Monday, July 25, 2016

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 30th, 2016



The family of late rock icon Prince issued a press release on July 28 announcing an offical Prince tribute concert will take place on Oct. 13 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. "We are excited for the opportunity to bring everyone together for the official family celebration of Prince's life, music and legacy, and there is no better place to do it than his hometown of Minneapolis," the statement read. "We are honored by the artists who will pay tribute and grateful to those that have worked so hard to make this celebration possible." Prince, who died on Apr. 21 of a drug overdose, has been honored by countless performers during their live shows in the past three months, and in May his songs "Nothing Compares 2 U" and "Purple Rain" were performed by Madonna and Stevie Wonder at the Billboard Music Awards. - AP, 7/29/16...... Carole King entertained delegates on the final day of the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 28 with a performace of her classic "You've Got a Friend." Members of the audience were seen holding hands, smiling, singing and dancing together to King's 1971 hit, which was also popularized by James Taylor. "Hillary [Clinton]'s got so many friends and Bernie [Sanders] too and all of us together!," King said as she finished. - Billboard, 7/28/16...... A Lou Reed tribute concert at New York City's Lincoln Center called "The Bells: A Daylong Celebration of Lou Reed" took place on July 30. The free event took its name from the title track, "The Bells," from Reed's 1979 LP and was selected by Reed's widow, artist Laurie Anderson and his longtime producing partner Hal Wilner. Performers included members of Sonic Youth, fronted by such vocalists as David Hohansen of the New York Dolls, Lenny Kaye and Jon Spencer, among others. Reed died on Oct. 27, 2013 from liver disease at age 71. - New Musical Express, 7/28/16...... Nick MasonRick WrightDavid GilmourRoger WatersA massive 27-disc retrospective of early Pink Floyd recordings featuring unreleased demos, TV appearances and more than 20 unreleased songs called The Early Years 1965-1972 will hit stores on Nov. 11. Collected in 7 individual book-style packages, the set will bundle more than 15 hours of video, including rare BBC Sessions, live concert performances, interviews and three feature films: The Committee, More and La Valle (Obscured by Clouds). The previously unreleased tracks include 1967's "Vegetable Man" and "In the Beechwoods," which have been remixed for the release, as well as remixed and updated versions of the band's score for the film Zabriskie Point. A 2-CD set of highlights from the box set, The Early Years -- CRE/ATION, will be released on Nov. 11 as well through Pink Floyd Records. Each of the 7 packages will also be released separately in 2017 with the exception of the bonus disc CONTINU/ATION. - Billboard, 7/28/16...... Chapter and Verse, a musical companion piece to Bruce Springsteen's upcoming 500-page autobiography Born to Run, will drop on Sept 23. Featuring five previously unreleased songs, Chapter and Verse will reflect the themes and sections of Springsteen's Born to Run memoirs. Kicking off with two tracks from Springsteen's high school band The Castiles, its 18 tracks also include material from the Steel Mill and the Bruce Springsteen Band, winding its way through 2012's Wrecking Ball. The Born to Run book will arrive via Simon & Shuster in hardcover on Oct. 5. Springsteen and his E Street Band kick off the U.S. leg of their summer stadium tour with a three-night stand in East Rutherford, N.J., and conclude Sept. 14 in Foxborough, Mass. His anticipated new solo album, which manager Jon Landau says is a "very different kind of record," is expected in 2017. - Billboard, 7/28/16...... Rod Stewart has been added to the contributors of Beat Bugs, a new Netflix animated series that features Beatles songs covered by the likes of Eddie Vedder, Pink, Jennifer Hudson, Robbie Williams and the Lumineers, among others. Premiering in the U.S. on Nov. 18, season one of Beat Bugs will include Pink's version of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," Robbie Williams with "Good Day Sunshine," Eddie Vedder singing "Magical Mystery Tour," and the Lumineers doing "Honey Pie." Stewart is set to cover "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in season two. A 27-track two-disc soundtrack album for the first season will be released exclusively to Apple Music the day of the show's Aug. 3 premiere. - Billboard, 7/27/16...... In other Beatles-related news, George Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison says she and her 37-year-old son Dhani Harrison have talked about him finishing some unreleased tracks that her late husband left behind. "There are a lot of songs that are unfinished," Olivia said. "I think there's a project there. I just need time to get to it." Olivia, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono all attended the 10th anniversary of the Beatles musical Love by Cirque du Soleil at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas on July 14. Ono says she's also working on a project of approximately 10 songs of hers and John Lennon's that she had intended to get out by now, but she was temporarly halted by a bout with the flu (and briefly hospitalized in February). "That derailed the whole situation," she said. "Everything in my body is OK now, except I have a problem walking," she added. Meanwhile, a stamp collection that belonged to John Lennon is set to go on display at the Stampex exhibition in London between Sept. 14-17. Lennon, who began his stamp collection at age 10, collected stamps from letters received from New Zealand and America and defaced pictures of Queen Victoria and King George VI with moustaches. A classic car owned by John is also going up for auction at RM Sotheby's in London on Sept. 7. Lennon purchased the 1956 Austin Princess in Aug. 1971 and went on to use it the following year in a promotional film for his album Imagine, alongside wife Yoko Ono. The car's seats were replaced with five aeroplane seats, which are still in the car today. - Billboard/NME, 7/25/16...... An appeal has been filed over the recent Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven" verdict in which songwriting partners Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were cleared of accusations that they lifted a riff from an obscure 1968 instrumental by Randy California of Spirit for the intro to the classic rock anthem. The filing does not provide legal arguments for why the case should be reconsidered, but trust attorneys complained after the verdict that the judge did not allow jurors to hear the recording of Spirit's "Taurus." A hearing on the appeal is scheduled for Aug. 8. Attorneys for Zeppelin and the other defendants, including their record label, are seeking close to $800,000 in legal and other fees from the trust California, whose real name is Randy Wolfe, because it failed to win. - AP, 7/27/16...... Eddie LevertThe O'Jays have sent a cease and desist letter to the campaign of 2016 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump after Republican congressman Rep. John Mica posted a new pro-Trump video using the group's classic "For the Love of Money" without the band's consent. Founding O'Jays members Eddie Levert and Walter Williams had decried the use of their 1972 hit "Love Train" just a few days earlier during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. The letter, issued by the O'Jays' attorneys and sent to Rep. Mica and copied to Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort, reads in part "Your use of our clients' signature song, and utilizing the original recording, constitutes a patently false implication that Mr. Levert and Mr. Williams have endorsed you or your political agenda or Mr. Trump's agenda. Our clients unequivocally do not endorse you, your agenda nor your party's views or those of Mr. Trump. On the contrary, Mr. Levert and Mr. Williams have actively opposed these ideals [and] we hereby demand that you... immediately and permanently refrain from exploiting our clients' proprietary material." - Billboard, 7/27/16...... The first ever Outlaw Music Festival set for Montage Mountain Pavillion in Scranton, Penn. on Sept. 18 was announced on July 26 by Willie Nelson on July 26. In addition to Nelson, the concert will be headlined by Neil Young + Promise of the Real, Sheryl Crow, The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Lee Ann Womack and Brothers Osborne. - Billboard, 7/26/16...... Steven Tyler's new country crossover LP We're All Somebody From Somewhere has nabbed the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart for the week ending Aug. 6. The album sold 17,000 copies in its first week (ending July 21), according to Nielsen Music, and bowed at No. 19 on Billboard's all-genre Hot 200 album chart the same week. Tyler kicked off his Out on a Limb tour behind the new album on July 2 at the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas, and will hit 19 cities. The newly released title track is the album's third