Many misconstrue punk rock as a simple, bare sound: three guitar chords, screamed vocals, straightforward basslines and thrashing drums, all jumbled together and played at breakneck speeds across short, two-minute songs. Indeed, punk's DIY ethos did open a threshold for an everyman and everywoman musician to participate, and in many instances, succeed. But the impact of the sound and scene spans far beyond all those preconceived restraints. With Los Angeles, their 1980 debut album, punk icons X pushed the genre's boundaries while defying them all at once. 

X, the legendary Los Angeles quartet, are considered by many music and rock historians as the band that put L.A.'s punk subculture on the map. While the punk scene in New York City had already gained major momentum by the time they formed in 1977, X quickly became the West Coast's answer to pioneering acts like Television, the Ramones and Patti Smith, establishing Los Angeles on equal footing as its East Coast counterpart. Once X released Los Angeles, there were no questions asked about the validity of their hometown's punk presence.

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On Los Angeles, X combine a hodgepodge of elements and sounds rarely heard or seen in punk. Founding member and guitarist Billy Zoom brought his background in rockabilly, blues and R&B into play, while D.J. Bonebrake added crushing drum patterns. (The album, produced by original The Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, feature lots of psychedelic organs, too.) The true magic of Los Angeles, and of X in general, lives within the male-female dynamic of bassist/vocalist John Doe and punk-poet Exene Cervenka, who together wrote the majority of the band's songs and lyrics. 

Like the burning X-shaped figure on the album's cover, Los Angeles depicted the eponymous city and society on fire. X, whose members were all non-native Angelenos, except for Bonebrake, encapsulated the underbelly of Los Angeles. Album standout "Sex And Dying In High Society" talks of the city's upper-class indecency, while the title track highlights the city's racism and homophobia. 

"[The album is] the uneasy soundtrack of Los Angeles, with its songs about dashed dreams amid the palm trees and mountains," Mitch Schneider, founder and partner at music and lifestyle publicity firm, SRO PR, who worked with X in the '90s, told the Recording Academy.

Released 40 years ago today (April 26), Los Angeles has since been recognized as one of punk's best albums and immortalized as one of Rolling Stone's greatest albums of all time—in any genre. 

As for X, the band continues to pummel through the noise: This week (April 22), they surprise-released Alphabetland, their eighth studio album and their first full-length in 27 years. 

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Los Angeles, the Recording Academy chatted with the journalists and creatives who were on the scene when the album first hit and talked to the new wave of artists who have since been inspired by the iconic release.

The quotes and comments used in this feature were edited for clarity and brevity.

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What was your first memory of X and Los Angeles?

Mitch Schneider (founder/partner at music and lifestyle publicity firm, SRO PR; his previous company, MSO PR, represented X for the band's 1995 live album, Unclogged): Having first seen X at the NYC club Hurrah in November 1978 and then countless times after that after I moved to Los Angeles in January 1979, it was absolutely exhilarating to hear that they got it right with their debut album. I just played it over and over again in my apartment on Norton Avenue in West Hollywood. I still believe it's one of the top 10 debut albums in rock history, a list that also includes the debut album by The Velvet Underground. It's the uneasy soundtrack of Los Angeles, with its songs about dashed dreams amid the palm trees and mountains. I am still haunted by the characters in "Johny Hit And Run Paulene" and "Sex And Dying In High Society."

Robert Christgau (a rock critic since 1967, Christgau writes weekly or more for his own part-subscription, part-free newsletter And It Don't Stop at Substack; he originally reviewed Los Angeles in early 1981; in the year it was released, the album ranked in Pazz & Jop, the annual music poll he created during his tenure as chief music critic and senior editor for New York City alt-weekly, The Village Voice): My brief as a Village Voice critic-editor who started pumping punk in 1975 and published a monthly Consumer Guide of 20 letter-graded album reviews was to home in on any major American punk LP. But for most of 1980, I was on leave, immersed 16-18 hours a day in finalizing my first Consumer Guide collection. So while I must have played it a little, I don't recall it the way I do, for instance, checking out Grandmaster Flash's "The Birthday Party." 

But in early '81, when I annotated the Voice's Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll with capsule reviews of my favorite albums of 1980, I began thusly: "From poet-turned-chanteuse Exene to junk-guitar journeyman Billy Zoom, these aren't mohawked NME-reading truants who think Darby Crash is God or the Antichrist. They're sexy thrift-shopping bohos who think Charles Bukowski is Norman Mailer or Henry Miller."

Mike Berault (keyboardist for Southern California ska/pop/punk band Bite Me Bambi and co-host of Mixtape Mixtape Podcast; his previous band, LP3 & The Tragedy, toured with X on the group's 40th anniversary tour in 2017): I remember I watched The Decline Of Western Civilization [1981 documentary about the Los Angeles punk scene], and I saw John Doe giving tattoos in the dressing room before their gig with a needle; this was during the AIDS scare when I saw it. I thought to myself, "These guys are so fucking punk!"

