plus, a new study reports that baby boomers have an alarmingly high rate of hearing loss — one in six, to be exact — thanks to being “the first of that rock ’n’ roll generation, the first to really grow up with loud music, personal stereo systems.”

Taken From =rollingstone=