single, with "Love Is Your Name" and "Red, White & You," peaking at Nos. 19 and 29 on the Hot Country Songs roundup. - Billboard, 7/26/16...... The Gibson cherry sunburst electric guitar used by Elvis Presley during rehearsals for his legendary 1968 "comeback" special is among several Presley items set to be auctioned beginning on Aug. 13, during Graceland's "Elvis Presley Week." Presley's birth record, a black and gold outfit he performed in, an Indian ring, and a TCB necklace will also be auctioned. - NME, 7/26/16...... The Rolling Stones will screen their Mar. 25 free concert in Havana, Cuba, across the world this fall. Havana Moon: The Rolling Stones Live in Cuba includes the hits "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," "Start Me Up," "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Brown Sugar." The film will be released in cinemas internationally on Sept. 23. - NME, 7/28/16...... A Florida man who could possibly be German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk's biggest fan has legally changed his name after the band. The man has posted a picture of his driver's license on his Flickr page with his name as "Kraftwerk," followed by his address. It is unclear what his real name is although his account web address lists the name David Sanborn. The man also posted a series of pictures wearing the band's iconic red shirt and black tie from their 1978 Man-Machine album as he goes shopping, driving, eating and gassing up his car. - NME 7/25/16...... Brian WilsonBrian Wilson & Friends, a concert film of Brian Wilson's Dec. 12, 2014 concert for the PBS Soundstage concert series, is set to be released on Aug. 2. The concert featured appearances from Wilson's former Beach Boys bandmate Al Jardine, fun.'s Nate Ruess and country music star Kacey Musgraves. The concert originally aired in the U.S. on PBS throughout 2015, and was offered as exclusive DVD and Blu-ray sets as a premium gift for viewer contributions to the network's annual pledge drive. A CD version of the show will also be available for the first time and is to set to include bonus tracks, behind-the-scenes footage and guest artist interviews. Wilson is set to launch a book about his life, I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir, via Da Capo Press in October. - New Musical Express, 7/28/16...... The David Bowie co-written "Lazarus" musical is heading to London for a run this fall after premiering off Broadway just before the rock icon's death in January. Based on Walter Tevis' classic 1963 British sci-fi novel and considered Bowie's completion of Nicolas Roeg's 1976 film adaptation, "Lazarus" stars Michael C. Hall as a humanoid alien who came to Earth from his drought-stricken planet many years earlier. After amassing a fortune in business while attempting to build a rocket ship to take him home, he was experimented on by the government and finds himself living in depressed isolation, unable to leave or die. "Lazarus" is set to run in London from Oct. 22 through Jan. 22 at the Kings Cross Theatre. In other Bowie-related news, the band who backed the singer on his final album Blackstar have announced their own album inspired by and dedicated to their former collaborator. Saxophonist Donny McCaslin says he and his group, which includes guitarist Nate Wood, bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Mark Guiliana, will release the LP, titled Beyond Now, on Oct. 14 via Motma Music. The record includes original tracks by McCaslin and a number of covers of songs by the likes of Deadmau5, Mutemath, The Chainsmokers and Bowie. Meanwhile, Bowie's son Duncan Jones and his wife Rodene have welcomed their first child, and named baby boy after Duncan's late father. "Stenton David Jones. Born July 10th, exactly six months after his grandad made room for him. Love you both so," Duncan Jones posted on Twitter on July 29. Bowie, who passed away on Jan. 10, also has a daughter, Duncan Jones' half-sister, Alexandria, who is in her teens. Duncan Jones' mother is Bowie's first wife Angie, while Alexandria's mother is supermodel and businesswoman Iman, to whom Bowie was married from 1992 until his death.- Billboard/NME, 7/30/16...... Three of Michael Jackson's nephews -- Taj, TJ and Taryll Jackson -- have filed a $100 million libel suit against the celebrity gossip site RadarOnline.com over allegations that they were sexually abused by their uncle and accepted gifts to cover it up, stemming from purported documents from a 2003 raid of Jackson's Neverland Ranch. "Radar has built a business of publishing false, embarrassing and hurtful gossip for profit and its latest victims are the members of the band 3T, Taj, TJ and Taryll Jackson," according to the suit filed by Bert Fields on July 27. "Radar has tried to profit by launching a vicious and unrelenting attack on [Jackson] based on claims that, years ago, he was guilty of sexual abuse, even though, at the time, he was found 'not guilty' of that very charge," Fields writes. "Radar represents its 'reports' as 'new' and based on official 'Detective Reports.' Not only have those Detective Reports been available to the public for many years, Radar has misrepresented what the Reports say." In June, RadarOnline posted a series of stories claiming newly discovered documents show Jackson had been "stockpiling images of pornography, animal torture, S&M and gore in a bid to seduce innocent young boys." The site claims the documents came from Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department reports and quotes a "private investigator with direct knowledge of the raids" saying "the report cites Michael even used sexy photos of his own nephews, who were in the band 3T, in their underwear to excite young boys." The complaint also says the Jackson nephews demanded a correction of the libelous stories on July 5 and received a refusal from RadarOnline two days later. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/27/16...... Ozzy OsbourneOzzy & Jack's World Detour, a new travel show starring Ozzy Osbourne and his son Jack Osbourne, premiered on the History Channel July 27. The series takes the father and son duo to historic sites around the U.S. and the U.K., including the Alamo in Texas, where in 1982 the Prince of Darkness famously relieved himself on the Alamo Cenotaph across the street. Ozzy, who resumes his Black Sabbath The End tour on Aug. 17 in Wantaugh, N.Y., has also provided a voiceover for an episode for Disney's animated series The 7D. He cameos in the episode titled "Bummer Vacation," premieres on July 30. The show, which sees the seven dwarfs from Snow White getting a modern update, also features Osbourne's wife Sharon and daughter Kelly. Appearing on ABC's Good Morning America on July 25 to promote his new projects, Ozzy declared his marriage to Sharon is "back on track again," after tabloid reports in May claimed the pair had had "mutually agreed" to split, with Ozzy moving out of their family home. It was suggested that the singer had an affair with a celebrity hair stylist. "You just, you make mistakes, and you learn by your mistakes, I think," Ozzy said. "It's just a bump in the road. Some days it's good, some days it's terrible, some days you just drift apart for a while. But you get back on the horse, you know," he added. - Billboard/NME, 7/30/16...... Veteran rock producer Sandy Pearlman, best known for producing nine albums for Blue Oyster Cult as well as the Dictators' Go Girl Crazy! and the Clash's first U.S. release Give 'Em Enough Rope, died on July 26 after a long struggle following a cerebral hemorrhage he suffered in Dec. 2015. He was 72. Pearlman, who is sometimes credited with coining the phrase "heavy metal" while working at the rock magazine Crawdaddy, also managed Blue Oyster Cult, The Dictators, Romeo Void, and, briefly, the Ronnie Dio-era Black Sabbath. He was president of 415 Records and vice president of pioneering 1990s online music service e-music. Pearlman's work producing, writing for and co-managing Blue Oyster Cult was immortalized in the legendary Saturday Night Live "More Cowbell" sketch, where Christopher Walken played a fictionalized version of the rock n' roll raconteur. - Billboard, 7/26/16...... Marni Nixon, a Hollywood voice double whose singing was heard in place of the leading actresses in such classic movie musicals as West Side Story, The King and I and My Fair Lady, died on July 24 of cancer in New York. She was 86. Ms. Nixon, who was initially uncredited for her work, early on resented the dubbing work but later came to terms with it. "I realized now that this was something that would outlive me. Something that would last," she wrote in her 2006 memoir, I Could Have Sung All Night. Ms. Nixon also appeared before the cameras in 1965, in a small role as a nun in The Sound of Music, and provided the singing voice of Grandmother Fa in the 1998 animated film Mulan. Ms. Nixon was the the ex-wife of Oscar-winning composer-conductor Ernest Gold, and the mother of late rock musician Andrew Gold, who arranged music for Linda Ronstadt and had a top 10 hit in 1977 with "Lonely Boy." He died in 2011. She also had two daughters with her first husband, Martha and Melani. - AP, 7/26/16.

