Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on May 11th, 2021

With everything going on in these unprecedented times, the estate of John Lennon has invited fans to take a moment to stop what they're doing, take a moment to breathe, and relax by watching the soothing, meditative new video for John's timeless and relevant song, "Hold On," which it has shared on YouTube. The video, presented in 5K and beautifully animated by David Frearson, brings to life the classic album cover for John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band which features John and wife Yoko Ono resting underneath a huge oak tree in the gardens of their home at Tittenhurst Park, Ascot in the UK. What at first looks to be a static image, the photo, restored from the original Kodak 126 Instamatic square-format negative, slowly reveals itself as sunlight streams through swaying branches in the tranquil setting, offering a momentary respite from the stresses of the day as John encourages: "Hold on world/World hold on/It's going to be alright/You're going to see the light." The video showcases the new "Elements Mix" of the song which highlights John's vocals by including two previously unused vocal overdubs along with guitar while muting the bass and drums for a more subdued version. The Elements Mix is from the just-released John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - Ultimate Collection edition, which celebrates 50 years of John's transformational and influential first post-Beatles solo album. - Music-News.com, 5/8/21...... Heart's Nancy Wilson released her first solo album, You and Me, on May 7 that features a closing instrumental called "4 Edward," a tribute to late guitar great Eddie Van Halen. Wilson's 12-song set blends her own originals with covers of the likes of Bruce Springsteen ("The Rising"), Simon & Garfunkel ("The Boxer," with guest Sammy Hagar), Pearl Jam ("Daughter"), and the Cranberries ("Dreams"). You and Me, which is being released on Nancy's own Carry On Music label, was recorded at her home studio in northern California, with band members and other guests, including Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan and Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins, contributing remotely. Wilson says "4 Edward" was a late addition to the LP after his Oct. 2020 death. Wilson had famously gifted EVH an acoustic guitar -- his first, as legend has it -- while Heart and Van Halen toured together during the '80s. Eddie stayed up with it that night and composed an instrumental piece that he played for Wilson over the phone the next morning, and "4 Edward" is based on Nancy's "vague" memory of the song's structure and melody. Nancy is planning some solo shows to promote the new album this summer, including a collaboration with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. And, she says, there's a "really nice" 2022 tour offer for Heart on the table that she expects to pan out. "We're just gonna push forward with getting back to the live music thing, with our fingers crossed," says Wilson. Any decisions about a new Heart record, the group's first since 2016, will wait until then, she adds. - Billboard, 5/7/21...... In an interview with Watford FC footballer Troy Deeney on his Deeney Talks podcast, Elton John says he'll "throw a party" when he never has to play his 1972 track "Crocodile Rock" again, and vows to never play it again live once his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour" ends in 2023. "The last time I have to sing 'Crocodile Rock' I will probably throw a party. But people love to hear it," John said. "It was written as a kind of joke, as a pastiche, and it became a big hit and people love to sing along with it. So who am I to say, 'I am not going to play it', because I play to amuse people and to entertain people. But I have to say when the last show is done at the end of the tour I will never ever sing that song again," Elton added. Meanwhile, Elton and Olly Alexander of the UK act Years & Years are set to perform the Pet Show Boys' hit "It's a Sin" together at the 2021 BRIT Awards ceremony on May 11. Elton eased the performance with a post on his Instagram page with the words "It's", "A" and "Sin" posted separately on his account. A source additionally told The Sun paper that the collaboration was intended to be a surprise for viewers, claiming: "Elton and Olly have become unlikely pals and when the idea was floated that they should perform together on the night they jumped at it." The in-person BRITS are set for London's O2 Arena, broadcast on ITV1 from 8pm. There will be an audience of 4,000 people at this year's ceremony as part of the UK government's live events pilot scheme, the Events Research Programme. The BRIT Awards have also honoured controversial record producer and convicted murderer Phil Spector in the obituaries section of its website, replacing the usual In Memoriam section shown