Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 13th, 2014

Tommy Ramone, the last surviving founding member of the groundbreaking punk band the Ramones, died after battling cancer on July 11. He was 65. Ramone reportedly died at a hospice facility in Ridgewood, Queens, and was suffering from cancer of the bile duct. Born Erdelyi Tamas in Budapest, Hungary in 1949, Ramone immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1957 to Forrest Hills, Queens. He co-founded the Ramones in 1974 with singer Jeffrey Hyman (Joey Ramone) and bassist Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee Ramone). He recorded 1976's The Ramones, 1977's Leave Home and Rocket to Russia with the band, and also co-produced 1978's Road to Ruin, as well as the band's live double album It's Alive in 1979. Despite producing what are now considered to be classic anthems of the early punk rock years, including "I Wanna Be Sedated," "Teenage Lobotomy," and "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," the band never cracked the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart (in fact," Blitzkrieg Bop" -- arguably their most famous song -- never hit the Hot 100 yet stands as their best-selling download). End Of The Century, a 1980 album recorded with legendary producer Phil Spector, was their best selling set, topping out at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 200. Tommy Ramone left the band in 1979 and worked as a producer, where he notched up credits on the Ramones' 1984 album Too Tough To Die and the Replacements' 1985 album Tim. Although strife within its ranks led the Ramones to officially disband in 1996, following a tour in support of Adios Amigos, the band's final studio album, its members had joined together to promote the posthumous release of 1999's Rhino anthology Hey Ho Let's Go. Tommy and the other Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. He is survived by longtime partner Claudia Tienan, brother Peter; sister-in-law Andrea Tienan; and nephews Eric and David. Posting on his Twitter account, Chris Stein of Blondie, a contemporary of the Ramones in the New York City punk scene, wrote: "He was a lovely gentle guy, super smart. The last of the original Ramones. RIP, Tommy." - The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard, 7/12/14.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse announced on July 13 that the band has canceled their July 17 concert in Israel at Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park over the current security crisis in the region." It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we must cancel our one and only Israeli concert due to tensions which have rendered the event unsafe at this time," a spokesperson for Young said in the statement on the website of Young's label, Warner Bros. Records. "We'll miss the opportunity to play for our fans and look forward to playing in Israel and Palestine in peace." A spokesman for Israeli authorities added that the concert was canceled "in order not to put people in Gaza rocket range at unnecessary risk." Palestinian militants have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel since July 8. The statement on the Warner Bros. site added that Young "will be making donations to the Louise Tillie Alpert Youth Music Centre of Israel and Heartbeat, which according to Young are "two organizations that teach music to Palestinian and Israeli youth simultaneously by enabling them to play music together." Earlier in 2014, Young's manager Elliot Roberts and former Pink Floyd principal Roger Waters, a Palestinian sympathizer, both urged Young not perform in Israel. - Billboard, 7/13/14.

A new reality series featuring members of Michael Jackson's extended family is set to debut on the cable channel Reelz on November 18. The six-episode show will focus on Alejandra Jackson, the ex-wife of Michael's brother Jermaine Jackson, and her five children. After Michael's death five years ago, they left the Jackson family home in suburban Encino, Calif., a move that a preview clip from the show suggests wasn't their idea. Alejandra Jackson had two children with Randy Jackson -- Genevieve and Randy Jr. -- and then married Randy's brother Jermaine, having sons Jaafar and Jermajesty. Alejandra has raised Donte since he was 2 after he was adopted by Katherine and Joe Jackson. "It's a long story," Alejandra said about her love life. - AP, 7/9/14.

Luciana Giminez, the Brazilian ex-girlfriend of Mick Jagger, is calling on Brazilian soccer fans to stop bullying the Rolling Stones frontman after he was dubbed a bad luck charm for appearing to always support the losing team. Jagger was cheering Brazil from the stands of the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte on July 8, when the host nation suffered a humiliating 7-1 defeat at the hands of Germany, which went on to win its fourth World Cup on July 13 with a tense 1-0 victory over Argentina in extra time. The Jagger critics also noted that the singer had previously voiced his support for Italy at a show in Rome in June when he claimed the team would advance from the group stage, only for them to lose to Uruguay and bow out of the competition. Further supporting their theory, Jagger also allegedly told fans in Lisbon that he was backing Portugal to advance to the knock-out round, but again, they failed to make it and now his triple bout of bad luck has prompted some soccer-mad devotees to dub the rocker "pe frio", which loosely translates as "the jinx." Posting on her Instagram account, Luciana Giminez wrote, "I would like to ask you guys who do this kind of bullying to think before you do it. Even though it only seems like a small thing, Mick is a person like us all, and he does not deserve to be treated this way by Brazilians." - WENN.com, 7/9/14.