The Beatles' Apple Corps' Ltd. and Universal Music Group announced on July 20 that the band's 1977 live LP of 1964 Hollywood Bowl performances will be released globally on CD for the first time ever on Sept. 9. Containing material from the legendary quartet's Hollywood Bowl concerts in Aug. 1964 and Aug. 1965, The Beatles Live at the Hollywood Bowl will also be available as a digital download the same day, and a 180-gram vinyl release will follow on Nov. 18. Intended as a companion release to director Ron Howard's new Beatles rockumentary Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years, the package will include all 13 tracks from the original vinyl release, plus four previously unreleased live tracks -- "You Can't Do That" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from the Aug. 1964 concert, and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" and "Baby's in Black" from the Aug. 1965 show -- along with a 24-page booklet with an essay by Rolling Stone contributor David Fricke. All tracks have been remixed from the original three track tapes by producer Giles Martin, the son of Sir George Martin who produced the original album and wrote in the original liner notes, and engineer Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios. The original Hollywood Bowl album debuted on the Billboard charts on May 21, 1977, and peaked at No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in the UK. Although it was never released officially on CD, the album was heavily bootlegged. Ron Howard's new film, which premieres within a week after the album's release, concentrates on the group from the years 1962 to 1966 and will include footage of the "Boys" performance featured on the original Hollywood Bowl album. - Billboard, 7/20/16...... The BeatlesIn other Beatles news, a long lost recording by Paul McCartney in his early Fab Four days has been discovered in tucked inside a paper bag in the attic of the family of British pop singer Cilla Black and is expected to fetch at least $20,000 when it's put up for auction on Aug. 27. The 7-inch 45 record has no artist listed, only the title "It's For You" and "Demo." In 1964, McCartney recorded a demo of the track to a Dick James demo disc, which was delivered to Black at the London Palladium, where she was performing. The whereabouts of the demo since then have been unknown until now. The official version of Black's "It's For You" cracked the Top 10 in the U.K., but only reached No. 79 in the States. A 20-second excerpt of the song can be heard at beatlesauction.co.uk, who is conducting the auction. - MeTV.com, 7/21/16...... The list of '70s Classic Rock and Soul musicians objecting to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump using their songs during his political events has exploded after the GOP convention in Cleveland, Oh., on July 18-21. George Harrison's estate, the Rolling Stones, Earth, Wind & Fire and The O'Jays have joined the likes of Queen, Paul Rodgers of Bad Company, Aerosmith, Neil Young and REM, among others, in protesting Trump's use of their music. After Harrison's Beatles classic "Here Comes the Sun" was played during the RNC convention on July 21, his estate tweeted "The unauthorized use of 'Here Comes the Sun' at the RNC is offensive & against the wishes of the George Harrison estate" the next day, wryly adding, "If it had been Beware of Darkness, then we MAY have approved it! #TrumpYourself," in reference to the track from his solo album, All Things Must Pass. Also on July 21, Trump and the Republicans ignored a previous request from the Rolling Stones to refrain from playing their music at the candidate's events. "The Rolling Stones do not endorse Donald Trump. You Can't Always Get What You Want was used without the band's permission," a rep for the band tweeted the next day. Earth, Wind & Fire slammed the Trump campaign on July 20 in a tweet after their hit "September" was played at the convention, tweeting "Another unauthorized use (September) at the Republican Convention, against our wishes." The O'Jays are also upset that their 1972 smash "Love Train" was used at the RNC event, with founding members Eddie Levert and Walter Williams issuing a statement saying "Our music, and most especially, 'Love Train' is about bringing people together, not building walls... I don't appreciate being associated with Mr. Trump and his usage of our music without permission." Finally, Queen have issued a second statement expressing their frustration against Donald Trump using their 1977 single 'We Are The Champions' at his rallies. Queen released another statement on July 20 stating they are "frustrated" at Trump's "repeated unauthorised use of the song ['We Are the Champions']." - Billboard/NME, 7/22/16...... David BowieA "lost" David Bowie album titled The Gouster that eventually became his hit 1975 LP Young Americans will be included in a planned second box set compiling the late singer's complete music. The tracklisting for The Gouster was to have been: "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)," "Somebody Up There Likes Me," "It's Gonna Be Me," "Who Can I Be Now?," "Can You Hear Me," "Young Americans" and "Right" before Bowie decided to revamp the album and name it after Young Americans' title track, a reference to a dress code worn by Chicago teenagers in the 1960s. The Gouster will be included in Who Can I Be Now?, the second Bowie box set that follows the release of 2015's Five Years, which covered the years 1969 through 1973's Pin Ups. The new release will cover 1974-76, and feature a booklet written by Bowie producer Tony Visconti, who produced many of its recordings. - New Musical Express, 7/22/16...... The PonoMusic Store, Neil Young's high resolution digital music service, has gone offline following the recent acquisition of Omnifone, up until now PonoMusic's sole provider of hi-resolution audio downloads. The sale has forced Young's service to go dark until a new platform can be established, which will be 7digital, a London-based indie services platform. In a message posted to its website, Pono said the "process of transition is now well underway" and that it would take several weeks to complete. Young launched his PonoMusic Store in Jan. 2015 with a library of 2 million-plus songs with all the major labels. In an open letter in Aug. 2015, Young called Pono a "labor of love" and reiterated the company's mission to bring high-quality audio to fans -- "not some 21st century fake shallow Xerox facsimile, with all of the essence taken away and replaced by a thin exterior with no passionate core." - Billboard, 7/22/16...... Don McLeanDon McLean of "American Pie" fame has taken a plea in a domestic violence assault case against his estranged wife, Patrisha McLean, that dates back to January of 2016. McLean pleaded guilty to domestic violence in a Camden, Maine court on July 21, which will allow him to avoid jail time if he stays out of trouble for at least a year, however he was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine. A lawyer for Patrisha McLean said in March that his client was filing for divorce and that the legal papers cited "adultery, cruel and abusive treatment, and irreconcilable differences." The two had been married 30 years. Don McLean, whose original manuscript and notes to "American Pie" sold at auction for $1.2 million in 2015, initially pleaded not guilty to the charges. - AP, 7/22/16...... Britain's Official Charts Company has announced it's honoring Paul McCartney with its second "Official Record Breaker Award" as the most successful album act of all time in the U.K. The honor was given after Sir Paul hit the No. 1 album spot 22 times beginning from his time with the Beatles and continuing into his solo career. Macca's run of 15 UK number one albums with the Beatles began in 1963 with Please Please Me and With the Beatles, and his solo U.K. chart toppers began in 1971 with Ram. "Okay, you know how it really feels? It feels unbelievable, because when you write your songs you don't count how well they're doing," McCartney said in a statement. "I remember when Please, Please Me went to No. 1, that was our first No. 1 record, and it's a beautiful feeling to suddenly get this [award], I mean it's amazing." McCartney went on to thank the OCC, which is celebrating its 60th birthday in 2016, and "everyone who made it possible by buying the records, we love you too!" - Billboard, 7/22/16...... Debbie HarryDebbie Harry of Blondie is collaborating with the iconic blue jeans manufacturer Levi's, and took the stage during a July 19 concert at New York's Bowery Ballroom in honor of Levi's new 505C jean, a style inspired by the Levi's 505s that Harry wore in a now-iconic image by photographer Richard Young from a 1978 performance in Tokyo. "Blue denim has always been truly American," said the 71-year-old singer, who performed hits like "Call Me," "Heart of Glass" and "Rapture" (including the rap) at the event. - Billboard, 7/20/16...... Bruce Springsteen's manager Jon Landau says Springsteen's next project will be a solo album, which he describes as "a very different kind" of Springsteen record. "All I can say is that there is a solo record -- and when I say solo record, I'm not talking about an acoustic record," he says. "It is, in fact, a very expansive record, a very rich record. It's one of Bruce's very creative efforts. Stay tuned, and we'll see exactly how that shapes up next year." Landau did not elaborate on a release date or supporting tour, only saying it's "premature to say much about it." "It's a wonderful record, and we'll see how the next year unfolds. We're terrible planners. You have people who know where they're playing 18 months from now and have all of next summer's festivals booked, and we just have a knack for not planning that far ahead. That's our way." Commenting on The Boss's current The River tour, Landau said: "This is a 67-year-old guy that's out there doing the best shows of his life, and people are coming." - Billboard, 7/21/16...... Joe Perry returned to performing with his new supergroup Hollywood Vampires at Weill Hall in Rohnert Park, Calif., on July 22 after having a health scare during a show in Brooklyn on July 10. The band, which also includes Alice Cooper Ian Hunter, Johnny Depp and Matt Sorum, has three additional dates scheduled with one in Oregon and two in California for the remainder of their tour. - Billboard, 7/21/16.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 20th, 2016



Garry MarshallActor/director/writer/producer Garry Marshall, a beloved figure in show business responsible for such TV hits as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy as well as helming such bigscreen blockbusters as The Flamingo Kid, Beaches, Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries, died on July 19 from complications of pneumonia following a stroke at a hospital in Burbank, Calif. He was 81. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., on Nov. 13, 1934, Mr. Marshall broke into showbiz in the late 1950s as a joke writer, eventually earning his way to becoming a writer on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar. In 1970, Mr. Marshall adapted his first TV hit, The Odd Couple, from the Neil Simon play with writing partner Jerry Belson. He went on to create the sitcoms Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley (which starred his sister, Penny Marshall) and Mork & Mindy (which introduced the world to Robin Williams). The following decade, Mr. Marshall turned his talents to feature films, finding his first hit with The Flamingo Kid in 1984, followed by Overboard (1987) and Beaches (1989). His 1990 film Pretty Woman propelled Julia Roberts to stardom, and 2001's The Princess Diaries made Anne Hathaway a household name. Then came the celebrity-filled, holiday-themed comedies: 2010's Valentine's Day, 2011's New Year's Eve and this year, Mother's Day. Mr. Marshall also had several memorable acting credits, starring in '90s films such as Soapdish and A League of Their Own and serving as micro-managing network president Stan Lansing on TV's Murphy Brown. More recently, he appeared on episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Bojack Horseman and Hot in Cleveland. He remained prolific even in his final years, having recently finished a rewrite of Pretty Woman for the Broadway-bound musical. "He loved telling stories, making people laugh, and playing softball, winning numerous championships," read a statement sent by his rep. "Even at age 81, he had a record this year of 6-1 pitching for his team." "Rest In Peace .. Thank you for my professional life. Thank you for your loyalty, friendship and generosity," Happy Days star Henry Winkler tweeted upon hearing the news of Mr. Marshall's passing. Mr. Marshall is survived by his wife of 53 years, nurse Barbara Sue Marshall; two sisters, Ronny Hallin and Penny Marshall; three children, Lori, a writer, Kathleen, a theater producer, and Scott, a film and TV director. - USA Today, 7/20/16.

