Rock N Roll

I note with interest our President holding a point of view stated by the rock band Steppenwolf ("The Pusher") some 20 years ago. One wonders if this will have the same effect as his efforts to balance the budget or bring peace to Lebanon. TONY BERTERO Pasadena

It was the physical embodiment of rock's power and majesty - a wall of black, vinyl-clad cabinets, one atop the other, crowned with a rectangular box containing the innovative circuitry that revolutionized the music. This was the famed Marshall stack, the amplification gear that has dominated rock stages since its introduction in the early 1960s, bestowing on guitarists the ability to achieve unprecedented volume and controlled distortion. From the Who, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s on through Peter Frampton, Van Halen, AC/DC, Motley Crue, Guns N' Roses and Nirvana in succeeding decades, the cursive "Marshall" emblazoned on the speakers has served as an inescapable backdrop signature.

Dick Clark, the youthful-looking television personality who literally introduced rock 'n' roll to much of the nation on "American Bandstand" and for four decades was the first and last voice many Americans heard each year with his New Year's Eve countdowns, died Wednesday. He was 82. Clark died after suffering a heart attack following an outpatient procedure at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, according to a statement by his longtime publicist, Paul Shefrin. Clark's health had been in question since a 2004 stroke affected his speech and mobility, but that year's Dec. 31 countdown was the only one he missed since he started the annual rite during the Nixon years.

Alice Cooper is best known for his distinct brand of rock 'n' roll, incorporating horror elements including guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood and boa constrictors into his shows. The Phoenix rocker, 64, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, a nod to a career that produced hits such as "School's Out," "No More Mr. Nice Guy," "I'm Eighteen" and "You and Me. " Yet he's also a gifted golfer, a four handicap who after touring with Iron Maiden last year is entered in the pro-am competition at this week's Humana Challenge golf tournament headlined by Phil Mickelson in Palm Desert and La Quinta.

In one of the numerous bits of B movie dialogue that pervade "Memphis," the 2010 Tony-winning musical now playing a two-week run at the Pantages Theatre, the show's female protagonist, Felicia Farrell, explains that "Rock 'n' roll is just black people's blues sped up. " But this awkward Broadway hit, set in segregated Memphis, Tenn., in the 1950s, could be called 1980s arena rock slowed down, with songs that rage against racism and plea for tolerance...

Hilburn's Usual Favorites. PAUL SCHOWALTER Glendale