during the live awards ceremony. The tribute to the late Spector -- who died in January at age 81 while serving a 19-year sentence -- may prove controversial. The BRITS' obituary to Spector reads: "American record producer, songwriter and pioneer of the iconic 'Wall of Sound', who will equally be remembered for his conviction for murder of the actress Lana Clarkson. Spector collaborated with many of the greats including The Beatles individually and as a band -- producing 'Let it Be' and 'Imagine' -- The Righteous Brothers, Leonard Cohen and The Ronettes, and also wrote numerous era-defining songs." - New Musical Express, 5/11/21...... Steve Miller will release a live CD and companion film, Steve Miller Band Live! Breaking Ground: August 3, 1977, on May 14. Miller says he recently discovered what he describes as a "jewel of a concert" as he was going through his vaults during the coronavirus lockdown. "Back when I was a kid, when 'The Joker' was a hit and I was touring, I thought, 'oh, when I get to be 50 years old, I'm gonna have all the time in the world [to go through my old tapes]' ... and I kept putting stuff in this warehouse," the 77-year-old Miller notes. But when the pandemic forced him off the road in 2020, Steve says he finally took the dive into his archives and discovered a hidden gem from Steve Miller Band's 1977 tour behind the Book of Dreams and Fly Like an Eagle albums. "All of a sudden... came this jewel of a concert where the band is just at its best," says Miller of a 1977 show at Landover, Maryland. "The guitar work is spectacular. It's 1977, people were smoking cigarettes wearing bell-bottom pants and everyone's got hair down to here, that part is kinda funny, but what's going on onstage is really inspirational," he adds. The Breaking Ground album is out via Sailor/Capitol/UMe and the film is available via the Coda Collection on Amazon Prime Video. - Billboard, 5/6/21...... Appearing on the Tea With Me podcast, the Who's Roger Daltrey said he thinks living on his farm in the countryside has helped to keep him out of trouble over the years. Roger -- who starred in the Who alongside Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon -- shared: "It's a way of life -- I got into it in the early 80s because I needed a balance in my life and the lunacy of the rock 'n' roll world. I was a straight one in our mob. I was with with three addicts and I was the straight guy because I had to drive the van, I had to collect the money, to make sure everyone got to the gig -- I'd pull them out of bed. Someone needs to do that job if this group was going to make it. The rest of my life would have been a one-way ticket on the factory floor, so there's no doubt in my mind that this group is going to make it." Roger now owns a 400-acre farm which he says has been his saviour amid the coronavirus crisis: "I've got a lot of room to walk around. The rhythm of the land doesn't change -- your farming doesn't stop. There's an old saying that you live like you die tomorrow, but you farm like you live forever." - Music-News.com, 5/11/21...... The Rolling Stones announced on Twitter on May 7 they are releasing their epic 2006 Copacabana Beach concert in full for the first time this summer. The band's historic performance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil took place in front of the Copacabana Palace Hotel on Feb. 8, 2006. With 1.5 million people in attendance, it's one of the biggest free concerts in music history. Now, the Stones are releasing the concert as a film for the first time, remixed, re-edited, and remastered. A Bigger Bang: Live On Copacabana Beach is set to arrive on July 9 on multiple formats, including DVD+2CD, SD BD+2CD, 2DVD+2CD Deluxe, 3LP (pressed on blue, yellow, and green vinyl), 3LP pressed on clear vinyl (exclusive to Sound Of Vinyl) and digital. Released in conjunction with Mercury Studios, the band will release an early taste of the concert with a five-song digital EP. Due out May 28, it will include "Sympathy For The Devil," "Wild Horses," "You Got Me Rocking," "Happy" and "Rough Justice." Four of the five songs were recorded during the Copacabana Beach show, but the fifth "Rough Justice" is from the band s 2005 Salt Lake City concert video available in the Deluxe Edition. - NME, 5/9/21...... The Pretenders' frontwoman Chrissie Hynde has shared details of a new Bob Dylan covers album, Standing In The Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan, that she recorded largely over text. Hynde says she made the record "almost entirely by text message" with her Pretenders bandmate James Walbourne who, according to a press release, would record an initial idea on his phone and send it to Hynde to add her vocal before the tracks were mixed by Tchad Blak. "A few weeks into lockdown last year, James sent me the new Dylan track 'Murder Most Foul'," Hynde said about her inspiration to record an LP of Dylan covers. "Listening to