Posted by Administrator on September 26th, 2014
Led Zeppelin fans continue to clamor for a reunion after the band's one-off show in London a few years ago, but it's easy to understand Robert Plant's resistance. Reinventing himself on his 2007 Alison Krauss collab, Raising Sand, and on projects with ex-girlfriend Patty Griffin, the singer made some of his best work ever. His latest, Lullaby and...The Ceaseless Roar, returns to the world-music fusion of 2005's Mighty Rearranger with his Strange Sensation band (now reconfigured as the Sensational Space Shifters). It lacks the focused grace of his country experiements, but it's Plant's hardest-rocking set in a decade, and as he comes home to something like progressive rock it's hard not to think of his other band. Keep hope alive, Zep fans. Lullaby dropped via Nonesuch Records on Sept. 9...... 
Spain's film academy has selected the movie Vivir es Facil con los Ojos Cerrados [Living Is Easy (With Eyes Closed)], about a Spanish man's quest to meet John Lennon, as its entry for best foreign language film at the 2015 Oscars. Directed by David Trueba, the film tells the true story of an English-language teacher from Spain who traveled to the southern province of Almeria in 1966 to try to meet the late Beatles star, who was staying there. The movie takes its name from the lyrics of the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever," which Lennon began writing in Almeria. The U.S. film academy will select finalists for the Oscars in January, with the awards announced a month later. Spain has won four Oscars for best foreign language film. In other Beatles-related news, Paul Simon performed the George Harrison-penned Beatles tune "Here Comes the Sun" on Sept. 23 as part of "George Harrison Week" on the TBS late night talk show Conan. Simon is no stranger to performing the hit, having sung the 1969 classic at various festivals and concerts over the years, most notably on Saturday Night Live in 1976, joined by Harrison himself. Meanwhile, a portion of the famous Ed Sullivan Show set displayed during the Beatles' US television debut is expected to command as much as $337,000 when it goes up for auction during the The Fest for Beatles Fans, which takes place in Los Angeles from Oct. 10-12. The set is signed by all four Beatles and is currently owned by Wayne Johnson, owner of Rockaway Records. Among the other items up for purchase includes a copy of the band's 11th US release Yesterday and Today featuring the rare "Butcher" cover, which is priced at $4,500, and the band's first US contract with Vee Jay Records, on sale for $100,000. The Fest for Beatles Fans was started in 1974 to mark the 10th anniversary of the band's first visit to the US. In its history, the event has accepted donated musical instruments from all four Beatles, which have been auctioned for charity. Earlier in September, a sculpture of Eleanor Rigby made of 1 million pounds' worth of used UK bank notes went on display in Liverpool. Created by Leonard Brown, the five foot two inch statue is made of thousands of shredded 5, 10 and 20 pound notes, which were supplied by the Bank Of England in the form of pellets. - AP/Billboard/New Musical Express, 9/24/14...... 
Paul McCartney has posted a video online asking members of the public to skip eating meat one day a week in order to help reduce their carbon footprint. Sir Paul is making the plea in conjunction with with the upcoming United Nations Global Summit, which is set for late September, and has launched a "Meat-Free Mondays" campaign in association with British Prime Minister David Cameron's climate advisor, Gregory Barker. More information can be found at 
A new Queen album entitled Queen Forever and featuring three previously unreleased tracks with Freddie Mercury on vocals -- including a collaboration with Michael Jackson -- will be released in November 2014. The Queen and Jackson duet, "There Must Be More To Life Than This," was written by Mercury during sessions for Queen's 1981 album Hot Space and the band recorded a backing track, but the song was never completed. Mercury later visited Jackson in Los Angeles, where Jackson's vocals were recorded but the song remained uncompleted. In 1984, Queen attempted to revive the track during sessions for their The Works album, but again it was not finished and Mercury's own version of the song surfaced on his debut solo album, 1985's Mr Bad Guy. This new production of the ballad uses Queen's original backing track and Mercury and Jackson's vocals, and was produced by William Orbit. Also featured on Queen Forever, which will be released both as a 20-track single CD and an extended 36-track, 2-CD set, will be previously unheard tracks "Let Me In Your Heart Again" and "Love Kills." Queen guitarist Brian May describes the rest of the album as "things that we have collected together that are representative of our growth rather than the big hits." - NME, 9/19/14...... In other Michael Jackson news, a federal judge in California has dismissed a lawsuit against Hologram USA owner Alki David, whose company produced a holographic re-creation of Jackson that was featured at the Billboard Music Awards. In court, David attacked those who had created the spectacle for allegedly infringing his patents rights. And through the media, he hyped the various applications for the projection technology. A day after the May 18 Billboard Music Awards, David gave an interview with CNN that aired with the caption, "Michael Jackson Hologram: How'd They Do It?" Pulse Entertainment then brought a $10 million lawsuit against David, charging that he "falsely claimed credit for creating and developing the visual effects spectacle in a nationally-televised interview on CNN." Now U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson notes that the allegation of misrepresentation is grounded in fraud and means that Pulse has the burden of specifying the statements it claims were false. - The Hollywood Reporter, 9/19/14.
