Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on August 30th, 2017

The Rolling Stones have released a lyric video for their 1967 song "2000 Light Years From Home" in advance of the upcoming 50th anniversary reissue of their classic dark psychedelic masterpiece LP, Her Satanic Majesties Request. The Stones themselves are not featured in the clip, however it features all the touchstones of the era, from a floating yogi, dancing mushrooms, groovy space ships, and doors that open new worlds of perception. The Her Satanic Majesties Request reissue arrives on Sept. 22 as a box set with both stereo and mono version of the album on vinyl and a hybrid super audio CD along with a 20-page book with new liner notes. - Billboard, 8/30/17...... The sister of late rock icon Prince, Tyka Nelson, has told Britain's Evening Standard paper in a new interview that her famous brother's favorite color was actually orange -- not purple. "The stand out piece for me is his orange Cloud guitar," Nelson said about a Prince memorabilia auction earlier in August. "It is strange because people always associate the colour purple with Prince, but his favourite colour was actually orange." A cursory search of images of Prince could bear Nelson's assertion out, as he appeared in a sparkling orange tunic at the 2016 Grammy awards, in an all-orange suit from his legendary 2007 Super Bowl performance, in orange with an orange guitar during a Las Vegas residency in 2006, and in orange wear at the 2006 BET Awards and the 2012 iHeartRadio festival. The shocking claim comes as Spotify erected several simple all-purple billboards earlier this to promote the addition of his catalog to their streaming library, and more recently the Pantone Color Institute partnering with the Prince estate to create a new custom shade of purple in his honor. - Spin.com, 8/29/17...... On Aug. 24, David Bowie reached another posthumous milestone -- the 1 billionth stream of the late rocker's catalogue on the Spotify streaming service. Bowie reached the benchmark with his 1977 classic "Heroes" leading the way as his most-streamed solo track of all time on the popular subscription platform. "Heroes", originally recorded in English, French and German, is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2017 and will enjoy a special limited edition picture disc release in September. Also coming that month is the latest in a series of career-spanning Bowie box sets, A New Career in a New Town, which covers the years 1977-1982. Bowie passed away on Jan. 10 of cancer, two days after the release of his final album, Blackstar, which became his first No. 1 album in the US. - Billboard, 8/29/17...... The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced on Aug. 28 that the upcoming New York Film Festival will include the debut of a new Bob Dylan documentary titled Trouble No More. The concert film, directed by Jennifer Lebeau, features long-lost footage from Dylan's '79-'80 tour. Also premiering will be a new doc about the career of Jaws director Steven Spielberg directed by Susan Lacy and featuring interviews with his fellow directors Francis Coppola, Brian De Palma, George Lucas and Martin Scorsese. The 55th New York Film Festival, also showcasing new films from Woody Allen, Todd Haynes and Richard Linklater, is set to run Sept. 28-Oct. 15 at Lincoln Center. - The Hollywood Reporter, 8/28/17...... On Aug. 28, a U.S. District Court judge issued an extraordinary injunction banning the release of Street Survivor, a new documentary about the 1977 plane crash that killed Lynyrd Skynyrd members Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines. The injunction is the result of a lawsuit brought by heirs of Van Zant and Gaines, along with Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington, who sued the film production company Cleopatra and alleged that former Synyrd drummer Artimus Pyle assisted the making of the movie in violation of his agreements that the band survivors never use the name Lynyrd Skynyrd again. "Cleopatra is prohibited from making its movie about Lynyrd Skynyrd when its partner substantively contributes to the project in a way that, in the past, he willingly bargained away the very right to do just that," Judge Robert Sweet opined. "In any other circumstance, Cleopatra would be as 'free as a bird' to make and distribute its work," he added, making reference to the band's signature tune, "Freebird." The filmmakers argued that Street Survivor didn't and wouldn't represent any authorization from the band, that the production company wasn't a party to the agreements, and that the film constituted free speech. But after hearing evidence, the judge has now sided with the heirs and ordered up an expedited trial. Attorneys representing Cleopatra said their client still intends to release Street Survivor and will seek relief from an appeals court. - The Hollywood Reporter, 8/28/17...... Michael Jackson's daughter Paris Jackson, paid tribute to her late dad on Aug. 29, what would have been the King of Pop's 59th birthday, by posting a photo of herself as an infant kissing her father. Writing in the accompanying caption, the 19-year-old remarked that she'd "never feel love again the way I did with you." "You are always with me and I am always with you," Paris added. "Though I am not you, and you are not me, I know with all of my being that we are one. And