As folks go back to traditional styling and vintage starts to appeal again — sometimes its clear that the 90s were really like the 80s in some ways — Woolrich is making a timely move. Woolen Mills is a new classic, set to take more of the market for those looking for quality pieces. However, McNairy is keen to avoid mimicking Suzuki’s path.

“It’s not going to be red-and-black buffalo check — that I can tell you,” McNairy said. “I think I’ll end up adding a military aspect and some Ivy League. In the late Fifties and early Sixties, Woolrich had a sportswear collection that wasn’t necessarily geared for the outdoors and was more about the piece goods like Ivy League styles, duffle coats and things like that. It’s going to be a mixture of the things I love.”

McNairy’s inaugural line won’t be til Fall 2001, but sounds like it’ll be right up our alley. It also looks like Woolrich licensee WP Lavori will be behind it with added retail visibility with an outlet in New York’s Soho with five more US stores in the next few years.

Here’s a slice of Woolrich’s history:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sly Stone — Medley

For instance, Sly Stone was a true California pioneer, merging soul, rock and funk together with joints like “Everyday People” and “Dance” (check here performed as a medley). He would eventually blow some minds at Woodstock but he was all Northern California. His counterparts Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and others also fused the blues with their own brand of jams. Down south in Los Angeles basin, Surf City and Malibu developed the iconic surf guitar and pet sounds of The Beach Boys, Dick Dale and The Surfaris. It wasn’t long before Laurel Canyon inspired Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young as well as The Eagles to brand California yet again. (The Eagles would single-handedly brand the state as a place of mystical, dreamlike qualities with their song “Hotel California.”) The late 70s evolved the sound yet again with punk and hardcore, all with a unique California twist. Dead Kennedys even made an anthem, “California Uber Alles” (see video) a middle-finger salute to then governor Jerry Brown and his brand of hippy fascism, or to what then frontman Jello Biafra felt his generation should rebel against.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Eagles – “Hotel California”

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Dead Kennedys – “California Uber Alles”

The period calmed down into pop domesticity with pop-punk as well-known as The Go-Gos and Oingo Boingo. Just as suddenly, a hair metal revolution took the Sunset Strip with bands as varied as Van Halen and Poison. Yet in another corner of LA, the ’80s was heralding a growth in DIY funk and body music, paving the way for acts like N.W.A. and LA-based hip-hop (an explosion in gangster memes) in the ’90s. This spirit led to opening doors for hybrids like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction to take the stage, with no rules as their primary force. N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton” and ode to their slice of the Golden State still makes the grade as a seminal piece of California ephemera.

Click here to view the embedded video.

N.W.A. — “Straight Outta Compton”

By the time the aughts (00s) rolled around, everything was fair game and acts like Rage Against the Machine were bringing as much noise as Digital Underground offshoot Tupac, even then notorious for his Cali-centric flossing. Jane’s Addiction continued to wander across lines, while Weezer and Beck confused audiences with their amorphous genres that have since become uniquely California. More recently, mainstay quasi-villages like Silverlake have become fertile creative land for bands, producers and performers of every shade. One that took its name from a central liquor store (since renamed) and went on to huge success was the Silversun Pickups. While the business of music may have taken some harsh blows in the last decade, California seems to continue its musical legacy by attracting and nurturing talent.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Silversun Pickups — “Panic Switch”

Our friends at K-Swiss have taken it upon themselves, as a California company (born in 1966, a local heyday for music), to initiate April 2010 as the innaugural California Music Month. Coinciding with the launch of the Vintage California Classics, the sneaker that was first developed in the 60s. The brand will be working with rock historians at Rhino.com hosting classic albums, songs and giveaways. In celebration, we’re serving up a few finds we made of some classic performance videos from seminal California Classic artists. We look forward to what April has to offer.

It goes a little something like this – between 1966 and 1986 California sports brand K-Swiss created and sold a single shoe: The Classic. In that short period, The Classic rapidly evolved from being the world’s most advanced shoe on the tennis court to being the first high-performance white leather sneaker. Dare it be said that every other leather tennis shoe that followed was derived from The Classic. Now um after a mere forty-four years after its launch, K-Swiss is finally telling The Classic’s story and sharing some choice secrets along the way about its quietly iconic shoe.

Secrets like why its original owners only produced a single shoe for twenty years and what the ‘K’ in its name actually stands for, all unusually interpreted and told with the help of Amsterdam storytelling agency Lemon Scented Tea and eight top emerging international designers visually narrating the story via a series of collectable and we do mean Limited edition posters.