Longtime David Bowie producer Tony Visconti confirmed to CNN that David Bowie will be releasing more new music in the future. "There's gonna be another album, definitely soon," Visconti said in an interview on Sept. 19. In July 2014, Bowie put rumors that his 2012 comeback LP 
Meanwhile another famous diva from the '60s and '70s, Aretha Franklin, is preparing to release a new album on Sept. 30, produced by Arista Records president Clive Davis. Davis has previously produced Franklin and says she has "always held a very special place in my heart...She's universally recognized to be the greatest singer of all time" and that the new LP shows Franklin "in absolutely peak form." Aretha's new album is purely and simply sensational," Davis says. "She's on fire and vocally in absolutely peak form. What a thrill to see this peerless artist still showing the way, still sending shivers up your spine, still demonstrating that all contemporary music needs right now is the voice. What a voice." The album's name has not yet been announced. - Billboard, 9/18/14...... Lawyers representing Led Zeppelin have filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the heirs of founding Spirit member Randy Craig Wolfe alleging that Led Zep used Wolfe's song "Taurus" as inspiration for 
A pair of new books about soul legend James Brown by two of his children offer a disturbing look into the world of the Godfather of Soul, with graphic descriptions of abuse and unbelievable tales of family murders going back 40 years. In her new memoir 
Grand Ole Opry star George Hamilton IV, best known for such country hits as "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" and "Abiline," passed away at a Nashville, Tenn., hospital on Sept. 17 at the age of 77. Hamilton is also remembered as one of the first Nashville-based artists to blend country with folk, recording many songs by up-and-coming songwriters as Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell. He also recorded many Gospel records which were well received by fans and critics alike. Born in Winston Salem, N.C., on July 19, 1937, Hamilton recorded the John D. Loudermilk-penned "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" for a small regional label named Colonial Records while still attending college, and it climbed to No. 6 on the Bilboard Hot 100 in 1956. The flip side of the single, "If You Dont Know," was very much in the rockabilly fashion. The record was acquired by ABC / Paramount, where Hamilton would remain through 1960. He would place nine more releases on the Billboard pop chart, with the biggest being 1958's "Why Don't They Understand," which hit No. 10. In 1959, Hamilton moved his family to Nashville, and became a member of the Grand Ole Opry soon after. His country hits continued throughout the decade, with the biggest being 1963's "Abilene," (also written by Loudermilk) which topped the country charts for four weeks and hit No. 15 on the charts. Hamilton also enjoyed worldwide popularity, and earned the moniker "The International Ambassador of Country Music." He also hosted a weekly syndicated show in Canada, and was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010. His last album was 2011's In The Heart of Texas, recorded on the Heart of Texas label. He also recorded many Gospel records which were well received by fans and critics alike. - Billboard, 9/18/14...... Polly Bergen, a versatile Emmy-winning actress perhaps best known as the terrorized wife in the original Cape Fear movie as well as portraying the first woman president in Kisses for My President, died from natural causes in her Southbury, Conn., home on Sept. 20. She was 84. A brunette beauty with a warm, sultry singing voice, Ms. Bergen was a household name from her 20s onward. She made albums and played leading roles in films, stage musicals and TV dramas, including the 1983 epic The Winds of War, and during the 1950s she became a regular on the popular game show To Tell the Truth. She also hosted her own variety series and founded a thriving beauty products company that bore her name. In recent years, she played Felicity Huffman's mother on Desperate Housewives and the past mistress of Tony Soprano's late father on The Sopranos. Ms. Bergen won an Emmy in 1958 portraying the tragic singer Helen Morgan on the famed anthology series Playhouse 90, and was nominated for another Emmy in 1989 for best supporting actress in a miniseries or special for War and Remembrance. She also battled emphysema and other ailments in the late 1990s, a result of 50 years of smoking. She is survived by her children Peter Fields, Kathy Lander and Pamela Fields and three grandchildren. - AP, 9/20/14...... Johnny Rotella, an accomplished instrumentalist and songwriter who wrote the Frank Sinatra standard "Nothing but the Best" and recorded with such artists as Neil Diamond, Frank Zappa, Steely Dan and others, died peacefully in his sleep in Van Nuys, Calif., on Sept. 11. He was 93. Mr. Rotella, a master of the clarinet, saxophone and flute, played with Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman's big bands, was featured on the twin altos with the Billy Vaughn Orchestra and worked in many sessions with top-notch composer/arrangers Jimmie Haskell, Earle Hagen and Buddy Baker. He was a band regular on the 1970s CBS variety series The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and contributed to TVs I Spy and the first two The Godfather films. He also played in the orchestra for Broadway shows and Los Angeles theater productions. - The Hollywood Reporter, 9/18/14.