A red Gibson SG electric guitar which Pete Townshend of the Who famously windmilled on stage during a Seventies concert in Cleveland, Oh., is currently up for sale on the auction site Lelands.com. According to the listing, the instrument was originally gifted to Cleveland disc jockey David Spero (later the personal manager of Townshend's rock pal Joe Walsh, who toured with the Who in the '70s); it includes both the original case and a letter of authenticity from Spero that explains how he acquired the item. Also on the online bidding block is a bundle of Who drummer Keith Moon percussion accessories: two Premier timbale drums with original heads, and a Paiste crash cymbal and a drum stool used during the recording of the Who's 1978 LP (and Moon's final album with the band) Who Are You. Moon's pieces were reportedly obtained from "respected rock dealer and Rolling Stones fanatic collector Matt Lee," who acquired them from Moon drum tech/Who road manager Bill Harrison; that listing also includes a letter of authenticity from Harrison. - Rolling Stone, 7/11/14.

AC/DC has reportedly completed work on their follow-up to 2008's Black Ice, an international smash that sold more than 5.3 million units in its first year of release. "The album is now finished. And the band members are apparently happy with the fruits of their labour... I'm very excited and we've got some great songs," frontman Brian Johnson told Classic Rock magazine. Johnson kept mum on the new LP's title, only saying "I wanted to call it 'Man Down' but its a bit negative and it was probably just straight from the heart. I like that." Johnson's potential title probably refers to the condition of the band's co-founding rhythm guitarist, Malcolm Young, who has recently been hospitalized with an illness that forced him to take a break from the band, and sparked the false rumor that AC/DC would call it quits. "We miss Malcolm obviously. He's a fighter," Johnson said. "He's in hospital but he's a fighter. We've got our fingers crossed that he'll get strong again." AC/DC was inducted into the Australian Record Industry Association Hall of Fame in 1988 and into the Rock And Rock Hall Of Fame in 2003. Earlier in 2014, Johnson hinted that AC/DC would play a 40-date tour to commemorate the group's 40th anniversary. Meanwhile in other heavy metal news, veteran rockers Judas Priest could nab what would be their first Top 10 album ever on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart in mid-July with the release of their new set Redeemer of Souls. Industry sources forecast the album could sell upwards of 30,000 copies in the week ending July 13. Redeemer of Souls, which was released on July 8, is the band's 17th studio effort, and first since 2008's Nostradamus. Despite having charted 17 albums on the Billboard Hot 200 since 1978, the group has yet to rack up a top 10 album. They topped out at No. 11 with Nostradamus. - Billboard, 7/10/14.

A 50th anniversary Beatles special called The Beatles: The Night That Changed America which was broadcast on CBS in February has scored six Emmy Awards nominations. The special, produced by CBS and AEG Ehrlich Ventures, is up for Outstanding Variety Special and in the categories of direction (Gregg Gelfand), music direction (Don Was), writing (Ken Ehrlich, David Wild), lighting design and sound mixing. In other Beatles-related news, Oscar-winning composer Ken Thorne, who earned a Grammy nomination for writing the incidental score to the 1965 Beatles film Help!, died on July 8 at age 90. Mr. Thorne also won an Oscar for scoring the 1966 musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and went on to receive an Emmy nomination for the 1995 CBS TV movie A Season Of Hope. Mr. Thorne, who was born in England and lived in West Hills, Calif., began playing piano at age five and was a professional musician by 15. His other credits include Superman II, Superman III and The Monkees' comedy Head. - Billboard, 7/10/14.

Posting on his official Facebook page on July 9, Dave Davies of the Kinks refuted a new BBC Radio 2 documentary that once again alleges the long-debunked myth that Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page played on the 1964 Kinks hit, "You Really Got Me." "BBC tells lies about Dave Davies and the Kinks in their new documentary," Davies wrote in an all-caps message on Facebook, urging fans to tweet the facts at the show's producer Kellie Redmond and host Danny Baker. "I, Dave Davies, invented the distorted guitar sound and played the solo on 'You Really Got Me' and Ray Davies played rhythm guitar. We never used ANY other guitarists on any Kinks hits," Davies added. Baker's documentary on London's famed Denmark Street -- known as the city's own Tin Pan Alley -- simply states that Page, a session musician at the time, played on the track, though other iterations of the legend have credited him for the song's distinct guitar tone and solo. The Kinks themselves, producer Shel Talmy and even Page have all denied the legend's validity over the years. In June, Dave and his brother Ray Davies said they were discussing the possibility of a Kinks reunion tour, though they both agreed that they would want to record a new album before hitting the road. - Rolling Stone, 7/10/14.