Each chapter of this classic tale from ‘No Talk Policy’ to ‘K is for Kalifornia’ to ‘Blond on Blond’ and ‘We Killed Canvas. Sorry’ all provide a fresh unique ontext to The Classic, while the designers were given free reign to interpret the stories graphically. Each poster is a stand-alone illustration, underscoring the lack of hierarchy in The Classics’s own story.

Stayed tuned here as the story unfolds and for details on when and how we will be giving away these choice collectables and a chance to win your own Classics.

No, we didn’t make it to Sundance ourselves … but our associates from K-Swiss are giving us the full live feed from the snow strewn streets. In the spirit of the annual celebration of indie film, K-Swiss and Gen Art are getting down with some of the brightest young directors for a K-Swiss Ping Pong Classic. Perfect for all comers, ping pong is an old school fave that lends well to the party vibe of Park City (Susan Sarandon recently picked up a paddle, dumped her hubby and invested in the NYC club Spin as well as its founder a 31 year-old filmmaker and ping pong fan). Combining the worlds of sport, film and celebrity, the Sundance event celebrates the accomplishments of four up-and-coming filmmakers who will face-off in a tournament to the death (well, sorta). The competition will pit Andrew Dickler (actor representing Douchebag), Alex Karpovsky (actor representing Lovers of Hate), Anthony Burns (director representing Skateland) and Diane Bell (director representing Obselidia) against each other, representing a more hand-to-hand version of competition in the festival.

As part of the Classic, K-Swiss also commissioned an emerging filmmaker Gabriel Sunday to create a short film, The Chinese Penhold, which they have given to us at KSPACE.TV to premiere online for you – check it out the High Def version HERE NOW !  The short centers Jake Scribner, a rugged, burnout bro from Ocean City Maryland with an undying passion for competition and a girlfriend that won’t get off his freakin’ back. He’s at a ridiculous party in the Valley and must face the most important match of his life. You may have to watch carefully for some of the cameos in the film (for the heads surely).

We don’t want to give away the full deal yet, but filmmaker Gabriel Sunday created a short worthy of much attention with less resources than you’d imagine. It figures that Sunday has been making films since he was 16, but is also an accomplished actor with roles in Judd Apatow’s Year One opposite Jack Black, directed by Harold Ramis and Taking Woodstock, directed by Ang Lee. He is also the is actor/writer/editor of the festival favorite My Suicide, which had its New York premiere at the Gen Art Film Festival. Kudos to Sunday and the soon-to-be-announced winner of the Classic.

Gen Art K-Swiss Ping Pong Classic

Sadly, last week we lost songwriter & singer Teddy Pendergrass RIP. In 1994 a rapper by the name of Ahmad sampled Teddy’s “Love TKO” to make a song called “Back in the Day.” Ahmad was 18 when he made the track. It’s a nostalgic remembrance of his childhood and young teenage years. In the lyrics he reminisces about about fashions from the 80’s — Gazelles, British Knights, biker shorts, airbrush jeans, nike track suits and “puma’s with the fat laces cuz it was either that or K-Swiss.”

Stay tuned for more.

— The Parrot

Click here to view the embedded video.

Teddy Pendergrass — Love T.K.O.

Also, check out: The Arab Parrot

Seeing as though the Classic white high tops aren’t being released until 2010, grab a pair of these while you can or test out your luck and enter to WIN a Limited Edition pair of your own by telling us 1 person or thing that represents true classic style to you.

Fela Kuti is classic, in every sense of the word. Timeless, inimitable and trend-setting, Fela fused funk, soul, 70s R&B, psyche rock with Africa’s own tribal sounds, all at once giving ode to US counterparts and his own countrymen we would learn about from his own ascent as a superstar. I learned about Fela from Beastie Boys producer Mario Caldato in the early 90s, approximately 5 years before he passed in 1997. While, I thought of myself as pretty astute on the sounds of jazz-funk and rare grooves, I felt like I knew very little about either upon hearing the sounds of “highlife” or Lagos funk, which Fela came to represent. Yet, Fela was very different in style and personality to his associates, as can be seen in the few video documentaries depicting him both as a passionate musical genius and as a pathological tyrant to his familial throng. He put on a wild show, often over 20 players on a stage, full of bravado and swagger. He even had a phrase for his outlandish stage productions, Underground Spiritual Game. He once formed a commune, barricaded himself and his family inside and declared independence from Nigeria. His songs were often 20-30 minutes long, where during breakdowns he would riff verbally about his Pan-African political beliefs or whatever came to mind.