The 2014 Fender Stratocaster played by Eric Clapton at his 70th birthday concert in 2015 is expected to raise more than $20,000 for charity when it goes under the hammer in a live auction in Dallas on July 23. Currently owned by Johnny Nicholas of the country group Asleep at the Wheel, the Clapton-autographed guitar was intended to benefit Nicholas's wife Brenda, but, sadly, she passed away from leukemia in June. All proceeds from the Dallas-based Heritage Auction will now go toward Leukemia research. - TMZ.com, 7/16/16...... After bowing out of Yes's 2016 European tour in the spring to undergo surgery to repair an injured disc in his lower back, drummer Alan White says the operation has had a "very positive result" and that he hopes to "be back in good form and ready to rejoin the Summer YES Tour in the near future." "I'm eager to be on the road with the band but also need to ensure my recovery is complete before doing so," White tweeted on July 18. Yes will kick off the American leg of the tour on July 25 in Lancaster, Penn., with drummer Jay Schellen (Hurricane, Asia, World Trade) filling in for White until he can recover. The tour is set to wrap on Sept. 18 in San Diego. - Billboard, 7/18/16...... Brian MayQueen has issued a statement saying that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's use of their 1977 classic "We Are the Champions" during Day 1 of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 18 was "unauthorized" and "against our wishes." "An unauthorised use at the Republican Convention against our wishes," the band tweeted on July 19. Also on the same day, Queen's publishing company, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, weighed in: "Sony/ATV Music Publishing has never been asked by Mr. Trump, the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization for permission to use 'We are the Champions' by Queen. On behalf of the band, we are frustrated by the repeated unauthorized use of the song after a previous request to desist, which has obviously been ignored by Mr. Trump and his campaign." Sony/ATV went on to say that the band "does not want its music associated with any mainstream or political debate in any country," and that it does not want "We Are the Champions" "to be used as an endorsement of Mr. Trump and the political views of the Republican Party." "We trust, hope and expect that Mr. Trump and his campaign will respect these wishes moving forward," the statement concluded. In June, Queen guitarist Brian May had cautioned the Trump campaign to refrain from using the rousing ballad, saying "permission to use the track was neither sought nor given... We are taking advice on what steps we can take to ensure this use does not continue." - Billboard, 7/19/16...... In related news, the '60s pop band The Turtles is threatening to sue the Republicans for using its No. 1 1967 smash "Happy Together" as the GOP kicked off its convention earlier in the day. Turtles lead singer Howard Kaylan tweeted on July 18 that "We never approved this use... Now we call the laywers." In addition to Queen and The Turtles, several other musicians -- including Adele, Neil Young, the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and REM -- have refused to let the controversial politician use their music at his rallies. Meanwhile, cover of David Bowie's "Station to Station" by the house band at the convention, led by GE Smith of Saturday Night Live fame, has also raised eyebrows by some. The traditionally conservative audience was treated to the "Station to Station" lyric "It's not the side-effects of the cocaine / I'm thinking it must be love." - Billboard/New Musical Express, 7/19/16...... Paul McCartney was joined onstage by Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir during Macca's concert at Boston's Fenway Park on July 17 for jams of Wings' "Hi, Hi Hi" and the Beatles' classic "Helter Skelter." Weir's Dead & Company had just completed a two-night stand at the same venue, and Weir stuck around to perform with the Beatles legend for the first time ever. After the Boston gig, McCartney's One on One summer tour continued to Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Penn. - Billboard, 7/17/16...... In other McCartney news, a letter from Paul to the late Prince sold at auction for $14,822 on July 17. In the letter, McCartney greeted Prince as "Dear Princely person" and asked his fellow musician to help him set up the Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts. Sir Paul wrote that he was contacting "friends and all good people" asking for donations. He also told Prince: "One of these days you'll have to come and teach a class some moves!!" It is unknown if Prince made good on McCartney's request, as the vast majority of Prince's contributions to charity were made anonymously. Meanwhile, former Police frontman Sting has recorded a tribute to Prince as part of his first straight pop album in 17 years. Sting is putting the finishing touches on 57th & 9th, which will include "50,000," a ballad written the week Prince died in April. The album is named after the intersection in New York where Sting is recording 57th & 9th, which is produced by Sting's new manager, Martin Kierszenbaum. - NME, 7/19/16...... Alice CooperAlice Cooper says he's "tired of the rhetoric -- the mudslinging -- the media frenzy" going on in the current political scene in both the US and the UK, and is launching simultaneous campaigns to become both President and Prime Minister, respectively. On his just launched website aliceforprimeminister.com, the '70s shock-rocker outlines his manifesto, which includes "Getting Brian Johnson back in AC/DC, a snake in every pot, no more pencils no more books," and "adding Lemmy [Kilmister] to Mt Rushmore." Other amusing points include "a ban on talking during movies in theatres" and a "ban on taking selfies, except on a designated National Selfie Day." "He is asking his fellow Americans, his British friends and all those around the world who are disillusioned with their leaders, to join The Wild Party," according to a press release. "Alice Cooper is tackling the everyday concerns discussed among his fellow woman and man - the ordinary, decent hard working (and rocking) people he meets and entertains every day while performing nearly 100 concerts a year around the world." To accompany the campaign, the Coop has recorded a new version of his classic track "Elected," which originally came out in 1972. - New Musical Express, 7/15/16...... Diana Ross's summer tour hit the legendary Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on July 15, for her first L.A. performance in nearly three years. Descending from the ceiling of the Bowl stage on a swing while singing her smash single "I'm Coming Out," the Supremes legend then tore through a hits medley of "More Today Than Yesterday," "My World Is Empty Without You," "Baby Love," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "Come See About Me" and "You Can't Hurry Love." Ross also treated the crowd to a salute to the late Billie Holiday and the Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues in which she starred, performing "Don't Explain" and "Good Morning Heartache." Ross dedicated the latter tune to her former love and Motown label boss, Berry Gordy. She encored with a cover of Gloria Gaynor' "I Will Survive," "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)," and a reprise of "I Will Survive." Ross played a second show at the venue the following night. - Billboard, 7/16/16...... Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Heart, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and Cheap Trick kicked off their co-headlinging Rock Hall Three For All Tour at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in suburban Detroit on July 14. All three bands have a touring history together -- tour headliner Heart and Cheap Trick date back to the '70s, and Heart and Jett have hit the road together extensively during the past couple years. "We all know each other and like each other, so it's cool," Heart's Ann Wilson said. Though the three acts did not collaborate at all during their sets, they made a point of paying homage to their own heroes as well as showcasing their respective repertoires. Cheap Trick payed homage to The Move with "California Man," Joan Jett covered Sly & the Family Stone's "Everyday People," and Heart paid tribute to Led Zeppelin with covers of "Immigrant Song" and "Misty Mountain Hop." The tour runs through Sept. 23. - Billboard, 7/15/16...... Jimmy PageSpeaking of Led Zeppelin, the band has announced it will release The Complete BBC Sessions, a 33-track album featuring a song not heard since it was first broadcast on Auntie Beeb in 1969, on Sept. 16. The release features a 3-song session from March 1969 that was taped from AM radio in Europe who came forwrd with the recording and restored to releaseable quality by Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. Also included is the first broadcast version of "Stairway To Heaven," aired in April 1971 from BBC Paris Cinema in London's Regent Street, as well as the only performance of "Sunshine Woman," which the band never recorded. The first version of The BBC Sessions was released in 1997, but the new edition adds a disc of eight previously-unreleased songs as well as the rare "White Summer," previously only available on the 'Led Zeppelin' box-set. The other 24 songs have been remastered by Page and engineer John Davis. The album will be available as a 2-CD/4-LP standard edition, 3-CD/5-LP deluxe edition, digital download, and a deluxe box-set. - New Musical Express, 7/19/16...... In a new interview with the UK's Radio Times, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards vowed his iconic band will continue until their death, saying it's what the best bands do. "They're not really bands if they