our should will never change in that way. Thank you for the magic, forever and always." Jackson also appeared during the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 27 and called out "Nazi, white supremacist jerks" when discussing the recent violence and far right protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. "As a nation with liberty as our slogan, we have zero tolerance for their violence, their hatred and their discrimination," she declared. - New Musical Express, 8/29/17...... In the late 1960s, pioneering rock & roller Jerry Lee Lewis mounted a return to the country music charts after his career was nearly derailed over a 1950s scandal involving his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, Myra. Lewis scored several top country singles, including "What Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)," "She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye," "To Make Love Sweeter for You" and "Touching Home," and recently a petition was started online to call attention to his exclusion from the Country Music Hall of Fame (he was among the first inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. "I don't know why I am not in it," the 81-year-old Lewis said of the CMA snub. "I mean, they got it stirred up and talking about it. I don't know why they don't put me in it. I don't understand that." And there seems to be plenty of support for that within Nashville's music community, who consider "The Killer" more of a country singer than a rock star. "You know, I was at the age that I didn't really know him as a rock 'n' roller until I got in the bar and started playing his rock stuff," says country star Toby Keith. "But I knew all of his country songs. He's an incredible country singer." On Aug. 24, Lewis was honored by top country artists such as George Strait, Kris Kristofferson, Chris Stapleton and Lee Ann Womack during the live concert series Skyville Live. Womack said that Lewis' contributions to music, no matter the genre, should make him eligible. "He's one of the greatest artists that we have ever had the pleasure of having in country music," she said. "That's my opinion and I am sure that's most everybody's opinion. I think anybody that has made that kind of impact deserves to be in the Hall of Fame." Lewis adds that "my style of country music is just me... I wouldn't know how to do anyone else's." - AP, 8/26/17..... The band Muse closed out the UK's Reading 2017 festival on Aug. 27 by bringing out AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson for a surprise jam. Johnson joined the trio on stage at the start of the encore. "He's back!" announced frontman Matt Bellamy, inviting the singer to the stage to join Muse in a cover of AC/DC's "Back In Black." "Thank you so much, thank you boys," Johnson said at the end of the song, hugging Bellamy. The performance marked one of Johnson's first since being forced to leave AC/DC in 2016 to hearing issues. He previously joined Robert Plant and Paul Rodgers on stage in Oxford earlier in 2017. - NME, 8/27/17...... Tobe Hooper, the pioneering director of the 1974 grisly horror masterpiece The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well as Poltergeist, died on Aug. 26 in Sherman Oaks, Calif., of as yet unannnounced causes. He was 74. Hooper, who began his film career as a documentary cameraman in the 60s, gained fame as director of two of the most frightening and original horror films ever made. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre practically invented its own strain of evocative rural terror, telling a story of a group of friends drawn into the deadly orbit of a group of cannibals. The film, made for only $300,000, drew widespread acclaim and is remembered as one of the greatest horror films of all time. Hooper cowrote The Texas Chain Saw Massacre script with Kim Henkel, basing it loosely onthe horrific crimes of Ed Gein, a murderer whose influence would also be felt on a latter horror classic, The Silence of the Lambs. While initially banned in some countries, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre became recognized as a great horror film in that, much like Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (also inspired by Gein), most of the violence was implied as a traveling group of teens found their way into the company of a demented clan of cannibals in a Texas slaughterhouse, led by the saw-wielding burly figure Leatherface. While the film was initially lambasted for its shockingly violent subject matter, it received reconsideration over time for the restraint shown onscreen, and stands with films like Halloween and The Night of the Living Dead as pictures that helped shape the genre. Subsequent and far more violent incarnations of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series helped launch the film careers of Oscar winners Matthew McConaughey and Renee Zellweger, along with Jessica Biel. Hooper's other classic was Poltergeist, the 1982 ghost story produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams as parents who move to a dream house in the suburbs, only to find it full of ghosts from a graveyard below the house. Perhaps his other most memorable credit was directing the 1979 miniseries adaptation of the Stephen King vampire saga Salem's Lot. Hooper's last directing project was he 2013 horror thriller Djinn. - Deadline.com, 8/27/17.