Late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien will pay tribute to late former Beatle George Harrison on O'Brien's Conan show during the week of Sept. 22-25 in conjunction with the release of the new Harrison box set 
Jeff Lynne fronted his old band Electric Light Orchestra for the first time on a UK stage in 28 years at BBC Radio 2's "Festival In A Day in Hyde Park" in London on Sept. 14. The reclusive Lynne had been talked into performing at the annual event by BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show host Chris Evans, who introduced the band with a specially created VT. Lynne headed a band that included original ELO keyboard player Richard Tandy and the BBC Concert Orchestra, who fleshed out his compositions with record-perfect renditions. After playing some of ELO's biggest singles, including "Evil Woman," "Showdown," "Strange Magic" and "Livin' Thing," Lynne seemed overwhelmed by the crowd's enthusiastic reaction, sticking two thumbs up at the audience. "Wow, fantastic," he said. "It's unbelievable this really. I haven't done anything like this for so long, I can't believe it." Later, Lynne paid tribute to his late bandmates from "the other group I was in," The Traveling Wilburys, dedicating the supergroup's "Handle With Care" to George Harrison and Roy Orbison. After encoring with "Roll Over Beethoven," the Birmingham-born Lynne departed telling the 50,000-strong crowd it was "the best fun we've ever had" and that "I'll do this again." - New Musical Express, 9/15/14.
Now simply using the moniker "Yusuf," Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) has announced he will release his first new music in five years this fall and perform six shows behind the new album in North America in early winter. Tell 'Em I'm Gone will drop via Sony Legacy on Oct. 27 as part of a new deal Yusuf struck with the label that will see future releases of new recordings, existing catalog titles, previously unreleased live material and new videos. Tell 'Em I'm Gone's 10 tracks are divided between new originals and covers of songs such as the blues classic "Big Boss Man," Edgar Winter's "Dying To Live" and Procol Harum's "The Devil Came From Kansas." The LP was recorded in Los Angeles, Dubai, Brussels and London with Rick Rubin co-producing, and guest players include Richard Thompson', blues harpist Charlie Musselwhite, Bonnie Prince Billy', the group Tinariwen' and guitarist Matt Sweeney. Yusuf/ Cat Stevens will begin his first North American tour in 35 years on Dec. 1 at Massey Hall in Toronto, also visiting Boston (12/4), New York City (12/7), Chicago (12/9), San Francisco (12/12) and Los Angeles (12/14). He also has eight dates on his "The Peace Train... Late Again" tour scheduled for November in Europe, beginning in London on Nov. 4. - Billboard, 9/15/14.
A long lost self-produced documentary from The Doors, Feast of Friends, will finally be getting a proper release four decades after it was created in 1968. Feast of Friends was filmed during the Doors' summer tour 46 years ago by director Paul Ferrara and funded by the band itself. But it was never completed after receiving generally negative reviews at film festivals and was eventually shelved due to singer Jim Morrison's legal problems from allegedly exposing himself to an audience in Miami. Previously only available to fans as poor-quality bootlegs (the grainy bootleg version that was until now the only way of seeing the film was purportedly Morrison's own which he left at a friend's house in a brown paper bag just days before his death), the cult fan favorite film has been remastered and will be available on DVD and Blu-ray beginning Nov. 11. The new version has been color-corrected and mastered in high definition by long-time Doors co-producer and engineer Bruce Botnick, who also remixed and remastered the soundtrack. It will also include the 1968 British documentary The Doors Are Open centered around the band's final performance at London's Roundhouse, also remastered and restored. - Rolling Stone, 9/15/14.
Phil Collins will headline his first show in four years this fall when he plays the Miami Benefit Concert at the Fillmore Miami Beach to benefit his Little Dreams Foundation. Collins will headline the Dec. 6 gala fundraiser benefiting its Miami locale, which will also feature performances by two major Latin music acts: Italian singer Laura Pausini and Mexican star Alejandra Guzmn. The show, presented by Collins' ex wife Orianne Collins Mejjati and music technologist David Frangioni, will take place during Art Basel, the international art fair. ollins established the Little Dreams Foundation with Collins Mejjati in 2000 with the objective of helping children and teens with athletic and artistic talent fulfill their dreams. All proceeds will go Little Dreams' efforts in Florida. Last December, the organization opened up a Miami chapter, after Collins Mejjati and her children made the city their new home. Collins' last concert was The Prince's Trust Rock Gala 2010 at London's Royal Albert Hall on Nov. 17, 2010. - Billboard, 9/15/14...... An extinct "water pig with tactile lips" has been named after Mick Jagger by an educator at Wake University. The 19-million-year-old anthracotheres -- a species which has been likened to a kind of "long-legged pig" -- was named by Wake University Associate Professor Ellen Miller, a self-professed "huge Stones fan" who noted that the 19-million-year-old creature's "highly innervated muzzle with mobile and tactile lips" reminded her of Jagger. Recently discovered in Egypt thanks to the finding of pieces of fossilised jaw, it has been named Jaggermeryx naida, which means "Jagger's water nymph." Meanwhile, the real life Mick Jagger is among more than 200 celebrities to sign an open letter urging Scottish voters to keep Scotland as part of the United Kingdom. An independence referendum will be held on Sept. 18 which could see Scotland break away from the rest of the UK. The letter is part of the Let's Stay Together campaign that aims to give a voice to those who are not allowed to vote in the referendum. - New Musical Express, 9/11/14....... Shock-rockers Kiss shed their makeup and pulled out their acoustic guitars on Sept. 14 in Lake Oswego, Ore., to raise money for the renovation of the Oregon Military Museum. The museum is named for 93-year-old Brig. Gen. James B. Thayer, the father of current Kiss lead guitarist Tommy Thayer and a World War II hero who liberated a Nazi death camp. The museum is at the Oregon National Guard's Camp Withycombe in Clackamas. The renovation is expected to cost $15 million, and half has been raised. An auction before the 14-song concert, which closed with an unplugged version of "Rock and Roll All Nite," included one of Kiss guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley's guitars, fetching $20,000. Meanwhile, Kiss bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons is preparing to launch another reality show -- this one named Coliseum which challenges contestants to form rock bands with a winning musical voice and performance. Simmons, as the Rock Caesar, will ultimately decide with a thumb up or down who goes forward in the competition. "Coliseum is a no-holds-barred competition show between musical gladiators in the arena fighting to survive, fighting to be the champion, fighting to curry the favor of Rock Caesar," said Simmons in a statement. Simmons previously starred in A&E's Gene Simmons' Family Jewels and VH1's Gene Simmons' Rock School. AMC is also airing Simmons' and his bandmate Paul Stanley's reality show 4th and Loud. AP/The Hollywood Reporter, 9/15/14...... 