don't last; they're groups," Richards says. "We're a band and a real band sticks until it dies. These bands, they become big, but they're generational, just for their one decade. They literally go when their testosterone goes." In the same interview, the musician also said that the Stones "are still hoping to release their best music," 52 years after they released their self-titled debut LP in 1964. Richards also criticized the Beatles as live performers: "Musically, The Beatles had a lovely sound and great songs. But the live thing? They were never quite there." He added that he enjoyed being friends with the band, but that he "excommunicated" them when they fell under the influence of mystic leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1967. "They wanted somebody else to take them away. They didn't want to be God any more, so they plugged it all onto the Maharishi," he said. The Stones previously announced that they are continuing to work on their first studio album since 2005's A Bigger Bang, and have hinted it may be the first covers album of their 52-year career. - NME, 7/19/16...... Performing during a Kiss concert in Bozeman, Montana on July 16, Gene Simmons took a tumble onstage as the band closed its set with "Rock and Roll All Nite." After falling backwards, the 66-year-old Simmons was soon picked back up by security staff and didn't appear to be hurt. - NME, 7/18/16...... Steven Tyler's song "Hold On (Won't Let Go)" has been named the official song for the Professional Bull Riders, a Colorado-based bull riding organization, and the song will be used on CBS television broadcasts of live bull riding events. Tyler cut the song for his new debut solo album, We're All Somebody From Somewhere, and was so enamored with the results that he flew out to the Nevada desert to shoot the video for the CBS intro. Tyler has just kicked off a 19-city solo tour of the US titled the "The Steven Tyler... Out on a Limb Tour." - Billboard, 7/15/16...... Jeff BeckJeff Beck is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his solo career in 2016, with a new album called Loud Hailer, a new book titled BECK01, and a summer tour with one of his favorite fellow guitarists, Buddy Guy. Beck will formally celebrate his golden anniversary on Aug. 10 with a blowout show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, with Guy, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, and other special guests to be announced. His 11-song LP Loud Hailer features vocalist Rosie Bones and guitarist Carmen Vandenberg, and uses a decidedly different approach than his instrumental-dominated predecessors. "What it allowed me to do was become more of an accompanist, so not to do an album of guitar recitals," Beck says. In his book BECK01, Beck documents his dual love of music and vintage hot rods, which he rebuilds at home in England. "I don't like the idea of somebody hoisting their hobby on somebody, but when I thought about it I thought maybe there's enough people who're interested in seeing how they all came together," Beck says. Details about the book are available at www.jeffbeckbook.com. - Billboard, 7/15/16...... Alan Vega of the trailblazing electronic duo Suicide died in his sleep on July 16. He was 78. Born in Brooklyn in 1938, Vega formed Suicide with multi-instrumentalist Martin Rev in 1970. Inspired by a Stooges concert in New York in the early 1970s, Vega -- who had worked as an artist and sculptor for several years -- incorporated Stooges frontman Iggy Pop's confrontational, audience-baiting tactics into the group's act. Suicide's 1977 self-titled debut is widely considering one of the seminal albums of electronic music, and was hailed by such critics as Lester Bangs. Suicide was among the earliest users of synthesizers and drum machines, and the duo ushered in a new sound that would evolve and endure for decades. The group performed at such legendary NY music venues as CBCG and Max's Kansas City during the mid-'70s, alongside such artists as the Ramones and Blondie, and had been scheduled to headline California's Desert Daze festival in October. Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to Vega in a post on his Facebook page, calling him "one of the great revolutionary voices in rock and roll." - Billboard, 7/17/16...... Bonnie Brown, one of the three siblings of the country trio The Browns, died on July 16 in Little Rock, Ark., of complications of lung cancer. She was 77. With older siblings Jim Ed and Maxine Brown, The Browns helped define the Nashville sound of the 1950s and '60s. They were inducted in 2015 into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum after Jim Ed's death earlier that year. After scoring a No. 1 hit "The Three Bells," the group disbanded in 1968 as Jim Ed and Maxine pursued solo careers. All three reunited in the '80s and again in 2006 for a PBS special Country Pop Legends. Offstage, Bonnie Brown notably once broke up with a young Elvis Presley "because he was, she said, a lousy kisser." - AP, 7/16/16.

According to a report in the U.K. paper The Sun, Mick Jagger is about to become a dad for the eighth time, as his current girlfriend Melanie Hamrick is reportedly three months pregnant. Jagger, 72, and Hamrick, a 29-year-old ballet dancer, have been dating for the past two years. A source close to the couple says they're "surprised and happy" for the impending arrival, and that Mick isn't "fazed" by the news, even though he already has seven children with four other women, including four kids with his former longtime partner, supermodel/actress Jerry Hall. Jagger and Hamrick were first noticed together on a hotel balcony in Switzerland in June 2014, just three months after Jagger's fashion designer L'Wren Scott tragically committed suiced. In May, Jagger's Rolling Stones bandmate Ronnie Wood and his wife Sally Humphreys became the parents of twin girls. - WENN.com, 7/14/16...... Joe PerryAerosmith guitarist Joe Perry was hospitalized on July 10 after having a health scare as he was performing with the superband Hollywood Vampires during their performance at the Coney Island Ampitheater in Brooklyn. Perry, 65, was forced to leave the stage as the band performed a cover of Spirit's "I Got a Line on You." After the incident, fans and fellow artists tweeted their support for Perry, who is said to be in stable condition, including Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, who on July 13 said he is "really concerned" about his longtime bandmate. "It's starting to scare me a little bit," said Tyler. "I know they're putting out nothing, but he's recovering, he's really good, he fainted, exhaustion. But I know my brother. He's just about the only other guy that's as passionate about his art as I am," added Tyler, who is on the road promoting his new album We're All Somebody From Somewhere. Tyler also noted that he "knows how to maintain my career, my health" [but] "I don't think [Joe] knows how to... I think he's out there and someone's overbooking him." Perry is currently off the Hollywood Vampires tour, though a statement was released promising that he'll "rejoin his fellow Vampires on stage again soon." In addition to Perry, the Hollywood Vampires is comprised of Alice Cooper, Ian Hunter, Johnny Depp and Matt Sorum, and the band was forced to cancel a July 11 televised performance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. In other Aerosmith-related news, Steven Tyler's daughter, actress Liv Tyler, gave birth to her third child, a daughter named Lulu Rose, on July 9. Tyler is engaged to sports agent David Gardner, and the couple are also the parents of a one-year-old son, Sailor Gene. Tyler, 38, also has an 11-year-old son, Milo, from her marriage to British rocker Royston Langdon. - Billboard/WENN.com, 7/13/16...... Late soul superstar Marvin Gaye's three children have given their blessing to a planned documentary on Gaye called Marvin, What's Going On? that will focus on his 1971 classic LP What's Going On. "We would like to express our excitement about the upcoming documentary feature film about our father and the creation of his amazing 'What's Going On' album," Gaye's children -- Nona, Marvin III and Frankie Gaye -- told Variety in a statement. "We are proud that his relevance remains intact, and we look forward to being a part of this cinematic journey." The documentary, which is being developed by Noah Media Group and Greenlight, will be "the defining portrait of this visionary artist and his impeccable album," according to the documentary's producers. It is expected to begin shooting later in 2016 in Detroit, Los Angeles and Washington, and feature never-before-seen footage as well as interviews with Motown's "top stars." - Billboard, 7/14/16...... David BowieIn addition to his groundbreaking musical talent, late rock icon David Bowie also had a keen eye for fine art and modern British classics, and he amassed a collection of more than 400 objects d'art over his lifetime. Now Sotherby's Fine Art Auctions has announced it will publicly display the Bowie-owned paintings by "many of the most important British artists of the 20th Century" in November before putting them under the hammer in a three-part sale. The "Bowie/Collector" collection will be exhibited from Nov. 1-10 at Sotherby's in London, with review exhibitions also to be held in New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. "Art was, seriously, the only thing I'd ever wanted to own," Bowie told the New York Times in 1998. "It can change the way that I feel in the mornings." Meanwhile, Bowie's final album Blackstar, which was release on Jan. 8 and only two days before his death, has been named the best selling vinyl LP of 2016 to date. According to the vinyl publication The Vinyl Factory, Blackstar has sold 57,000 copies on vinyl so far this year, ahead of Adele's latest effort 25, which