Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 12th, 2016

'70s artists Stevie Wonder and Yoko Ono are among the many celebrities reacting to the largely unexpected election victory of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8. On Nov. 11, Yoko tweeted an audio clip after Trump's win -- a response that was utterly Ono, singing an emotive shriek of agony with anxious grunting and utter distress. "Dear Friends, I would like to share this message with you as my response to @realDonaldTrump." "That's an awesome quote," you can hear someone saying on the recording afterwards. In an interview with Philly.com published the day of the election, blind R&B legend Wonder asked a reporter: "If you had an emergency situation and needed to go to the hospital, and you had to get there right away, would you want me driving your car?" he asked, to which the reporter replied "no" -- before he added: "Because I'm not an experienced driver, right?" The "Superstition" singer continued his brilliant, hilarious put-down of Trump: "So my belief is that Hillary [Clinton] is an experienced person of the government, and she has spent 30 years with a commitment. Not to mention that her parents taught her in a kinder way, to have respect and love for all people. That's the person I want to govern, to be the leader of this nation. This is not a reality show. This is life in reality. So I'm with her because I believe in where we are, and where we are going to go. I have always believed that America is great. We're just going to make it greater." - New Musical Express/Billboard, 11/8/16...... Def Leppard has premiered a video for their 2015 eponymous Def Leppard LP track "Let's Go," the opening number from their upcoming live album/DVD And There Will Be A Next Time -- Live From Detroit. The concert is from the English rockers' stop at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, and the set is scheduled to hit stores on Feb. 10. There Will Be A Next Time features the group's entire 17-song set, including its medley of "Hysteria" and the late David Bowie's "Heroes." The set also comes with official music videos for "Let's Go," "Dangerous" and "Man Enough," as well as a lyric video for "Let's Go." Def Leppard will launch a pre-order site on PledgeMusic.com on Nov. 15 to give fans early access to select tracks and exclusive merchandise. Frontman Joe Elliott & co. will launch a tour in April 2017 that will last much of the year. - Billboard, 11/11/16...... Fans of David Bowie are seeking funding for a new statue in tribute to the rock icon to be erected in the town of Aylesbury, north of London. In 1971, Bowie debuted songs from his Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust albums at the Friars Club in Aylesbury, and he also referenced the rea's Market Square in the opening lines of the Ziggy track "Five Years." A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to finance the bronze statue designed by sculptor Andrew Sinclair, with organizers seeking £100,000 for the project. Fans have so far donated £26,420 to the cause. The statue would be complemented with a working soundsystem that would play a Bowie song every hour throughout the day and evening. In other Bowie news, a sale of Bowie's art collection conducted by Sotheby's in London smashed expectations, with a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat selling for more than 7 million pounds ($8.8 million). The first part of the two-day Bowie sale on Nov. 10 netted 24.3 million pounds ($30.3 million), more than double its upper pre-sale estimate. The top lot, Basquiat's "Air Power," sold for 7.1 million pounds ($8.8 million). Another, untitled Basquiat sold for 2.4 million pounds ($2.96 million). Bowie played Andy Warhol in Basquiat, director Julian Schnabel's 1996 biopic of the American artist. The sale, which includes 400 items in all, also includes pieces of furniture and design from Bowie's collection. - New Musical Express/AP, 11/8/16...... Phil Collins announced on Nov. 8 that he'll be one of the headliners at British Summer Time at Hyde Park in June 2017, part of his recently announced comeback solo tour. Collins had already announced a run of shows throughout Europe as part of his "Not Dead Yet" tour, and the Summer Time gig will be the biggest concert yet. "The reaction from the British public has been overwhelming," Collins said in a statement. "I can't wait to play Hyde Park and see everyone there. I will be playing all of the songs that people love." Collins' previously announced dates include five nights in London at Royal Albert Hall, two dates in Cologne, and two dates in Paris, all set for June 2017. - NME, 11/8/16...... Sting has announced he will headline a concert at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards, which takes place on Dec. 2 at the Wynn hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Sting will perform both a classic hit from his catalog as well as a new song from his latest album 57th & 9th, which dropped on Nov. 11. Meanwhile, Sting is scheduled to reopen the Bataclan concert hall, the same Paris concert venue where the tragic terrorist attack took place in 2015, on Nov. 12. - Billboard, 11/10/16...... Paul McCartney has taken part in the Mannequin Challenge craze, the latest viral sensation that follows the Ice Bucket Challenge and the Harlem Shake. In it, people film themselves holding poses and staying completely motionless -- like mannequins. There's usually music playing in the background and a lot of the videos so far have been soundtracked by hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd's "Black Beatles." Now McCartney has joined in with his own version, also soundtracked by Sremmurd's track. "Love those Black Beatles," read a caption accompanying Macca's Mannequin Challenge video on Nov. 10. In the clip, Sir Paul stands by his grand piano, one hand tickling the ivories and the other reached out, seemingly in mid-song rapture. As the camera pans around him, you can probably guess which line from Sremmurd's current Top 10 hit blares out: "Black