David Bowie has written the liner notes for an upcoming release by one of his biggest influences -- the Kinks. In a statement on his website, Bowie has released an excerpt from the sleeve notes of the forthcoming Kinks compilation 
As a writer and producer, Mr. Crewe had a hand in all the Four Seasons' hits, co-writing "Walk Like a Man" and "Rag Doll," as well as Valli's solo hit in 1967 "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," which peaked at No. 2 and was later covered by such artists as The Supremes, Julio Iglesias and Pet Shop Boys. In 1975, Valli's version of the Mr. Crewe-Kenny Nolan song 
Neil Young posted live recording of a new song called "Who's Gonna Stand Up" to his 
Barbra Streisand will make her first late-night TV show appearance in more than 50 years when she appears on The Tonight Show with host Jimmy Fallon on Sept. 15. On Sept. 10 Fallon announced the legendary singer and Oscar-winning actress will appear on the show in conjunction with the upcoming release of Streisand's new duets album 
As Stevie Wonder prepares to hit the road this fall with a 
A new exhibit showcasing country/pop singer Crystal Gayle has opened at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn., and will run through Nov. 3. Gayle's "When I Dream" exhibit takes it name from the "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" singer's 1979 hit single, and Gayle says looking back at her career gave her a chance to reflect. "It was incredible for me to look back onto my career. I saw all the things I've done, and I told a few people that it made me really tired," she joked. "Did I do all that? We went all over the world, and made so many wonderful friends. It seems like it was just yesterday." The exhibit contains many of Gayle's gold and platinum records, her Grammy for her 1977 chart-topper "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue," and even a Mattel Crystal "Eagle" Gayle Air Force Barbie doll, which commemorated both her 1984 flight aboard an F-16 fighter and the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force. Gayle is currently in the studio working on a yet-untitled album of some of her favorite classic country songs of all time. It's a family affair for the singer, who says, "It's a lot of fun being in the studio with my son Chris. He went to Belmont University, and he's really good at engineering. It's been great to work with him." 
Gayle also reminisced on the recording of her signature tune "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue," which she says she nailed on the first try. "That was a first take. I did not re-sing it. It just fell into place beginning with Pig Robbins' opening work on the piano. It was magic in the studio that day." - Billboard, 9/9/14...... Elsewhere on the '70s country/pop scene, Glen Campbell has announced the release date of his final recorded song, titled "I'm Not Gonna Miss You." In a press release announcing the soundtrack for the upcoming documentary Glen Cambell: I'll Be Me, Campbell says that his latest recording for the soundtrack's EP will be his last. "I'm Not Gonna Miss You," was written by Campbell with Julian Raymond and addresses his struggles with Alzheimer's, with which the legendary singer was diagnosed in 2011. The Band Perry and Glen's daughter Ashley Campbell are also featured on the five-song EP, arriving Sept. 30, almost a month before the film's Oct. 24 release date. Such famous artists as Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift will appear in I'll Be Me to pay tribute to the "Rhinestone Cowboy" singer. - Billboard, 9/8/14.