Drea Doll (guitarist/vocalist for all-female punk rock trio The Venomous Pinks): I was first introduced to Los Angeles and X through The Decline Of Western Civilization music documentary. I was 17 at the time, and I found myself at a party with a bunch of punk rockers. The song "Nausea" blasted through the opening scene. I was completely mesmerized by Billy Zoom's guitar riff and the dueling vocals. The unique sound shook my core and woke me as a young musician.

Read: Meet Armageddon Records, The Record Store-Turned-Label For Punks And Metalheads

What is it about Los Angeles that's allowed it to cross so many generations throughout the decades?

Mitch Schneider (SRO PR): I think music fans are still amazed by how the band synthesized their influences into a completely unique sound. There are the breakneck tempos of the Ramones, the virtuosic rockabilly riffs, the off-kilter male-female vocal sound that's rooted in Jefferson Airplane and the Beat-Generation-inspired lyrics. It's an unbeatable and mind-blowing combination of sound and vision.

Mike Berault (Bite Me Bambi/Mixtape Mixtape Podcast): The songs are as fresh and relevant today as they were when they were released. X proved that punk rock could have a relevancy as a genre on its own, like rock or jazz. Until this point, if you thought of punk rock, you probably thought of the [Sex] Pistols, the Ramones or any number of [L.A.] bands: Germs, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, FEAR, Middle Class, etc. X took a step away from what we were coming to know as a "punk" band. They taught us that the songs could be longer than a minute-and-a-half, could have meaningful lyrics [and be] dynamic, with different parts and tempos. X is real, not that the others weren't. They didn't necessarily have an axe to grind. They were describing their real lives, and that kind of honesty is timeless. 

Drea Doll (The Venomous Pinks): The diverse approach with their songwriting is what really makes this album so genuine. It's punk, but it also has rockabilly, early country and Americana nuances. There is truly something on this album for everyone. [The title track] "Los Angeles" is an original punk reflection of what was going on in the world in 1980 that still holds truth today. At the time, so many L.A. bands were staying with the same approach by playing straight-up thrash punk rock. Contrastingly, X stood out by unapologetically incorporating different genres. In between experimenting with various musical elements, they still maintained just as much passion and aggression as the run-of-the-mill "hardcore" band.

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While X were considered punk pioneers, they also flirted with diverse sonic elements like rockabilly and country. In what ways did Los Angeles define and defy what punk was "supposed" to sound like?

Robert Christgau: Like The Blasters, who nobody mistook for a punk band, and Gun Club, who some did, X went against the grain of the D.C./Minor Threat-inspired avant-anarchistic notions of L.A. punk typified by Black Flag and Germs. Their taste for the roots genres both John and Exene spent their rather different individual careers pursuing began with their 1985 hookup with The Blasters' rhythm section to form the less-than-memorable Knitters. But in X's great period, which I don't think survived John and Exene's 1985 divorce, it was their transmuted fondness for folkish forms that made their songwriting stand out.

Mike Berault (Bite Me Bambi/Mixtape Mixtape Podcast): Los Angeles put it out there that punk can be anything—it was an art form unto itself. It was OK to have organ/keys on the record. It was OK to have rockabilly guitar licks. It was OK to have pop hooks and poetic lyrics and the harmonies-melodic with a street punk sensibility.

X rose from the Los Angeles underground punk subculture yet they are considered one of the city's quintessential bands, regardless of genre. In what ways are X and Los Angeles representative of their hometown?

Robert Christgau: I wouldn't say X are seen as quintessentially L.A. the way The Beach Boys or the Eagles are, because they made no attempt to be smooth or escapist. Theirs is the L.A. of noir novelists like Chandler and Mosley—an L.A. where getting high isn't always a trip, where the rich tell ugly lies of their own as they make the most of capitalism's ugliest secret: the myth of trouble-free material comfort for everyone.

Mitch Schneider (SRO PR): The music is an honest depiction of Los Angeles. Alongside the physical beauty and wealth of the city, there's an underbelly of financial desperation and dreams that went awry. Don't be fooled by the blue ocean, the palm trees and the hills—there's a lot of desperation in L.A.

Mike Berault (Bite Me Bambi/Mixtape Mixtape Podcast): Opposite from the city itself, which reveals a grit with anything beyond a surface or tertiary glance, X gives you the grit first and then hits you with the beauty after and then judges you for not seeing it sooner. In many respects, that is very L.A. 

Read: From Punk Rocker To Motivational Speaker: The Surprising Evolution Of Angst

X were leaders in the first wave of the Los Angeles punk scene. What impact did X and Los Angeles leave on the city's punk scene and its overall music and artist community?

Drea Doll (The Venomous Pinks): X implemented their own attitude that screamed, "Take risks and do what you want". Punk rock is not about conforming to anyone's rules or standards, and this album demanded individualism. X defies what we think "punk" should sound like, and that is what truly makes them "punk". The early scene was communally collaborative. These early punk rock ethics laid down the foundation of today's scene.

