The Chronicles of Michael Christopher
Links to writings. Musings on life. Photography. Travels. Skulls.
The Bay Area thrash metal scene of the early 80s isn't one of the most popular nor well-known. Mainly people see the era as the one that birthed Metallica. Thanks to director Adam Dubin, that's all changed with his excellent documentary Murder In The Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story. Featuring the... Continue Reading →
While on the road to promote their 2008 LP Dig Out Your Soul, arguably the best Oasis album since (What's the Story) Morning Glory? the fractious relationship between brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher finally reached DEFCON 1, with the latter first hurling a plum (!) at his sibling before swinging a guitar like an axe... Continue Reading →
Everyone seems to be focusing on 1969 for their anniversary pieces this year. Hey, I've been guilty of it too. I get it. But you know when was a really strange time? The summer of 2009, when some crazy weird shit went down over a short period of time. Tomorrow's Rock Music Menu in The... Continue Reading →
Earlier this month, the folks behind Ultimate Classic Rock launched a site dedicated to all things Prince, aptly dubbed Ultimate Prince. It's a deep repository of reviews, criticisms and news surrounding the life and death of the Purple One, and this week I took part in a roundtable to discuss the curiosity that is Prince's... Continue Reading →
Fifty years on, director Sam Peckinpah's masterpiece The Wild Bunch still has the ability to shock with its depiction of the last remaining outlaws in the Wild West going out with guns blazing and blood spilling. Over on the movies and culture desk at Ultimate Classic Rock, I look at just how affecting the film... Continue Reading →
June 15 marks the 40th anniversary of Joy Division's first full-length LP, Unknown Pleasures, and today I was a guest on Indie617's Morning Glory with Michael Marotta to sit down and talk about it. The two of us discussed a variety of the record's aspects, from the iconic cover to the fresh and "futuristic" sound... Continue Reading →
No Holds Barred was released 30 years ago today, and over on the movies and culture desk at Ultimate Classic Rock, I looked at the history of the film and how it did at the box office. It was quite the inauspicious leading role for Hulk Hogan, bursting the bubble that Hulkamania was an unstoppable... Continue Reading →
Earlier this year, the long-awaited film adaptation of the 1998 book Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Underground, finally landed in theaters. The title shortened, Lords of Chaos had a brief run on screens before moving to on demand, and today it comes to home video. Back in February, when it first... Continue Reading →
Following an 11 season run, Happy Days said goodbye to television audiences back in the spring of 1984. The sitcom that introduced The Fonz and the inspired the phrase "jump the shark" into the pop culture lexicon had begun to drop substantially in the ratings as many major characters left as the actors portraying them... Continue Reading →