David Bowie has announced he'll release a new single, "Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)," which will be featured on his upcoming career spanning CD release Nothing Has Changed (The Definitive Collection). "Sue" was recorded especially for the retrospective with Bowie's long-time collaborator Tony Visconti, and will be released as a limited edition 10" single and digital download. Both the album and new single will be released via Parlophone in the U.K. on Nov. 17, and the album, in 1CD, 2CD, 3CD and vinyl formats, and accompanying digital download will drop the following day in the U.S. through Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings. The physical single will be released In the U.S. on "Black Friday," Nov. 28, and the set will arrive in Australia on Nov. 21. "Sue" will be the first new Bowie material since the Thin White Duke released The Next Day in early 2013. Another retrospective Bowie four-CD box set 
Three of late soul singer Marvin Gaye's children filed a summary judgment papers in their lawsuit over Gaye's song "Got to Give It Up," in which they claim singer Robin Thicke and his producer Pharrell Williams used Gaye's instrumental track in their hit single "Blurred Lines." Nona Gaye, Frankie Gaye and Marvin Gaye III are pointing the judge to recorded depositions and media interviews given by Williams and Thicke, and have also submitted an audio mash-up that's intended to serve as "concrete musical illustrations of the substantial similarities" between the huge 2013 hit and Gaye's "Got to Give it Up." Williams and Thicke filed their preemptive lawsuit in August 2013 seeking a declaration of non-infringement. In July 2014, the plaintiffs suggested in their own summary judgment papers that the Gayes "smelled money" when asserting a copyright infringement. The Gaye children indeed fired counterclaims in October 2013, but they want it noted who sued first. A jury trial has been scheduled for Feb. 10, 2015. - The Hollywood Reporter, 9/8/14...... Cher has postponed the second leg of her Dressed to Kill tour due to an "acute viral infection," a representative for the singer announced on Sept. 8. What was supposed to be the opening show in Albany, N.Y., on Sept. 11, will now take place on Oct. 6, according to spokesperson, and the Manchester, N.H., show that was to follow on Sept. 13 will now take place on Oct. 7. Cher has been ordered to be on full bed rest for several days since seeing doctors over the first weekend in September, necessitating the change in dates. The remainder of the tour is expected to stay the same. Ticket holders unable to attend the rescheduled dates will have refunds available. Cher's Dressed to Kill tour opened March 22 in Phoenix, Ariz. The diva's sell-out tour had grossed a reported $54.9 million through the end of its first leg on July 11. The tour is set to wrap on Nov. 19 in South Charleston, S.C. - Billboard, 9/8/14...... The Carole King Broadway musical "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" is set to begin a run on London's West End in 2015 with previews beginning on Feb. 10 at the Aldwych Theatre. "Beautiful" will later kick off a U.S. tour in September 2015 at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island, followed by a 12-week run at Chicago's Oriental Theatre as well as dates at the Pantages in Hollywood and in Durham, N.C., and Charlotte, N.C. Other engagements are also planned. The musical, which stars Jessie Mueller who won the Tony for her portrayal of the iconic singer-songwriter, depicts the emergence in the 1960s of King and her late husband and songwriting partner Gerry Goffin as a legendary pop songwriting team alongside their best friends and fellow tunesmiths, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. - The Hollywood Reporter, 9/8/14...... 
Former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters premiered his new documentary Roger Waters: The Wall at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 6. Waters told the audience he began working with co-director Sean Evans five years ago to update the show with a more ecumenical and anti-war approach. Since it kicked off four years ago in Toronto, the tour has grossed nearly $500 million. Waters also celebrated his 71st birthday on the same day, and fans began an an impromptu chorus of "Happy Birthday" as he walked out on stage to introduce the film. After the screening, Waters came back out for a post-film Q&A session to a standing ovation. A release date for the 133-minute documentary, which includes all 26 songs from Pink Floyd's 1979 album 
A classic animated Tom Waits music video called "Tom Waits For No One" is set to be restored for its 35th anniversary. Produced in 1979, "Tom Waits For No One" featured rotoscoping technology to capture the singer's movements before they were animated. In the video, Waits performs his song "The One That Got Away," a track from his 1976 album 
Actor Richard Keil, best known as the iconic James Bond villian "Jaws," passed away on Sept. 10 at a hospital in Fresno, Calif., after being admitted there a week ago with a broken leg. He was 74. A cause of death has not been released, and it is not known if the injury is connected to his death. The 7-foot-2-inch Kiel, who was born in Detroit in 1939, won over audiences worldwide in the 1970s as the steel-toothed character Jaws in the Roger Moore Bond classics 
Not since Queen recorded the soundtrack to Flash Gordon in the early Eighties has a sci-fi movie been as full of pop music as Guardians of the Galaxy. As a child in the Eighties, Peter "Star-Lord" Quill (Chris Pratt) gets a mixtape from his mom, who's dying of cancer. The cassette becomes the soundtrack to his adult life -- and the film. "The tape is really the character of Quill's mother," says director James Gunn. So Gunn picked tunes she would have liked: "David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream," the Runaways' "Cherry Bomb" and the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back," as well as ear candy by acts like the Raspberries and Blue Swede. A week after its release in late July, 
A celebrity photographer who took the image of the back of Rod Stewart's head that adorned the rocker's 1989 greatest hits album has filed a lawsuit against Stewart for using that same image as the centerpiece of his 2014 comeback tour. According to photographer Bonnie Schiffman's suit which was filed in California federal court on Sept. 4, the image was created by her in 1981 and it featured the back of Rod Stewart's head and shoulders. Stewart's "signature bouffant hair style" made it memorable and the choice for Stewart's Storyteller album, released by Warner Bros. Records, the suit goes on to say. The photo was licensed non-exclusively back then, and now a "replicate image, an unmistakable copy" of that image is impermissible as the "centerpiece" of Stewart's new Las Vegas show without her authorization. Schiffman is seeking injunctive relief and not less than $2.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Stewart's reps haven't yet responded to a request for comment about the lawsuit. Meanwhile, Stewart has announced his "The Hits Tour" will be heading to Australia and New Zealand in 2015. Stewart will play arenas and wineries on his trek, which includes his first-ever show in Dunedin, a student town in NZ's South Island. According to promoters Frontier Touring, the 9-date tour will kick off March 21 in Perth, also visiting Melbourne (3/24), Macedon (3/28), Adelaide (3/29), Sydney (4/1), Hunter Valley in Hope Estate (4/5), Brisbane (4/7), and Dunedin (4/11) before wrapping in Auckland on April 13. - The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard, 9/5/14.
