"James Brown teaching you how do dance is like Superman teaching you how to fly. Just ain't gonna work when I try it!" more ›

This early 1990s commercial reminds us that while we might be at the top of our game today, there's always the risk of the figurative Suntory whiskey commercial in all of our futures. more ›

Celebrities go overseas to act as commercial pitchmen all the time. And we thought we'd seen them all until yesterday. more ›

Need something to cheer you up on this gloomy Friday? How about some fellow Chicagoans dancing to some James Brown? It's thanks to the group Dance NOW Chicago who has this idea: more ›

Pack an umbrella, bring your galoshes, and dress in layers. It's been that kind of week. Here are some events to brave any extreme in weather. more ›

For those of you who are checking in today, we thought we'd also take some time to pay our respects to two giants who passed away on Christmas Day. It was one year ago that James Brown passed away. If you don't have a copy of "James Brown's Funky Christmas", buy it or download it now. It is a necessity of Christmas listening. We managed to find a clip of "Soulful Christmas" dubbed into some footage of the Godfather's legendary 1968 Boston concert for your listening and viewing pleasure. more ›

Back in January we told you a little about Chicago filmmaker Daniel Kraus' ambitious documentary series, WORK. The first film in the series, Sheriff, will be released on DVD by Facets in October; and Musician has its premier this Friday night at the Siskel. It profiles Ken Vandermark, who, now that James Brown is dead, is certainly in the running for the title of Hardest Working Man in Show Business. The awesomely dedicated reed man played at Pitchfork this summer and just wrapped up a week-long "Vander-fest" at the Velvet Lounge. more ›

So you think Chicagoist is sometimes too critical of the way Mayor Daley runs the city? Wait until the Reverend Al Sharpton gets settled in his new digs. The boisterous Gotham-based minister, with the pompadour that's fading away like a Neil Young lyric, is opening a Chicago chapter of his National Action Network this week, in part to add pressure to His Elective Majesty and Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine to react faster to... more ›

While some people are busy wondering if Barack Obama is in fact the Messiah, two of the Chicago Tribune's columnists/bloggers have been attending to some of the would-be next President's more immediate concerns. Eric Zorn has been polling readers all week as to what Obama's campaign theme song should be after mixed reviews of the music selection from his early campaign rallies. His choices so far have been a mix of classic but overplayed R&B... more ›

There were three and a half long hours of the Grammys last night where the performances took top billing to the actual awards. Did anyone actually watch past The Police? Well, we did. Until a little after 10:00 when our eyes just wouldn’t stay open anymore. As we watch the Grammys we try to guess who might win based on which band just performed or if there is some sort of trend with the presenters... more ›

Though our Christmas holiday was lovely enough (thanks for asking), the death of James Brown cast a pall over its early morning hours. He was a conflicted man with his share of personal and legal troubles, but in a genre that too often fails to recognize those who paved the way, James Brown’s influence over hip-hop may still be underrated, despite all his renown. The AP story on Brown’s passing is poorly written and researched,... more ›

Well, it’s that time of year again. We’re done with Halloween costumes and on to the more pressing question, “How are we ringing in the New Year?” We know our readers aren’t chumps and bought their Raconteurs tickets for the 30th at the much cheaper rate than the New Year's Eve show. Here are a few more choices for that evening that holds so much promise, but usually just ends up being expensive with someone crying uncontrollably. more ›

After Wired ran a story documenting the GoogleCenter of the United States a bunch of ists jumped on the opportunity to figure out their own middle. Gothamist, Chicagoist, Bostonist and Seattlest all zoomed in on their creamy GoogleCenters. A crack cartography team is hard at work determining the GoogleCenter of the Ist-a-verse as you read this... Austinist read a book about Olympian Bode Miller and liked it. They also took a few pictures of the... more ›

Last week kissy couples were wading through roses and red tissue paper deeper than an east coast snow dump and singles shook a tiny, lonely fist (no ring!) at it all. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Valentine's season is in the can, finally. Austinist is already pulsing with SX energy and posting on the People's Choice Award nominees and the short films that will be playing while the rest... more ›

A dentist living in Marina Towers was charged Wednesday with laundering money for a prostitution ring. more ›

Back in April, we wondered if genius or madness would show up on June 24th when Lauryn Hill was to take the Taste of Chicago stage. In today's Sun-Times, Bill Zwecker answered the question with the news that Lauryn Hill has “reportedly” been replaced in the Taste of Chicago lineup by LL Cool J. more ›

With all the Lollapalooza hullabaloo yesterday (the Sun-Times and the Trib pick up the story today), we missed the chance to put our two cents into an argument that Richard Roeper started. It’s an argument guaranteed to inflame any barroom in the city when you include just three little words: “...of all time.” more ›

For those punk fans who do not suffer from the curse of procrastination, this weekend will be just like heaven as Rise Against headlines a pair of sold-out shows at Metro. You could just as easily bill these shows as “Rise Against...and Friends” as The Methadones open the Saturday show and Break The Silence opens on Sunday. Rise Against seems poised to break wide as their profile has risen considerably in the last month with... more ›

Chicagoist has already cracked on Christmas albums in this space so there’s no need to belabor the point here (except to say Mannheim Steamroller and their entire yuletide-themed catalog can go straight to hell and come to think of it their other albums can follow them down to Old Scratch’s hideaway too). But we are partial to live music that is “of the season” as it gets us in the mood in a way that recorded tunes just don’t. Why? Who knows? Call us fickle (just don’t call us late for dinner! HA! Grandpas tell the best jokes, don’t they?) more ›