has sold 36,000 vinyl copies. - Billboard/NME, 7/14/16...... Pink Floyd's David Gilmour played his first ever concert at the historic Pompeii Ampitheatre in Italy on July 10. The 2,600 strong crowd was treated to an audio visual spectacle featuring lasers, pyrotechnics and a setlist featuring songs from throughout Gilmour's career, including the Pink Floyd classics "The Great Gig in the Sky" and "One of These Days" as well as selections from his latest solo album, Rattle That Lock. The ancient Roman stone ampitheatre was famously buried in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, and only uncovered after the Second World War. In 1971, Gilmour and the other members of Pink Floyd played there, with no audience present, for their 1972 concert film Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii. Gilmour's 2016 Rattle That Lock World Tour will continue in Italy, Germany, France and Belgium before wrapping with a five night stand at the Royal Albert Hall in London. - New Musical Express, 7/11/16...... An unexpected power cut during a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert in Paris on July 11 forced the New Jersey rocker to keep the crowd entertained by signing autographs and chatting with fans in close proximity to the stage, even joining his bandmates for an impromptu conga line. Once power was returned to the AccorHotels Arena after 20 minutes, The Boss launched into a rendition of his 1984 hit "Dancing in the Dark." The concert was the first of two gigs at the venue, with the band also performing there on July 13 before heading to Rome on July 16 to continue the European leg of his The River tour. - NME, 7/12/16...... Meat Loaf says he's signed up to a diet and fitness regime after he recently collapsed on stage during a gig in Canada. Meat Loaf, whose real name is Marvin Lee Aday, was playing a concert in Edmonton, Alberta when the incident occurred. He had previously cancelled shows in Moose Jaw and Calgary earlier in the week due to illness. "I'm okay. Weak. I've gotta go to physical therapy," Meat Loaf told Classic Rock magazine. "I had back surgery and knee surgery within the last two years, and the knee surgery failed, so I haven't been able to work out on tour." He added that he is now on a diet and has "lost getting close to 20 pounds now... So we're trying to watch out for my health and make it easier onstage." Meat Loaf says he plans to lose another 15 before he takes his tour to the U.K. behind his forthcoming album, Braver Than We Are. - New Musical Express, 7/11/16...... Stevie WonderThe lyrics of Stevie Wonder's song "As" were quoted by Dallas Police Chief David Brown during a memorial service for five Dallas police officers who were fatally shot by a deranged gunman on July 7. Chief Brown said, among other lyrics: "Just as hate knows love's the cure, you can rest your mind assure that I'll be loving you always." Brown received a long, loud standing ovation from those in attendance. The five who died were shot during a protest against the police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. Nine officers and two civilians were injured in the attack. Three days later on July 10 during a concert in the UK in Hyde Park for the British Summertime Festival, Stevie Wonder urged his fans to choose "love over hate" and expressed dismay over the troubles in the world. Wonder played his 1976 Grammy-winning album Songs in the Key of Life during the show, and at the start he told fans he loved them all in these difficult times, and asked them to live in positivity. "The songs and the words that we talk about, those conditions still exist in the world and that hurts my heart," he said. The Motown icon played for over two hours to a sellout London crowd of 65,000 people, closing this year's British Summertime series. - AP, 7/12/16...... Stuart "Woody" Wood, the guitarist with the recently reunited Bay City Rollers, announced on July 9 on his Facebook page that his concert later that evening at Scotland's T in the Park Festival in Perthshire would be his last with the band. Wood, 59, reunited with orginal BCR vocalist Les McKeown and bassist Alan Longmuir in Dec. 2015, and the three were reportedly working on new music with manager John McLaughlin. "Hi All...just to say TITP is my last gig," Wood posted on his Facebook page. "Disappointed is an understatement but outwith my control. Details will follow in due course...love as always,Woody x." Wood later denied rumours that his exit was due to health problems or otherwise. Les McKeown is set to release a new collection of music, Les McKeown: The Lost Songs, on Aug. 22 through iTunes and will continue to tour throughout the year with his group. - Billboard, 7/10/16...... British pop star Cliff Richard is reportedly planning a comeback after recently being cleared of charges of historical sex offences by U.K. authorities. A source close to Richard said the musician is "going to release his new album this year now that he's cleared his name... He's had it on hold for years now throughout this ordeal." In June, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that Richard would not face charges after their investigation, which began in 2014, yielded "insufficient evidence to prosecute." "I have always maintained my innocence, co-operated fully with the investigation, and cannot understand why it has taken so long to get to this point," Richard said at the time. - NME, 7/12/16...... Organizers of the Rewind 80s Festival have announced the lineup for the 2016 edition of the annual concert series. The three star-studded festivals will include headline performances from such '80s acts as Adam Ant, Rick Astley, ABC, Big Country, Leo Sayer, Thomas Dolby and The Beat at Rewind Scotland, which takes place from July 22-24. For Rewind North, which occurs on Aug. 5-7, headliners include Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey, UB40, Go West and Nik Kershaw. The Rewind South edition, taking place on Aug. 19-21, will feature Lloyd Cole, Rick Astley, Adam Ant, Marc Almond and Roland Gift, among others. - Noble PR, 7/12/16...... Chaka KhanChaka Khan released a statement on July 10 announcing that she and her sister, Yvonne Stevens, also known as Taka Boom, have both entered a drug rehabilitation program to battle their addictions to prescription drugs. Khan, 63, said the recent death of Prince motivated her to seek treatment and that said she has been battling an addiction to the same medication that led to Prince's untimely death on Apr. 21. "Unfortunately, I will miss concert appearances over the summer," she said. "However, it's vital that I put my health and well-being first. I know that I am disappointing some of my fans, but I also know they would want me to recover and be well and healthy." Khan said that she and her sister "agreed we would take this journey together and support each other through the recovery." The Grammy-winning Khan had one of her biggest hits with the Prince-penned song "I Feel For You," and the two were longtime friends. An autopsy found that Prince died of an overdose of fentanyl, a powerful opioid painkiller. - AP, 7/10/16...... The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced on July 12 that it was closing the books on the unsolved case of the '70s hijacker known as D.B. Cooper, reasoning that its crime-fighting resources would be better used elsewhere. The famous case began on Nov. 24, 1971, when when a dark-haired man who called himself Dan Cooper, dressed in a business suit and tie and believed to be in his mid-40s, boarded a Northwest Orient Airlines flight in Portland, Oregon, bound for Seattle. After take-off, the man handed a flight attendant a note claiming he had a bomb in his briefcase and opened it to show a mass of wires and red sticks, according to the FBI's account of the incident. The aircraft safely landed in Seattle, where the man freed 36 passengers in exchange for $200,000 in cash from the airline and four parachutes, but kept several crew members aboard as the plane took off again, ordered this time to fly to Mexico City. At some point during that flight, at an altitude of about 10,000 feet (1.9 miles), the man executed one of the most flamboyant getaways in criminal history, leaping out of the back of the plane into the night with a parachute and the ransom money. Whether Cooper survived the jump over a rugged, wooded landscape somewhere between Seattle and Reno, Nevada, has never been confirmed, and his true identity has never been established. The FBI said that evidence obtained during the course of the investigation "will now be preserved for historical purposes at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C." - Yahoo News, 7/12/16...... Oscar-winning director Michael Cimino, best known for the 1978 Vietnam war epic The Deer Hunter, died on July 2 at age 77. Preceding Apocalypse Now and Platoon, the acclaimed The Deer Hunter was one of the earliest big-budget studio films to earnestly grapple with the war in Vietnam and starred Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Savage as three steelworker best friends from blue-collar Pennsylvania who go off to Vietnam and are all indelibly scarred in their own ways. Cimino's 1980 film Heaven's Gate, on the other hand, was a $44 million financial flop that turned the hot writer-director into a bruised and buried scapegoat. - Entertainment Weekly, 7/10/16.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 10th, 2016