Kiss bassist Gene Simmons has declared rock music to be "finally dead" due to record labels failing to adequately support rock artists. In an interview published by Esquire magazine and conducted by his son Nick Simmons, Simmons was robust in his criticism of the music industry, asserting that rock artists don't receive the same support from record companies that they did in the sixties and seventies. When asked what he would say to young musicians and songwriters today, Simmons affirmed, "Don't quit your day job is a good piece of advice. When I was coming up, it was not an insurmountable mountain. Once you had a record company on your side, they would fund you, and that also meant when you toured they would give you tour support. There was an entire industry to help the next Beatles, Stones, Prince, Hendrix, to prop them up and support them every step of the way. There are still record companies, and it does apply to pop, rap, and country to an extent. But for performers who are also songwriters -- the creators -- for rock music, for soul, for the blues -- it's finally dead. Rock is finally dead." Simmons also attributed part of rock's demise to illegal file-sharing and artists struggling to make money from their work. "The masses do not recognise file-sharing and downloading as stealing because there's a copy left behind for you -- it's not that copy that's the problem, it's the other one that someone received but didn't pay for," he said. "The problem is that nobody will pay you for the 10,000 hours you put in to create what you created. I can only imagine the frustration of all that work, and having no one value it enough to pay you for it." Back in 2010, Simmons accused the music industry of being "asleep at the wheel," saying "they didn't have the balls to sue every fresh-faced, freckle-faced college kid who downloaded material. And so now we're left with hundreds of thousands of people without jobs. There's no industry." - Esquire/New Musical Express, 9/5/14.
Bob Marley and the Wailers' 30-year-old greatest hits album Legend is on course to make the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart for the first time for the first week of September due to a discounting of the album in the Google Play store to 99 cents. Normally, the album sells for around $8. Industry sources forecast the album to sell between 20,000 to 24,000 copies in the week ending Sept. 7 -- with the bulk of those sales coming from Google. The album, which was released in 1984, has been a steady seller for years, but has never visited the top 10. Upon its release in 1984, Legend initially reached No. 54 on the Billboard 200 chart that year, but went on to chart a lengthy run on the list and continued to sell well as the years -- and decades -- went by. The album regularly sells between 3,000 and 5,000 a week, and reached a peak of No. 18 in 2012. On the Sept. 13 chart, the album ranked at No. 100 with 3,000 in sales for the week ending Aug. 31, according to SoundScan. If Legend does make the top 10, it will mark Marley's second top 10 album, following 1976's Rastaman Vibration. It peaked at No. 8 on the July 4, 1976-dated chart. - Billboard, 9/5/14...... Bruce Springsteen is set to make his acting debut on the next season of Netflix's original series Lilyhammer. The show, which is headed into its third season, stars Springsteen's E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt as a former mobster relocated to Norway by the Federal Witness Protection Program after testifying against his mafia cohorts. According to DeadlineHollywood.com, Springsteen will join the show for a guest appearance as a mortuary owner. Also, Van Zandt's Sopranos co-star Tony Sirico is said to be joining on with a recurring role as a priest. The Lilyhammer gig will marke Springsteen's true acting debut. Though he appeared in the film High Fidelity, he played himself. - Billboard, 9/5/14...... In other Springsteen-related news, Rutgers University will be offering a college course on The Boss beginning this fall. In the "Bruce Springsteen Theology Course," students will be able to explore 40 years of the singer's iconic lyrics. Other artist-specific courses available at American institutions of higher learning this fall include courses on the Beatles (UCLA), David Bowie (University of Southern Maine), and Michael Jackson (Clark Atlanta University). - Billboard, 9/2/14
In other Beatles-related news, Ringo Starr is speaking out over the use of the Beatles' name being used as nicknames for British jihadis in Syria involved in the recent ghastly executions of American journalists. Ringo says he is "saddened" that the fanatics -- led by a man dubbed "Jihadi John" who is suspected of beheading two American journalists -- had been labelled with the names of the Fab Four. "It's bullshit," Ringo told the London Evening Standard. "What they are doing out there is against everything the Beatles stood for." Starr added that he was powerless to prevent the names of the band or his bandmates being attached to the fanatics. "If we stood for anything we never stood for that. The four of us absolutely stood for peace and love. But we are not in control," he said. "Jihadi John" is currently being hunted by US forces after also threatening on video to behead British hostage David Haines. - The Evening Standard...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, a 29-minute jam session of Paul McCartney performing with actor Johnny Depp and a group of blues guitarists has been made available on McCartney's 
'70s disco legend Sylvester is being remembered with a new off-Broadway musical in New York and newly-unveiled space on the Rainbow Honor Walk in San Francisco's Castro District. On Sept. 5, the curtains opened on "Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical, created by Anthony Wayne and Kendrell Bowman. "I think we live in an era now where it's all about being free and being yourself, and Sylvester was a trailblazer for that," says Wayne. "Before there was RuPaul, before there was Adam Lambert, there was Sylvester. And so we're really excited to bring this forward because the moral of this show is to know that you can leave up out of this theater being yourself and to know that yourself is more than enough, just like Sylvester did. The time period is now for this story to really be out there." "From the music standpoint, I think people are getting tired of the same type of music that's in our generation right now," adds Bowman. "People are not making music that really makes you feel good, that when you turn on the song it really makes you want to dance and feel good about life. So now, with all the social issues that are going on with the world, this is [bringing back] an era that made people feel good and without any problems in life." Sylvester is the only musician to be a part of the Rainbow Walk in San Francisco, a hall of fame type series of plaques honoring gay icons such as Oscar Wilde and Frida Kahlo, and his tribute has been in the making for three years. The L.A.-born Sylvester (James) moved to San Francisco in 1967, and appeared in the 1979 film The Rose. His three Billboard Top 40 hits include "Dance (Disco Heat)" (#19, 1978), "You Make Me Feel (Mighty High)" (#36, 1979) and "I (Who Have Nothing)" (#40, 1979). He died of AIDS-related complications at age 40 in 1988. - Billboard, 9/5/14.