This month, to celebrate Fela’s birthday, our friends at Giant Step and Knitting Factory Records are reviving the tradition of Felabrations, which date back to the early 70s when Fela and his band took to the courtyard of the Empire Hotel in Lagos and performed several nights to adoring fans. The courtyard went on to be known as “The Shrine” and a very popular local nightspot for young people, professors, civil servants, government officials and soldiers.

To quote Michael E. Veal in his book, Fela: The Life and Times of an African Musical Icon, “more than a mere entertainment club, Fela considered it an actual shrine to his ideological heroes – a space in which his political inclinations fused with musical incantations to assume spiritual dimensions.”

Next month sees the debut of FELA!, the live Broadway show from Tony Award-winner Bill T. Jones, based on the life and music of the legend. The critically acclaimed musical will open at the Eugen O’Neill Theatre in New York on November 23. Something not to be missed, as last year saw sold-out crowds dancing in the aisles during its premiere last summer at Off-Broadway 37 Arts. There’s also a new compilation, The Best of the Black President, which is a perfect for beginners to the Fela catalog as well as completists. Meanwhile, Felabrations happening from coast to coast will feature esteemed DJs such as Rich Medina, DJ Spinna, Ron Trent, DJ Nu-Mark, DJ Day, Jeremy Sole, DJ Kemit, J-Justice, Adam Gibbons, DJ Sun, Chicken George and Frank Gossner, as well as artists such as Roy Ayers, WUNMI, Ikebe Shakdown, Baba Ola Jagun, Amon, and many more.

Previously: Fela Lives!

More info: Giant Step

This is a great profile of the classic American graphic designer Milton Glaser, a video directed by designer Hillman Curtis. It’s amazing that you could really almost predict the level of personality that comes with his level of talent, but what really inspires is his passion for teaching. While design will always be valued, there is something so charming and old school about Glaser flipping through his flat files and the decidedly non-digital appeal of the Glaser aesthetic.

There’s also a custom ping pong table that the guys will have for sale during the event. Fans of the craze seem to be after items special to the sport like hard bats and even special balls. While this may not be anything close to a heated football match, with kicks like these the competition for August 29 is bound to get fierce. Check linked vids below, and get yer sweat on ! :

Partners and Spade
August Sweatout
40 Great Jones Street
New York, NY 10012
August 29 Noon to 10pm
RSVP here

Some songs are begging to be covered again, then rediscovered for a new audience. Other songs, well, maybe they’re covered too much… Case in point: “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” the absolutely classic by Joy Division – so classic it could be (and maybe is) a standard like, say, “My Funny Valentine.” This song captured a deeply personal romantic melancholy like none other: the circumstances of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis’ suicide after recording it gave it the frisson of emotional reportage. Curtis’ intense, confessional performance ultimately turns the track into, really, a perfect song in almost every way: in 2002, NME called it “the best single of all time.” Indeed, in its incandescent blur of synthetic textures, martial disco thump and raw passion, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” evokes the spirit of the early-’80s post-punk era it was created in, yet has proven timeless, powerful in any context.

As a result of this appeal, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” has proven one of the most over-covered songs in rock music history. A cursory scan of the song’s Wikipedia page proves it: “‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ was eventually performed by New Order (though not for 18 years after Curtis’ suicide) and has been covered by many artists including, Nerina Pallot, Hawksley Workman, Calexico, The Cure, Swans, Unbroken, Nouvelle Vague, Heavens, Fall Out Boy, Worm is Green, José González, Red Mecca, Yat-Kha, Stanton Miranda, U2, Arcade Fire, Squarepusher, David Trust & The Weathermen, Honeyroot, Chris Edwards, Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, Moonspell, The Blood Divine, Simple Minds, Oysterband with June Tabor, Paul Young, Jamie Cullum, Nick Cave, Michelle Darkness feat. Hanna Pakarinen, Evelyn Evelyn and In the Nursery.”

Many of these are, in fact, excellent:

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Click here to view the embedded video.