Sting and composer J. Ralph, who collaborated on the Oscar-nominated song "The Empty Chair" for a recent documentary about murdered American photojournalist James Foley, will be honored at The Smithsonian for their contributions to American music. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will acquire donations from the pair, including "The Empty Chair," and participate in a discussion hosted by Dan Rather, followed by performances from Sting and the world premiere of Ralph's new symphonic piece, "Evolocean. Tickets to the free event will benefit the Smithsonian's culture and arts programs. - Billboard, 8/25/17...... Many may not be aware that the subject of the famous Beatles tune "Eleanor Rigby" was an actual person who is buried in Peter's churchyard in Woolton, Liverpool -- where Paul McCartney and John Lennon spent time growing up. Now, Britain's The Guardian is reporting that the grave of Eleanor Rigby will be auctioned off in September, with bidding expected to land somewhere between £2,000 ($2,570) and £4,000 ($5,100). If you happen to win the auction, you could have the right to be buried in the same plot as Ms. Rigby in only seven years. In addition to the grave rights, the original handwritten score for the track will go up for auction as well -- that's expected to bring in around £20,000 ($25,700). - Stereogum.com, 8/22/17...... Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band kicked off their North American Runaway Train tour on Aug. 24 before a packed house at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. Seger, in strong voice and sporting an Olde English D t-shirt, played a 21-song set that opened with "Roll Me Away," "Trying to Live My Life Without You" and "The Fire Down Below," also squeezing in "You'll Accomp'ny Me," which he told the crowd he hadn't played in 25 years, and a first-ever live performance of the title track to his 1991 album The Fire Inside. Seger also tapped his most recent release, 2014's Ride Out, for a pair of songs, the environmentally conscious "It's Your World" and a pumping rendition of Steve Earle's "The Devil's Right Hand." Two separate encores included "Against The Wind," "Hollywood Nights," "Night Moves" and "Rock and Roll Never Forgets." Seger's Runaway Train Tour currently has dates booked through Nov. 4, with more expected to be announced. The Michigan-based rocker has been recording new songs, primarily in Nashville, but no release plans have been revealed for the material. - Billboard, 8/25/17...... Longtime Glenn Frey and Eagles collaborator Jack Tempchin has released Peaceful Easy Feeling: The Songs of Jack Tempchin, a collection of some of the most well known songs he and Frey wrote together. Peaceful Easy Feeling also features a song called "Privacy," which Tempchin says was the final song he and Glenn wrote together, though it was never recorded prior to the sessions for this album. "Glenn and I wrote this song in 2002, back when we both first became concerned about the issue of privacy," Tempchin says. "To me, it's become one of the main issues of our time, but most people haven't woken up to it yet. This song and video illustrate that point in a playful and humorous way." Dropping via Blue Elan Records on Aug. 25 and created in tribute to Frey, the album also features Tempchin's covers of some of his most famous songs as well as other previously unreleased material. Tempchin has also premeired a new video for "Privacy." - Billboard, 8/25/17...... A moving version of Glen Campbell's 1968 hit "Wichita Lineman" was played by its composer, longtime Campbell collaborator Jimmy Webb, during a memorial to the late Campbell at the Country Music Hall of Fame's CMA Theater in Nashville, Tenn., on Aug. 24. Also attending were a bevy of Campbell's friends and family who paid tribute to the CMA member in an invitation-only event entitled "Remembering Glen Campbell." Webb also marveled at how Campbell -- who did not read music -- could transfer his complex chords to the guitar, while Beach Boys members Mike Love and Bruce Johnston performed a version of "I Get Around" in tribute to Campbell, who played on that and several other Beach Boys songs as part of the legendary Wrecking Crew