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After John Waters made the once-improbable leap to the mainstream with “Hairspray,” a joyous film so devoid of filth that it was rated PG, he found himself in bizarre circumstances: He’d made a box-office success, a home-video smash, and his next film would be produced by Imagine Entertainment and released by Universal Pictures.

That film, the 1990 “Cry-Baby,” failed to duplicate the success of its predecessor, but it developed a cult following thanks in no small part to its star Johnny Depp. As such, the film’s popularity has earned it a 4K/Ultra HD reissue via Kino Lorber that will hit shelves May 28.

Waters was so excited about seeing his film receive this specialized treatment that he agreed to make the promotional rounds for its release. When IndieWire hopped on the phone with him, he detailed the origins of the film and his love of its music, discussed his...

Elvis Presley wouldn’t have been the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll without the musical pioneers who came before him and — John Lennon was well aware of that. The “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” singer said The Beatles were inspired by Elvis and Elvis was inspired by a blues singer. The singer in question had some huge hits in the 1950s. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll even covered one of his more famous songs.

John Lennon said there’d be no Elvis Presley without Johnnie Ray

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John discussed The Beatles’ musical lineage. “Without rock ‘n’ roll there would be no Beatles,” he said. “It’s all speculation. Without Elvis there would be no Beatles. Without Johnnie Ray there would be no Elvis. Without whoever came before Johnnie...

Everyone basically agrees that John Lennon and Kurt Cobain are two of the biggest names in classic rock. Yoko Ono, on the other hand, had no interest in those comparisons — but Cobain himself did! Here’s a look at why he identified with the “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” singer so much but wasn’t a fan of Paul McCartney.

Yoko Ono said Kurt Cobain had similarities to John Lennon and so did all rockers

During a 2013 interview with Songfacts, a reporter asked Yoko about the state of rock music. “Rock music is rocking now!” she replied. “We are telling the world, we are going to survive, in whatever condition we are put in.”

The reporter asked Yoko if she thought Cobain was similar to the “Imagine” singer, especially considering that both of them were so honest in their songs and in interviews. “Don’t waste your time checking...

Love them or hate them, The Beatles‘ legacy is impossible to understate. Paul McCartney seemed to appreciate it even if he didn’t comprehend it. On the other hand, John Lennon dismissed the group’s significance.

Paul McCartney said The Beatles had a legacy because they represented ‘freedom’

During a 2010 interview with The Repository, Paul was asked if he understood The Beatles’ impact. “That’s what’s so amazing: It isn’t quite possible,” he replied. “It’s nearly possible. I think as time goes by I kind of understand a little bit more, just the reflective lens lends a bit of clarity to it,” he said. “I meet so many people that just sort of say, ‘I want to thank you for your music. It really helped me’ or ‘It changed my life.'”

The “Silly Love Songs” singer said the Fab Four’s importance extended beyond their music.

Lola Dee, whose 1951 hit “Pretty Eyed Baby” under the name Lola Ameche rose to No. 21 on the Billboard singles chart, has died at 95. She died of natural causes in a Hinsdale, Il, nursing facility, her publicist said.

The singer had her name changed in the 1960s to better appeal to the burgeoning youth market.

Dee toured with Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante and Johnnie Ray, and was signed to the Columbia and Mercury labels in the ’50s. In her heyday, she recorded more than 20 songs, including “Hitsity Hotsity,” “Dance Me Loose,” “Old Man Mose,” “Down Yonder,” “Take Two to Tango” and “Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes.”

In the 1960s, the now blonde singer recorded the songs “Padre” and “Dig That Crazy Santa Claus.” Under Mercury’s subsidiary label, Wing Records, her cover of the Platters’ “Only You (And You Alone)” sold close to one million copies.

Dee...

Pop singer Lola Dee, who recorded for the Columbia and Mercury labels in the 1950s and toured around the world with the likes of Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante and Johnnie Ray, has died. She was 95.

Dee died Thursday of natural causes at a nursing facility in Hinsdale, Illinois, her publicist and CD producer, Alan Eichler, announced.

After signing a five-year contract with Chicago-based Mercury Records, a recently formed company that had Frankie Laine, Vic Damone and Patti Page on its roster, the singer, then billed as Lola Ameche, teamed with the Al Trace Orchestra for 1951’s “Pretty Eyed Baby,” which reached No. 21 on the Billboard charts.

She and Trace followed that year with another hit, “Hitsity Hotsity,” and she recorded more than two dozen songs over the next three years, including swinging versions of “Dance Me Loose,” “Old Man Mose,” “Down Yonder,” “Take Two to Tango” and “Don’t Let...

John Lennon said that Elvis Presley grew to disappoint him. Before this, though, he idolized the American artist. Lennon listened to Elvis as a child and took early inspiration from him. After The Beatles met Elvis in 1965, Lennon sent Elvis a message to express how much he meant to him. Here’s how Elvis responded to his words.

John Lennon sent a message to Elvis Presley

In 1965, The Beatles met Elvis at his Bel Air home. They had been trying to meet him for a long time and finally succeeded.

“We were always in the wrong place at the wrong time to meet him, and we would have just gone round or something, but there was a whole lot of palaver about where we were going and how many people should go and everything, with the managers Colonel Tom and Brian working everything out,” Lennon said in The Beatles Anthology.