On July 7 Paul McCartney posted a "throwback" photo of his Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr to Twitter to mark Ringo's 76th birthday on the same day. The photo, thought to be taken during the recording of McCartney's 1981 solo LP Tug of War, shows the pair together at AIR Studios in the Caribbean island of Montserrat. "Paul and @ringostarrmusic at AIR Studios, Montserrat. Photo by Linda McCartney #ThrowbackThursday #TBT pic.twitter.com/LBEuX7tjMn," the post reads. Meanwhile, a former Ludwig drum kit of Ringo's has sold at auction for $2.2 million at a Juliens Auction in Beverly Hills, Cal. The 1963 Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl three-piece kit was used to record some of the Beatles' earliest tracks, including "Can't Buy Me Love," "She Loves You," "All My Loving" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand," with Starr playing the kit for more than 200 performances between May 1963 and Feb. 1964. A percentage of the sale of the kit, which was owned by Clive Edwards, will go to Ringo Starr's Lotus Children Foundation. - New Musical Express, 7/7/16...... The BeatlesIn other Beatles-related news, John Lennon's copy of a 1977 document that ended the Beatles' stormy relationship with Allen Klein is being put up for sale through the company Moments In Time, with an asking price of $95,000. When the Beatles, solo artists at the time, decided not to renew Klein's contract with Apple Corps Ltd. in 1973, Klein promptly sued them for $19 million (roughly $75.3 million today). The settlement, dated Jan. 8, 1977, ruled that Apple had to pay Allen Klein and ABKCO just over $5 million (or roughly $19.8 million now) while Klein had to pay out a total of $800,000 (roughly $3.2 million now). The agreement said that it released Apple "from any liabiity whatsoever" related to the relationship of the Beatles and Klein. Paul McCartney, who never allowed himself to be represented by Klein as part of the Beatles, was not involved in the suit or the settlement but, according to his father-in-law Lee Eastman who represented him at the time, "was delighted to see his friends end this problem." The other three Beatles began their relationship with Klein on Jan. 28, 1969, at a meeting with Lennon and Yoko Ono at the Dorchester Hotel. McCartney's refusal to be associated with Klein became a major cause of friction between the Beatles, leading to their split in April 1970. - Billboard, 7/8/16...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, the traveling Beatles exhibit Ladies and Gentlemen: The Beatles! has opened at the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live. The exhibit, which colorfully details the Fab Four's game-changing impact on pop culture and features more than 400 items of rare photos, clothing and tour artifacts, will be on display through Sept. 5. The exhibit will then travel to Little Rock, Ark., at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center. It first opened at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in 2014, also making stops at the Grammy Museum Mississippi, the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, and the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Okla. - Billboard, 7/7/16...... Movie studio SudioCanal has announced it is nearing completion of the restoration of the sci-fi classic The Man Who Fell to Earth, which stars David Bowie as a humanoid alien from a distant planet on a mission to take water back home, to mark the film's 40th anniversary. The 1976 Nicolas Roeg-directed movie, which is being restored in 4K and is arguably the late rocker's most iconic turn on the big screen, will also be released theatrically in the UK on Sept. 9 by Park Circus. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/7/16...... A US chart record for the most consecutive weeks for a Number One album and song in the charts that was set by Michael Jackson has been equalled by Toronto rapper Drake. Drake's Views and "Once Dance" have remained on the chart for seven consecutive weeks, with Jackson being the only other solo male artist to achieve that feat, with Thriller and "Billie Jean," in 1983. However Whitney Houston and the Beatles have both had longer runs in the US charts, each having simultaneous Number Ones in the album and singles charts for 12 consecutive weeks. - NME, 7/6/16...... HeartHeart released its 16th album and first new release in four years, Beautiful Broken, on July 8 via Concord Records. Beautiful Broken features new songs written by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, and sees the siblings revisit some of their favorite catalog tracks in fresh recordings as well as a title track featuring guest vocals from James Hetfield of Metallica. "There is really a seventies feel to this record both in the sound, and the way we got to the emotional core of each song," Nancy Wilson said in a statement. "We picked songs that we always wanted to re-do, plus we've added three new tracks. On both new and old, we have the band playing together the way we used to. This is classic Heart." The LP features previously released songs that have been reworked, including "City's Burning," "Down on Me" and "Sweet Darlin'," and the title track was originally a bonus song on Heart's previous album, Fanatic, but the new version is an almost entirely new song with vocals and some new lyrics from Hetfield. "It blows the previous version [of "Beautiful Broken"] out of the water," Nancy Wilson says. "James just took the song on, and what he added was perfect with a bite and a rock accent." The LP was co-produced by Nancy and Heart bassist Dan Rothchild, who says his goal was to recapture the band's live feel in the studio. "On these classics, some of which had suffered from eighties-era over-editing-production-curse, we stripped the paint off and found the beauty underneath," he said. Four of Beautiful Broken's songs feature string arrangements from Paul Buckmaster, who has worked with Elton John and the Rolling Stones. Heart is currently on tour behind the new album with fellow Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members Joan Jett and Cheap Trick. - Billboard, 7/6/16...... Warner/Chappel Music, the publisher in the recent Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven" trial, is seeking nearly $800,000 in in attorneys' and expert witness fees after a June 16 opinion directed lower judges to consider awarding attorneys' fees to prevailing parties in copyright cases by examining factors like "frivolousness, motivation, objective unreasonableness, and the need in particular circumstances to advance considerations of compensation and deterrence." Warner/Chappel says it takes issue with the way the plaintiff, Michael Skidmore, "tried to tar 'Stairway to Heaven' and its authors, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant" and says it "successfully defended plaintiff's attempt to wipe 'Stairway to Heaven' off the map and, in doing so, defendants furthered the important copyright purpose of enriching the general public through access to creative works." A hearing on the request is scheduled for Aug. 8. - Billboard, 7/8/16...... It appears that AC/DC will be thinning its ranks once again with the announcement by bassist Cliff Williams that he plans to retire after the Aussie rockers' current Rock or Bust tour. Speaking to the Southwest Florida publication Gulfshore Life for a feature about rockers who live in the area, Williams, 66, said that being in AC/DC is "what I've known for the past 40 years, but after this tour I'm backing off of touring and recording." "Losing Malcolm, the thing with [drummer] Phil [Rudd, who had legal difficulties] and now with [singer] Brian [Johnson, who stepped aside this year due to hearing loss]", it's a changed animal. I feel in my gut it's the right thing." Williams' decision comes just after AC/DC played a string of European dates with Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose filling in for Johnson on the band's 2016 tour. Should Williams retire, it would leave guitarist Angus Young as the only original member of the group. - NME, 7/8/16...... Fleetwood MacFleetwood Mac has announced it will give its lone 2016 live performance at the Los Angeles Dodgers' second annual Blue Diamond Gala at Dodgers Stadium on July 28. The band will close out the night with a set from centerfield, following a blue carpet entrance (in honor of the Dodger colors) and a ceremony honoring Vin Scully, the iconic Dodgers announcer who plans to retire at season's end. All proceeds from the evening, which will also include Dodgers players and coaches, will go towards the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, which benefits underprivileged local communities. In 2015, Fleetwood Mac wrapped its lengthy On With the Show Tour, which saw the reunion of its '70s "classic" lineup of Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. All five will perform at the Dodger gala. - Billboard, 7/5/16...... Former Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour has been made an honorary citizen of Pompeii, Italy, as his tour hits the city's Amphitheatre Of Pompeii on July 9. The venue is the oldest Roman amphitheatre in the world, and where Pink Floyd played an infamous concert in 1971, later showcased in the 1972 documentary Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii. Pompeii mayor Ferdinando Uliano bestowed the citizenship on Gilmour as he returned to the ancient city. Meanwhile, it has been announced that late founding Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett, whom Gilmour replaced in Pink Floyd, will be the subject of a series of events in his hometown of Cambridge later in 2016. An unreleased film about the musician made by Anthony Stern, a former school friend of Barrett's, titled Get All that Ant?, will be screened for the first time on Oct. 21 during the Cambridge Film Festival, while fans will be able to embark on Barrett-themed walking tours. Get All that Ant? is comprised of film footage, stills and archive footage produced during the '60s in Cambridge, London and San Francisco. Tickets for the fim screenings and the walking tours will be available from the Cambridge Live website. - New Musical Express, 7/7/16.

