Roar of the Crowd
Like the overindulged rich kid who used to live across the street, Sal & Angelo’s seems to have it all. One of the scions of Twinsburg’s H.P.G. Restaurant Group (along with six Hyde Park Grilles, two Metropolitan Cafés, and one Blake’s Seafood Grill), the good-looking Coventry Road restaurant possesses nearly every nicety that money can…
Revolting
Last month, GQ ran a disquietingly flattering profile of Joe Roth, who, in January 2000, quit his gig as Walt Disney Studios chairman to “revolutionize the industry” (GQ’s words) by forming his own studio. With a billion bucks on loan from men with money and bridges to burn, Roth launched Revolution Studios. Its purpose, paraphrases…
What’s Your Beef?
One of the area’s most indefatigable proponents of responsible dining has been Steve Parris, chef at the Fulton Bar & Grill (1835 Fulton Road, 216-694-2122). A former triathlete (and suspected covert vegan sympathizer), Parris nonetheless has a healthy appetite for fresh, wholesome meats, which he demonstrates on his new spring menu, where organically grown beef…
Flat Lyne
To the woman who broke Adrian Lyne’s heart all those years ago: Stop what you’re doing right this minute. Drop everything, pick up the phone, and call him. Apologize profusely for cheating on him. Tell him it’s all your fault and you’re a worse person for leaving him. Offer him half your assets if you…
Bass Instinct
Jason Newsted’s glad it’s over. Ask him. “I was in such deep depression when I left Metallica that I could basically give a fuck about anything, especially music,” says Newsted, the band’s ex-bassist. “It lasted four or five days.” If only Metallica fans could rebound so robustly. Your neighborhood greasy-haired suburban malcontent metal freak might…
Let God Sort ‘Em Out
On the morning of September 23, 2001, Richard Wells grabbed an Orange Slice from the cooler at Scott’s Grocery in Glenville, approached the counter, and asked for a Swisher cigar. Outside, his girlfriend, their two children, and a friend waited in a car. Wells was seven cents short of the total. Adnan Wahdan, who owns…
Sound the Horns
For lots of folks in this rock-weaned town, jazz is the musical equivalent of a non-alcoholic brew: a less fun, more responsible choice, indulged in by high-minded prudes. To people like us, for whom Budweiser is a sacrament, jazz is as daunting as a field sobriety test. “Some people in the jazz world want it…
Crowded House
At 9:55 on a Monday night, a cleaning woman found Susan Locke unconscious and bleeding from the head. It wasn’t hard to piece together what had happened: Someone sneaked past security in the Bond Court Building on East Ninth Street, went to the 18th floor where Locke was working late, and repeatedly bashed her with…
Spheres of Influence
Walking into the home of memorabilia-mad Gold Circles frontman Steve Five, a music fan almost feels the need to genuflect. “It’s a testament to rock and roll,” Five says with a wave of his arm as he enters his house, nestled on the outskirts of Kent. Nearly every square inch is covered in vintage rock…
Welcome to Cheaptown
School board members scramble from crisis to crisis. They’ve slashed 30 teachers. They’ve cut textbooks, aides, guidance counselors, elementary activities, spring musicals, and school newspapers. They’re even trying to raise $150,000 by charging students to play sports. Still, if things keep going as they are, says the district’s treasurer, there’s “no doubt we’ll be under…
The Supersuckers
From the Rolling Stones to Donny & Marie, the best musical entertainers know that a little country and a little rock and roll go a long way toward good times. Although the Mormons may not admit it, the binding tie between the genres is a no-nonsense revelry in puerile behavior. For cult favorites the Supersuckers,…
Guerrillas in the Midst
When employees at WKYC-TV Channel 3 found a camera hidden above the newsroom several weeks ago, General Manager Brooke Spectorsky claimed it was installed to catch a thief. To many workers, he came off as disingenuous. After previous thefts, management usually sent out a memo warning workers to watch their possessions and to report stolen…
The Mighty Diamonds
