Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on March 12th, 2017

Touring Canada in mid-March, Elton John enjoyed a day off on Mar. 9 by doing a little record shopping in downtown Vancouver. Sir Elton dropped into Beat Street Records on Hastings Street to check out the selection of vinyl, asking for "gangsta rap." John, 69, is an avowed fan of Young Thug, whom he's hung out with in Atlanta, and of Big Sean, who he once approached at a party to gush over his new album. A manager of the store said Elton's purchases included LP's by such artists as Little Feat, Devine Brown, Linda Ronstadt, Morris Day and "all the Scritti Poliiti we had." Elton, whose next tour stop was two shows in Victoria, B.C., signed a copy of his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album for the store's employees before leaving. - Postmedia Network, 3/10/17...... The 5th Annual Rock Against MS benefit concert and award show, set for Mar. 25 at the historic Los Angeles Theatre, will honor the iconic '70s comedian Richard Pryor, who was afflicted with the condition. "More than anyone, Richard could appreciate RAMS' mission to not remain silent," says his widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor. "RAMS uses every means possible to enlighten, inform and educate the public about MS. Telling the truth is their genius too." The headlining performer will be Roadcase Royale, a new band featuring Nancy Wilson of Heart and Liv Warfield formerly of Prince's New Power Generation. Roadcase Royale premeired their new single, "Get Live," on RollingStone.com on Mar. 8, and a lyric video of the song is currently available to view on the official Roadcase Royale website. "Get Loud," about getting loud and standing up for women's equality, will be among the songs performed at the MS benefit concert, which will be hosted by comedians Bill Burr (Breaking Bad/Date Night) and Craig Gass (Sex in the City/The Howard Stern Show). - Miles High Productions, 3/10/17...... Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux has shared details on upcoming releases from the iconic psychedelic band, which have been mapped out for a whopping 22 years. "We know for sure that every year we're going to release four Dave's Picks, which are the three-CD complete live shows, quarterly," he says. "We know we're going to do one big box set each year, whether that's an eight-CD set or an 11-CD set, like the one we have coming up. This gives us one other big thing to focus on every year." Lemieux, a 46-year-old history and fine arts major from Ottawa, Ontario, compiled the new two-disc deluxe reissue documenting the band's self-titled debut with Rhino Records, the first of a 50th-anniversary reissue series through 2039. He also oversees the Dead's Los Angeles archive of thousands of tapes, arranged meticulously by year and format. "To me, as a Deadhead and as an archivist, every one of those tapes tells a story," he says. On May 5, the acclaimed 1977 live Dead concert Cornell 5/8/77 will drop as a deluxe 3-disc set, a recording considered so historically significant it has been accepted into the Library of Congress. - Billboard, 3/10/17...... After Black Sabbath played what they said was their final-ever gig together in Birmingham, UK on Feb. 4, the band appeared to make it official on Mar. 7, posting their obituary on Facebook with the hashtag, #TheEnd. Reaction to the news varied widely, with one fan quipping "the Rolling Stones have their final tour every 3 years," while another wrote "Black Sabbath will live on through their recordings for people to discover and enjoy the band for a long time to come." After nearly a half century together, the influential heavy metal group -- which, on its final tour, included singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and Tommy Clufetos replacing original drummer Bill Ward -- embarked on their The End Tour in January 2016, putting an end to a 49-year, 19 studio album career that began in Birmingham in 1968. - Billboard, 3/8/17......A new musical from former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne based on Joan of Arc is set to debut at New York's Public Theater on Mar. 15. "Joan of Arc: Into the Fire" is described as a "raw, resonant take" on the 15th-century French martyr, with lead role actor Jo Lampert dressed in tight black leather and driving rock anthems sung by French soldiers. "What boggles the mind -- why her story has endured for centuries -- is that people are still trying to interpret her," Byrne says. "Marine Le Pen, the French right-wing politician, claims her! She has become this vessel, and people have always wanted to put their stamp on her," he added. - Billboard, 3/10/17...... Bob Dylan has shared a third track off his forthcoming 3-CD collection of 30 classic songs by American songwriters. Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" follows Frank Sinatra's "I Could Have Told Your" and "My One and Only Love," which were previewed in February. As well as Carmichael and Sinatra, Triplicate, due Mar. 31, will see Dylan also tackling songs made famous by the likes of Charles Strouse, Lee Adams and Harold Hupfield. On May 3, Dylan will kick off a 7-city tour of the UK and Ireland in Cardiff. - New Musical Express, 3/11/17...... A co-headlining tour by Lionel Richie and Mariah Carey has been rescheduled and reduced one-third in size, two weeks after Richie was forced to postpone the tour because of a knee injury. The original 35-date tour has now been reduced to 21 dates, and will kick off July 21 in Oakland, Calif., and run through Sept. 5 in Seattle. - Billboard, 3/9/17...... Elvis Costello will be honored at the "Little Kids Rock" music education benefit show on Oct. 18 at PlayStation Theater in New York City. The national nonprofit benefit, known for transforming the lives of children's music education, raises funds to provide instruments and teacher training in low-income schools. Costello, a longtime supporter of music education, will also perform with music students onstage, and the special event also includes a live auction including cool prizes. - Billboard, 3/9/17...... As Don McLean's seminal 1972 hit "American Pie" celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2017, the Maine-based singer/songwriter has given McLean's ex-wife Patrisha McLean an order of protection against him. McLean pleaded guilty in July 2016 to domestic violence assault after being charged with the offense six months earlier, with his lawyer saying at the time that his punishment would be a $3,000 fine if he stayed out of trouble for a year. A final order of protection was granted on Mar. 8 that will last for two years. It was preceded by a temporary order. Patrisha McLean says she is glad the order was granted. - Billboard, 3/8/17...... Two rare David Bowie albums will be reissued on vinyl on Apr. 22 in the UK to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Record Store Day. Cracked Actor (Live In Los Angeles 1974), a live album recorded in Sept. 1974 which has never been officially released before, and BOWPROMO1, a 1971 promo album featuring alternative versions of songs that later appeared on Hunky Dory, will both see the light of day. It is believed fewer than 500 copies of BOWPROMO1 were pressed in 1971, and longtime Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti has remixed the 16 multi-track tapes from Bowie's 1974 tour stop in L.A. for Cracked Actor. - New Musical Express, 3/10/17...... Barry Manilow is prepping a concept album of New York songs, This Is My Town: Songs of New York, that will drop on Apr. 21 via Decca Records. The 10 Big Apple-centric songs mix Manilow originals, including "New York City Rhythm," and covers such as "On Broadway." "When you come from New York you are always a New Yorker, even though I've lived on the West Coast for more years than I did in New York," says the Brooklyn born singer. "I still feel like a New Yorker. I still talk fast. I still have my Brooklyn accent if I don't watch out. I still feel like a New York guy, so this (album) made sense." An eight-song "NYC Medley" includes the theme from "New York, New York," Billy Joel's "New York State Of Mind" and Jay Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State Of Mind." Manilow will launch a three-city mini-tour of the Los Angeles, Chicago and New York areas on May 14 in Inglewood, Calif., then visiting Rosemont, Ill., and Uniondale, N.Y. "It's going to be a residency type of thing, every other month for as long as people will come," says Manilow, who in 2016 spent more than a year on tour "saying goodbye to every city possible." - Billboard, 3/9/17...... Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's tour down under in January and February has earned nearly $40 million from 12 performances in seven Australian venues followed by concerts at two stadiums in New Zealand. Grosses totaled $38 million, giving the tour the top spot on the Billboard Hot Tours roundup for Mar. 7. Springsteen last played Australia in 2013 during his The Wrecking Ball tour. - Billboard, 3/8/17...... In a new interview with the UK paper The Guardian, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters compared US Pres. Donald Trump to the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. "Any despot, whenever they build a monument to themselves, whether it's Ceauescu, or Saddam Hussein, or Donald Trump, they always look exactly the same," Waters said. He continued: "Weirdly, these people have bits missing from their sensibility, so it's almost as if they build the monument to themselves from a despot catalog and it's always full of marble and gold taps." [Look at] Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City. It's perfect. Trump with his gold taps and his all of that. It's the perfect symbol of everything we need to steer clear of." Waters will debut his operatic treatment of Pink Floyd's 1979 The Wall album on Mar. 11 in Montreal, Canada. - NME, 3/9/17...... Michael Jackson's daughter Paris Jackson has signed with the artist management company WME in all areas, one week after she joined the top modeling agency IMG Models. In February, Paris graced the covers of Rolling Stone and CR Fashion Book, and she'll appear on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Mar. 15. - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/7/17...... Moviemaker Roman Polanski says he will agree to return to the U.S. to face 39-year-old sex charges if the judge overseeing his case promises not to send him to jail. The acclaimed director of Rosemary's Baby and The Pianist has has been milling around Europe since 1978, when he was charged with having sex with a 13-year-old girl at a Hollywood party. Polanski claims he left the U.S. and went into