With a rare live performance of the Simon & Garfunkel classic "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Paul Simon wrapped the US leg of his 2016 tour in his home borough of Queens, N.Y., on June 30. "I don't usually sing this song, but, well, we'll see," Simon said during his final encore. The song was particularly appropriate since the concert had been delayed by an hour due to heavy rain and tornado warnings earlier that morning. When the show eventually began, Simon told the crowd he'd try to slip a few extra songs in to compensate for the delay. In late June, Simon told the New York Times that "Showbiz doesn't hold any interest for me" and that he is considering retiring from music when his current tour, which hits Europe this fall, comes to an end. Stranger to Stranger, his new album, is the singer/songwriter's first No. 1 since 1990's Rhythm of the Saints. - New Musical Express, 7/3/16...... David GilmourSpeaking of concert firsts, David Gilmour has performed the 1971 Pink Floyd Meddle cut "One of These Days" for the first time in more than two decades. Playing a steel guitar, Gilmour tackled the space-rock classic, in which drummer Nick Mason says, "One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces" at the very end, during his European tour opener at Freedom Square in Wroclaw, Poland. Gilmour, who performed his first stage show of any kind in 10 years at the Hollywood Bowl on Mar. 24 as he opened a US tour, also treated fans to such Floyd standards as "Wish You Were Here", "Run Like Hell", "Time," "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Comfortably Numb," as well as "Dancing Right In Front Of Me" from his latest solo LP Rattle That Lock. When his tour hits Italy, Gilmour will play Pompeii, where he'll do two nights in the city where Pink Floyd taped their 1972 concert documentary, Live at Pompeii. - Billboard, 7/1/16...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry denies that Aerosmith is splitting up after their next tour and that he never could imagine doing a "farewell tour." "At this point in our lives and career, maybe it is time to say 'OK, it's the end of this era -- but there's a new era on the horizon.' So I don't know if I'm comfortable saying 'final tour' and making a big deal out of it," Perry said, while noting that "If it was going to happen, we're closer to it than any other time in our insane career." Perry's comments come a week after frontman Steven Tyler told DJ Howard Stern that the next Aerosmith shows will be a farewell tour, commenting that: "We're doing a farewell tour, because it's time. We've never done that." Aerosmith is set to play the Kaaboo Festival in California on Sept. 16, before launching a 10-date tour of South America which wraps in Mexico City on Oct. 27. Tyler's new solo LP, We're All Somebody From Somewhere, hits stores on July 15. Perry is currently on tour with the supergroup Hollywood Vampires, which also features Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp. - New Musical Express, 7/4/16...... Brian MayThe UK's Official Charts Company has revealed that Queen's 1981 compilation Greatest Hits is the best-selling album of all time in Britain. The OCC reports the album has sold 6.1 million copies in Britain, and is the only album to sell more than 6 million on the isle. "What a great bit of news to wake up to," Queen's Brian May said of the achievement. "The most popular album? Well, I always thought the band showed promise, but this is beyond our boyhood dreams. Thanks, folks," he added. The album is followed by ABBA's 1992 compilation Gold: Greatest Hits (5.2 million), and the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (the best-selling non-compilation LP with 5.1 million). Other '70s artists making the Top 10 include Michael Jackson's Thriller at No. 6, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at No. 7, and Dire Straits's Brothers in Arms at No. 8. Jackson's Bad and Queen's Greatest Hits II were good for the 9th and 10th spots. The 2016 chart is the 60th anniversary of the OCC chart, with the first being published in 1956 with Frank Sinatra's Songs for Swingin' Lovers grabbing the top slot. - NME, 7/5/16...... Attorney Francis Malofiy, who was on the losing side in the recent Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven" copyright trial, has been suspended from practicing law for flouting courtroom protocol during the trial. Malofiy had been subjected to repeated judicial scrutiny during the proceedings, and an appelate panel ruled on June 30 that Molofiy violated "various rules of conduct" in 2015 after he "tricked" unrepresented co-defendant William Guice into signing an affidavit without consulting a lawyer, and he won't be practicing law again until the fall. After the jury ruled in Led Zeppelin's favor in the six-day trial on June 23, Malifoy said he lost on a technicality and hinted at an appeal, however he won't be representing plaintiff Michael Skidmore should he decide to appeal the case soon. - The Hollywood Reporter, 6/30/16...... A Ludwig drum kit used by the Beatles to record "Love Me Do" is being auctioned off, with a starting bid of $150,000. The kit was played by one time Beatles drummer Andy White as he briefly sat in for Ringo Starr during the recording of the track in 1962. White, a top session drummer who passed away on Nov. 11, 2015, at age 85, reflected on the recording session during a 2012 interview with the BBC. "From the drum sound I can tell that I was on (the album) Please Please Me, because it was a vastly different sound to Ringo's drum set at that time." This was before he got the Ludwig kit. "Each drummer gets an individual sound, first of all by the way they tune the drums and then by the way they play the drums," he added. The drum kit comes from the personal collection of Clive Edwards. - NME, 6/30/16...... Ginger BakerDrummer Ginger Baker of Cream has undergone open heart surgery after being diagnosed with a heart condition in March. Baker, 76, suffered a fall at his home at that time and revealed he was due to face the surgery, adding he hoped to be able to carry on drummer. "There are two options for surgery. Depending on how strong my old lungs are, they may do both. The doctor says he's going to get me playing again," he said. Leda Baker, Ginger's daughter, said her dad is "on the road to recovery" and was able to have a conversation the day after his surgery. Baker founded Cream in 1966 with Eric Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce, and the trio released four albums including the influential Disraeli Gears before splitting in 1968. The power trio reformed for four gigs at London's Royal Albert Hall in 2005, before Jack Bruce's death in 2014. Baker's 18 solo albums include his latest effort, 2014's Why. - NME, 7/5/16...... The National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress has named Motown legend Smokey Robinson as its next recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which honors a living musician's lifetime achievement in promoting songs as a means to cultural understanding, inspiring new generations and entertaining audiences. "It gives me such joy and gratitude to be included among the past recipients of this most prestigious songwriting award," Robinson said in a statement. David S. Mao of the Library of Congress described Grammy winner Robinson as the "poet laureate of soul" and noted he was "a master at crafting lyrics that speak to the heart and soul, expressing ordinary themes in an extraordinary way... It is that quality in his music that makes him one of the greatest poetic songwriters of our time." Robinson, whose hits with The Miracles include "The Tracks of My Tears," "I Second That Emotion" and "The Tears of a Clown," will accept the award in Washington, D.C., in November. - Billboard, 7/5/16...... Debbie Rowe, the ex-wife of Michael Jackson and the mother of two of Jackson's oldest children, has reportedly been diagnosed with breast cancer. Rowe, 57, will undergo surgery in the near future to treat the disease, according to multiple reports. Jackson and Rowe were married from 1996 to 1999. Paris Jackson, one of the children, has been estranged from Rowe for over a year. - WENN.com, 7/4/16...... Lisa Marie Presley, who recently filed for a divorce from her fourth husband Michael Lockwood, has amended her filing to reflect a legal separation instead. The court documents have now been changed to legal separation, meaning, unlike divorce, the couple will still be legally married, but living separately. Presley and Lockwood, a music producer, tied the knot in Japan in Jan. 2006. Lisa Marie has requested full custody of the pair's seven-year-old twin daughters, Harper and Finley. - WENN.com, 7/1/16...... Bruce SpringsteenBruce Springsteen has written a new forward for the audiobook edition of Ron Kovic's 1978 memoir Born on the Fourth of July, which like Springsteen's famous song "Born In the U.S.A." is a scathing takedown of American imperialism. Springsteen actually befriended author/Vietnam War veteran Kovic long before his book was made into a Tom Cruise film in 1989. The new audiobook edition, which hit stores July 4, features Springsteen's voice reading his new forward at the start. In February, Springsteen announced he will be releasing his own long awaited autobiography, told in "disarming candor," in the fall of 2016. - Billboard, 6/30/16...... Brad Rading, the co-founder and former bass player for the Five Man Electrical Band, passed away in late June after a battle with throat cancer at the age of 69. A professional musician since his teens, Rading was a longtime fixture on the Ottawa, Canada, music scene, and was a founding member of the Staccatos, who scored a handful of regional hit singles in the '60s before changing their name toward the end of the decade and re-emerging as the Five Man Electrical Band. The group's largest success came in 1971 when "Signs" peaked at No. 3 in the U.S. and earned a gold certification from the RIAA. But the band splintered just as it seemed it was poised to break through, with Rading and drummer Michael Belanger departing during the recording of 1973's Sweet Paradise LP. Singer Les Emmerson revived the band name in 1986, and continues to perform with a revamped lineup. "Brian was warm, friendly, thoughtful, helpful. He did a lot of things for a lot of people," said current Five Man Electrical Band guitarist Brian Sim. "He was one of the best bass players I've ever played with."...... Danny Davis, a veteran music executive who worked with Motown, Phil Spector's Philles Records and Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records during his career, died June 22 in Palm Desert, Calif. He was 87. As Senior VP at Motown, Mr. Davis oversaw promotion of recorded music and personal appearances for Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Smokey Robinson and many others. Later while at Casablanca he helped boost the careers of Donna Summer, the Village People and Kiss. He also once served as VP of Promotion with Columbia's Screen Gems Music. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/1/16...... Actress Noel Neill, best known as the first person to portray Lois Lane in a filmed adaptation of the Superman comics, diied on July 3 at her home in Tuscon, Ariz. She was 95. Ms. Neill's first turn as Clark Kent's love interest was in the 1948 movie Superman, opposite Kirk Alyn as the titular hero. Both she and Alyn reprised their roles for the 1950 film Atom Man vs. Superman. By the 1950s, she took Lois Lane to the small screen in the TV series Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves. Ms. Neill went on to have cameos in several Superman films, playing Lois Lane's mother in the 1978 Christopher Reeve-led Superman and 2006's Superman Returns with Brandon Routh. The Minnesota-born actress, who began her career as a singer in Bing Crosby's band, was memorialised in the real-life city of Metropolis, Ill., in 2010, where a bronze statue of Lois Lane stands. - WENN.com, 7/4/16.