Andrew Raker
Lastest Stories by Andrew Raker
Originally a trade publication for outdoor billboard advertising and entertainment-related news coverage, Billboard published its first music “hit parade” list in 1936. With the greater focus on...
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Take a quick look at the 25 biggest hits of the first decade of the 21st century according to Billboard and you’ll find a wide representation of recent music, from rap to pop to R&B to good old...
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At his mother’s insistence, Long Island native Billy Joel reluctantly took up piano lessons at the young age of four. It would help engender one of the most commercially successful careers in the...
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Now celebrating their 60th anniversary, The Rolling Stones are both the world’s most quintessential rock outfit and an enduring cultural institution. To blaze a trail back to their origins is to...
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Michigan-born Madonna Louise Ciccone – Madonna for short – moved to New York City in her early 20s and soon became a fixture of the underground nightclub circuit. When her inaugural singles...
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Truth is stranger than fiction, the saying goes, and the modern documentary often proves it. In the age of true crime and perennial content, documentary films have become more popular than ever...
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David Bowie was one of the most vital cultural forces of the last century – an artist whose career can hardly be measured in terms of mere chart performance. In fact, 2016’s “Blackstar”...
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Should a Hollywood actor stick with the action genre long enough, it’s more or less inevitable that they’ll star in some bona fide turkeys. However, don’t take that to mean that it’s all...
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Nowhere is the relationship between comedy and tragedy more closely entwined than in the history of politics. One can take virtually any political era from the last two eons and walk away either...
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HBO Max is making headlines this week due to a rumored shake-up behind the scenes. They discreetly pulled six original films from their library without notice, which many suspect is the first move in...
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Pardon us while we wax philosophical, but one might call the modern era of streaming both a gift and a curse. On the positive side, home viewers have never before gained this kind of access to such a...
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Is it just us or is this August even more abysmal than most in terms of exciting new movie releases? That makes us all the more thankful for Amazon Prime’s video streaming service, which continues...
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Between their use of subtitles and their limited distribution in the United States, most foreign-language films don’t stand much of a chance at the domestic box office. Every now and then, however,...
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Given the oversaturated nature of modern television, it’s only natural that at least some quality programming gets left in the dust. The good news is that many of these overlooked shows are still...
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Some Hollywood actors find their signature genre and stick to it, while others spread their proverbial wings with each new project. Not only does genre-hopping give someone the chance to work with...
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