exile because the judge reneged on a deal to hand him 50 days behind bars and instead threatened him with a 50-year sentence. His lawyer Harland Braun says the 400 days Polanksi served in jail in the U.S. and under house arrest in Switzerland in connection to his crime is more than enough for the sex assault he committed almost four decades ago. - WENN.com, 3/11/17...... Joni Sledge, the second eldest sister in the hit pop group Sister Sledge, died at her home in Phoenix, Ariz., on Mar. 10 of as yet undisclosed causes. She was 60. Sister Sledge was formed in 1971 and went on to record such hits as "We Are Family," "He's the Greatest Dancer," "Frankie" and more, with "We Are Family" peaking at No. 2, topping the R&B and disco charts, and nominated for a Grammy. "We thank you for privacy as we hurt for her presence, but also for embracing her radiance and the sincerity with which she loved life," a statement issued by her family says. - Billboard, 3/11/17...... Jim Fuller, the lead guitarist and co-songwriter for the '60s rock band The Surfaris, died on Mar. 3 at the age of 69. Fuller, known as the "Godfather" of surf music, was also a studio musician that has performed on many other artists' recordings of rock, folk, and blues songs throughout his career, doing vocals, lead and bass guitar. Fuller also contributed to the popularity of Fender guitars after being photographed for the cover of The Surfaris albums, and his name is on the famous "Hollywood Walk of Fame." As of 2004 he continued to perform with The Surfaris and other bands, with a fan base in United States, Europe, and Japan. - 3/5/17...... Hershel Wiginton, a founding member of the backing vocal group The Nashville Edition, died on Mar. 6 at his daughter's home in Carthage, Tenn., after several years of declining health. He was 79. The Nashville Edition appeared on an estimated 12,000 recordings between the 1960s and the early 1990s, including Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," Tanya Tucker's "Delta Dawn," Marty Robbins' "El Paso City, and Lynn Anderson's "Rose Garden." - 3/8/17.

A bi-coastal summer music festival headlined by the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac is reportedly being planned this July, with organizers hoping to turn the shows -- at Citi Field in New York and Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles -- into an annual event. The "Classic East" and "Classic West" concerts will each take place over two days with additional artists to be announced in the coming months. A number of big-time promoters and music companies are involved in the blockbuster concert concept including Azoff MSG Entertainment, Live Nation, the Oak View Group and CAA. The festivals would be the first performance by the Eagles since co-founder Glenn Frey passed away in Jan. 2016, and they are Fleetwood Mac's only scheduled dates in 2017, a source says. The classic-rock driven festival follows the success of Goldenvoice and AEG Live's Desert Trip festival headlined by such top acts as the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the Who. That Oct. 2016 festival brought in $160 million in ticket sales, but AEG officials have not announced if it will return in 2017. - Billboard, 3/2/17...... Meanwhile, Hall & Oates and '80s hitmakers Tears for Fears have announced they'll kick off an '80s-themed tour of North America together in 2017. The 29-city tour will kick off in Tulsa, Okla., on May 4, hitting major markets such as St. Louis (5/6), Milwaukee (5/13), Chicago (5/15), Detroit (5/17), Miami (6/7), Cincinnati (6/13), Queens, NY (6/16), Boston (6/24), Dallas (6/11), Denver (6/15) and Las Vegas (6/21) before wrapping in Los Angeles on July 28. While Hall & Oates have never split up since forming in 1970, Tears for Fears reformed in 2000 after parting company in 1991. - New Musical Express, 3/2/17...... Jimmy Buffett has announced he's launching a string of "Latitude Margaritaville" retirement homes, initially in Daytona Beach, Fla., with more planned in other communities in the future. "Inspired by the legendary music and lifestyle of singer, songwriter and best-selling author Jimmy Buffett, your new home in paradise features exciting recreation, unmatched dining and FINtastic nightlife," reads the Latitude Margaritaville site. The place where you can "grow older, but not up" promises homes starting in the low $200s, with furnished models slated to open in early 2018 for residents who have to be 55 or older. "It's going to be a very fun place," Minto Communities vice president Bill Bullock told a local TV station of the $1 billion project that is expected to feature 7,000 2- and 3-bedroom homes. Buffett announced earlier in 2017 that he's also eyeing a Broadway show based on his music that will debut in the spring of 2018. - Billboard, 3/6/17...... Lawyers for Cher asked a New York Federal judge on Mar. 6 to dismiss a lawsuit over the album cover of her 2013 album Closer to the Truth which a graphic designer claims ripped off a typeface the he created. Moshik Nadav is a graphic designer who claims having his Paris Logo typography was used on Closer to the Truth, which has sold about 585,000 copies since its release. Nadav's complaint states that he is a leading figure in the world of typography and that his Paris Logo features "artistic elements such as swashes having various thicknesses, end