Kelsey Goelz (Associate Curator at GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles; in 2017, she helped curate X: 40 Years Of Punk In Los Angeles, an exhibit celebrating the 40th anniversary of X): One of my favorite moments during the installation process [of the X exhibit] was following John Doe as he paced along a row of framed photographs in our gallery. While I took furious notes, he rattled off stories from the band's late-'70s/early-'80s beginnings. I was astonished at the level of detail he recalled so easily: identifying the exact L.A. street corner he stood on when a photo was taken or naming a now-closed concert venue from just a quick glance at its interior walls. These stories became the captions that accompanied each of those framed photos.

During the run of the exhibit, Exene and DJ participated in an education program for a visiting school group in the Museum's Clive Davis Theater. They spoke to the importance of having a supportive musical community, citing their early years among L.A.'s budding punk scene, and offered tips on songwriting and collaborating. It was amazing to watch a new generation interacting with, and becoming inspired by, these L.A. legends.

X were widely known for their literate songs and poetic lyrics, with punk-poets Exene Cervenka and John Doe heralded as some of the best lyricists and songwriters in the punk genre. Los Angeles, for example, lyrically paints a vivid snapshot of the city—scars, scabs, warts and all. What did Los Angeles say about the state of the city itself and the wider American society at the time of its release in April 1980?

Robert Christgau:"Scars, scabs and warts" are their specialty, and good for them. Los Angeles is darker, thematically, than anything to emerge from NYC punk—Ramones, Voidoids, Heartbreakers, whatever. Sure, I prefer John Prine, who's funnier and more measured. But there ought to be brutally frightening songs about rape like "Johny Hit And Run Paulene," even if the slam dancers don't know it. "Sex And Dying In High Society" is about what it says, and so is "Nausea." Not an upful song on the entire album.

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How has Los Angeles influenced your own music and art?

Mike Berault (Bite Me Bambi/Mixtape Mixtape Podcast): X gave me permission to create: Just create, and something will come out of it. You don't need to know how you are going to get there or where you are going—just stay on the path of creating and you will get something of value out of it. 

How would you explain the importance and legacy of Los Angeles to someone who's never heard it before?

Mitch Schneider (SRO PR): It's real, it's fearless, it's visceral, it's cerebral. It's original and utterly timeless. Art triumphs over commerciality in the end.

Read: The Ramones' Pioneering Punk Rock

Los Angeles celebrates its 40th anniversary this month. In your opinion, what will be the album's lasting legacy? 

Robert Christgau: To my ears, Los Angeles' lasting legacy is 1981's titanic masterpiece, Wild Gift, and 1983's excellent More Fun In The New World. Many believe that John and Exene then spent a lifetime making meaningful music separately, not counting reunion tours. But I say they were never better than when turning their painful frictions into noise and song.

Mike Berault (Bite Me Bambi/Mixtape Mixtape Podcast): After 40 years, I would say their lasting legacy has already been proven. Before X, punk bands, in my opinion, were considered disposable and adolescent—no pun intended. After X, the genre was one that demanded to be taken seriously and had artistic value beyond the fashion or politics of being punk. That kind of artistry doesn't come along often, where the culture, the fans and even the music business all have to respect that artist. That is why they are still celebrated today. 

Anti-Flag, Audio Karate, Tsunami Bomb And More Discuss The Legacy Of The Clash's 'London Calling': "It Forces You To Think Bigger"

In the pantheon of rock guitar gods, Slash ranks high on the list of legends. Many fans have passionately discussed his work — but if you ask him how he views his evolution over the last four decades, he doesn't offer a detailed analysis.

"As a person, I live very much in the moment, not too far in the past and not very far in the future either," Slash asserts. "So it's hard for me to really look at everything I'm doing in the bigger scheme of things."

While his latest endeavor — his new studio album, Orgy Of The Damned — may seem different to many who know him as the shredding guitarist in Guns N' Roses, Slash's Snakepit, Velvet Revolver, and his four albums with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, it's a prime example of his living-in-the-moment ethos. And, perhaps most importantly to Slash, it goes back to what has always been at the heart of his playing: the blues.

Orgy Of The Damned strips back much of the heavier side of his playing for a 12-track homage to the songs and artists that have long inspired him. And he recruited several of his rock cohorts — the likes of AC/DC's Brian Johnson, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Gary Clark Jr., Iggy Pop, Beth Hart, and Dorothy, among others — to jam on vintage blues tunes with him, from "Hoochie Coochie Man" to "Born Under A Bad Sign."

But don't be skeptical of his current venture — there's plenty of fire in these interpretations; they just have a different energy than his harder rocking material. The album also includes one new Slash original, the majestic instrumental "Metal Chestnut," a nice showcase for his tastefully melodic and expressive playing.

