Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on Sept. 8th, 2015

Kiss member Gene Simmons says he's stepping up his computer security after he was blindsided by a police raid on Aug. 20 during an investigation to trace an offender who downloaded child porn using his wireless network. "We came back from hiking and there was a crack taskforce from the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles Police Department, and they asked for permission to come in and search our home, and we said, 'Sure, why not'," Simmons told News.com.au. "So they came in and searched all over the place, and then two or three hours later we all sat down. What happened was, we were off on tour about a year ago, and somehow our (Internet connection) was used by some very bad people to do porn of a certain kind -- the worst kind. So they checked the records, found out that I was on the east coast of America -- they deemed that from there you couldn't do that -- our kids were off in Canada, (my wife) Shannon was outside the country... They're (the police) on the trail, and we're actually helping the FBI and the cops track down the bad guy." Simmons went on to say he has no idea who could have accessed his home Internet, but he has now increased security so it cannot happen again. "They're (the police) not sure (who did it). Because you can be right outside of somebody's home... and if you have the (network) information you can actually do stuff right outside the home, like on the street," he said. "I have no idea (who did it), I'm certainly the last person to understand that stuff. But they have to be in the area, either inside the home or one of the people coming to clean -- we have people coming into the house all the time food deliveries, workmen -- or they were nearby... The FBI came and helped us put in a firewall, whatever the hell that is." - WENN.com, 9/4/15...... Aretha Franklin testified via speakerphone from Detroit during a trial in federal court in Denver to block the screening of Amazing Grace, a documentary a 1972 concert of hers, at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado without the Queen of Soul's written consent. Franklin says she objects to the screening of the film, which was scheduled to be shown at Telluride three times (with the first showing only a few hours before she testified) because of a technical mistake in the film. The film's director Sydney Pollack, who died in 2008, neglected to synchronize the sound and the music documentary ended up being a silent film. Hundreds of hours were fruitlessly spent trying to match the correct sound to the right piece of footage (with the choir director of the Watts church where the performance was recorded even being enlisted to read lips). Amazing Grace ended up languishing in the studio vaults for decades. "For him to show that film, for him to completely and blatantly ignore me would be terrible," she said of the film's producer, Alan Elliot, whom she sued in 2011 to prevent a prior showing of the movie. "For him to do that would encourage other people to do the same thing and have no respect for me." Attorneys representing Telluride complained that Franklin's move came at the last minute -- an agent who represents her had been told the film would appear two to three weeks earlier -- and that the screenings at a modest theater in a remote southwestern town would not harm her. They also contended that a recently unearthed 1968 recording contract Franklin signed gave away rights to the footage of her concerts. Judge John L. Kane said Franklin deserved the right to control how her image is used. "She would suffer immediate and irreparable damage by this showing," Kane said in issuing his order. The festival could appeal the ruling, but would have to reverse judgment before the last scheduled screening on Sept. 13. - AP, 9/5/15...... Pink Floyd principal David Gilmour has just released a "making of" video for the second single from his forthcoming album Rattle that Lock, which is due Sept. 18. In the video for "Today," Gilmour goes into detail on his collaboration with former Roxy Music member Phil Manzanera, who co-produced the single and previously contributed to Gilmour's 2006 solo album On An Island. The debut single and title track from Rattle That Lock was released in late July. Gilmour is currently on tour with a small number of dates behind the new LP, including five dates at London's Royal Albert Hall on Sept. 23, 24 and 25). After touring the U.K. and Europe into mid-October, he heads to South America in December before coming to North America for shows in five cities during late March and early April. - New Musical Express, 9/6/15...... In a new interview with his hometown paper The Birmingham