Seventies heartthrob David Cassidy pleaded guilty on Sept. 4 to a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated in upstate New York. Cassidy, 64, made the plea in exchange for a tentative sentence of a conditional discharge that includes 50 hours of community service in Florida, his home state. Sentencing was set for Nov. 5 and depends on a pre-sentence report. If the judge approves the sentencing recommendations, Cassidy would be required instead to complete 50 hours of community service and to have an interlock ignition system installed on vehicles he owns in both New York and Florida. In March, a judge in Los Angeles sentenced the former The Partridge Family actor and singer to three months in rehab and five years of probation in a drunken-driving case stemming from a January 2014 arrest for an illegal turn. Cassidy was convicted of driving while intoxicated in Florida in 2011. His license was suspended and he served one year of probation in that case. Cassidy spends time in New York during the summer at Saratoga Race Course, 40 miles north of Schodack. - AP, 9/4/14....... British fashion designer Paul Smith is developing a range of scarves inspired by Led Zeppelin album covers. Each of the scarves will enjoy a limited edition run of 50 and will be available at PaulSmith.co.uk and Paul Smith's Covent Garden outlet in central London. In other fashion news, the 1970s are a big inspiration for next spring's collections, according to Lizzy Bowring of WGSN, the official trend sponsor for the New York Fashion week which runs from Sept. 4 to 11. "The idea is to get back into yesteryear but add a contemporary twist with a fresh modern appeal," Bowring says. Pants will take up a slight flare, and just as Diane Keaton notably catapulted menswear into the spotlight in 1977's Annie Hall, so will the fashion-forward in spring 2015. Bowring says one of the big themes will be a "fuss-free approach of androgyny": Think sleek, sophisticated jumpsuits and/or tailored jackets paired with relaxed wide-leg trousers. - Billboard/CNN, 9/1/14...... 
Comedienne Joan Rivers died in a New York hospital on Sept. 4, following serious complications -- including cardiac arrest -- during a medical procedure the week before. She was 81. Ms. Rivers had been on life support at Manhattan's Mount Sinai hospital, where she was taken after she stopped breathing at the Yorkville Endoscopy clinic on Aug. 28. She was undergoing an apparently minor elective procedure at the clinic when she suffered cardiac and respiratory arrest, according to the New York Fire Department. Paramedics took her by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital, about a mile from the clinic, where she was initially listed in critical condition. Ms. Rivers first came to prominence on the Johnny Carson-hosted The Tonight Show in 1965 and appeared on that show more than 70 times. She became a permanent substitute Tonight Show host until a feud began between her and Carson after Ms. Rivers' began her own late-night talk show on rival network Fox in 1986. She later went on to host a successful daytime show, The Joan Rivers Show from 1989 to 1993, which won her a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host. Her out-spoken commentary on celebrities and politics was both praised and criticized as being truthful, yet too personal, too gossipy, and very often abrasive. Ms. Rivers authored 12 best-selling memoir and humor books, and many comedy albums, and most recently co-hosted the E! channel show Fashion Police. She also co-wrote the well-received 1973 TV movie 
The Allman Brothers Band, who have announced that they're calling it quits after 2014, played two of their last gigs ever at their Peach Music Festival in Scranton, Penn., in August. One of the sets included all of 1972's 
Paul McCartney has signed an open letter calling on Scottish voters to choose to remain part of the United Kingdom in a vote on independence that is set to take place on Sept. 18. Sir Paul, along with such famous fellow Brits as the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, actress Dame Jude Dench and TV producer Simon Cowell, have signed the letter which is part of a campaign to "give a voice to everyone who doesn't have a vote in the decision to break up Britain." Only Scots currently residing in Scotland and at least 16 years of age will be eligible to vote on the referendum, however those Scots living outside the country, nor residents England, Wales and Northern Ireland, can vote. Scotland has been part of the United Kingdom for more than 300 years, and the letter says that "the decision will have a huge effect on all of us in the rest of the United Kingdom." McCartney, who owns a farm in Scotland, co-wrote the hit song "Mull of Kintyre" there in 1977 with his post-Beatles band Wings. In an interview with the UK's Evening Standard paper, former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, who was born in Dumbarton, Scotland, said that "Scotland can get a bit more autonomy and self-control, but complete independence might be a bit much to handle." British Prime Minister David Cameron backed the appeal of the anti-separatists in a speech on Aug. 28 to business leaders in Glasgow. 
