By: Brian McManus

If you listen closely to Ke$ha's songs (and is there any other way to listen to Ke$ha? ), you already know quite a bit about her. She wakes up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy. She uses a bottle of Jack to brush her teeth (which sounds dangerous). Etc. Etc. So on. So forth. ANYWAY, to learn more, we had an army of interns thumb through her new book, Ke$ha My Crazy Beautiful Life, and told them to find 100 fascinating facts about everyone's favorite glitter addicted C U Next Tuesday. They found 30. We listed them below. Because that's how these things work.More »

Tazy Phyllipz

Tazy Phyllipz has literally made a career out of helping unknown bands grow their audiences. If you don't believe me, just ask No Doubt, Sublime and Maroon 5 - three groups who received airplay on Phyllipz's radio program The Ska Parade long before corporate America knew what a hollaback girl was. But now it's time for that good fortune to come Phyllipz's way as the radio host - who broadcasts The Ska Parade on Phoenix, Ariz.'s KUKQ from his home studio - has created an Indiegogo campaign to fund a book he is writing that will detail his experiences in the music industry. The Irvine resident has a goal of $35,000 and hopes that money will cover expenses for things such as a page designer and a copy editor.

 The Ska Parade has been on the air for more than 20 years, which means Phyllipz has a lot of potential stories to include. Because of these numerous tales and his financial situation, the would-be author says his book is not yet finished, but explains that more money equals more chapters. As of this writing, Phyllipz's campaign has 31 days remaining and has earned a total of $816, so if it's ska stories you want, you best be donating! We caught up with Phyllipz via email to talk about his book and his motivation for wanting to spill the beans.

See Also:
*No Doubt in Their Own Words
*Sublime vs. No Doubt?
*Sophie Muller on Filming No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom Days

More »

By: Brian McManus

Whether you believe he's the world's greatest living music artist or a twisted sexual deviant who eluded justice, there's much to be gleaned about R. Kelly in his new autobiography Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me. In the thick (377 pages!) tome, Kelly is incredibly candid about his tumultuous childhood, as well as the various titillating highs and depressing lows of his career.

But you're probably wondering: Does he shed any light on how he thought to compare a woman to a jeep, or his dick to a remote control? We pored over Soulacoaster to examine the key moments in Kelly's life, and mined the most interesting nuggets. We've also provided some of his videos as a soundtrack to your reading.

"I Believe I Can Fly"

More »

​UPDATE APR. 18 8:45 P.M.: Host and TV producer Dick Clark died Wednesday of a heart attack at the age 82. He was best known for his role in turning the American Bandstand television program from a local to national phenomenon during its continuous thirty-year run on ABC from 1957-1987. Nicknamed the 'world's oldest teenager,' Clark promoted a format aimed at a youth demographic and its appetite for popular music. American Bandstand became iconic, but was it really an early promoter of racial integration?

The claim is one that Clark had repeatedly made himself. Upon news of his passing, the Christian Science Monitor republished a 1986 article where he states in relation to Bandstand during the mid-1950's that, "The first time that black and white kids got on the dance floor together on social occasions...was on that show."

More »

Monica Page

Millsap at Meltdown Comics, March 10

​Cartoonist Lonnie Millsap (yes, he's aware that his name rhymes with a country singer's, so if you chat with him you can skip the "Any Day Now" reference) can frequently be found in Los Angeles comic book shops at book signing events.

He is the author of two cartoon collections, My Washcloth Stinks!and I Hate My Job!

Last year, Millsap's art was featured at the American Visionary Art Museum's special exhibit "What Makes Us Smile?" co-curated by Matt Groening, Gary Panter, and AVAM founder/director Rebecca Hoffberger. He is working on his third book, tentatively scheduled for a July release, with the working title I Stepped on a Duck! More »

More »

scrippscollege.edu

Matt Delmont: Scripps Associated Students Professor of the Year 2011

​Yesterday, we published the first part of an interview with Matt Delmont, author of The Nicest Kids in Town: American Bandstand, Rock 'n' Roll, and the Struggle for Civil Rights in 1950's Philadelphia, where, contrary to Dick Clark's claims, he reveals how the iconic television show discriminated against black youth during its early years.

Read the first part of the interview with Matt Delmont here; in this second installment, Delmont speaks about the influence of Soul Train, what it would have meant had American Bandstand truly racially integrated its program at the time, and how he hopes his book's findings will be received.

More »

​Dick Clark's American Bandstand television program is iconic, but was it really an early promoter of racial integration? The question is one extensively delved into by Scripps College American Studies Professor Matt Delmont in his new book The Nicest Kids in Town: American Bandstand, Rock 'n' Roll, and the Struggle for Civil Rights in 1950's Philadelphia. Released just last Friday, as Black History Month comes to a close, the research compiled by the author reveals a hidden history of racial segregation on the United States' first television program centered on the teenage population.

Sorting through interviews, newspaper articles, census data, countless photographs and more, Delmont concludes that the dance show was in fact actually a step behind and out of rhythm with the later claims of Clark as host. UC Santa Cruz Professor Herman Gray says of the book, "The Nicest Kids in Town shows how the nexus of sound, place, race, and space operated together to create and reinforce a myth of national memory and belonging. Just as importantly, this compelling cultural history demonstrates the importance of the youth market as a theater of struggle where brave young men and women--outraged by the discrimination and racism they faced for the simple act of enjoying music--refused to have their bodies, tastes, or desires policed."

The Weekly spoke with Professor Delmont about his provocative new book and brings you this first of two installments of the interview. (Read part two of the interview here.)More »

​ Damion Young, aka Damizza, has done it all. He started in radio when he was 12 and his drive, passion, and ambition launched one of the most interesting and diverse careers in the music industry. He's worked with legendary greats like Michael and Janet Jackson, Dr. Dre, Mariah Carey, Tupac, Biggie, Hootie and the Blowfish. His latest project is a book, Guilty By Association, and if the hype surrounding this book is anything like the hype he's created in the music biz over the years, Damizza just might have yet another hit on his hands...and a new career path!More »

​UPDATED, NOV. 10, 9:08 A.M.: $7,000 goal reached as of 9 A.M.--$7,184!

ORIGINAL POST, NOV. 8, 10:35 A.M.: Jack Grisham, T.S.O.L. frontman, Weekly coverboy--is following up his first novel An American Demon with a work of fiction that he won't tell us the title of ("because it's cool and I don't want people to steal it") or describe the plot of (same reason).

But he is asking supporters to back his work financially via a Kickstarter campaign (he's currently about $2,200 shy of his $7,000 goal) so he can finish the book.

"I can tell you the kids live in a fictional 1960s Northern California town. I can tell you there are as many cemeteries in the story as there are boys, and I can tell you that it's an American Gothic coming of age tale--although the children are much more mature than I'll ever be," he says in the description of the book.

More »