Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on December 3rd, 2018

The Heart spinoff group Roadcase Royale has announced three dates in southern California in early December. Featuring Heart's Nancy Wilson and former Prince's New Power Generation band member Liv Warfield, Roadcase Royale will play The Canyon in Agoura Hills on Dec. 6, The Canyon in Santa Clarita on Dec. 7, and the Irvine Bowl in Laguna Beach on Dec. 8. Roadcase Royale is touring behind its latest EP, First Things First. Ticket details can be found at Roadcaseroyale.com. - Miles High Productions, 11/29/18...... Todd Rundgren has announced he'll embark on a hybrid concert and book-signing tour around the globe in the spring of 2019 behind his upcoming new memoir, The Individualist: Digressions, Dreams & Dissertations, which hits stores on Dec. 21. Rundgren will launch the tour in Duisburg, Germany on Apr. 1, and play 15 cities around the world, combining shows with book events. He will dig deep into the first 40 years of his recording and producing, which is the period detailed in the memoir. "There's obviously not a whole lot of video for my very early days; I don't even recall that our family had, like, a movie camera or anything like that," he says. "There's photographs but not much in the way of movie images, so I guess we'll be Ken Burns-ing it a lot," referring to the famous documentarian. "But we have photos and stuff that have never been made public very much, so if I can find some of those rarities they'll make it into the show somehow," he adds. After shows in Hamburg, Amsterdam and London, Rundgren will return to North America for events in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Toronto, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Then he'll wrap the tour in Japan with shows in Tokyo and Osaka in late May. Rundgren says he's also gearing up to release audio and film recordings from this year's Utopia reunion tour, though no date has been set yet. The musician also recently received his first-ever Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination, though he says he's "never really taken the whole thing seriously" and doesn't want to "invest myself in it." - Billboard, 12/2/18...... In a new interview with the U.K.'s Sunday Times magazine, Bruce Springsteen revealed that he has several projects in the works for 2019, including a new solo album and touring plans with the E Street Band. "I'll get back to my day job," quipped the Boss, who will wrap his successful "Springsteen on Broadway" show at the end of the year. His upcoming album and the followup to 2014's High Hopes, he says, "for lack of a better word (will be) a singer-songwriter album... more of a solo record." Meanwhile, a film of his "Springsteen on Broadway" show will hit Netflix on Dec. 14. - Billboard, 12/2/18...... With her contribution to the Just Loud track "Soul Train," Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry has charted her first appearance on Billboard Alternative Songs airplay chart since 1990, and her fourth overall. Harry previously reached the AS chart with the No. 2-peaking solo efforts "I Want That Man" (Nov. 1989) and "Liar, Liar," which peaked on the very first AS chart (Sept. 10, 1988) at No. 14. Blondie itself has never made the ranking, although it almost certainly would have had the chart existed during the band's late-'70s/early '80s prime. "Soul Train" debuted at No. 40 on the Dec. 1-dated tally. - Billboard, 11/29/18......

