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Today’s Music News: Paul Stanley’s bizarre circus-themed Folgers ad emerges

by Staff

December 23, 2014

When you're planning to shoot a coffee commercial featuring a pair of trapeze artists, who's the first vocalist you think of to sing the jingle? Of course the answer must be Paul Stanley, the guitarist/"Starchild" of KISS. The commercial, which was shot in 2000 but never aired, has long been sought by KISS fans. The ad has now leaked onto the Internet, and you can watch it below—while it lasts. For his part, Stanley has no regrets about making the coffee commercial. "I had a blast doing it," he says. (Rolling Stone)

English rock legend Joe Cocker has died of lung cancer at the age of 70. Cocker earned a place of honor in Minnesota music history when he played the first-ever show at First Avenue—then known as the Depot—on April 3, 1970. (Local Current)

The Replacements quietly posted a 25-minute improv jam on their Soundcloud. The song, "Poke Me In My Cage," is mostly instrumental except for some seemingly stream-of-consciousness yelling by Paul Westerberg. (Local Current)

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/181980206" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

Teenage Time Killer have confirmed that they'll release a debut album with Rise Records. The core of the group are members of the alt-metal band Corrosion of Conformity; the new album, recorded at Dave Grohl's Studio 606, will feature appearances by Grohl, Slipknot's Corey Taylor, and numerous other veterans of unusually loud alternative bands. (Rolling Stone)

The family of Bob Marley is opening its vaults for a flood of new releases and reissues to mark 2015, the year the late reggae icon would have turned 70. First up: a never-released live album and video from a 1978 Boston show, slated for release on Feb. 10. (Rolling Stone)

On Friday in Nashville, Justin Timberlake welcomed a very surprising special guest on stage with him: Garth Brooks. The two sang a duet on Brooks's "Friends in Low Places." (Billboard)

The renewed debate over Iggy Azalea's role in hip-hop culture that was ignited by an emotional Azealia Banks interview has moved on to Twitter, where artists including Q-TipT.I.Action Bronson, and Kreayshawn have weighed in on what it means for Azalea—a white rapper from Australia—to be the world's hottest hip-hop star. Meanwhile, a group of hackers are claiming to be in possession of an explicit video featuring Azalea; they're threatening to release images from the video unless Azalea apologizes to Banks for calling Banks a "bully and a bigot." (Billboard)

Longtime AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd says he's rejoining the band, regardless of how his bandmates feel about the situation of playing with a guy who's facing charges of possessing drugs and threatening murder. "I’m going back to work with AC/DC and I don’t care who likes it or who doesn’t," says Rudd. "I want my job back and I want my reputation back." (Billboard)

Grimes—a.k.a. Claire Boucher—has admitted that her stage name wasn't actually inspired, as she previously said, by Simpsons character Frank Grimes. Instead, she says, she took her name from the "grime" genre label on MySpace. (Consequence of Sound)

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This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.