group of studio musicians. Other celebrities in attendance included country stars Brad Paisley and Steve Wariner, the I'll Be Me Campbell documentary director James Keach, and actress Jayne Seymour, who hosted the event. Campbell died on Aug. 9 at age 81, and was buried the following day in his hometown of Delight, Ark. - Billboard, 8/24/17...... Art Garfunkel will release a new memior, What Is It All but Luminous: Notes From an Underground Man, via Knopf on Sept. 26. In the 256-page tome, Garfunkel recalls the time he met Paul Simon at Parsons Junior High "where the tough kids were, Paul Simon became my one and only friend." "We saw each other's uniqueness. We smoked our first cigarettes. We had retreated from all other kids. And we laughed," Garfunkel writes. Publishers Weekly notes the forthcoming book "reveals flashes of real insight about the transcendent power of music and the inner workings of a singer's life." - Billboard, 8/24/17...... In a new piece for Vogue magazine, David Bowie's widow Inman writes that the "outpouring of grief" from the public following her late husband's death "helped tremendously" in the months after his passing. Iman said that "the stars demanded David's presence" at the time of his death. "We surrendered a husband, a father, a father-in-law, a friend, a mentor, and all the nameless daily ecstasies that occur between people who love one another. The model, who married the late artist in 1992, added the "outpouring of grief over David's passing has helped me tremendously, though sometimes I've been at odds with it, too: Universal grieving for your life partner can also keenly deepen your own sense of all that you've lost. David gave me the most exciting, touching, and deliriously loving 24 years. Still, it was not enough" shockingly brief. And although I'll never get used to losing him, David is nonetheless hiding in plain sight." - New Musical Express, 8/24/17...... Rod Stewart is set to premiere a new version of his 1979 hit "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" with the Joe Jonas-fronted group DNCE during the MTV VIdeo Music Awards on Aug. 27 remotely via video from Las Vegas. The announcement coincides with Stewart's new partnership with Republic Records, which is also DNCE's label. "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" was first released on Stewart's Blondes Have More Fun album in 1978, then topped Billboard's Hot 100 for four weeks in early 1979. - Billboard, 8/23/17...... Performing at the Moonfest 2017 concert in Illinois during the U.S. solar eclipse on Aug. 21, Ozzy Osbourne and his band took the opportunity to play the fitting Ozzy number "Bark at the Moon" just as the skies went dark. The former Black Sabbath singer made no reference to the eclipse, instead telling the audience: "I don't think I've ever been in this part of the world before. I love you all. Thank you for coming to see me." - NME, 8/23/17...... In related news, sales of Pink Floyd's classic 1973 space-rock epic The Dark Side of the Moon increased by more than 160% on the day of the eclipse, selling more than 1,000 copies across all retailers in the U.S. In addition, Dark Side spent much of the day lodged at the top of the U.S. iTunes Store's top album ranking, while Bonnie Tyler's hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart" was No. 1 for most of the day on the iTunes top songs tally. - Billboard, 8/22/17...... Speaking of Pink Floyd, David Gilmour has shared a clip from his upcoming concert film Live at Pompeii. The shows at Pompeii took place July 7-8, 2016 during Gilmour's world tour to promote his latest studio album Rattle That Lock. "I think (the film) is more than any of us could've expected," says director Gavin Elder. "Pompeii wasn't the last concert on the tour, but it was the highlight, that's for sure." Live at Pompeii will premiere in more than 2,000 theaters worldwide on Sept. 13, with release on CD, vinyl, DVD, Blu-ray and digital downloads to follow on Sept. 29. - Billboard, 8/22/17...... Billy Joel, who recently told Rolling Stone magazine that he prefers to stay away from political commentary, has apparently decided to change his mind when it comes to the recent notoriety of neo-Nazi