The initial seed for the project was planted with the guitarist's late '90s group Slash's Blues Ball, which jammed on genre classics. Those live, spontaneous collaborations appealed to him, so when he had a small open window to get something done recently, he jumped at the chance to finally make a full-on blues album.

Released May 17, Orgy Of The Damned serves as an authentic bridge from his musical roots to his many hard rock endeavors. It also sees a full-circle moment: two Blues Ball bandmates, bassist Johnny Griparic and keyboardist Teddy Andreadis, helped lay down the basic tracks. Further seizing on his blues exploration, Slash will be headlining his own touring blues festival called S.E.R.P.E.N.T. in July and August, with support acts including the Warren Haynes Band, Keb' Mo', ZZ Ward, and Eric Gales.

Part of what has kept Slash's career so intriguing is the diversity he embraces. While many heavy rockers stay in their lane, Slash has always traveled down other roads. And though most of his Orgy Of The Damned guests are more in his world, he's collaborated with the likes of Michael Jackson, Carole King and Ray Charles — further proof that he's one of rock's genre-bending greats.

Below, Slash discusses some of the most memorable collabs from Orgy Of The Damned, as well as from his wide-spanning career.

I was just listening to "Living For The City," which is my favorite track on the album.

Wow, that's awesome. That was the track that I knew was going to be the most left of center for the average person, but that was my favorite song when [Stevie Wonder's 1973 album] Innervisions came out when I was, like, 9 years old. I loved that song. This record's origins go back to a blues band that I put together back in the '90s.

Slash's Blues Ball.

Right. We used to play "Superstition," that Stevie Wonder song. I did not want to record that [for Orgy Of The Damned], but I still wanted to do a Stevie Wonder song. So it gave me the opportunity to do "Living For The City," which is probably the most complicated of all the songs to learn. I thought we did a pretty good job, and Tash [Neal] sang it great. I'm glad you dig it because you're probably the first person that's actually singled that song out.

With the Blues Ball, you performed Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher" and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads," and they surface here. Isn't it amazing it took this long to record a collection like this?

[Blues Ball] was a fun thrown-together thing that we did when I [was in, I] guess you call it, a transitional period. I'd left Guns N' Roses [in 1996], and it was right before I put together a second incarnation of Snakepit.

I'd been doing a lot of jamming with a lot of blues guys. I'd known Teddy [Andreadis] for a while and been jamming with him at The Baked Potato for years prior to this. So during this period, I got together with Ted and Johnny [Griparic], and we started with this Blues Ball thing. We started touring around the country with it, and then even made it to Europe. It was just fun.

Then Snakepit happened, and then Velvet Revolver. These were more or less serious bands that I was involved in. Blues Ball was really just for the fun of it, so it didn't really take precedence. But all these years later, I was on tour with Guns N' Roses, and we had a three-week break or whatever it was. I thought, I want to make that f—ing record now.

It had been stewing in the back of my mind subconsciously. So I called Teddy and Johnny, and I said, Hey, let's go in the studio and just put together a set and go and record it. We got an old set list from 1998, picked some songs from an app, picked some other songs that I've always wanted to do that I haven't gotten a chance to do.

Then I had the idea of getting Tash Neal involved, because this guy is just an amazing singer/guitar player that I had worked with in a blues thing a couple years prior to that. So we had the nucleus of this band.

Then I thought, Let's bring in a bunch of guest singers to do this. I don't want to try to do a traditional blues record, because I think that's going to just sound corny. So I definitely wanted this to be more eclectic than that, and more of, like, Slash's take on these certain songs, as opposed to it being, like, "blues." It was very off-the-cuff and very loose.

It's refreshing to hear Brian Johnson singing in his lower register on "Killing Floor" like he did in the '70s with Geordie, before he got into AC/DC. Were you expecting him to sound like that?

You know, I didn't know what he was gonna sing it like. He was so enthusiastic about doing a Howlin' Wolf cover.

I think he was one of the first calls that I made, and it was really encouraging the way that he reacted to the idea of the song. So I went to a studio in Florida. We'd already recorded all the music, and he just fell into it in that register.

I think he was more or less trying to keep it in the same feel and in the same sort of tone as the original, which was great. I always say this — because it happened for like two seconds, he sang a bit in the upper register — but it definitely sounded like AC/DC doing a cover of Howlin' Wolf. We're not AC/DC, but he felt more comfortable doing it in the register that Howlin' Wolf did. I just thought it sounded really great.

You chose to have Demi Lovato sing "Papa Was A Rolling Stone." Why did you pick her?

We used to do "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" back in Snakepit, actually, and Johnny played bass. We had this guy named Rod Jackson, who was the singer, and he was incredible. He did a great f—ing interpretation of the Temptations singing it.

When it came to doing it for this record, I wanted to have something different, and the idea of having a young girl's voice telling the story of talking to her mom to find out about her infamous late father, just made sense to me. And Demi was the first person that I thought of. She's got such a great, soulful voice, but it's also got a certain kind of youth to it.