drops and unique lettering that provide... an aesthetic look... that his clients... and the public at large associate with Nadav and his business, Moshik Nadav Typography LLC." In a motion to dismiss, Cher's attorney Leonard Venger pointed to the section of copyright code spelling out which material can't be copyrighted, which includes "short phrases, typeface and variations on lettering." - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/7/17...... Billy Joel was joined by '80s rocker John Mellencamp and two members of the '60s group the Young Rascals during his sold out show at Madison Square Garden on Mar. 3. Joel and Mellencamp treated fans to a surprise performance of "Authority Song," off of Mellencamp's 1983 Uh-huh album, while Young Rascals' Gene Cornish and Felix Cavaliere brought their 1966 hit "Good Lovin'" to the crowd. "I left the gig after watching these guys play and I almost gave up," said Joel, reminiscing about attending a Young Rascals show in the 1960s, as he introduced Cornish on guitar and Cavaliere on organ. Joel returns to the famed New York City venue in April. His next tour stop is in Lincoln, Neb., on March 24. - Billboard, 3/5/17...... Gladys Knight has announced she's launching a fundraising campaign to refurbish a Community Center at the site of Reynolds High School, in Canton, N.C. Knight says being married to western North Carolina native William "Billy" McDowell, a Canton native, has turned her into a country girl at heart, and she's hoping to turn that new affection into possibly the best thing that's ever happened to Canton. Organizers need to raise up to $5 million to renovate the 20,000-square-foot Reynolds Community Center, which was constructed in 1930 and was functional until 1966. It was once the only African-American high school in western North Carolina west of Asheville. When finished, the 6.5-acre property will provide multiple services, from a music center to counseling for those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. Meanwhile, Knight has won her bid to end all personal connections to her son's struggling chicken and waffles restaurant, according to a settlement filed in Georgia's Clayton County court. Signed on Feb. 27, the agreement states that 40-year-old Shanga Hankerson must remove all uses of Knight's name, likeness and memorabilia from the restaurant formerly called Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles by Apr. 26, 2017. "She's out of litigation and has her name and intellectual property back," her attorney told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Hankerson founded the restaurant with his mother's help in 1999. The legal battle strained Knight's relationship with her son after he claimed she did not have the "mental capacity" to choose to remove her name from the business. - AP/Billboard, 3/5/17...... Rod Stewart is apologizing for a video shared by his current wife Penny Lancaster that shows Stewart in what appears to be a re-enactment of a beheading. Lancaster posted a video on Instagram that shows several people clad in black walking in a desert. Stewart is wearing a white shirt and standing behind a man who gets on his knees before Stewart makes a motion with his right hand in front of the man's neck. The video has been deleted but was captured by media outlets and republished. Stewart, who performed a concert in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Mar. 3, said in a statement that his group was "simply larking about pre-show." He says the video was "understandably" misinterpreted and he sends his "deepest apologies to those who have been offended." Stewart is set to begin the latest leg of his Las Vegas residency later in March, and has been announced as a headliner of this year's UK Isle Of Wight Festival. - AP, 3/3/17...... Roger Waters has posted another tease of his forthcoming first solo rock album in 25 years, Is This the Life We Really Want? Rogers posted a 30-second video clip on Mar. 2 that features him listening to a lush orchestral score for an unnamed song from the album. Produced by frequent Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich, Is This the Life We Really Want? is due out May 19. Meanwhile, the recording console used by Rogers' former band Pink Floyd for recording its classic 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon will go up for auction later in March. The TG12345 MK IV recording console, which was housed in Studio 2 at Abbey Road, will be auctioned by New York's Bonham's on March 27. The console is expected to reach a six-digit figure, though no estimate has been set. One of a two-of-a-kind model, the console was also used by Paul McCartney and Wings, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Kate Bush, while The Cure also used it more recently. Currently owned by producer Mike Hedges -- who bought it from Abbey Road in 1983 -- Bonham's says the console is still in an "excellent working condition" and is currently housed in Prime Studios in Austria. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 3/3/17...... The estate of Curtis Mayfield has announced it will re-release Mayfield's book Poetic License to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Being re-released as a limited-edition paperback at CurtisMayfield.com, Poetic License spotlights poems and song lyrics penned by Mayfield during a career that spanned four decades, from his tenure with The Impressions during the civil rights era to his groundbreaking solo turn. The book was Mayfield's first project after a tragic 1990 stage accident which left him paralyzed from the neck down after being hit by lighting equipment. "It started him back to work and that's what I wanted," his widow Altheida Mayfield says. "I wanted him to get his mind off the accident, and remember that he still had a functioning mind. From that point on, he was anxious to work. You couldn't slow him down." After the book's publication, Mayfield went on to record and release his final album, 1996's New World Order. He died in December 1999 at the age of 57. Altheida Mayfield says she's also working on a book about her life with her late husband that's slated for release in 2018. In the meantime, a limited-edition vinyl reissue of Curtis Mayfield's 1972 Superfly soundtrack is set for release later in 2017, and a documentary about his life is also in development. - Billboard, 3/2/17...... In a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry says Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler "didn't get" the classic 1984 rock "mockumentary" Spinal Tap when the pair first saw the film at the cinema. "[He was] squirming and squirming, and he did not laugh the whole time," Perry recalled. "It was like he took the band's side on everything. It was like he did not -- he didn't get it. He got indignant. And it was, like, I couldn't believe it. So, my wife and I were cracking up -- and we're watching Steven." - NME, 3/2/17...... Lou Reed's widow Laurie Anderson announced on Mar. 2 that the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is acquiring Reed's complete archives. "What better place to have this than in the heart of the city he loved the best?" said Anderson, who described assembling Reed's archive as "one of the most intense experiences of my life." Reed, who died from liver disease on Oct. 27, 2013, at the age of 71, left behind an archive that measures approximately 300 linear feet of paper records, electronic records, and photographs, as well as approximately 3,600 audio and 1,300 video recordings. All of Reed's major tours and many of his guest performances are represented in the collection, including 25 hours of original recordings documenting his 1978 run at the Bottom Line in NYC from which the Take No Prisoners live album emerged. - Billboard, 3/2/17...... Actor Danny Masterson of That '70s Show fame is denying reports he is under investigation for raping fellow members of the Church of Scientology. According to journalist Tony Ortega's Scientology blog, "The Underground Bunker," Masterson is being investigated by officials at the Los Angeles Police Department for sexually assaulting three women. No charges have been filed against Masterson and he is now vehemently denying the claims. "Based on reading the anti-Scientology blog that posted this story, these false allegations appear to be motivated to boost Leah Remini's anti-Scientology television series," a rep for Masterson said in a statement. - WENN.com, 3/3/17...... The UK paper The London Sunday Times is reporting that a 50th anniversary deluxe re-release of the Beatles' landmark Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album is being planned for later in 2017. This special edition will reportedly include the songs "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane," which were originally planned to be included in the album, but were released as a double A-side single instead under pressure from record company EMI. Because the Beatles used to not include singles on albums, the two songs didn't end on up Sgt. Pepper, a decision that Beatles producer George Martin once called "a truly terrible mistake." More details about the re-release are being kept secret, but all parties involved have co-operated fully, including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon and George Harrison's respective widows, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison. The re-release is set for June 1, exactly fifty years after the original. - The London Sunday TImes, 3/5/17...... In other Beatles-related news, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's son Sean Lennon has shared a recording of a song called "Bird Song" that he co-wrote with recently deceased actress/writer Carrie Fisher. Lennon and Fisher were good friends, with the musician calling her "one of the best and closest friends I've ever had in my life" in an Instagram post after her death. On Mar. 6, Sean shared the song on Instagram, explaining it was about "staying up too late and hearing the birds sing." "Carrie and I wrote this song years ago," Lennon wrote. "When she died I just felt I had to record it. This is only a demo unmixed, we only had a few hours to record it. But the lyrics she wrote with me I think are marvelous." - New Musical Express, 3/6/17...... Barbra Streisand has tweeted that Pres. Donald Trump has made her so anxious these days that she's gaining weight. "Donald Trump is making me gain weight," Babs tweeted on Mar. 4. "I start the day with liquids, but after the morning news, I eat pancakes smothered in maple syrup!" She continued the following day: "Trump just accused Obama of tapping his phones. Seriously crazy times. Time for more pancakes." Her comments come after