D.C. Music History

Tag: D.C. Music History

An event this weekend remembers Billy Stewart (shown), a hit-making vocalist out of D.C. who died in a car crash, as well as Van McCoy, famous for "The Hustle."

Remembering Billy Stewart And Van McCoy, Two Lesser-Known D.C. Music Legends

Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye and Chuck Brown may be the best-known musical legends out of D.C. But they’re not the…

"I would imagine that [Morrissey] had just thrown some gladioli — gladioli was his favorite, favorite, favorite, flower of all time. I'm sure he had just done that. This is an early picture, one of my first pictures, probably from California '85, and I was really quite shy — you can see that I'm really quite behind the monitor. I like the photo because it shows the dynamic between Morrissey — the energy that he's giving to the crowd, and then Johnny [Marr] just being so super-cool."

‘There At A Special Time’ — A D.C. Punk On Her Teen Years Touring With The Smiths

It was 1985. Nalinee Darmrong was 17, and she had just graduated high school. Friends took her to see the legendary English rock band The Smiths at D.C.’s Warner Theatre — and the show literally changed her life.

"Heavy Metal Parking Lot" was viral video before the internet existed. The film is spotlighted now in a show at University of Maryland.

‘Heavy Metal Parking Lot,’ 30 Years Later: Still Viral, But All Grown Up

In the ’80s, if you wanted to capture your friends or yourself being drunk and stupid, you had to work…

The show band Friends Of The Family, in an undated press photo from the Washington Talent Agency.

Jumpsuits, Stunts And Shooters: Inside Maryland’s Almost-Forgotten Show Band Scene

Pete Margus retired in October after 30 years in the wine business. The Takoma Park native lives with his wife…

Multimedia project Black Broadway on U archives the people and places that made D.C.'s U Street corridor a hub of black culture during the first half of the 20th century.

A Chat With The Creator Of ‘Black Broadway On U,’ A Trove Of D.C. Cultural History

On U Street in 2016, it’s easy to stumble across vestiges of the corridor’s African-American history. But that history is…

‘This Was My Night’: A Document Of Latter-Day D.C. Punk, Strictly For The Fans

D.C. hardcore hit peak nostalgia years ago and just kept going. The endless supply of documentary films, books, curated art…

The Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra performs one of its last shows at its namesake venue.

Bidding Farewell To Bohemian Caverns, A D.C. Jazz Institution

This weekend brings the final performances at legendary D.C. jazz venue Bohemian Caverns. An institution at 11th and U streets…

Tiny Desk Unit was just one of the many bands Teri Stubs filmed at the original 9:30 Club in D.C. Now, 56 of her videos live at the D.C. Public Library.

Old Videos Of Fugazi, Gwar, And Psychedelic Furs Now Housed At D.C. Public Library

It was the final show at the 9:30 Club on F Street NW, and Teri Stubs hadn’t worn the right attire….

D.C. venue the 9:30 Club will celebrate its 35th anniversary with a book and a "world's fair."

The 9:30 Club Is Publishing A Book

Storied D.C. venue the 9:30 Club turned 35 this year, and it’s celebrating by publishing a big ol’ book. A…

Virginia post-hardcore band Frodus might call its 2001 album a time capsule from hell.

Revisiting The Last Album From Frodus, A Soundtrack To Tragedy

When D.C.-area band Frodus was still making a racket, critics and fans called the trio “spazzcore.” One problem with that:…

In 1981, short-lived D.C. hardcore band Youth Brigade wrote a diss track about The Bayou.

Listen: Youth Brigade Gripes About Late D.C. Club The Bayou

This post has been updated with the song’s lyrics. Back in the toddler years of D.C.’s hardcore scene, Georgetown venue the…

Meet Bill Bollman, the Maryland resident reviving an obsession with Voice-O-Graph recording booths.

The Latest Vintage Craze In Music Isn’t Vinyl — It’s These Old-Fashioned Recording Booths

Before smartphones, before voicemail, before the advent of answering machines, the easiest way to record your voice for a loved…

In September, a flood almost wiped out Maryland record store Vinyl Acres.

How D.C.’s Rock Scene Helped Save This Record Store From Oblivion

Navigating shifts in the music industry is tough enough on record-shop owners. It seems unfair they’d have to contend with…

The latest season of the D.C. Music Salon focuses on notable guitarists from the Washington region.

The D.C. Music Salon Peels Back Layers Of D.C. Music History

Go-go clanging around the walls of D.C.’s historic Howard Theatre. Soul music and jazz, rising from this town’s hardest-knock neighborhoods….

WHFS staffers (shown with musician Cyndi Lauper, center) reflect on the progressive radio station in a forthcoming film.

‘No Suits. No Corporate Control.’ Remembering The Freeform Heyday Of WHFS 102.3

“WHFS in Bethesda, Maryland, coming to you from high atop the Triangle Towers. Ease on back, take your clothes off…

The final LP from Jawbox, the D.C. post-punk band that hopped to a major label in the '90s, has been reissued.

J. Robbins On The Revival Of ‘Jawbox,’ His Band’s Final — And Some Say Best — Album

Nearly two decades after the band released its last album, there’s still a mythology around Jawbox. As one of the…

Forthcoming film "Anacostia Delta" pays tribute to Danny Gatton, a phenomenal guitarist from D.C.

Remembering D.C. Guitar Virtuoso Danny Gatton And ‘The Anacostia Delta’

Over the last few years, D.C.’s hardcore punk scene has been memorialized by multiple films and TV shows. But soon,…

'Led Zeppelin Played Here' tries to crack the mystery of a rumored Led Zeppelin show in Wheaton, Md., in 1969.

Did Led Zeppelin Play A Maryland Youth Center In 1969? Jeff Krulik Thinks So

Long before Led Zeppelin was riding motorcycles through hotel rooms and clothing middle schoolers everywhere, the band played a show…

"I started thinking about effects pedals as being like a palette with different colors," Wilco guitarist Nels Cline says.

‘Voices Within The Music’: A Brief History Of Guitar Effects

Be it an effects pedal or a hole stabbed in an amp, distortion and sound manipulation have long been part of rock ‘n’ roll’s DNA.

D.C.'s Dynamic Superiors featured an openly gay singer, Tony Washington (far left).

How An Openly Gay D.C. Soul Singer Made Motown History

By the 1960s, the D.C. region could have been called a soul music capital: Out of it came Marvin Gaye,…

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