The Witzard

After 34 years largely unreleased, the Beastie Boys quietly dropped the music video for one of their most raucous offerings Wednesday night. "She's Crafty" originally appeared on The Beasties' 1986 Def Jam debut, Licensed to Ill. It appeared as the B-side to both "No Sleep 'till Brooklyn" and "Girls" on their respective 12-inch singles. "She's Crafty" appeared alongside "Rhymin' & Stealin,'" "Fight for Your Right (to Party,)" "Hold It Now, Hit It," "No Sleep 'till Brooklyn," and "She's On It" as part of a self-titled 1987 Beasties Boys home video release best known amongst collectotrs as the Licensed to Ill VHS. CBS Fox Video Music/Def Jam Recordings, also, released the six-song VHS tape on then-extremely popular formats Laserdisc and Betamax in both The US & Japan. "She's Crafty"'s newly-unveiled music video was filmed on April 1, 1987 ...

"Hi Matt... thanks for your interest in my work. While now is not the time to reveal everything, basically, the majority of my mash-ups that I've done connect to each other on several levels and tell a large, arcing story centered around the pursuit of pleasure, knowledge, and overall happiness in one's life. I've been dropping hints ( Easter eggs) in each (starting from the "Uptown Funk" Macho Mix ) that are pretty much impossible to find, unless you know what you're looking for, which I'll end up giving clues for at a later date... Twaddle. This particular song deals with a portion of the story involving a young woman named Rhonda Garbanzo (hence, the usage of The Beach Boys' hit... couldn't find many songs with the name "Rhonda" in it) that finds herself close to death (hence, "Stairway [to Heaven]" ) after many years of abusing her body and ultimately, her soul. She is promiscuous, a severe alcoholic, and mani...

" Night Drive co-founders, Rodney Connell and Brandon Duhon met after a young woman they were both unknowingly dating was killed in a car crash. The tragic event bonded the two and shortly afterwards, they began a musical collaboration," reads a rather cryptic introduction to "Future Wave" duo Night Drive 's Facebook Bio . "This guy we met at a bar (who [said] he used to guitar tech for Jimmy Page ) dared us to cover "Whole Lotta Love." It just so happened that "Too Much Love " came on the house speakers in the background and we thought that was kind of interesting. It all just materialized from there," Rodney Connell detailed within a recent emailed statement. Night Drive further describe "Whole Lotta Love/Too Much Love" as a "dark Electro-Pop re-imagination," which they say is "what you might expect, if Jimmy Page and James Murphy had a child in a dystopian NYC , circa 2041." I wonder if...

Former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page Tweeted "on this day, Biggie Smalls " along with a web-link Friday morning; He's pieced together what kinda sounds like a semi-unfinished mash-up between "Hypnotize" and "Ramble On" that's been dubbed "Ramblize." 90's Hip-Hop heads might recall that this isn't exactly Page's first forre into Hip-Hop , as he previously re-recorded parts of "Kashmir" for Godzilla break-out hit, "Come with Me" with none other than Puff Daddy [included below]. "Ramblize" somehow teeters that fine line, where if it sucked (which it doesn't), it'd still be pretty cool simply because of the sheer fact that Jimmy Page remixed a Biggie track! From what I understand, Page recently uploaded a similar Snoop Dogg/Led Zeppelin mash-up of "Drop It Like It's Hot" (credited to Led Dogg ). Lest we forget, Led Zepplin 's now-deceased mondo-drummer Joh...

Silver Linings Playbook co-stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are planning to grace the silver screen together once again in American Hustle , under the direction of Oscar winner David O. Russell . While filming was temporarily delayed during the sudden, tragic Boston Marathon Bombings back in April, American Hustle us currently slated for a Christmas Day release. Russell's film was formerly titled "American Bullshit" and it also features quite a few actors he's previously worked with as well: Christian Bale (The Fighter), Amy Adams, Robert De Niro , and Jeremy Renner. Seemingly set in the 1970's, American Hustle's premier trailer makes use of Led Zeppelin 's righteous "Good Times Bad Times," which works perfectly with the film's underlying 70's sleaze tone. The Singer/Russell -penned film is reportedly a "fictionalization" of the infamous late 1970-80's FBI sting operation dubbed ABSCAM , which eventuall...

1976's best kept secret and a righteous-sounding precursor to Punk Rock , Death are gearing up to release their first single in nearly 40 years, "Relief/Story of The World" this upcoming Tuesday, July 30th. The Detroit Proto-Punk band were initially active from about 1971-77 , broke up upon major label distaste regarding their name, and moved to Vermont once Death split. Brothers Bobby, Dannis, & David Hackney went on to form 2 separate Gospel Rock/Reggae bands, The 4th Movement and Lambsbread . Sadly though, David Hackney passed away in 2000 (succumbing to lung cancer) right before Death 's sudden resurgence; due in part to tech-savvy record collectors, Death 's lone self-released single, "Politicians In My Eyes" rocketed to the top of thousands of blog-spun playlists once again, between 2008-09! While their sons briefly toured as cover band Rough Francis , Bobby & Dannis Hackney triumphantly re-formed the band with long-time guit...