Meanwhile in other Beatles-related news, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono has announced the 2014 recipients of the biennial Lennon Ono Grand for Peace: Jan Wenner, co-founder and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine; Jeremy Gilley, founder of the non-profit organization Peace One Day; former Mayor of Reykjavik Jan Gnarr, and Doreen Remen and Yvonne Force Villareal on behalf of the Art Production Fund. The award, which has been presented every two years since 2002, is traditionally awarded to people who Ono feels embody "the work that John and [she] tried to do together." The awards will be presented during a ceremony in Reykjavik, Iceland on Oct. 9 -- Lennon's birthday. In 2013, Yoko Ono was made an honorary citizen of Reykjavik for her "outstanding work in pointing the light of peace" to the city. In other Lennon-related news, the transcript of Lennon killer Mark David Chapman's eighth parole hearing on Aug. 20 has been released, and the 59-year-old Chapman admitted that he's "an idiot" for murdering Lennon on Dec. 8, 1980. "I am sorry for causing that type of pain. I am sorry for being such an idiot and choosing the wrong way for glory," Chapman told the three-member parole board. "Many, many people loved him. He was a great and talented man and they are still hurting. I get letters so that's a major factor. It's not a regular crime," said Chapman, who told the board that he would understand if they denied him release based solely on the number of people he hurt. Chapman, who is at the Wende Correctional Facility, east of Buffalo, can try again for release in two years. - CNN/New Musical Express, 8/30/14.
A new graphic novel based on Bruce Springsteen's song "Outlaw Pete" will be released on Nov. 4 and feature words by Springsteen and illustrations by Frank Caruso. "Outlaw Pete," a track on Springsteen's 2009 album 
Motown legend Smokey Robinson has scored his highest-charting album in 33 years with 
Frehley is the first Kiss member to chart a top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as a soloist. The group's Gene Simmons previously held the high-water mark, when his eponymous set reached No. 22 in 1979. Space Invader also bowed at No. 1 on the Hard Rock Albums and the Tastemakers chart, and at No. 2 on Top Rock Albums chart. The new LP is Frehley's first since 2009's Anomaly, which debuted and peaked at No. 27. Frehley, 63, left Kiss in 1982 but rejoined the group from 1996 through 2002. After his 1978 solo set, he formed the band Frehley's Comet and released the group's self-titled debut in 1987 and Trouble Walkin' in 1989. Robinson and Frehley's successes come as weekly album sales in the US have reportedly plummeted to their lowest since Nielson SoundScan began tracking data in 1991, according to Billboard. A total of 3.97 million albums were sold in the US during the last week of August, which is the lowest weekly sum since records began in 1991. It's also the first time weekly sales have dropped below four million. An unnamed record label sales executive attributed the fall to the growth of streaming: "Sales have been going in the wrong direction all year. I guess its overdue, when you look at [the growth of streaming]."- Billboard, 8/29/14.
ZZ Top has cancelled two weeks of dates on their current American summer tour after bassist Dusty Hill fell on the band's bus on Aug. 26 and injured his hip. The mishap occurred as ZZ Top was on its way to Clarkston, Mich. to play at the DTE Energy Music Theatre on a co-headlining stint with Jeff Beck. Tour promoter Live Nation said the 65-year-old Hill required "immediate attention" to his injury after the fall. ZZ Top had 13 more shows with Jeff Beck left to go on the tour they launched Aug. 8. Refunds are being offered for the cancelled shows. - Billboard...... Neil Young is rumoured to be preparing a new studio album entitled Storytone for release in November. Young fans posting on the site foreverneilyoung.tumblr.com note that German composer and producer Chris Walden had updated his "recent projects" to include an "upcoming Neil Young album Storytone (out Nov 4)." Young has expressed an interest in recording an orchestral-based album. "I'd like to make a record with a full-blown orchestra, live -- a mono recording with one mic," he told Billboard earlier in 2014. - NME...... Former Police frontman Sting is reportedly charging fans 200 a day to pick grapes and olives on his Italian estate in Tuscany. Tourists are able to work with laborers at the 900-acre Il Palagio estate, with a charge of 208 lira applicable to anybody wanting to get involved. Sting, who is estimated to be worth $180 million, purchased the property in 1999 and sells produce created there. - NME...... TimeLife.com just released 
In a new interview with New York magazine, former Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant said that he does not like the fact that Zeppelin albums are available to stream on Spotify, because he feels the sound quality on the streaming service is "a hell of a compromise." When asked whether it bothers him that the original recordings are now being listened to in compressed audio, Plant replied: "I don't champion too many things, but I do champion the sound of music. It's a hell of a compromise. For example, with [his new solo LP]