Do you recall the British reggae group Musical Youth and its mid-’80s smash hit “Pass the Dutchie”? Well, that was originally the Mighty Diamonds’ “Pass the Kouchie,” a cool and classic herb-smoking anthem bastardized by the novelty group into a lightweight and unremarkable song about “communal dining.” After landing belly-up within a year of their…
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
With all the attention Detroit up-and-comers the White Stripes and Dirt Bombs are getting for their gutter-punk blues, it seems the rock zeitgeist has finally caught up with Jon Spencer and his Blues Explosion. Spencer’s band has been plugging the sounds of the Delta into its amps for more than a decade, and aside from…
Damo Suzuki
One of the fathers of Krautrock, Damo Suzuki was the second and last vocalist to front Cologne, Germany’s Can, one of the greatest rock ensembles of the 20th century. Can was psychedelic the way electric Miles Davis or the Velvet Underground was psychedelic, except it wasn’t nearly as fascinated by the dark side. In its…
Moby
Moby’s a smart guy. He’s also a guy who learns from his mistakes. Take that 1995-’96 fiasco: After releasing one of the finest electronic albums known to man (his debut, Everything Is Wrong), he immediately followed it with a bumbling “punk” record, Animal Rights, in which he stepped out from behind his protective wall of…
Cee-Lo
Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections may well be the Pet Sounds of its time. Both share the common theme of spirituality and maturity, evoking naive yet thoughtful notions of God and love. Both use the pop idiom — particularly soul and rhythm and blues — to create daring and innovative music. Both are enlightening,…
Van Morrison
Van Morrison is sounding fit and relaxed on this hearty exploration of soul. There’s straight blues on “What Makes the Irish Heart Beat,” high-stepping rhythm and blues on the wonderful narrative “Choppin’ Wood,” wistfulness with a chug on the rueful “Fast Train.” There’s hardly a weak cut (the exception is an indulgent cover of Ray…
Citizen Bird
Not long ago, Swedish pop’s insinuation into American rock hearts seemingly ended with Britney’s songwriting sugar daddy Max Martin. No more — a minor Swedish invasion’s afoot, and kiddy music has little to do with it. Soundtrack of Our Lives’ rock classicism finally got ’em domestic distribution, International Noise Conspiracy’s propulsive chaos won the collective…
Finishing Crew
There was a time when just being the proud owner of 17 TVs made James “Spudd” Sasak a happy man. He’d turn them all on, then invite his friends over to bask in the glow of Three Stooges reruns. The constant flickering of the sets “was like the fire around which our ancestors would sit,”…
Aloha
Taking in Aloha’s second album is akin to floating in jellyfish-infested waters: It starts as a peaceful dip — and then you feel the sting. With its shimmering vibraphone, lively congas, and cooing vocals, Sugar can be deceptively meditative. Despite its subtle charms and tropical flavor, however, the album is more than repackaged new age…
Texas, Land of Plenty
Plenty of beer-swigging millionaires: Just for the record, your analogies are lacking [“Artless Heathens,” April 4]. First of all, you have obviously never been to my native state of Texas, where we have more millionaires per capita, plenty of arts and culture, and plenty of women wearing Chanel suits while swigging beer and listening to…
Safety First
There are few deaths more horrendous than careening over the side of a roller coaster rail. “People who come here shouldn’t be concerned if they’re going out in one piece,” says Ron Fussner, corporate director of safety at Cedar Point. As the Best Amusement Park in the World (according to Amusement Today) opens its season…
Bastardized Bard
The line between inspiration and desecration can be very tenuous. A couple of years back, Daniel Fish, a maverick classical director, came perilously close to straddling that line with a Twelfth Night drenched in Salvador Dalí imagery. Courtiers clad in what looked like Saran Wrap, along with collapsed pianos on a beach, managed to imbue…
The Franco Files
Don’t be surprised if Peter Mayle commandeers a table at Brontë when he visits Joseph-Beth Booksellers this week. Don’t be surprised, either, if he appears lost in conversation, enhancing the talk with a glass of Côtes-du-Rhône and, perhaps, a side dish of truffles. He’s a bon vivant and an exceptional raconteur. Describing him in French,…