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Many, however, are not so hot. Quantity definitely does not equal quality when it comes to covers of “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” Check out these utterly ersatz versions from Paul Young and PJ Proby, respectively:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Therefore, we understood when influential music site Pitchfork took issue with the umpteenth version of Joy Divison, this time essayed by Broken Social Scene as part of the score for the film version of The Time Traveler’s Wife starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana (who, apropos of nothing, was excellent recently as a footie-obsessed Aussie in Funny People). You can read Pitchfork’s review here, or just listen to BSS’s take on the song, and make up your own mind. However, to our ears P’fork’s Mark Richardson was a tad harsh with his “3″ (on a scale of 10) rating: “listening to it on its own is inspires little beyond the desire to give the original a head-clearing spin” is how he puts it.

Now, we are not haters of the Pitchfork; we appreciate that they support obscure music and, you know, go there. But we have to politely agree to disagree this time, much to our actual surprise… We actually found that Broken Social Scene’s version of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” became a whole different, and beautiful, beast. It lumbers beautifully to our ears, lurching like Crazy Horse propped up with a lazy drum-machine, Kevin Drew’s rumbling vocal taking on the gravitas grandeur of, say, a Nick Cave after a few too many PBR’s. And the waltz time singature that Richardson disdains – well, to us the 3/4 rhythm imbues a newly sloping, elegiac feel that other versions haven’t quite approached in the same way (the original included).

All that said, as much as we like this latest take on a vintage classic, we aint’ afraid to say maybe… Enough. Maybe it’s time for a moratorium on covers of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” – perhaps Obama could even slip it into the healthcare reform bill and make it “official,” under the guise of preventing more suicides or whatever. I mean, it would be great if Sinatra or Presley or Jim Morrison (a clear Ian Curtis influence) were around to try it, but… They aren’t. So stop. Please. Thanks to Broken Social Scene, we can end on a high note on one of the greatest low-note songs ever.

Click here to view the embedded video.

After growing out of the embers of post-Curtis Joy Division, New Order went on to write the complete opposite of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” exactly ten years later with the song “World In Motion.” The official anthem for the English national football team’s 1990 attempt on the World Cup, “World In Motion” is as relentlessly upbeat, uplifting and kitschily fun regarding amour as “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is a total downer on the subject. “You know you can win/Don’t give up the chase,” Bernard Sumner intones sincerely, with as much crowd-pumping adrenaline as he’s capable of. “Love’s got the world in motion and I know what we can do/Love’s got the world in motion, and I can’t believe it’s true!” What a difference a decade makes… Then again, Sumner gets it right in “World In Motion” on one particular lyric that seems pertinent regarding “Love Will Tear Us Apart”’s ongoing reign: “When something’s good, it’s never gone.” Yes, indeed – and for that reason alone, we’re probably stuck with more cover versions of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” into eternity that we’ll likely ignore – until Radiohead gets around to covering it, that is…

The legend of Woodstock continues and spreads, even mutates into new folklore that never happened, which is not bad for a party that was supposed to be an outdoor jam for 5,000 people which was not even held in the town it was named for. Lore holds that Led Zeppelin, The Byrds and Joni Mitchell (who was famously inspired to write a posthumous song) were supposed to play, but declined because this was just gonna be “another festival.” But the story in the last 40 years, especially after incidents at Altamont and the 1999 Woodstock, has gladly become how peaceful, cooperative and singular the occasion of bringing together 500,000 people and 34 bands ended up being.

The New York Times sent a reporter to the festival and chomped at the bit to tell the tale of “a catastrophe in the making” rife with traffic jams, terrible sanitation problems and rampant drug use. However, the reporter stood his ground and got to write the story that would largely be remembered as a weekend of peace and love. The weekend became known as a unification of youth, even if it was, in hindsight, the dusk of the Summer of Love.

“Woodstock, oddly enough, became the beginning of all the bad places to play,” says Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane, the first band to be booked. “Once promoters saw how many people they could draw into a football stadium, and charge $50 a ticket, rock and roll went down fast.”

Ironically, Woodstock would come to be the start of the corporatization of the concert business, because everybody decided the best concerts are always the biggest. However, the festival of peace and love would also prove to those outside the culture that this was something real, and unique and worthwhile, and that not every hippie was to be mistrusted. The artifacts of the event are being released this year, starting with the most comprehensive CD box set ever and a collector’s edition of the documentary. Also, Ang Lee has taken a crack at the biopic, Taking Woodstock, which I’m told is well worth the screen time.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Today, the town of Woodstock still tries to get back to normal but manages to attract the expected tourists and weekend warriors, but has managed to continue as a haven for those looking for spiritual respite. Apparently, as much discussion as has been given about an anniversary concert, there is still not much confirmed, except for Heroes of Woodstock which features the Grateful Dead, Canned Heat and Country Joe McDonald that lands in the historic Bethel Woods on August 15.