John Regis, a comedian and entertainer who performed on talk shows and cruise ships and was a headliner on the Playboy Club circuit, died Aug. 19 in Los Angeles, magician Kerry Ross announced. He was 94.

As a “road comic” in the 1960s and ’70s, Regis was a regular at the Purple Onion and Hungry i nightclubs in San Francisco, toured Canada in a comedy show with Lyle Waggoner and opened for the likes of Bob Hope, Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman and Peter Marshall during his career.

He also showed up in the 1991 film Joey Takes a Cab, starring Lionel Stander; on talk shows hosted by Steve Allen, Della Reese, David Frost and Alan Thicke; and on stage in regional productions of Kiss Me Kate, Under the Yum Yum Tree, Sunday in New York and other plays.

Born John Ray and raised in the Ozarks, Regis produced “Tops...

Elvis Presley was a rock n’ roll pioneer in the 1950s. Artists like Chuck Berry and Little Richard introduced the genre to many audiences, but Elvis made the genre skyrocket in popularity. He was also a pivotal figure for the youth, as his rebellious spirit infected the hearts of young listeners. Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant was young when he first heard Elvis Presley in the U.K., and he said his music was a “call to arms.”

Robert Plant said Elvis Presley’s arrival in the U.K. was an awakening for young people

While Elvis’ music seems relatively tame by today’s standards, he was considered controversial in the 1950s. Not only was rock n’ roll seen as a rebellious form of music, but Elvis also shook things up with his eccentric performing style, including suggestive hip swinging and rapid leg movement.

In an interview with Jools Holland,...

In the way it avoided a conventional timeline or stories behind the making of some of his best-loved albums, Bob Dylan’s 2004 book Chronicles: Volume One wasn’t a remotely traditional memoir. And let’s not even start on the whirligig prose in his Sixties head-scratcher Tarantula. Next to them, his third book, The Philosophy of Modern Song (which is out next week), would seem comparatively straightforward: essays on 66 of his favorite songs, billed, on its inner flap, as “a master class on the art and craft of songwriting.”

Dylan...

A new song from Robbie Robertson will sit alongside classics by Fats Domino, Jackie Gleason and Marty Robbins on the soundtrack for Martin Scorsese’s next film, The Irishman. The film opens in theaters today, November 1st, before hitting Netflix November 27th, while the soundtrack will arrive November 8th.

Robertson wrote the score for The Irishman, although only his theme song for the film will appear on the soundtrack. The track has a captivating aura that’s somewhat reminiscent of a Spaghetti Western song, with Robertson lacing an ominous acoustic...

By Todd Garbarini

The 60th anniversary of Walter Lang’s 1954 film There’s No Business Like Show Business, which stars Ethel Merman, Donald O’Connor, Marilyn Monroe, and Mitzi Gaynor, will be celebrated on Tuesday, December 9, 2014 at the Regent Theatre in Los Angeles at 7:00 pm. Scheduled to appear at the screening in person is actress Mitzi Gaynor who played Katy Donahue in the film. From the press release:

There's No Business Like Show Business. This Cinemascope musical hit from 1954 (nominated for 3 Oscars®) chronicles the ups and downs of an Irish showbiz family over the course of many years. The outstanding ensemble cast includes Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, Marilyn Monroe and Johnnie Ray. The music by Irving Berlin includes the title song performed by Ethel Merman, "Heat Wave" performed by Marilyn Monroe, "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody," "Alexander's Ragtime Band," and many other standards.

Everyone loves Bogey, baseball and backseat makeouts. Here are 25 reasons you should remember the year 1951:

1. Honey, I'm Home! "I Love Lucy" debuts on CBS.

2. Pabst airs the first television beer commercial ever, way before it was cool.

3. America's eternal sweetheart Audrey Hepburn makes her film debut...

4. "Backseat bingo" is slang for for a backseat make-out sesh.

5. People loved Cheerios.

6. Angsty kids everywhere rejoice as J.D. Salinger's Catcher In The Rye is released and Holden Caulfield's complaints are heard far and wide.

7. The first baseball game is televised in color. It's between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves.

8. Gerber starts putting Msg in its baby food.

9. Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable" hits #2 on the charts, following Johnnie Ray's "Cry."

10. Funnyman Robin Williams graces the earth with his presence.

11. The first Jack In The Box opens in San Diego, California.

12. "Classy chassis" is slang for a bangin' bod.

13. Punctuation revolutionary E.

The Shutter Island soundtrack. Lavish outlays of cash on sonic canvases from the back catalogue of Jumpin’ Prince Mick and the Keefster is probably what most famously characterises the soundtracks of prior Martin Scorsese movies. Whether it be stumping up a third of the, relatively meagre, Mean Streets budget for a couple of Stones cuts, or forking over really big bucks for repeat performances of Gimme Shelter (and others) in Casino and The Departed (the less said about Shine a Light the better). Recent years though have seen the director strike up a productive partnership with Howard Shore – The Lord of the Rings composer scoring the diminutive director’s last three narrative features. And it is orchestral moodiness rather than diner jukebox pillaging which dominates the soundtrack to Scorsese’s latest, the waylaid Shutter Island. However Shore is absent from proceedings, as indeed is a commissioned composer of any identity,...