When I told her about it, she reacted like Brian did: "Wow, I would love to do that." There's some deeper meaning about the song to her and her personal life or her experience. We went to the studio, and she just belted it out. It was a lot of fun to do it with her, with that kind of zeal.

You collaborate with Chris Stapleton on Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" by Peter Green. I'm assuming the original version of that song inspired "Double Talkin' Jive" by GN'R?

It did not, but now that you mention it, because of the classical interlude thing at the end... Is that what you're talking about? I never thought about it.

I mean the overall vibe of the song.

"Oh Well" was a song that I didn't hear until I was about 12 years old. It was on KMET, a local radio station in LA. I didn't even know there was a Fleetwood Mac before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. I always loved that song, and I think it probably had a big influence on me without me even really realizing it. So no, it didn't have a direct influence on "Double Talkin' Jive," but I get it now that you bring it up.

Was there something new that you learned in making this album? Were your collaborators surprised by their own performances?

I think Gary Clark is just this really f—ing wonderful guitar player. When I got "Crossroads," the idea originally was "Crossroads Blues," which is the original Robert Johnson version. And I called Gary and said, "Would you want to play with me on this thing?"

He and I only just met, so I didn't know what his response was going to be. But apparently, he was a big Guns N' Roses fan — I get the idea, anyway. We changed it to the Cream version just because I needed to have something that was a little bit more upbeat. So when we got together and played, we solo-ed it off each other.

When I listen back to it, his playing is just so f—ing smooth, natural, and tasty. There was a lot of that going on throughout the making of the whole record — acclimating to the song and to the feel of it, just in the moment.

I think that's all an accumulation of stuff that I've learned over the years. The record probably would be way different if I did it 20 years ago, so I don't know what that evolution is. But it does exist. The growth thing — God help us if you don't have it.

You've collaborated with a lot of people over the years — Michael Jackson, Carole King, Lemmy, B.B. King, Fergie. Were there any particular moments that were daunting or really challenging? And was there any collaboration that produced something you didn't expect?

All those are a great example of the growth thing, because that's how you really grow as a musician. Learning how to adapt to playing with other people, and playing with people who are better than you — that really helps you blossom as a player.

Playing with Carole King [in 1993] was a really educational experience because she taught me a lot about something that I thought that I did naturally, but she helped me to fine tune it, which was soloing within the context of the song. [It was] really just a couple of words that she said to me during this take that stuck with me. I can't remember exactly what they were, but it was something having to do with making room for the vocal. It was really in passing, but it was important knowledge.

The session that really was the hardest one that I ever did was [when] I was working with Ray Charles before he passed away. I played on his "God Bless America [Again]" record [on 2002's Ray Charles Sings for America], just doing my thing. It was no big deal. But he asked me to play some standards for the biopic on him [2004's Ray], and he thought that I could just sit in with his band playing all these Ray Charles standards.

That was something that they gave me the chord charts for, and it was over my head. It was all these chord changes. I wasn't familiar with the music, and most of it was either a jazz or bebop kind of a thing, and it wasn't my natural feel.

I remember taking the chord charts home, those kinds you get in a f—ing songbook. They're all kinds of versions of chords that wouldn't be the version that you would play.

That was one of those really tough sessions that I really learned when I got in over my head with something. But a lot of the other ones I fall into more naturally because I have a feel for it.

That's how those marriages happen in the first place — you have this common interest of a song, so you just feel comfortable doing it because it's in your wheelhouse, even though it's a different kind of music than what everybody's familiar with you doing. You find that you can play and be yourself in a lot of different styles. Some are a little bit challenging, but it's fun.

Are there any people you'd like to collaborate with? Or any styles of music you'd like to explore?

When you say styles, I don't really have a wish list for that. Things just happen. I was just working with this composer, Bear McCreary. We did a song on this epic record that's basically a soundtrack for this whole graphic novel thing, and the compositions are very intense. He's very particular about feel, and about the way each one of these parts has to be played, and so on. That was a little bit challenging. We're going to go do it live at some point coming up.

There's people that I would love to play with, but it's really not like that. It's just whatever opportunities present themselves. It's not like there's a lot of forethought as to who you get to play with, or seeking people out. Except for when you're doing a record where you have people come in and sing on your record, and you have to call them up and beg and plead — "Will you come and do this?"

But I always say Stevie Wonder. I think everybody would like to play with Stevie Wonder at some point.

Incubus On Revisiting Morning View & Finding Rejuvenation By Looking To The Past

From vinyl records by the 1975 and U2, to album reissues and previously unreleased music, record stores around the world are stocking limited and exclusive releases for Record Store Day 2024. 

The first Record Store Day kicked off in 2008 and every year since, the event supporting independently owned record stores has grown exponentially. On Record Store Day 2024, which falls on April 20, there will be more than 300 special releases available from artists as diverse as  the Beatles and Buena Vista Social Club. 

In honor of Record Store Day 2024 on April 20, here are 10 limited and exclusive drops to watch out for when browsing your local participating record store. 