sympathizers, supporters and national "Unite The Right" rallies. Joel made a powerful, political statement on Aug. 21 when he donned a yellow Star of David on the lapel and back of his jacket during the encore of his concert at New York's Madison Square Garden. Joel wearing the symbol comes less than a week after the deadly White Nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Va., which left three dead, and Pres. Donald Trump's controversial remarks following the tragedy. - Billboard, 8/22/17...... The judge overseeing the estate of Prince has appointed a second special administrator to investigate whether anyone should be held liable for the cancellation of its $31 million recorded-music deal with Universal Music Group. The new administrator, Peter Gleekel and his law firm Larson King LLC, is tasked with evaluating whether the estate has a "reasonable basis" to pursue a claim against any entity or individual connected with the July rescission of the deal, and whether it's in the estate's best interest to pursue such a claim. Meanwhile, a secret vault that contains hundreds of hours of unreleased music by Prince will reportedly be unlocked in order to maintain his legacy. Prince's sister Tyka Nelson claimed her late brother had always intended for his fans to hear the music contained within the vault, which is situated at his Paisley Park home. "It was always Prince's plan to release those songs. I want what Prince wants. We have to preserve everything. So as soon as we can release it, don't worry -- we sure will," Tyka told the UK publication The Sun. Along with unreleased demos and new versions of classic Prince tracks, the vault is said to also contain extensive concert footage and live recordings. On Aug. 21, it was also announced that a Prince exhibition featuring rare and iconic items from the singer's life will open in London later in 2017. The exhibition will include guitars, stage costumes, jewellery and items from iconic tours such as Purple Rain in 1984 and LoveSexy in 1988. Opening on October 27 at the O2 in London, the Prince exhibition will run for 21 days. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 8/22/17...... Former Parliament-Funkadelic member Bootsy Collins will release his first new album in six years, World Wide Funk, on Oct. 27 via Mascot Records. Contributors to the 15-song LP come from across the musical spectrum, including jazz-funk greats like Victor Wooten and Stanley Clark to old school MCs Doug E. Fresh, Big Daddy Kane and Chuck D. Collins was one of the main songwriters and charismatic stars of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s, where he was heavily involved in iconic albums like 1975's Mothership Connection and 1976's The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein. - Billboard, 8/24/17...... Albert "Sonny" Burgess, an early pioneer of the rockabilly genre, died on Aug. 18 in his hometown of Little Rock, Ark. He was 88. Mr. Burgess was among a group of singers in the mid-1950s who mixed rhythm and blues with country and western music. The sound became known as rockabilly and included Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. Mr. Burgess eventually signed with Sun Records in Memphis, where Presley, Cash and Lewis were among the artists under contract. He was later inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. - AP, 8/21/17...... Bruce Forsyth, a legendary British entertainer, host and quizmaster on English television whose career spanned the history of TV, died on Aug. 18 at his home in England. He was 89. Dapper and mustachioed, with a toothy smile and cheeky charm, Mr. Forsyth was a television presence for 75 years in such shows as Play Your Cards Right, The Price is Right and The Generation Game, earning him recognition by Guinness World Records in 2012 for having had the longest on-screen television career for a male entertainer. More recently, Mr. Forsyth co-hosted Strictly Come Dancing, a popular dance competition that premiered on BBC One in 2004 and where he delivered such crowd-pleasing catchphrases as "Nice to see you, to see you nice" and "Give us a whirl!" He retired from the program in 2013. Mr. Forsyth was knighted in 2011. - AP, 8/20/17.