Mail, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi confirmed the upcoming Sabbath tour will be its last. "I still love gigging. It's all the travelling and the exhaustion that goes with it that's the problem," says Iommi, who was diagnosed with lymphoma in early 2012 and underwent successful treatment for the illness in Jan. 2013. "That side of things has a big impact on me. Yes, we may fly in luxury, stay in the very best hotels, ride in the most comfortable limos, but there's still a physical cost to touring. Even when we build in rest breaks, I have to have blood tests every six weeks. I find it tough going." The musician also said a followup to the band's last LP, 13, is far from a certainty. "I've been busy writing songs ever since the 13 sessions. At that point, we thought there might be another Sabbath album. But that's up in the air now so I don't know when or where they might appear. The tracks are ready, though." Black Sabbath announced in early September that their farewell tour, expected to last a year, would get underway in Nebraska in mid-January. Dates outside of America, Australia and New Zealand are yet to be announced. - NME, 9/6/15...... Rod Stewart hooked up with his mates from his old band the Faces on Sept. 5 in Surrey, England for a benefit concert for Prostate Cancer U.K. Stewart, guitarist Ronnie Wood and drummer Kenney Jones were backed by nine additional musicians who filled in for bassist Ronnie Lane (who passed away in 1997) and keyboardist Ian McLagan (who died in 2014). Other than a one-off gig at the 1993 Brit Awards, Stewart has not performed in public with the Faces since the band split up in 1975. After the show, Stewart tweeted the night's seven-song set list along with the message "A perfect rockin' evening with my mates": "A perfect rockin' evening with my mates @RonnieWood @KenneyJones! #FacesReunion pic.twitter.com/wgxEOFLSry - Rod Stewart (@rodstewart) September 6, 2015." - Billboard, 9/6/15...... Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler have an impromptu performance in Moscow, Russia on Sept. 2 when he joined a street performer to sing Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." A video of the unexpected performance was uploaded to YouTube on Sept. 4. Tyler, who is prepping a new country music inspired solo album, landed in Moscow on Sept. 2, according to a tweet he posted that day. Tyler -- whose debut country single, "Love Is Your Name," was released in May -- ended the "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" duet with a high five before posing for photos in front of the cheering crowd. Tyler has previously gone viral with videos of other impromptu performances in Lithuania and Finland. - Billboard, 9/6/15...... Meanwhile, rock legends Ringo Starr and Robert Plant paid tribute to one of their early influences, '50s rock & roller Jerry Lee Lewis, on Sept. 5 for Lewis's upcoming 80th birthday which will occur on Sept. 29. A special gig in Lewis's honor took place at the London Palladium as part of his "farewell U.K. tour." Starr and Plant wheeled a birthday cake onto the stage and joined a host of other musicians and fans in singing "Happy Birthday" to the veteran musician. "Had a great time at the Jerry Lee Lewis show in London happy birthday Jerry peace and love," Ringo later tweeted. - New Musical Express, 9/7/15...... Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, Natasha Bedingfield and Sean Paul are among the 16 international artists who have lent their voices to "Love Song to the Earth," a song recorded to spur action on global climate change. "Love Song to the Earth" will be released exclusively on Sept. 11 through iTunes and Apple Music's Connect radio station. The artists, producers and directors of the "Love Song" project and Apple are donating their respective proceeds to Friends of the Earth U.S. and the United Nations Foundation. - Billboard, 9/3/15...... In more Beatles-related news, the Fab Four's first management contract will be sold at auction on Sept. 29 in London and could fetch as much as £250,000. Also signed by their manager Brian Epstein, the contract was famously agreed to by Epstein despite McCartney annoying the manager by attending a meeting late as he was taking a bath, and cosigned by some of the Beatles' parents because they were too young to sign legally themselves. Other items up for sale in the Sept. 29 auction include a copy of the Beatles' Please, Please Me LP signed by all four members of the band, and one of Eric Clapton's Fender Stratocasters. - NME, 9/5/15...... Queen guitarist Brian May led a funeral march protest in London on Sept. 8 to demonstrate against the government-sanctioned cull of badgers. May, a longtime animal rights activist, has been vocal about anti-badger