Television – Spinning Platters

“This Is Pop” Ranked: From Fascinating to Boring, The 8 Episodes of the Netflix Music Documentary Series

T-Pain and his wife Amber open up about how criticism of Auto-Tune affected them, in This Is Pop’s best episode.

Netflix is premiering the Banger Films documentary series This Is Pop for most of the world. It promises to go into detail on 8 different subjects surrounding the world of pop music. I was able to watch the entire series, and while it’s an uneven affair, there are some episodes that really stand out as being both well researched and well written with something valuable to say about the topic. Then there are others that stand out by not using quality archival footage and having interview subjects that won’t get in the weeds on things. Use my episode guide below to make a viewing order so that you know your time will be well spent:

Continue reading ““This Is Pop” Ranked: From Fascinating to Boring, The 8 Episodes of the Netflix Music Documentary Series”

Spinning Platters Interview: Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s and The Bluebonnets

There aren’t many artists out there that can stake the claim that they are having a “big” 2020. However, Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s is having one of the biggest years of her career! Earlier this spring she released her first book, an autobiography of her early years, leading up to the Go-Go’s mid-’90s reunion, All I Ever Wanted. In addition to the book, she released a solo record to accompany the book, also called All I Ever Wanted, providing a soundtrack to that book. This Friday, July 31st brings us the first new single by the Go-Go’s since 2001, “Club Zero.” Once you have given the new single a few dozen spins, that very same night brings us the premiere of the Go-Go’s on Showtime, a documentary film about the life and times of the most successful all female rock band of all time at 9/8c!

Spinning Platters had the opportunity to chat on the phone with Kathy Valentine, and in between a few fanboy moments of excitement, I managed to ask a few questions. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s and The Bluebonnets”

Sketchfest Review: An Afternoon with Animaniacs at Marines Memorial Theater, 1/25/15

Sometimes these reviews just flow out of my fingers like some kind of magic, and sometimes writing them is like pulling teeth, a sentence here, a sentence there, delete, delete, delete, and try again. For some reason, the most painful ones to write are almost always the best shows to watch. That couldn’t be more true than for this one. An Afternoon with Animaniacs was so good I have been staring at sentences I hate for days, unable to move forward. How do you put an experience like this in words? How do you explain the transcendent feeling I felt watching these amazing performers not only show off their talent, but to doing it with such joy? I’ve never seen anything like it. Voice actors really are a special breed, something much purer and glowing than the comedian or actor I normally watch at Sketchfest. Maybe what I really want to say is sorry if you weren’t at Marines Memorial Theater Sunday afternoon. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: An Afternoon with Animaniacs at Marines Memorial Theater, 1/25/15”

Smash Blogging: Episodes 1 and 2

Getting the last laugh. Where's your Taylor Hicks now?

It’s about time we popped the cherry on television reviewing on Spinning Platters. Any time there’s a new NBC show about the creation of a new Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe starring an American Idol runner-up, we’ll be there! Even better if the hype machine is dialed up high, saying it’s going to be an “adult Glee.” I mean, I’m an adult, and I think Glee sucks, so this must be the show for me. And is it ever? It’s everything I’d hoped it would be, and also far, far less. It’s a fascinating, horrible mess, and I’m hooked after two episodes of diverse quality (one’s good; one sucks). Let me explain why. Continue reading “Smash Blogging: Episodes 1 and 2”