that song completely changed everything for me. I was lifted out of this morose mood that I'd been in... Whatever Bob does, he still manages somewhere in there to make you laugh because as much as anything, he's a comedian. He's always funny and always has something to say. That's when I called James and said, 'Let's do some Dylan covers' and that's what started this whole thing." Standing In The Doorway drops on May 21 via BMG Records -- a few days before Dylan's 80th birthday. - NME, 5/10/21...... ABBA's Bjrn Ulvaeus says new ABBA music is "definitely" on its way in 2021. Speaking to Australia's The Herald Sun paper, Ulvaeus said: "There will be new music this year, that is definite, it's not a case anymore of it might happen, it will happen." Bjrn also went on to reveal more about the group's time back in the studio. "We're really, really good friends. The four of us stand in the studio for the first time in 40 years and there's just something in knowing what we've been through. It's hard to describe, but there are such strong, strong bonds between us." In April, Ulvaeus gave more information about the band's forthcoming avatar tour, promising that it "still sounds very much ABBA." In 2017 it was announced that the band would reunite in digital form in 2019, performing as "Abbatars" for the first time since they split in 1982. When the reunion tour was then delayed, the Swedish pop quartet announced in 2018 that they would be sharing two new tracks: "I Still Have Faith In You" and "Don't Shut Me Down," which was then expanded to five new tracks as a reward to fans waiting even longer for the reunion tour due to Covid-19-related delays. - NME, 5/11/21...... Lindsey Buckingham has said he never got "closure" with former Fleetwood Mac bandmate and ex-partner Stevie Nicks following their much-publicized breakup. In a new interview with Nile Rodgers on his Apple Music 1 show Deep Hidden Meaning Radio With Nile Rodgers, Buckingham, who was fired from the band in Apr. 2018, discussed his relationship with Nicks and reflected on not getting any closure after their fallout. "And really, again, that was part of the deal with Stevie and me was that we had to spend an awful lot of time together without ever having gotten closure from each other. Most people, when they break up, they don't see each other for a long time or maybe ever again. But you're not constantly having to not only see someone but, in my case, make the choice to do right for someone when I didn't always feel that I wanted to, you know?" Buckingham added that the song "Big Love" "was really about someone who was functioning quite well in his professional world but had become quite guarded emotionally, had an emotional moat around him, say, in his personal life." - NME, 5/8/21...... Aaron Neville of The Neville Brothers announced on Twitter on May 7 that he's retiring from the road. "I have had such an incredible and blessed journey as a musician, singer and human," his Twitter note began. "The time has come for me to stop ripping and running on the road. I waited for someone to invent a way to beam me from show to show but no such luck... Unfortunately, the grueling nature of travel and the schedule needed to make a tour work has become less than desirable. The current climate of our world brought me many realizations. Life is short and I'd like to spend my remaining time on this earth being less hurried." However, the 80-year-old "Tell It Like It Is" hitmaker insists his passion for performing is still as strong as ever: "It provides so much joy for me, at least as much as for those listening, if not more," he continued. "Don't see this as a permanent goodbye, by the grace of God, I will keep making more music and may show up at a special event or concert down the road." - WENN/Canoe.com, 5/7/21...... Ted Nugent has posted a new video on YouTube he filmed with his wife Shemane claiming that systemic racism does not exist in the US. "There is no systemic racism. It's a lie. There isn't any systemic racism. We fixed that. It's 2021, and there's no white supremacy," the conservative rocker said. "It's not a threat. White supremacists haven't burned down Seattle or Portland. They didn't burn down Kenosha. They didn't burn down Minneapolis," he added. Nugent went on to claim Black Lives Matter, Antifa and Democrat supporters were instead responsible, adding: "Those were so-called Black Lives Matter terrorists and Antifa and Democrat supporters who hate America, hate God, hate family, hate freedom, hate the Constitution, hate the Bill Of Rights, hate hard-working Americans. They are the terrorists. Black Lives Matter, Antifa -- those are the terrorists. They burn down cities and destroy things. There are no white supremacists doing that. There might be a couple of dirt bag white supremacists out there, but they're virtually inconsequential. It's bullshit." Nugent also complained about former US president Donald