David Bowie — Waiting in the Sky (Before The Starman Came To Earth

British glam rocker David Bowie was a starman and an icon. Throughout his career, he won five GRAMMY Awards and was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. 

On RSD 2024, Bowie's estate is dialing it back to his Ziggy Stardust days to make Waiting in the Sky (Before The Starman Came To Earth) available for the first time. The record features recordings of Bowie's sessions at Trident Studios in 1971, and many songs from those sessions would be polished for his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. 

The tracklisting for Waiting in the Sky differs from Ziggy Stardust and features four songs that didn’t make the final album.

Talking Heads — Live at WCOZ 77

New York City-based outfit Talking Heads defined the sound of new wave in the late '70s and into the next decade. For their massive influence, the group received two GRAMMY nominations and was later honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.

While promoting their debut album Talking Heads: 77, the quartet recorded a live performance for the New Albany, Pennsylvania radio station WCOZ in 1977. The Live at WCOZ 77 LP will include 14 songs from that performance at Northern Studios, including seven that will be released for the first time. Among the previously unheard cuts are "Love Goes To A Building On Fire" and "Uh-Oh, Love Comes To Town." During that session, Talking Heads also performed songs like "Psycho Killer" and "Pulled Up."

The Doors — Live at Konserthuset, Stockholm, September 20, 1968

The Doors were at the forefront of the psychedelic rock movement of the 1960s and early '70s. One of Jim Morrison's most epic performances with the band will be available on vinyl for the first time. 

Live at Konserthuset, Stockholm, September 20, 1968 includes recordings from a radio broadcast that was never commercially released. The 3-LP release includes performances of songs from the Doors’ first three albums, including 1967’s self-titled and Strange Days. In addition to performing their classics like "Light My Fire" and "You're Lost Little Girl," the Doors and Morrison also covered "Mack the Knife" and Barret Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" live during this session. 

Dwight Yoakam — The Beginning And Then Some: The Albums of the '80s

Over the course of his 40-year career, country music icon Dwight Yoakam has received 18 GRAMMY nominations and won two golden gramophones for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1994 and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals in 2000.

On Record Store Day 2024, Yoakam will celebrate the first chapter of his legacy with a new box set: The Beginning And Then Some: The Albums of the '80s. His debut album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. and 1987’s Hillbilly Deluxe will be included in the collection alongside exclusive disc full of rarities and demos. The 4-LP set includes his classics like "Honky Tonk Man," "Little Ways," and "Streets of Bakersfield." The box set will also be available to purchase on CD.  

The Beatles — The Beatles Limited Edition RSD3 Turntable

Beatlemania swept across the U.S. following the Beatles’ first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964, setting the stage for the British Invasion. With The Beatles Limited Edition RSD3 Turntable, the band will celebrate their iconic run of appearances on Sullivan’s TV program throughout that year.

The box set will include a Beatles-styled turntable and four 3-inch records. Among those records are the hits "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "Till There Was You," "She Loves You," and "I Saw Her Standing There," which the Beatles performed on Sullivan's TV across several appearances. 

Among 23 GRAMMY nominations, the Beatles won seven golden gramophones. In 2014, the Recording Academy honored them with the Lifetime Achievement Award.   

Olivia Rodrigo and Noah Kahan — From The BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge LP

Olivia Rodrigo and Noah Kahan are two of the biggest pop stars in the world right now — Rodrigo hitting the stage with No Doubt at Coachella and near the end of her global GUTS Tour; Kahan fresh off a Best New Artist nomination at the 2024 GRAMMYs. Now, they're teaming up for the split single From The BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge LP, a release culled from each artist's "BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge" sessions. 

The special vinyl release will include Rodrigo's live cover of Kahan's breakout hit "Stick Season." The single also includes Kahan’s cover of Rodrigo’s song "Lacy" from her second album, GUTS. This month, they performed the song live together on Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour stop in Madison Square Garden.  

Buena Vista Social Club — Buena Vista Social Club

Influential Cuban group Buena Vista Social Club popularized genres and sounds from their country, including son cubano, bolero, guajira, and danzón. Buena Vista Social Club's landmark self-titled LP won the GRAMMY for Best Tropical Latin Album in 1998.

The following year, a documentary was released that captured two of the band's live performances in New York City and Amsterdam. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the documentary, the Buena Vista Social Club album will be released on a limited edition gold vinyl with remastered audio and bonus tracks.

Buena Vista Social Club is one of the 10 recordings to be newly inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame as part of the 2024 inductee class.

Danny Ocean — 54+1

Venezuelan reggaeton star Danny Ocean broke through on a global level in 2016 with his self-produced debut single "Me Rehúso," a heartbreaking track inspired by Ocean fleeing Venezuela due to the country's economic instability and the lover he had left behind. 

