"I always try to make stuff that affects me and I think that if given the chance, a lot of music that doesn't seem like the formula of what might be a hit would be more popular. There's a lot of great music that doesn't sound like whatever. Everything sounds very dance-y now."

American culture is a youth culture. On television and the movies it sometimes seems that everything and everybody is permanently frozen at 28 years old and it's just the rest of us on the couch who break '50, '60 and '70.

Directors Alex Gibney and Allison Ellwood have resurrected, cinematically, the pivotal moment when our country went from Mad Men to HAIR.

Wavy Gravy, bowed but unbroken, walks into a deli-café in New York's SoHo, holding a fish on a leash. He's making the rounds in Manhattan, doing interviews to publicize a documentary -- about his life.

At "21" last Tuesday, it was a case of multiple events. Newt Gingrich graciously held the door for me as Joan Didion stood in the foyer of the legenda...

Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, who make up the Rhythm Devils, are on the road with a gaggle of friends.

Improvisational music is a dangerous proposition. For every 3-minutes of musical bliss, there are another 20 of mind-numbing noodling.

It's a little surprising that until now, no one has put together a tribute album to folk's fertile days in New York's Greenwich Village.

"There's no simple answer to who John Lennon was. Sure, he was a great leader and a peacenik; on the other hand, he was an incredibly violent, narcissistic guy. That was the other side of him, and people just don't want to hear that."

Reviewed: Big Star, Ace Frehley, Gordan Gano, Bruce Hornsby, Jay-Z, Mark Knopfler, Living Colour, The Phantom Movers and Muse.

Built on the whole School of Rock phenomenon, the University of Central Oklahoma has a new music division that teaches all aspects of popular music such as performance, production and business affairs.

As the King of Pop's posse heads for the unemployment line, here are a few stories of other groupies and hangers-on. May they serve as inspiration and cautionary tale.