Pres. Trump recently claimed the Barack Obama administration wire tapped into his Trump Tower phones during the 2016 Presidential elections. - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/5/17...... Legendary '50s rock 'n' roller Jerry Lee Lewis is suing his daughter Phoebe, alleging she abused him, gave him drugs and isolated him. Lewis claims she schemed to spend his fortune with her husband Ezekiel Loftin, and said she gave him a "heavy cocktail of psychotropic drugs" to keep him under her control, according to TMZ.com. Lewis also alleges Phoebe forced him to go on gruelling tours despite his poor health, and kept him isolated at home in a mouldy house, which forced him to wear an oxygen mask. Lewis has requested $5 million of money back, and wants to block the couple from using his name or likeness. - WENN.com, 3/6/17...... Tom Jones has reportedly said he won't return to the UK edition of The Voice after the current season ends. Jones, who was dropped from the show in 2015, has sung the praises of the revamped ITV show after re-joining the panel. But now the "She's a Lady" singer has told the UK paper The Sun that he wants to call it a day because the grueling filming schedule that is "very hard work, and takes up a huge amount of time and energy" acording to a source close to him. Jones famously told the BBC to "go f--- themselves" when he was replaced by Boy George in 2015 without consulting him -- slamming them for "sub-standard behaviour." - New Musical Express, 3/6/17...... Singer Valerie Carter has died of undisclosed causes at the age of 64. Carter, who had been ill in recent years including a serious 2014 incident where reports had her "fighting for her life," was best known as a backup singer for a long list of artists over the years including James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Neil Diamond, Nicolette Larson, Ringo Starr, Jimmy Webb, Willie Nelson and many more. Carter began her musical career when she was still a teenager, playing in coffee houses, and at age 20, had her first hit with Judy Collins' recording of Carter's "Cooked With Honey," which rose to No. 32 on the pop charts in 1973. She was also part of the band Howdy Moon which released an eponymous album in 1974 with production by Little Feat's Lowell George. George would go on to produce Carter's solo debut, 1977's Just a Stone's Throw Away, which included guest appearances by the likes of Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Maurice White. She went on to record two more albums, 1978's Wild Child and 1996's The Way It Is along with the 1998 EP Find a River. - 3/5/17...... Songwriter Ric Marlow, who co-wrote the Grammy-winning 1960s pop song "A Taste of Honey" that was made into a huge instrumental hit by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass and also covered by the Beatles, died on Feb. 28 in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 91. Mr. Marlow and Bobby Scott co-wrote "A Taste of Honey" as the title song for a 1960 Broadway adaptation of Shelagh Delaney's British play that also was made into a 1961 film directed by Tony Richardson. Their song won the 1962 Grammy for best instrumental theme. Three years later, Alpert's version collected four Grammys, including song of the year, and went as high as No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was also covered by such artists as Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis and Tony Bennett, among others. Mr. Marlow also worked as an actor, appearing on such shows as Bonanza, Death Valley Days, Sea Hunt, Hawaii 5-0 and Magnum, P.I.. - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/6/17...... Robert Osborne, a longtime film historian and the cherished host of Turner Classic Movies, died at his home in New York on Mar. 6 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 84. The genial, silver-haired Mr. Osborne had been the principal host of the Turner Classic Movies cable channel since its founding in 1994. His life partner, theater director and producer David Staller, confirmed the death but did not disclose the cause. Mr. Osborne also wrote official histories of the Oscars and was a longtime columnist for the Hollywood Reporter, a show-business trade publication. Born Robert Jolin Osborne on May 3, 1932, in Colfax, Wash., a farming community, Mr. Osborne took acting roles in Seattle and his dashing good looks -- he resembled actor Robert Wagner -- led to a contract with Desilu Studies, a television production company run by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. His biggest role was a brief appearance in the 1962 pilot episode of The Beverly Hillbillies. Ball told him he lacked the survival skills for the cutthroat profession. "We have enough actors," he recalled her saying. "We don't have enough writers." He began publishing an official history of the Academy Awards in 1965, and updated the book every few years and joined the Hollywood Reporter in 1977, eventually settling in at its New York office. - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/6/17...... Legendary TV broadcaster Barbara Walters' health has reportedly failed to the point that the 87-year-old now requires almost 24/7 care from a staff of people. There had been talk of a lifetime tribute to her on her longtime network ABC, but apparently she was unable to participate so it was put on hold.