Maybe The Dingo Ate Your Baby

The Band

It's official, The Band is the most underrated group of all-time

by Conor

My friends and I have often debated the most underrated group in music over the years. The popular and most common choice was always Creedence Clearwater Revival. I guess it never occurred to us that Creedence has received a large amount of critical acclaim and that you won't find a serious music fan who has not heard of CCR. The term underrated is defined as something that is evaluated too low. In other words, something that is not given it's proper due. Let me tell you about the band you've probably never heard of...and it's only fitting that it's exactly their name, The Band.



The Band was a folk-rock group active from the late 60's to mid 70's. Hailing from Ontario, Canada, the group consisted of five men: Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, and Garth Hudson. Although not as popular among the mainstream public, The Band is widely hailed by the music industry and fellow artists. One of the most influential artists of their era, their influence is still seen today in bands such as Counting Crowes and the Black Crowes. They started out as the backing band for Bob Dylan, touring with him worldwide, and even appearing on Dylan's classics such as "Like a Rolling Stone". Then they rented out a large pink house in West Saugerties, Upstate New York and began writing and recording their own music. It was in this house (which they called "Big Pink") where they recorded one of the greatest albums I have ever heard, Music from Big Pink. The album was ranked #34 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all-time. It had a big influence on some of the best musicians of the era, most notably Eric Clapton and George Harrison. Clapton claimed that this album was the reason he decided to quit Cream and tried to join The Band as another guitarist.


Just to see how respected The Band was amongst fellow musicians, look no further than The Last Waltz, a concert film by Martin Scorsese documenting The Band's farewell performance. Among those there that night to perform with the Band during their final concert: Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Ringo Starr, Stephen Stills, Neil Diamond, Paul Butterfield, and Ronnie Wood. Talk about a group of legendary musicians.

Watch what Neil Young has to say before he performs with them on stage during the concert...



Or watch the final performance of "I Shall be Released". These days how often do you see this many stars coming out to support fellow musicians? Every artist I listed above is on that stage in this video. If this doesn't give you goosebumps I don't know what will. Absolutely incredible.




The Band was inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. They were given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. Rolling Stone magazine ranked them #50 on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all-time. And I bet you never heard of them. You can't be more underrated than that. So while for most the debate will continue...I'll take the band from the big pink house, those five guys from Ontario, one of the most influential groups of all-time and the ones who never get their due. The Band.



Bonnaroo Line Up
by Rick

I am an avid alternative rock fan, so naturally I was waiting for the Coachella Line Up. When it was announced I was rather dismayed. I mean yes there are big names, some I've always wanted to see, some who are legends, like Morrissey, McCartney, and My Bloody Valentine, but this line up does not stack up to Bonnaroo this year. First 2 nights of Phish, who we are fans of, also the boss will be there, which is amazing. Me and Stan ran down the line-up and decided this is too good to pass up. Animal Collective will be there, Grizzly Bear, The Beastie Boys, Snoop, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, its just too many to keep naming. I'm not sure how I'm going make a schedule because im sure there are gonna be some tough overlaps, but whatever we're going and we'll see the best concert line-up since the New York Rock The Bells in '07.

Hot Bitch of the Month:

Salma Hayek

This one was a hard one folks. This month we had a hot russian tennis player, Rosario, Kristen Bell, and legendary hottie Marisa Miller, but none of these girls could touch Salma. She's got that Latin flavor to her, shes on the Best TV show as a guest right now with another incredibly hot bitch, and she has enormous breasts. Salma Hayek, January is yours, you are the Hot Bitch of the Month!