Africa Archives - Alan Cross' A Journal of Musical Things

Lizzo gave a TED Talk on the history of twerking

Think twerking is just about shaking your booty. Not a chance. There’s some deep history here. Thanks, Lizzo.

Blur is still officially a going concern, but like that classic convertible in the garage, the members only take it

Remember the NHL players’ strike of 2005-2006? On this day in 2005, the league canceled the rest of the season

Bobby Kimbal and the estate of Jeff Porcaro, the members of Toto who wrote “Africa” back in 1984 are due

Thirty-six years ago, Toto released their IV their (surprise!) fourth album. Tucked away at the end of side two was

Back in the 80s, Toto was reviled by alt-rock types for their corporate rock-ness. Over the years, though, some of

Do Toronto newspapers have the absolute worst comics sections in all of North America? It’s embarrassing, really. Now let’s look

Is this the best-ever cover of Toto’s “Africa” you will ever see and hear? Maybe. More here.

An observation: In most of the world, a “lone wolf” is someone who commits a horrendous terrorist act. In Canada,

This appeared in the New York Times today. Words … I love words and phrases, maybe because I’m a songwriter.

VICE went along with Bono to Rwanda to see if any progress has been made fighting the AIDS scourge that

Chasing a Dream – Kevin Porter in Conversation with TBP Podcast EP 036 October 11, 2021
Many of us – at one time or another – dream of being professional athletes. Most of us realize in high school that we won’t be making it to the big leagues – unfortunately. The lucky among us flirt with the minor leagues in hopes of that big break. But what happens when that big […]
Andrew Dick
Being your Authentic Self – Richard Crouse in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 035 July 2, 2021
You would be given a free pass if you forgot that before the rise of the social media influencer there were already pundits and personalities on TV, radio and print. There’s just been that much exponential change in the media business over the last 15 years. Yet today, those who were formerly the audience are […]
Mark Silver
The Business of Radio – Elliott Hurst in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 034 June 21, 2021
The commercialization of streaming audio is not a new phenomenon. Going back 100 years, it was simply known by another name, broadcasting. With the launch, rise and now transition to digital and apps, the business models of audio-preneurs have generally been the same, mostly because of the challenge of measurement, a problem audio’s cousin television […]
Mark Silver