With "Me Rehúso," Ocean became the first solo Latin artist to surpass one billion streams on Spotify, on the platform with a single song. "Me Rehúso" was included on his 2019 debut album 54+1, which will be released on vinyl for the first time for Record Store Day.

Lee "Scratch" Perry & The Upsetters — Skanking With The Upsetter

Jamaican producer Lee "Scratch" Perry pioneered dub music in the 1960s and '70s. Perry received five GRAMMY nominations in his lifetime, including winning Best Reggae Album in 2003 for Jamaican E.T.

To celebrate the legacy of Perry's earliest dub recordings, a limited edition run of his 2004 album Skanking With The Upsetter will be released on Record Store Day. His joint LP with his house band the Upsetters will be pressed on transparent yellow vinyl. Among the rare dub tracks on the album are "Bucky Skank," "Seven & Three Quarters (Skank)," and "IPA Skank." 

Read more: Lee "Scratch" Perry Documentary Director Sets The Record Straight On The Reggae Icon's Legacy — Including A Big Misconception About Bob Marley

Notorious B.I.G. — Ready To Die: The Instrumentals

The Notorious B.I.G. helped define the sound of East Coast rap in the '90s. Though he was tragically murdered in 1997, his legacy continues to live on through his two albums. 

During his lifetime, the Notorious B.I.G. dropped his 1994 debut album Ready to Die, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest hip-hop releases of all-time. In honor of the 30th anniversary of the album (originally released in September '94), his estate will release Ready To Die: The Instrumentals. The limited edition vinyl will include select cuts from the LP like his hits "Big Poppa," "One More Chance/Stay With Me," and "Juicy." The album helped him garner his first GRAMMY nomination in 1996 for Best Rap Solo Performance. The Notorious B.I.G. received an additional three nominations after his death in 1998. 

10 Smaller Music Festivals Happening In 2024: La Onda, Pitchfork Music Fest, Cruel World & More

These days, what happens in Vegas, slays in Vegas when it comes to the harder side of music.

It might have seemed unthinkable a decade ago, but as Fat Mike of NOFX and Fat Wreck Chords has been putting out there for a while now, Sin City is basically "the most punk city in the U.S." at the moment. Some might find this statement debatable, but Vegas has long attracted subculture-driven gatherings, from Viva Las Vegas rockabilly weekend to the all-metal Psycho Las Vegas to the mixed bag that was Las Rageous. The latest slate of huge punk and punk-adjacent music events (from Punk Rock Bowling and When We Were Young to the just-announced new lineup of Sick New World 2024) back his claim even further. 

Mike’s own Punk Rock Museum, which opened in April of this year, has cemented the city’s alternative music cred — even as it’s still best known for gambling, clubbing, and gorging at buffets. 

In fact, A lot of the audacious new activity is centered away from the big casinos and in the downtown area and arts district of what is known as "old Vegas." Just outside of the tourist-trappy, Times Square-like Fremont Experience, there’s a vibrant live music scene anchored by a few key clubs, and an ever-growing slate of fests.

*Attendees at 2022's When We Were Young Festival┃Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/FilmMagic*

Live Nation’s second annual When We Were Young Festival brought out a largely Millennial crowd to see headliners Green Day and blink-182 this past weekend, alongside over two dozen more recognizable openers from emo/pop-punk's heyday. Tickets sold so well when it was first announced, that a second day was added to the schedule.

Green Day didn’t stop with their fest gigs; the band played a "not-so-secret" pop-up show last Thursday night at one of the most popular venues in town for punk, alternative and heavy music: Fremont Country Club, just blocks from festival grounds. The show served as a warm-up gig as well as an announcement by Billie Joe Armstrong: His band will join Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and others for a 2024 stadium tour. The band also debuted a timely new track, "The American Dream Is Killing Me."  

Read More: Why 2002 Was The Year That Made Pop-Punk: Simple Plan, Good Charlotte & More On How "Messing Around And Being Ourselves" Became Mainstream

"People who like punk and other heavy music want to be in a club environment like ours, not a big casino," says Carlos "Big Daddy" Adley, owner of Fremont Country Club and its adjacent music space Backstage Bar & Grill. Both have become live music hotspots not unlike the ones Adley and his wife/partner Ava Berman ran in Los Angeles before they moved to Vegas over a decade ago. 

"Fremont East," as the neighborhood is called, will soon see a boutique hotel from the pair. Like everything they do, it will have a rock n’ roll edge that hopes to draw both visitors and locals.

*Outside Fremont Country Club┃Photo: Fred Morledge*

The duo told GRAMMY.com that a visit to Double Down Saloon, Sin City’s widely-recognized original punk bar and music dive was what first inspired them to come to Vegas and get into the nightlife business there. Double Down has been slinging booze (like Bacon Martinis and "Ass Juice" served in a ceramic toilet bowl mug) and booking live punk sounds since it opened back in 1992.

