I've lived in Chicago for almost 4 years. For most of that time, I've known , my good friend who is leaving for Los Angeles next month. For a lil while I'd had plans to eulogize Conor here on the Steamroller, but I don't think that would be fair to him because Conor leaving Chicago to bigger and better things is nothing but a positive thing. He is moving on to do things he's always wanted to do, and I am sincerely proud of him.
Read MoreCollector's Edition's guide to 90's Prince!
Hi, I’m Rick. I’m part of . We have a show coming up about cultural scapegoats in pop music, and I’d like to share a wonderful song written by one of the great misunderstood geniuses of our time: 90’s Prince.
Read MoreSean Rose is writing a One Direction movie
of the mighty , a live essay show about pop culture and music and most importantly FEELINGS, is a huge, unironic fan of One Direction. You can listen to Sean and fellow CE member Rick Joyce talk about modern boy bands, specifically 1D on the Collector's Edition podcast. In advance of tonight's edition of Collectors Edition () Sean sent over this proposition to the boys in One Direction.
Read MoreCollectors Edition presents: Alt-Rock Video Roundup
Hullo!
My name's , and I am a writer-performer guy based out of Chicago. Tonight, (Wednesday, October 24th) at 8PM, my fellow writer-performer buds Richard Joyce and will be putting on a show at the called . It's a live essay show based on pop music, featuring monologues and singalongs and some serious deep emotional moments from all three of us. Tears. Feelings. Love.
We're putting on this show because we all love popular music more than anything. We are bona-fide pop-rock obsessives who will end almost every rehearsal with a 20-minute exploration of our favorite Foo Fighters album tracks. We are deeply in love with popular music and Collector's Edition is a direct product of that love. It is an outpouring of affection straight outta our hearts and hopefully into yours.
We also like exploring the strange and neat corners of pop music history. In past shows we've tackled the weird trend of Justin Bieber hatred and dug deep into the history of doomed pop music program Total Request Live. For this upcoming show we're gonna chart the rise and tragic fall of alternative rock radio, a subject that hits us particularly hard. The three of us were kids when Nirvana knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the charts, so we've witnessed the birth and death of alternative rock firsthand. The phenomena of underground alt-rock radio made the mainstream success of bands like Pearl Jam, Green Day, and the Smashing Pumpkins a possibility, making it all the more tragic when it was swallowed up and spit out by corporate masterforce Clear Channel at the end of the 1990s.
So we wonder: what was so important about alt-rock radio? What did we lose when it faded away? Is it still alive today, and if not, could it ever rise again? Tough questions that we will answer, without a doubt, tonight.
But hey! Why don't we take a quick look at facet of alternative rock we won't be covering at the show: music videos! Man, I love me some alt-rock music videos. Check out a few of my favorites after the jump!
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