cull issues and was accompanied by fellow protesters at the march organised by animal welfare group Team Badger. The demonstrators led a hearse with flowers bearing the number "2,263," the alleged number of badgers that were killed in the last badger cull in the U.K. between 2013 to 2014. In a recent guest editorial for The Mirror, May accused the U.K. government of "bone-headedly, doggedly pursuing a policy of murdering British badgers." - NME, 9/8/15...... Ska and reggae trombonist Rico Rodriguez, a member of the 2 Tone revival band the Specials since 1979, passed away in London on Sept. 4 at the age of 80. Mr. Rodriguez, who was born in Cuba but moved to Jamaica as a child, joined the Specials in 1979, appearing on their cover of Dandy Livingstone's "A Message To You Rudy." He was also a solo artist and released his 1977 LP Man From Wareika prior to joining the Specials. He also played with Jools Holland's Rhythm & Blues Orchestra and was awarded an MBE for services to music in 2007. - NME, 9/5/15...... Candida Royalle, a former actress in pornographic films who appeared in dozens of X-rated films since 1975, died on Sept. 7 after a battle with ovarian cancer. She was 64. Born Candice Vadala, she studied music and dance at Parsons The New School of Design in New York and went on to pursue a career in the porn industry. Through her Femme Productions firm, which was established in 1984, Vadala was considered a pioneer for making movies aimed more at pleasuring women and helping couples maintain a healthy sex life. She was also a board member of the Feminists for Free Expression movement and the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists. - WENN.com 9/8/15...... British actress and comedienne Judy Carne, best known to Americans as the popular "Sock It To Me" fall girl on the hit NBC comedy sketch series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, died in the U.K. on Sept. 3 at Northampton General Hospital after a battle with pneumonia. She was 76. The bouncy, auburn-haired won overnight fame in the 1960s after joining the Laugh-In ensemble, then returned, albeit briefly, to the limelight in 1985 when she published an autobiography in which she told of her volatile relationship with her first husband Burt Reynolds, confessed to a string of affairs with members of both sexes and chronicled battles with drug addiction. Carne was already a fairly successful TV actress when she joined Laugh-In in 1968, and became the most popular person on the show for her zany, daffy, mini-skirted comic persona, continually getting doused with a bucket of water, or subjected to some other humiliation, every time she uttered the words "Sock it to me!" After leaving that show, she became a heroin addict and her career went into a tailspin. She had married Reynolds in 1963, recalling that when they first met "we were immediately in love, so we immediately made love. I was engulfed by him, my small body lost in his large frame." After their marriage ended in 1966, he became abusive, she alleged. In 1977 and 1978, her life hit rock bottom when, in the space of four months, she was busted three times -- on charges ranging from drug possession to car theft. In June 1978, while celebrating her acquittal on charges of heroin possession, she and her current husband Robert Bergmann (who was driving) were involved in a near-fatal car accident which left her with a broken neck. Carne then returned to her native Northampton and began writing her autobiography, claiming that the process of writing had helped her to put her life back together again, but it would be some time before her troubles were properly resolved. However she did finally fine an lement of peace in the village of Pitsford, Northamptonshire, where she lived a quiet life with two dogs and was much liked by her neighbors. - The Telegraph UK, 9/7/15...... Martin Milner, the handsome actor whose wholesome good looks helped make him the star of two hugely popular TV series, Route 66 and Adam-12, passed away on Sept. 5 near the La Costa neighborhood of Carlsbad, Calif., of undisclosed causes. He was 83. Mr. Milner began his career as a teen actor and shot to fame in 1960 as Tod Stiles with co-star George Maharis in the iconic TV drama Route 66, which found two restless young men roaming the highway author John Steinbeck had dubbed "The Mother Road" in a red Corvette convertible. In 1968, he signed on to do another buddy series, Adam-12, as veteran LAPD Officer Pete Malloy, assisted by rookie cop Jim Reed, played by Kent McCord. The series was produced by Jack Webb, who applied the same realistic treatment of day to day police activities that had made his Dragnet TV show a huge hit and last for seven seasons. "I had a long, long friendship