Like most young people my age, I'd say I first got into Classic Rock @ roughly 12-15 because my older cousin Josh gave me a 4-CD Led Zeppelin box set and my parents passed down their Billy Joel , Fleetwood Mac, and Michael Jackson LP's. I guess The Rolling Stones were one of the first bands I really "discovered" on my own - Hearing about them based off their sheer Rock [mega]star-dom and insane hi-jinx. All these years later, The Stones are really the only Classic Rock band still in my regular rotation... Some Girls and Exile On Main Street are 2 of my favourite albums (plus all the hits, of course)! I'm pretty sure that Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts & Ronnie Wood are damn proud that they've never really pulled an "Aerosmith" [sold out] over the course of their 50-year career ; Honestly, they have nothing to prove, they don't give a fuck, and that's TOTALLY fine. The Stones booked a few tour dates in honor of the...

Peanut Butter Lovesicle are a band made up of 2 Jersey -bred brothers, Jake & Mike D'Arc , and their cousin, Timmy Miller who somehow effortlessly manage to combine the Classic Rock bravado of Led Zeppelin with Cage The Elephant 's brand of Country-Rock SWAG. "In The Zone" 's opening riff reminds me a little bit of The Cars' smash hit, "Good Times Roll" (1979); While the lead track was just released to the masses yesterday, Peanut Butter Lovesicle plan to liberate it's companion EP, Dirty Pride nation-wide on Sept. 25th. The band's new EP was "recorded in an 1869-built church in Hudson, NY using 2-inch tape, few overdubs, and minimal digital." Production work was handled by Henry Hirsch , who's previously worked with the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Mick Jagger , and Madonna , and the tracks were then engineered by Rachel Alina . Featured below is Peanut Butter Lovesicle 's [other] Blues -drenched, Gossip Girl-s...

Way back in June, The Black Keys somehow managed to cram 50-60 hand-selected close friends, family members, and super-fans into notorious Nashville "speakeasy" [dive bar], Springwater Supper Club for a TOP SECRET show/music video shoot. After running through "Little Black Submarines" a few times, the night's festivities quickly transformed into an hour-long make-shift set. Having already re-enacted nearly every go-to Rock "N" Roll cliché in the book: bikini-clas hotties, animal puppet hi-jinx, brawling children, dancing salesmen, .gif short films , etc... The Black Keys opted for a FRESH approach - Live, loud & housed within one seedy-ass club! "Little Black Submarines" is one of The Black Keys' ultimate hidden treasures buried deep within their most recent album, El Camino (2011). It's a retro-style Blues Rocker that honestly, kinda reminds me of either Led Zeppelin or Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers . Local Philly ...

Taylor "Cindy Lou Who" Momsen and her [teen] angst-filled Alternative Rock band, The Pretty Reckless are gearing up to join Marilyn Manson's Hey Cruel World... Tour . Momsen has been on "indefinite hiatus" from her infamous Gossip Girl acting gig since roughly 2010. But she's made good use of her new-found downtime, re-inventing herself and perusing her Rock "N" Roll fantasies along with The Pretty Reckless . Taylor Momsen says she's creatively influenced by Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Soundgarden , The White Stripes , and Oasis ; She's reportedly been messing around with music since the age of 8 and upon signing with Interscope Records (2009), has recruited a variety of band members, which now include: Ben Phillips, Mark Damon , and Jamie Perkins . The Pretty Reckless' discography currently consists of one album and 2 EP's. The bulk of which, including full-length Light Me Up , were written-recorded along with famed producer Ka...

Summertime by The Skins When I first heard The Skins' "Summertime," I thought it sounded vaguely like Rage Against The Machine as told through the aggressive, long-forgotten voice of Led Zeppelin 's orphaned "children." Formed @ Brooklyn 's own [Paul Green] School of Rock , The Skins consists of 3 siblings: Bayli (18), Kaya (16), and Reef Mckeithan (13), along with friends Daisy Spencer (18) and Russell Chell (19) on guitar. Indeed talented far beyond their lack of collective years, The Skins started up-keeping a pretty rigorous Manhattan/Brooklyn area touring schedule @ some point during Summer 2011. The band's premier release, an untitled 3-track EP was unleashed to the masses back on Jan. 1st; Ben Rice lent his recording & mixing talents, while Dale Becker went in and mastered everything after the fact, with semi-cryptic album art provided by Aya Brown . The Skins EP is rounded out by "Getting Down" and "Ocean...