With the surprise success of the recent Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, original band members Brian May and Roger Taylor have announced a 23-date North American summer tour in 2019 with their current frontman Adam Lambert. The tour kicks off July 10 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC, visiting arenas in most major markets including The Forum in Los Angeles and Madison Square Garden in New York before wrapping on Aug. 23 in Charlotte, N.C. According to Adam Lambert, the band "has been designing a brand new visual spectacle that will reframe these iconic songs and we are excited to unveil it!" Queen and Lambert have now performed a total of over 180 concerts together since first hooking up in 2009. Meanwhile, the Bohemian Rhapsody movie has just crossed the $500 million mark in box office receipts around the world. The film has grossed $156.3 million in the U.S. and $341 million in international box office tickets, an impressive tally for any musical biopic and especially since the film divided critics and stirred up controversy, both for its depiction of original frontman Freddie Mercury's sexuality and for the sexual harassment allegations against director Bryan Singer. "The most important critics of all, the general public, gave the movie rave reviews and fans are going back for multiple repeat viewings," said Fox exec Andrew Cripps. - Billboard/Collider.com, 12/3/18...... Ringo Starr was honored with the George Harrison Humanitarian Award for his work with UNICEF at the 14th annual UNICEF Snowflake Ball 2018 on Nov. 27, 2018 in New York City. The award dates back to Starr's former bandmate George Harrison's first-of-its-kind benefit concert for Bangladesh in 1971. Harrison pulled together the event for the organization, rallying artists like Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston and Leon Russell. As Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison, founder of the George Harrison Fund, recalled during her presentation to Ringo, her late husband didn't even have to reach out to Starr for help. "Ringo didn't wait to be asked, he called George and said 'I'm coming,'" she said while presenting the award to Starr. "We all know him as a musician, songwriter, recording artist -- but as a human being, he's so much more than that." Starr's acceptance speech stressed "peace and love," though he also expressed his confusion about the ongoing challenges facing children across the world. "So many of them are suffering right this minute, like those in Yemen, and yes, right at our borders right now," he said, adding that "for some reason, they won't just open that door. I don't understand it." He also called on the major democracies of the world to "step up for kids" in light of the current tensions at the U.S.-Mexico border. - Billboard, 11/29/18...... Stevie Wonder was among the performers during a Christmas special hosted by singer John Legend at his home that aired on NBC on Nov. 28. Wonder performed "What Christmas Means to Me" with his host and the house band, while a steady flow of celebs popping in to visit the Legend house, including Kim Kardashian West, Zach Galifianakis, and the co-hosts of The Voice. Wonder also debuted the music video for the catchy yuletide track "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with Esperanza Spalding, who is featured alongside Wonder on Legend's new album A Legendary Christmas. - Billboard, 11/29/18...... The Sundance Film Festival announced on Nov. 29 that films by such music acts as David Crosby (Crosby: Remember My Name, Leonard Cohen (Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love) and Miles Davis (Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool) will be among the 111 feature films screened at the annual festival in 2019. The annual festival is set to run from Jan. 24 to Feb. 3 in Park City, Utah. - AP, 11/28/18...... Rod Stewart performed during the iHeartRadio LIVE concert on Nov. 27, 2018 in Burbank, Calif., taking over the iHeartRadio Theater with songs from his latest release, Blood Red Roses, as well as classic gems from his deep catalog. The show got off to a rollicking start with two numbers from Blood Red Roses -- "Look in Her Eyes" and "Hole in My Heart" -- and included such sing-along fan faves as "You're in My Heart," "Some Guys Have All the Luck" and "Forever Young." Before the concert, Stewart told KOST L.A. morning show host Ellen K that "I truly love what I do." The show was also livestreamed on iHeartRadio's official YouTube channel and broadcast across the company's AC stations. Stewart recently wrapped up his latest residency engagement at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. - Billboard, 11/28/18...... Actress Michele Carey, best known for her roles as Josephine "Joey" MacDonald in the 1966 film El Dorado and as Elvis Presley's leading lady in 1969's Live a Little, Love a Little, died on Nov. 21. She was 75. Carey originally enjoyed success as a model, but was more interested in acting. Aided by her beauty and trademark long, wild hair, she soon caught the eye of Hollywood producers, and in 1964 made her first TV appearances. She had a small part in the kitsch classic How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965), and acted in her first major film, the 1966 Howard Hawks-produced and directed John Wayne Western El Dorado, with a memorable role as high-spirited troublemaker Josephine "Joey" MacDonald. Other film roles include The Sweet Ride (1968) and Dirty Dingus Magee (1970), and on television she appeared in guest-starring roles on episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mission Impossible, It Takes a Thief, and three episodes of The Wild Wild West. Fading from view in the late 1970s, Carey staged a brief comeback in the mid-'80s in such films as In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro (1986). She was married to married businessman Fred G. Strebel from 1999 until his death in 2011. - Wikipedia.com, 12/3/18...... Gloria Katz, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter who partnered with her husband, Willard Huyck, on the scripts for the George Lucas classics American Graffiti and Star Wars, died on Nov. 25 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She was 76. Katz and her husband also penned the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Messiah of Evil (1973), French Postcards (1979), Best Defense (1984), Howard the Duck (1986) -- all directed by Huyck -- and Radioland Murders (1994). They shared an Oscar nomination with Lucas for their work on American Graffiti (1973). Born in Los Angeles on Oct. 25, 1942, Katz attended UC Berkeley as an English major. She went to UCLA to get her graduate degree in history but left with a masters in film. She married Huyck, who became friends with Lucas at USC, in 1969. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/29/18...... Actor/singer/dancer Ken Berry, the star of such TV series as Mama's Family, Mayberry R.F.D. and F Troop, passed away at age 85 on Dec. 1 in Burbank, Calif. Born in Moline, Ill. on Nov. 3, 1933, Mr. Berry realized he wanted to be a dancer and singer at age 12 and won a local tap dance talent competition at age 15. He toured US Air Force bases in the U.S. and Europe for 15 months with The Horace Heidt Youth Opportunity Program, a popular touring group. After volunteering for the Army, he entered a post talent contest which he won, then headed to New York for his television debut on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts show. After being spotted by Carol Burnett during a performance with The Billy Barnes Review in Los Angeles, Burnett convinced the producers of The Garry Moore Show, on which she was appearing, to sign Mr. Berry. Mr. Berry then became on of Burnett's most frequent guest stars on her The Carol Burnett Show. After appearing in a few of the final episodes of The Andy Griffith Show as widowed farmer Sam Jones, Mr. Berry took the lead role on the spin-off Mayberry R.F.D., which ran from 1968 until 1971 when it became a victim of CBS's "rural purge." In 1982, Mr. Berry appeared in the TV movie Eunice, which was based on The Carol Burnett Show sketch, "The Family." Mr. Berry originally played Phillip, Eunice's brother, in the special; however he went on to play Vinton, a different brother, on Mama's Family, which ran on NBC from 1983 to 1984 and in repeats until 1985. Mr. Berry also guest starred on numerous shows, including The Bob Newhart Show, The Julie Andrews Hour, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Donny & Marie Show, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, CHiPs and The Golden Girls. Mr. Berry's bigscreen credits include Hellow Down There (1969), Herbie Rides Again (1974), Guardian of the Wilderness (1976) and The Cat From Outer Space (1978). Mr. Berry was also a spokesman in commercials for Kinney Shoes from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, singing and dancing to the "Great American Shoe Store" jingle. Mr. Berry was married to Jackie Joseph, a Billy Barnes castmate, from 1960 to 1976. The couple adopted two children together, and his son John, who later became a co-founder of the Indie rock band Idaho, died in 2016 of brain cancer at the age of 51. - Wikipedia.com, 12/3/18...... Former president George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, died on Nov. 30. He was 94. Pres. Bush served as vice president to Ronald Reagan from 1981-1989, before becoming president, himself, from 1989-1993. He wed Barbara Pierce in 1945 and the two were married for 73 years, until her death in April. Their marriage was the longest of any American president and First Lady. Pres. Bush served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, enlisting on his 18th birthday after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and becoming the youngest aviator in the Navy at the time. He served until the end of the war. Pres. Bush returned stateside and moved his family to Texas, where he became a millionaire in the oil business. After founding his own company, he became involved in politics and won election in the House of Representatives. By 1971, he was appointed ambassador to the United Nations by Richard Nixon. In 1976, he was named director of the CIA. In 1980, Pres. Bush ran for president but lost to Reagan, but went on to become his vice president for two terms. He was elected president in 1988 and served one term in office from 1989-1993, losing to Democratic candidate Bill Clinton in the 1992 election. Two decades later, Pres. Bush's eldest son, George W. Bush, became president in 2000. Pres. Bush was named "Man of the Year" by Time magazine in 1990, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 and received the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. Pres. Bush is survived by his two siblings, five children and their spouses, his 17 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. - The Hollywood Reporter, 12/1/18.