"It's kind of a stepping stone for a lot of bands," says Cameron Morat, a punk musician and photographer, who also works with the Punk Rock Museum as curator of its rockstar-led tour guide program. "People always assume that Vegas is just the strip, but that's only like four miles long. There's a lot more of the ‘‘other city.’ There are people who are just into music and into going to local shows who don't ever go to the main strip."

In addition to the Double Down, Morat says Vegas has always had a history of throwing local punk shows at spaces like the Huntridge Theater, which is currently being remodeled and set to re-open soon for local live music. He also points to The Usual Place as a venue popular with local punk and rock bands now, and The Dive Bar — a favorite with the mohawk, patched-up battle vest scene, featuring heavy music seven nights a week, including a night promoted by his partner Masuimi Max called Vegas Chaos.  

*Cameron Morat┃Photo: Kristina Markovich*

While glitzy stage shows from legacy artists and mega-pop hit makers like Usher, Elton John, Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood, Gwen Stefani and Lady Gaga still get the most media attention, raucous local shows are starting to factor into a new generation’s vacation planning, too.

"There’s a really good scene here," Morat proclaims. "It's funny because a lot of people, the sort of gatekeepers of punk, ask ‘why is the punk museum in Vegas?’ But it is a punk city, and not just because you've got all the local bands and the venues."

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Morat, whose own band Soldiers of Destruction, plays around town on occasion, also notes other acts such as Gob Patrol, Suburban Resistance, and Inframundo as having fierce local followings. He says there’s a certain voracious vibe in Vegas that lends itself to punk rock creation, performance and attitude. "A lot of the anger from punk rock — like the disparity of wealth, for instance, is here," he says. "Five minutes down the road, you've got people throwing away a million on the roll of a dice. But you've also got people who are doing like three jobs just trying to pay their rent." 

Over at the Punk Rock Museum, Morat, who moved from Los Angeles to Vegas about seven  years ago, is keeping busy booking big-name guests to share inspirations and war stories, both weekly, and specifically timed with whatever big festival or event happens to be in town. He says he wants to feature artists that might not be thought of as traditional punk rock, but who have relevant backgrounds and stories to share. 

"A lot of these people have punk history the public doesn’t know about," he says. "I think if we just stick to a very small well of people, it's going to get pretty boring. So I'm trying to open it up for a bigger cross-section." 

*Imagery from "Black Punk Now" | Ed Marshall*

The museum is already showing the breadth of punk rock’s influence on music in general. During WWWY, the museum held events tied to its new exhibit "Black Punk Now," curated by James Spooner, director of the 2003 documentary Afro-Punk. As Spooner spoke about the film’s 20th anniversary and his new book of Black punk authors, musicians playing the weekend’s festivities from Sum 41, MxPx, Bayside, Less Than Jake came through to talk too. Warped Tour’s Kevin Lyman and Fat Mike himself also took part in the museum’s new after-dark guided tour series.

Bringing in a wider audience and a new generation of rebellious kids who seek to channel their angst and energy into music is part of what the museum — and, it seems, the myriad of events in Las Vegas these days — is all about. Despite what some punk rock purists and gatekeepers might say, the inclusion of tangent bands and scenes is in the original punk spirit. He’ll be booking guests tied to next year’s Sick New World, the Viva Las Vegas rockabilly bash and even EDC in the future (electronic bangers are not unlike hardcore ones and even Moby was a punk before he became a DJ). 

"I think that the museum is great for the punk scene here," he adds. "People will literally come to town just to see the museum, and then if there's a band playing in town in the evening, they'll go. So it's broadening the support for all the bands, local and touring. Some punk bands used to skip Vegas completely on their tours, but not anymore." 

Remembering When We Were Young: Avril Lavigne, Jimmy Eat World & More Bands Reflect On The Peak Of Emo & Hardcore Ahead Of Vegas Fest

Updated Friday Oct. 13, 2023 to include info about Kendrick Lamar's most recent GRAMMY wins, as of the 2023 GRAMMYs.

A GRAMMY veteran these days, Kendrick Lamar has won 17 GRAMMYs and has received 47 GRAMMY nominations overall. A sizable chunk of his trophies came from the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards in 2016, when he walked away with five — including his first-ever win in the Best Rap Album category.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system. 

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

Looking for more GRAMMYs news? The 2024 GRAMMY nominations are here!

He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

"We'd never forget that: Taking these kids out of the projects, out of Compton, and putting them right here on this stage, to be the best that they can be," Lamar — a Compton native himself — continued, leading into an impassioned conclusion spotlighting some of the cornerstone rap albums that came before To Pimp a Butterfly.

"Hip-hop. Ice Cube. This is for hip-hop," he said. "This is for Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle. This is for Illmatic, this is for Nas. We will live forever. Believe that."

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood." 

Lamar has since won Best Rap Album two more times, taking home the golden gramophone in 2018 for his blockbuster LP DAMN., and in 2023 for his bold fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Watch Lamar's full acceptance speech above, and check back at GRAMMY.com every Friday for more GRAMMY Rewind episodes. 

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