Check out the rare gallery Urk Buzzle’s photos here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The great promise of President Kennedy’s goal to put a man on the moon, and what the great future in space would lead to, has been tarnished over the years. The ‘giant leap’ of the first moonwalk was lessened by numerous advances in technology, but very little in terms of getting man into space.  Winning the Cold War may have usurped any need to beat other nations to it, however Mars seems as far away as ever. Many still dispute the fact that the moon trip was real, however Myth Busters have recently made it clear that everything lined up.  So, on the 40th anniversary (today) the Apollo landing comes with a mixed bag of memories.

Still, the nostalgia is palpable, the visuals alone lending to a wave of emotions that keep the entire world rapt, like it was only yesterday.  Most of us were too young or not even born, but the Telegraph has a few tidbits that weren’t the kind usually reported:

As the Eagle landing module was descending towards the Moon’s surface, Armstrong and Aldrin realised they had overshot the intended landing spot by miles and were heading for an area strewn with boulders. In manoeuvring to avoid hitting the rocks, they came to within a minute of running out of fuel for the descent and having to abort the mission.

Neil Armstrong may have been the first man to walk on the Moon, but Buzz Aldrin was the first man to urinate there. While millions watched on live television, Aldrin relieved himself a tube fitted inside his space suit.

After returning to the landing module, Aldrin accidentally broke the switch used to activate the ascent engines. After initial concern they managed to activate the switch using a ball-point pen.

The promise of the Space Age may not be a reality. Jet packs are not looking likely in the near future, nor are condos on the moon. But there could be some new exploration in the near future, as it seems that the residents of Planet Earth are seeking a new future, and a new place to vacation.

Here’s what you might want to bring along:

The Ultimate Accessory for Space Travel

Thanks to hypebeast for turning us on to this dope trailer for the film Anima D’Acciaio (Soul Of Steel). It’s an ultra-cool documentary exploring the work and philosophy of Giovanni Pelizzoli aka “Ciocc”, a legendary bike-frame craftsman. In the film, Pelizzoli explains his old-school cyclismo wisdom like “A mass-produced frame does not have soul” over visually kinetic images of creating and riding bikes. Even better, it features a great synthtastic, krautrock-esque soundtrack from Amedeo and Simone Pace, the Italian twin brothers from Blonde Redhead! For further information, go here.

The film is part of the touring Bicicyle Film Festival which is in San Francisco, Oakland and Portland now. Austin, TX is next.

via hypebeast

via Shred or Die

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’ll set aside any doubt about allegations against him, cast away the off-color commentary about his strange behavior, and we’ll even forgive his dubious involvement in futbol history. Instead, raise a toast to his memory, and his remarkable talent to amaze all of us.

Michael Jackson (1958-2009) R.I.P.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Oke, so it’s not Fela himself as the anti-the shitstem peoples President of Nigeria as he fought his whole life for, and it’s true (for now only) that that his beloved Shrine, forcibly closed by the so-called authorities in ‘97, then successfully reopened by loyal son and daughter Femi and Yeni, has once again been shut down. Here’s the rub though – Fela clearly would respect an active, cultured and dynamic President Obama fighting the fight; and clearly the global community is outraged and fightin back ! see why in this Shrine vibe video below and be sure to sign the outraged petition !

Click here to view the embedded video.

Music is indeed the Weapon and afrobeat is ringing out firey and funky fresh worldwide with powerful new releases by the ongoing legend of Femi Kuti, Seun Kuti, and Tony Allen with their summer tours already well in progress. There is ever positive ongoing support from London to Brooklyn, Philly to Tokyo, LA to Bali and beyond from the likes of Damon Albarn to Gilles Peterson, to Jump ‘n Funk’s Rich Medina. Plus where would we be if Lemi Ghariokwu’s inspired and feisty artwork of Fela’s covers was not duly recognized right now in his ‘Art’s Own Kind’ London Exhibition at Rich Mix until July 9th.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now ‘Everything begin to scatter’ – but in a good way. Be sure to check out Femi’s latest ‘Day by Day’ release and his killer show sure to be in your area – especially if you’re nearby this Sunday June 21’s Hollywood Bowl soiree together with Santogold and Raphael Saadiq and June 25th’s free Celebrate Brooklyn Prospect Park show.