with Marty and we remained friends up till the end," said McCord upon learning of his death. "He was one of the really true great people of our industry with a long, distinguished career... Wonderful films, wonderful television shows, pioneering shows like Route 66. He was one of the great guys. I was lucky to have him in my life." Mr. Milner's big screen credits include The Sands of Iwo Jima, Marjorie Morningstar, Sweet Smell of Success, The Long Gray Line, Mister Roberts, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Valley of the Dolls, and Three Guns for Texas, among others. He married actress-singer Judy Jones in 1951, and they had four children: Amy, who died in 2004, Molly, Stuart and Andrew. - AP, 9/7/15.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, the Kinks' Dave Davies said that there is only an "outside shot" of his former band reforming. "I'd say there's an outside shot, but where there's life, there's hope," he said. "I know Ray [Davies] has a lot coming up, and I do as well, so we'll see how things span out in the next few months. A lot of it depends on how Ray and I feel by the end of the year, physically, emotionally and psychologically. I wish I could give you a more definitive answer, but I don't want to jump the gun." Dave, who has not performed with his brother Ray since 1996, had previously said there was a "50/50" chance of the Kinks reuniting for live shows. The pair had apparently began to mend fences after Ray helped with the music for the new Kinks musical "Sunny Afternoon," which Dave saw and reportedly liked. Meanwhile, a new Kinks biopic directed by Julien Temple is currently in the works. - NME, 9/3/15...... Meat Loaf says his upcoming album Braver Than We Are is "completely different from anything else" he or anyone else has done. "There are a couple of normal rock pieces but, for the most part, it's completely different. When you hear the opening track, your mouth's gonna hang open," says the Grammy-winning rocker. "The first song people will either love or despise, which is the way I like it. The opening number is pretty wild. It's not long; the second song is long, and the third song is really long, and the fourth song is kind of long, and then the fifth song goes into a 'down and out kind of guy,' and what's the sixth song? I can't remember pass that," he said of the LP, which reunites him with his longtime collaborator Jim Steinman. Meat Loaf is currently finishing up the album in Nashville for a likely March 2016 release, and kicks off his first tour in two years this fall on Oct. 23 in Temecula, Calif. Meat Loaf also shared some thoughts about his former Celebrity Apprentice boss and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump: "Donald's very, very smart. I don't want to get myself in trouble here, but if anybody knows how to put people to work, it's Donald Trump. That I know." - Billboard, 9/3/15...... A public domain battle is brewing in Canada over early '60s recordings by such acts as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys which, alongside works like Ian Fleming's James Bond character have become subject to a lesser copyright term. A company called Stargrove Entertainment says it submitted royalty payments in order to sell CDs full of recordings in the public domain in the country at Walmart for five bucks each, and they became a hit. But music giants like Universal and Sony are now interfering with Stargrove's marketing of the budget albums, and the publishers (which also include ABKCO and Casablanca) allegedly sent out instructions to a Canadian agency charged with such license applications to stop issuing mechanical licenses to Stargrove, and their sales came to a grinding halt. In a complaint filed on Sept. 2 with the Canadian Competition Tribunal, Stargrove says it has lost out on opportunities, and that its sales are now zero. Sony/ATV declined to respond while Universal hasn't yet responded to a request for comment. In June, Canada extended the copyright term from 50 to 70 years for published sound recordings, meaning that late '60s recordings by the Beatles are no longer on the precipices of being in the public domain there. - The Hollywood Reporter, 9/2/15...... Black Sabbath posted a video on Sept. 3 announcing plans for their final farewell tour, promising fans "their most mesmerizing production ever." The heavy metal icons' "The End" tour will launch in Nebraska in January 2016 before wrapping in Australia and New Zealand in April. ''It's the beginning of the end," the video says. "It started nearly five decades ago with a crack of thunder, a distant bell ringing and then that monstrous riff that shook the earth. The heaviest rock sound ever heard. In that moment heavy metal was born, created by a young band from Birmingham, England barely out of their teens. Now it ends, the final tour by the greatest metal band of all time, Black Sabbath. Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler close the final chapter in the final volume of the incredible Black Sabbath story...When this tour concludes, it will truly be the end, the end of one of the most legendary bands in Rock 'n Roll history... Black Sabbath." It is not clear who will be playing drums on the tour after original stickman Bill Ward fell out with his bandmates, however Tommy Clueftos, who plays with Ozzy's solo group, played on the band's reunion album 13 and subsequent tours. - New Musical Express, 9/3/15...... Speaking of Black Sabbath, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, never one to mince words, described the band as "a joke" in a new interview with the New York Daily News. "Millions are in love with Metallica and Black Sabbath. I just thought they were great jokes," says Richards, who will release his first solo LP in 23 years, Crosseyed Heart, on Sept. 18. Richards wasn't any kinder to the hip-hop/rap genre: "'Rap' -- so many words, so little said. What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there. All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they're happy. There's an enormous market for people who can't tell one note from another." Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Richards said that he'd like to get the Stones into he recording studio as soon as they have finished their scheduled tour dates in early 2016. "I'm trying to get the Stones into the studio, but I don't quite honestly see it happening this year," he said. - NME, 9/3/15...... '70s rock legends David Bowie and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith will be among the artists contributing to a new nautical-set musical based on the popular Nickelodeon animated series SpongeBob SquarePants. The Flaming Lips, John Legend, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, Panic! at the Disco and They Might Be Giants will also be participating in the songwriting for the show, which will make its world premiere in Chicago's Oriental Theatre on June 7, 2016, running through July 3 before it eventually heads to Broadway. - The Hollywood Reporter, 8/31/15...... In his forthcoming memoir Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music, former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty reveals why he refused to play with surviving former CCR bandmates, bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford, at the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. "Way back in 1968, I had made an agreement with [his brother] Tom [Fogerty, who died in 1990], Doug and Stu to be equal partners. I let them share in my songwriting money. At the time, I thought I was dealing with people who understood the responsibility of what we had. But in 1988, they sold their votes to [producer Saul] Zaentz for $30,000 each -- that's right, thirty pieces of silver. Stu told me, 'I don't care what they do with the music -- just give me the money'? I was disgusted." Fogerty continued: "When the Hall of Fame called in late 1992, they said, 'We are going to induct CCR into the Hall of Fame. Would you perform with the other band members?' I said, 'No.' I'm just not going to stand on a stage with those people three in a row, play our songs and be presented as a band -- particularly because these guys sold their rights in that band to my worst enemy." Fortunate Son is due via publisher Little, Brown and Company on Oct. 6. - Billboard, 8/31/15...... In other rock star memoir news, Elvis Costello's upcoming autobiography, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, is likely to take its place alongside recent bestselling books by Patti Smith, Bob Dylan and Keith Richards. The book, due Oct. 13 from Blue Rider Press, could include juicy relevations about his famous relationship with model Bebe Buell and the time he got banned from Saturday Night Live. And Carly Simon will finally be spilling everything to her career to her marriage to James Taylor in Boys in the Trees: A Memoir, which drops via Flatiron Books on Nov. 24. But will we finally find out who's so vain? Doubtful. Finally, Grace Jones's ironically titled I'll Never Write My Memoirs, from Gallery Books on Sept. 29, traces her journey from Jamaica to the fashion runways of Paris and then onto Studio 54 and Hollywood with appearances from Andy Warhol, Jessica Lange, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many others.