Charlie Haden, one of the most influential bass players of his generation, died on July 13 after a prolonged illness, according to his family and his record label, ECM. He was 76. Haden made essential recordings with Ornette Coleman's iconic free jazz quartet, trumpeter Don Cherry and drummer Billy Higgins, including albums The Shape of Jazz To Come and Change Of The Century. His solos on tunes like "Lonely Woman" and "Ramblin'" are still remembered, and he also played on the influential Coleman LP, This Is Our Music. In 1997, Haden released a Grammy-winning duet album with Pat Metheny, Beyond The Missouri Sky, and he released over twenty albums as a band leader and appeared on approximately 150 other recordings. - Billboard...... Teenie Hodges, a Memphis, Tennessee musician best known for his work as rhythm and lead guitarist and songwriter on many of Al Green's popular soul hits of the '70s, has died at age 68. Two of his compositions "Take Me to the River" and "Love and Happiness," both co-written with Green, have been covered by numerous other international artists, including Talking Heads, Al Jarreau, Amazing Rhythm Aces, Canned Heat, Foghat, Levon Helm, Tom Jones, and others. He also co-wrote several other popular hits with songwriters like Isaac Hayes, Willie Mitchell, and Green, including "I Take What I Want," "Oh Me, Oh My," "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" and "Full of Fire." In March 2014, Hodges was taken to a Dallas hospital for pneumonia, following an appearance at Austin's South by Southwest music festival. He died there on June 22, 2014, from complications of emphysema. - Wikipedia.com...... John Seigenthaler, a veteran journalist and publisher who was also known as a strong defender of the First Amendment and civil rights, died on July 11 at his home in Nashville, Tenn. He was 86. In his wide-ranging career, Mr. Seigenthaler also served on Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign, founded the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, edited and then published The Nashville Tennessean newspaper, and helped shaped the pioneering national newspaper USA Today. After he retired from The Tennessean in 1991, Mr. Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt, which aims to "create national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment issues." He was also the father of broadcast journalist John Seigenthaler Jr., who survives him along with his wife, the former Dolores Watson, a professional singer. - AP

NBC announced on July 8 that Stevie Nicks will be joining its hit talent show The Voice as an adviser to Adam Levine's team for the upcoming season, which premieres on Sept. 22. Filming is currently underway on the show's seventh season, and the 66-year-old Nicks has been working with Levine and his 12 team members as they assign songs and rehearse with the contestants in preparation for the show's battle rounds. Meanwhile, Nicks and Fleetwood Mac are preparing to kick off a 33-city tour starting Sept. 30 in Minneapolis, Minn. The fall tour will include Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and feature the return of McVie's ex-wife Christine McVie. - Billboard...... Aerosmith will launch a co-headlining summer tour with Slash of Guns N' Roses fame on July 10 in Wantagh, N.Y. Aerosmith has just wrapped an extended run in Europe, and guitarist Joe Perry says they will continue to showcase their 2012 album Music From Another Dimension!, an LP Perry says he doesn't feel has gotten its fair due. Perry will publish a memoir, Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith on Oct. 7, to be followed by a new solo album. Frontman Steven Tyler says hopes to finish his own solo album that he's been working on for the past few years. - Billboard...... Jackson Browne will be among the honorees of a Lifetime Achievement Award at The Americana Music Association Honors and Awards ceremony in Nashville, Tenn., in September. Browne, who has lent his voice to a number of social policy issues including clean energy, will receive the "Spirit of Americana" Free Speech Award. - Billboard

Paul McCartney returned to the stage in Albany, N.Y. on July 5 after a virus kept him from performing for two months. McCartney, 72, made no immediate reference to the virus that briefly hospitalized him in Japan. Dressed in black pants and a sky blue blazer, he kicked off the concert with a version of the Beatles "Eight Days a Week" and took his jacket off four songs in, joking it would be the evening's only wardrobe change. At one point, he interrupted his set to invite a Rochester, N.Y. couple onstage to supervise a marriage proposal. In May, McCartney canceled shows on his "Out There" tour of Japan and gigs in South Korea and the United States. He subsequently postponed a series of US shows in Lubbock, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Nashville and Louisville, which have been rescheduled for October. He last played in Costa Rica on May 1. Meanwhile, the new single from McCartney's latest album New temporarily reached No. 1 on the Twitter "Trending 140" chart, then settled at No. 2 after it was outdone by a new track from Alt-J. "Early Days" reflects on the early relationship between McCartney and John Lennon while growing up in Liverpool. New was released in October 2013. - AP/Billboard, 7/8/14.