Beatle, bitch/ Me and Paul McCartney related!" - Billboard, 11/10/16...... Over 190 black & white photos from Elton John's personal photo collection have gone on display in "The Radical Eye," an exhibition which has opened at London's Tate Modern gallery. The photos usually adorn John's 18,000 square foot apartment in Atlanta, one of his several homes. John, who began buying photographs after he became sober in 1990, says collecting photos is a "a much healthier addiction," and his collection of 8,000 images is one of the largest troves of 20th-century photography in private hands. The photos on display were taken between 1915 and 1950, and include two dozen photos by surrealist Man Ray, including ones that usually hang above John's bed. The exhibition opened on Nov. 10, and will run through May 7. - AP, 11/10/16...... John Fogerty played an impromptu set that included the classic Creedence Clearwater Revival numbers "Proud Mary" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" after he completed his keynote Q&A session at the Billboard Touring Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Nov. 10. Earlier, Fogerty told the gathering of music execs that he was "scared to death of being a one-hit-wonder" when CCR started out. "After a while I started worrying about what was gonna happen after "Susie Q," Fogerty said of the 1968 cover hit. "It was a novelty and I knew it. I started to get busy staying up late and writing songs. I started strumming on the Rickenbacker and 'Proud Mary' came out." Fogerty, 71, also quipped that he dilegently practices his guitar playing, "because Brad Paisley is still better than me." Previous keynote Q&A's for the global touring business conference, now in its 13th year, have included conversations with Roger Waters, Gene Simmons and Chris Cornell. - Billboard, 11/11/16...... The slew of fellow musicians and celebrity admirers reacting to the recent death of revered singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen included several '70s musicians, including Charlie Daniels, Paul Stanley, Bette Midler and Carole King. "Rest in peace Buddy, I learned a lot about music from you," Charlie Daniels tweeted on Nov. 11, while Paul Stanley posted "RIP Leonard Cohen. A poet, songwriter and rogue till the end. Hallelujah." Bette Midler tweeted "Leonard Cohen has died. Another magical voice stilled," while Carole King simply posted "R.I.P. Leonard Cohen." Cohen, whose "Hallelujah" was one of the most covered songs in modern music history," passed away on Nov. 7 at age 82. - Billboard, 11/10/16...... In a new interview with the Washington Post, Eagles co-founding member Don Henley has slammed the U.S. Copyright Office over the sudden replacement of Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante. In October, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced that Pallante would be removed from her position, a move that was met with dismay from many members of the music industry and creators' rights groups. "She was a champion of copyright and stood up for the creative community, which is one of the things that got her fired," Henley said of Pallante, before turning his attention to Hayden. "The Librarian wants free content, and the copyright office is there to protect creators of content. They are diametrically opposed ideologies... [Hayden] has a long track record of being an activist Librarian who is anti-copyright and a Librarian who worked at places funded by Google." In her position as Register, Pallante was seen as a generally fair and sympathetic figure when it came to expanding creators' rights, and advocated for updating many of the Copyright Office's tech-based policies. "There's a mindset that the digital giants have fostered that everything on the internet should be free," Henley told the Post. "When they say they want free and open access, that's code for, 'We want free content.'" Henley added that "you don't make any money from recording music anymore... The streaming services have wiped out that revenue stream." - Billboard, 11/10/16...... Kraftwerk could be forced to cancel a gig in Buenos Aires later in November due to a ban on electronic music events in the Argentinian city. In April, the city ruled to ban all electronic events after the deaths of six people at Time Warp festival. The local government said they would no longer approve permits for major electronic music festivals until a new law is introduced to prevent drug-related deaths at music events. The German electronic music pioneers had been scheduled to play Buenos Aires' Luna Park Stadium on Nov. 23. Kraftwerk have announced they'll tour the UK in 2017, and the band was also recently nominated for next year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. - NME, 11/10/16...... Actor Robert Redford has announced he will retire from acting once he completes the two movie projects he is working on. Redford, 80, made the announcement in an interview with his grandson Dylan Redford for the Walker Art Center, where he will appear at an event on Nov. 12. "Once they're done then I'm going to say, 'OK, that's goodbye to all that,' and then just focus on directing," he said. Redford has two acting projects in the pipeline including a love story for older people called Our Souls at Night with Jane Fonda and a lighter piece with Casey Affleck and Sissy Spacek called The Old Man and the Gun. Redford adds he will turn his attention to painting as a creative outlet. "It's just me, just the way it used to be, and so going back to sketching - that's sort of where my head is right now... So, I'm thinking of moving in that direction and not acting as much," he said. The veteran actor first directed in 1980 with Ordinary People, which won him a Best Director Oscar, and he is also the founder the Sundance Institute, which helps independent filmmakers and runs the annual Sundance Film Festival. - WENN.com, 11/11/16...... Actor Robert Vaughn, the debonair, Oscar-nominated actor whose many film roles were eclipsed by his hugely popular turn in the iconic '60s TV spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E., died on Nov. 11 after a brief battle with acute leukemia, according to his manager, Matthew Sullivan. He was 83. Born Robert Francis Vaughn into a theatrical family Nov. 22, 1932, in New York City, Mr. Vaughn broke into show business "after a two month struggle" in 1956, and starred in his first movie, No Time to Be Young, in 1957 after he was discharged form the Army. He went on to appear in a number of movies and television shows, and earned an Oscar nomination in 1959 for his supporting role in The Young Philadelphians, in which he played a wounded war veteran accused of murder. He eventually landed a lead role as urbane superspy Napoleon Solo in NBC's The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which debuted in 1964. The show was an immediate hit, particularly with young people, and was part of an avalanche of secret agent shows (I Spy, Mission: Impossible, Secret Agent), spoofs (Get Smart), books (The Spy Who Came in From the Cold) and even songs (Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man") inspired by the James Bond films. Mr. Vaughn's Napoleon Solo character was teamed with Scottish actor David McCallum's Illya Kuryakin, a soft-spoken, Russian-born agent, and the pair put aside Cold War differences for a greater good, worked together each week for the mysterious U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) in combating the international crime syndicate THRUSH. After the show was canceled in early 1968 due to sagging ratings, Mr. Vaughn and McCallum reunited in 1983 for a TV movie, The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. in which the super spies were lured out of retirement to save the world once more. Mr. Vaughn, a liberal Democrat, was also drawn to politics in several of the roles he chose, portraying US presidents Harry S. Truman, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt in various screen and stage projects. Mr. Vaughn also remained active in movies in his later career, usually in character roles in such films as The Venetian Affair, The Bridge at Remagen, Julius Caesar (the 1970 British version starring Charlton Heston), The Towering Inferno, S.O.B., Superman III and Delta Force. Mr. Vaughn is survived by his wife, Linda Staab Vaughn, their son Cassidy and daughter Caitlin. - AP, 11/11/16.

Canadian poet/novelist/singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen, a highly influential recording artist whose literate, evocative material was covered by many artists including Judy Collins and Jeff Buckley, died at his home in Los Angeles on Nov. 7. He was 82. Born in Montreal on Sept. 21, 1934, to a middle class family with Judaic roots, Mr. Cohen began studying music and poetry at a young age, taking up the clarinet but later turning his attention to writing as he grew older. After attending McGill University, Mr. Cohen published his first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies, and his first novel, Beautiful Losers, in 1966, and began to set his poems to music. When Judy Collins recorded his song "Suzanne" that same year, his solo career began to take off, and Columbia Records signed him and released his debut album, The Songs of Leonard Cohen, the following year. Full of haunting compositions which were well suited to his lugubrious, flat vocals, The Songs of Leonard Cohen was well received, as was its follow-up, Songs From a Room, though it didn't have the impact of its predecessor. Mr. Cohen then embarked on a series of live appearances in the U.S. and Europe, and for his first European tour in 1970, he employed a backing group called The Army which included his future producer, Bob Johnston, who also produced Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel. A reserved, slightly academic figure who was reportedly dismayed by the adulation fostered by live appearances, Mr. Cohen lacked the necessary stimulus to be a rock star, and his singles did not chart in the U.S. His 1971 release, Songs of Love and Hate, was a typical sparse and haunting collection that ranks among the most emotionally intense of his 13 studio albums, and perfectly captured his dramatic blend of folk and pop. In the mid-'70s, Mr. Cohen became a practicing Buddhist and spent time between 1994-99 secluded at a monastery in Mount Baldy, Calif. After the monastery years, Mr. Cohen's career was jump-started in 2001 when his backup singer Sharon Robinson released Ten New Songs, which was co-written by Mr. Cohen. In 2012, the masses finally began catching on with the release of his LP Old Ideas, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, and 2014's Popular Problems, which debuted at No. 15. Mr. Cohen began touring in earnest again in 2008, delivering generous, acclaimed shows that were chronicled on a series of concert albums and live videos. Mr. Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008 by Lou Reed, who lauded him as being mong the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters." Other honors include induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, four Juno awards, and a Grammy Lifetime Acheivement Award in 2010. He was also awarded several literary prizes and honorary university degrees, and was named a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian award, in 2011. HIs romantic relationships included Marianne C. Stang (the subject of "So Long, Marianne"), artist Suzanne Elrod -- with whom he had son Adam and daughter Lorca but never married -- French photographer Dominque Issermann, and actress Rebecca De Mornay. Mr. Cohen's death was announced by his son and current producer, Adam Cohen, on Facebook on Nov. 10, who stated "We have lost one of music's most revered and prolific visionaries" and that his father "passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles with the knowledge that he had completed what he felt was one of his greatest records... He was writing up until his last moments with his unique brand of humor." A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. - Billboard, 11/10/16.