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It’s a must to also check for Seun Kuti’s ‘Many Things’ gem of an album and incredible show. I count myself blessed to have seen and even co-promoted numerous Kuti family shows (Fela, Femi & Seun) and am always blown away by the Fela spirit that shines on, down to how he and Femi shake their thang.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Where to start with Tony Allen legendary master drummer and afrobeat co-founder with Fela  - from his solid role in Fela’s Egypt 80 to recent ‘Secret Agent’ release on World Circuit to the Honest Jon’s releases, Africa Express and ‘the Good the Bad & the Queen’ projects with Damon Albarn to ‘Brasilintime’ with Madlib, and Brazil’s masters Ivan Conti, Joao Parahyba to where his re-recogintion began with ‘Psycho on the Bus’ on Comet. Listen here in Tony’s own words as he chats with  Gilles Peterson at Brownswood Rd

and we leave you for now with this wonderful piece that another drum legend Ginger Baker shot of Fela & Afrika 70, incl. Tony Allen in 1971 performing in the rainy southeastern town of Calabar, shortly after the the Nigerian civil war.

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and so with a multitude of Fela stories still to be told, please check back for the ongoing reports in this ‘Fela Lives !’ series …..

But all across Europe, the summer sports news was dominated by the annual Tour de France, won by local rider Laurent Fignon (who would go on to earn the yellow jersey again in 1984).

The members of German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk were among those rabid cycling fans. Band founders Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider had become avid riders themselves a couple of years earlier, going so far as to start their own cycling club, “Radsportgruppe Schneider” (the team motto: “Tous à vélo!” which translates as “Everyone on the bike!”) There are stories of the entire band in all-black cycling gear tooling around the Dusseldorf countryside when not ensconced in the studio making music.

For Ralf Hutter, a growing obsession with cycling would eventually threaten the existence of Kraftwerk. He trained like a professional, shaving and oiling his legs and completing the courses of the Tour de France and Italy’s Giro d’Italia on his own. He was also known to abandon the tour bus to bike the last 150km to the next gig while on tour.

“The bicycle is already a musical instrument on its own. The noise of the bicycle chain, the pedal and gear mechanism, the breathing of the cyclist, we have incorporated all this into the Kraftwerk sound,” Hutter enthused in an interview at the time.

But while riding near the Rhine Dam without a helmet, Hutter suffered a serious crash, leaving him a coma for two days. Legend has it that his first words upon waking from his coma were “Where’s my bike?”

With his obsession with riding far eclipsing his desire to make music, Kraftwerk began to splinter. Member Wolfgang Flur began to pull away from the band, officially leaving in 1987. A full-length album slated to follow “Tour de France” ended up being discarded in the mixing stage, with pieces of it emerging years later on “Electric Café.”

While egos seem to have stalled Kraftwerk’s creative process in the mid-‘80s, “Tour de France” remains an indelible moment in the history of sports and music colliding. And in this particular instance, sports won out.

When this movie opened in 1980, reggae was still a regional product of Jamaica, with none of the superstars we know today. The soundtracks of this film and ‘Harder They Come’ went on to act as an introduction to the genre and its characters over the years. Rockers is about a small-time record distributor, Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace and soon-to-be icons like Jacob “Jakey” Miller and Gregory “Jah Tooth” Isaacs, his Rastafarian friends. Along with the soundtrack, the movie serves as a window into Jamaican culture, the poverty, the lifestyle and the vibrant community. June 15th sees the worldwide release of this 30th Anniversary edition and Hi-Def / Blu Ray version. While this DVD won’t make top ten rentals in Kingston, it is a Classic and worthwhile purchase as it includes 5.1, music videos, interesting director commentary as part of the bonus material. Nice collector’s edition.

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What shows in the ‘Fans of the Universe’ photo collage above top is even more respect for these legends of dance music and you can participate by sending in your own photos to add to this piece of musical history on their site. You can also get info on the remaining dates, blogs from the road and downloads.

‘Wrong’ ? nah ‘Tour of the Universe’ hell yeah !

‘Hole to Feed’ – Sounds of the Universe

Rodriguez's return to the London stage June 6th '09

A Rodriguez in his prime conjures up to me Gonzalez, Nick Drake, Jack Johnson and John Martyn and if he stays on the road up until his Big Chill appearance, there’s a strong chance it will be a magical event and many more music fans will get a whole lotta sugar.

Sugar Man from Cold Fact

Crucify Your Mind from Cold Fact