On July 7, Columbia Records formally announced that Pink Floyd will release their first new album in 20 years in October after David Gilmour's wife Polly Sampson casually tweeted that "the band has a new record in the works and it's coming out this fall... [it's] called The Endless River [and is] based on 1994 sessions... [it] is Rick Wright's swansong and very beautiful." Columbia's announcement confirmed Samspon's tweet, noting the new LP "is an album of mainly ambient and instrumental music based on the 1993/4 Division Bell sessions which feature David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright." The label added that the album will be produced by Gilmour alongside Phil Manzanera, Youth and recording engineer Andy Jackson. On July 1, the band celebrated The Division Bell's 20th anniversary by releasing a deluxe reissue of the album. Keyboardist Wright, a founding member of the band, died of cancer in 2008 at the age of 65. According to singer Durga McBroom-Hudson, who toured with Pink Floyd in the 1980s and 1990s, the band started recording the new project during the Division Bell sessions and it was originally titled "The Big Spliff." "It was originally to be a completely instrumental recording, but I came in last December and sang on a few tracks," McBroom-Hudson posted on her Facebook page. "David then expanded on my backing vocals and has done a lead on at least one of them. That's the song you see being worked on in the photo." She went on to emphasize that the new album will consist entirely of unreleased songs. David Gilmour currently has a solo album in the works, and there is no word on whether Roger Waters will have been included in the new project, but his last appearance on a Floyd record was in 1983 with The Final Cut. Waters reportedly has a new solo album in the works. - Rolling Stone/Billboard, 7/6/14.

On July 3, the director of the beleaguered Gregg Allman biopic Midnight Rider, along with two of the film's producers, were indicted by a Georgia grand jury on involuntary manslaughter charges following a fatal train crash on the film's set in that state in February, which led to the death of camera assistant Sarah Jones. Producer Jody Savin and executive producer Jay Sedrish are charged with involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass and could face 10 years in prison, according to a statement from the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney's office. Filming on Midnight Rider, which was being made by Uunclaimed Freight Productions, was suspended in the aftermath of the train tragedy, and actor William Hurt -- who was due to play Allman -- pulled out of the production. Seven other crew members were also injured in the incident, which is reported to have taken place while filming a dream sequence that involved a bed being placed on the railway tracks. - Billboard, 7/4/14.

In the July 3 episode of the popular game show Jeopardy! an entire category was devoted to Bruce Springsteen. The Springsteen-related themes included "Born in the U.S.A.," "Glory Days," "Cover Me," "The Ghost of Tom Joad," and "The 'E' Street Band," and one category dealt exclusively with the singer himself. While Springsteen has no live shows scheduled for the immediate future, on July 9 he will release Hunter of Invisible Game, a short film he co-directed with longtime collaborator Thom Zinny. He recently paused his vacation in Portugal to appear with the Rolling Stones for a rendition of "Tumbling Dice." - Rolling Stone, 7/4/14.

A reel of six previously unheard recordings by late '70s cult singer/songwriter Nick Drake will go up for auction on July 31 at London's Ted Owen & Company. A company representative described the rare recordings as "pristine master tapes" and is expecting them to fetch at least £250,000 ($428,000). According to a story in the New York Times, the songs were recorded in 1968, the year before the release of his debut album Five Leaves Left, the reel has been owned by Beverley Martyn, a folk singer who mentored Drake alongside her late husband John Martyn. In an interview with the UK paper The Independent, Martyn called the sound "full of fun," and said Drake's early guitar playing on the tape is "absolutely excellent." "The strings were great [on the formal albums], but this is just him, and it makes it more personal," she said. She went on to describe Drake as a "younger brother." While Drake, who died prematurely of an anti-depressant overdose in 1974 at the age of 26, never found fame in his short lifetime and his albums received little acclaim (he was dropped by Island Records for poor sales), decades after his death audiences rediscovered his poetic lyrical sensibilities and delicate arrangements on albums such as 1970's Bryter Later and 1972's Pink Moon. Martyn cites health issues as her reason for finally parting with the tapes, which has been in her possession all this time. "I don't want this tape to get lost or get into the wrong hands if anything happens to me," she said. "Someone else should be able to enjoy it." - Rolling Stone, 7/3/14.

Blondie have announced two UK shows this summer, at the Bristol O2 Academy on Aug. 19 and the Leicester O2 Academy on Aug. 20. The gigs will follow the release of the recent two-disc Blondie 4(0) Ever which is made up of a greatest hits album alongside the band's new LP Ghosts Of Download. It was their first release since 2011's Panic Of Girls. Blondie recently played UK dates in London and Sheffield at the end of June, and also co-headlined the legendary Glastonbury Festival. In February, the band was honoured at the NME Awards with Austin, Tex. They were named Godlike Genius at this year's event, which took place on Feb. 26, where they performed a career-spanning set. - New Musical Express, 7/5/14.