- Billboard, 8/31/15..... Former The Police frontman Sting has announced a new collaboration with French pop star Mylene Farmer. On Aug. 28, the track called "Stolen Car" whic originally appeared on Sting's 2003 album Sacred Love, was released via iTunes in France on Aug. 28 and debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes chart. Sting's Facebook page has posted that the song will be available in the U.S. on Sept. 4 via Cherrytree Records. The song will also be featured on Farmer's upcoming album, Nbuleuses. - Billboard, 8/30/15...... On what would have marked his 57th birthday on Aug. 29, Michael Jackson was remembered by his family, friends and fellow artists with several posts on social media. Jackson, who died on June 25, 2009, received a flood of messages and photo tributes from his siblings Jermaine and La Toya Jackson, as well as fellow musicians and celebrities, including Justin Bieber, Beyonce, Pharrell, Chris Brown, Shawn Mendes and more. "Hold close the memories," Jermaine Jackson posted, while La Toya tweeted "Your Presence Elevated Everyone! Your Music Brought Us Joy! Your Gift Will Be With Us Always!" Jackson died on June 25, 2009. - Billboard, 8/29/15...... Less than a month after ending his longtime relationship with Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog has reportedly moved on with an ABC exec named Denise, who's also a pig. "She's always stopping by the set of Up Late," a source tells People.com. "He calls her his girlfriend." But Miss Piggy apparently hasn't been sitting at home since splitting with Kermit. Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth has posted an Instagram photo of himself looking into Miss Piggy's eyes with the caption, "Spent Friday with the most beautiful girl in the world. Kermit, #SorryNotSorry. #TheMuppets #misspiggy." Kermit and Miss Piggy's high profile breakup could make things awkward for the execs of the new Muppets docuseries The Muppets, which will make its debut on Sept. 22. - WENN.com/Postmedia Network, 9/1/15...... Actor Dean Jones, best known for leading roles in several Walt Disney films of the 1960s and '70s including The Love Bug and That Darn Cat!, died on Sept. 1 from complications related to Parkinson's disease. He was 84. Born on January 23, 1931, in Decatur, Ala., Jones began acting after a stint in the Navy during the Korean War. Jones worked steadily throughout the 1950s and made his Broadway debut in 1960 opposite Jane Fonda in the brief run of "There Was A Little Girl." Later that year, he starred on the Main Stem in "Under The Yum Yum Tree," which ran for six months, and reprised his role for the 1963 feature. He already was a veteran presence on TV and in films when he was cast opposite Hayley Mills in 1965's That Darn Cat!, followed by starring roles in such family films as The Ugly Dachshund (1966), Monkeys, Go Home! (1967), Blackbeard's Ghost (1968) and The Love Bug, in which he portrayed a race car driver who works with a VW Beetle named Herbie that has a mind of its own. He reprised that role for a 1977 sequel -- the only one of several theatrical Herbie pics in which he appeared -- and a short-lived 1982 TV series. Earlier in his career, Jones appeared in such features as Tea And Sympathy, with Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock (1957), Handle With Care (1958) and Never So Few (1960). His TV credits in that era include Bonanza, Wagon Train and Ben Casey. - Deadline.com, 9/2/15...... Director Wes Craven, best known for helming the first Nightmare on Elm Street film as well as the first four Scream movies, died on Aug. 30 at his home in Los Angeles after a battle with brain cancer. He was 76. Born Aug. 2, 1939 in Cleveland, Craven briefly taught English at Westminster College and was a humanities professor at Clarkson College, where he served as a disc jockey for the campus radio station. Craven wrote and directed his first feature film, The Last House on the Left, which was a rape-revenge movie that appalled some viewers but generated big box office. Next came another film he wrote and helmed, The Hills Have Eyes (1977). In 1984, he re-invented the youth horror genre with the classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, which he also wrote and directed. His iconic Freddy Krueger character horrified viewers for years, and he later conceived and co-wrote sequels including Elm Street III as well. In 1999, in the midst of directing, he completed his first novel, The Fountain Society, published by Simon & Shuster, and in 2005 directed the psychological thriller Red Eye, another box office hit starring Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy. In 2009 he produced a remake of The Last House on the Left, and his most recent written and directed film, My Soul to Take, followed a year later. Survivors include his wife, producer and former Disney Studios vice president Iya Labunka.. - The Hollywood Reporter, 8/30/15.