Trump's ban being upheld by Facebook on May 5, saying: "Be careful of the propaganda ministry and the censorship of Big Tech, who literally censors the president of the United States." - NME, 5/6/21...... One of jazz legend Miles Davis' final performances will be released as a new live album on June 25 via Rhino Records. MERCI MILES! LIVE AT VIENNE documents Davis' 1991 performance at the Vienne Jazz Festival in France, just three months before his death. MERCI MILES! is part of Rhino's Black Music Month series. Over the past year, Rhino has released rare material from the likes of Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Ray Charles and more. In a statement discussing the project, Rhino said: "These influential Black artists paved the musical highways for generations to come -- leading cultural, social, and political revolutions that still ring true in 2021. - NME, 5/8/21...... Lloyd Price, best known for such hits as "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," "Stagger Lee" and "Personality," died on May 3 from complications with diabetes, his wife Jackie has confirmed. He was 88. "I am so touched by the outpouring of love and tribute for the passing of my husband Lloyd Price, who passed peacefully on May 3, 2021 at Schaffer Extended Care in Westchester County, NY," Jackie Price said. "Lloyd's music crossed many boundaries and carried him to all corners of the world. He got the nickname 'Mr. Personality' because of his biggest hit but he also earned that name because he was charismatic, generous, smart, funny, talented with a very kind heart. I am so grateful for everyone who loves his music and have precious memories of his many songs. From the deepest part of me thank you, love to all," she added. Mr. Price was born in New Orleans in 1933 and rose to fame with his 1952 single "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," which featured Fats Domino playing piano. The song went on to be covered by numerous stars, including Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, The Hollies and others. He enjoyed a handful of further hits on the US R&B chart before being drafted to serve for the US Army in Korea in 1954. After he returned, he scored another smash hit with his 1958 single "Stagger Lee," which would go on to become his biggest success, and the 1959 release "Personality," which would spark his nickname "Mr Personality." Mr. Price also started several record labels over his career, include KRC, Double L Records, LPG Records, and Turntable. The latter also provided the name for his club in New York City. Outside of music, he owned several businesses, including a Lawdy Miss Clawdy food line and two construction companies. He also helped boxing promoter Don King promote fights, including the famous "Rumble In The Jungle" bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1998 and was also a member of the Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall Of Fame. Mr. Price is survived by his wife Jackie, his three daughters Lori, D'Juana and December, two sons Lloyd Jr and Paris, and his sister Rose. "As an entertainment industry entrepreneur, 'Mr. Personality' wrote smash hits, launched and owned clubs and record labels, and promoted concerts and sporting events," the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame posted on its Twitter account. "His talent, positive energy, tireless drive, and love of music still reverberate to this day," it added. - NME, 5/9/21.

Guesting on soccer star Troy Deeney's podcast Deeney Talks on May 3, Elton John revealed the Covid-19 lockdown has helped him overhaul his lifestyle and that he has become the fittest he's been "in a long time." Elton said he decided to embark on a new exercise regime in a bid "not to be overweight" by the time the lockdown restrictions ease, and has walked an impressive 42 miles in the swimming pool of his sprawling estate over the past 12 months. "I'm the fittest I've been in a long time," the 74-year-old superstar rocker said, adding that his battle with Type 2 Diabetes also encouraged him to adopt a healthier way of living. "I have two kids I want to see and be around as much as possible," John said, referring to sons Zachary, 10, and Elijah, eight, who he shares with husband David Furnish. "You have to do something about (weight gain) and sit down with a doctor or nutritionist and say 'How do I do it?' It comes down to, what do you want for the rest of your life? I have had a lot of help. My doctor said: 'Elton, get yourself together, do as you're told and you will see the benefits of it.'" Elton is set to resume his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour" in Europe in September, which he was forced to postpone due to the pandemic. - Music-News.com, 5/4/21...... Britain's Royal Mail announced on May 6 that the "immense" musical legacy of Sir Paul McCartney will be celebrated with a new collection of postage stamps available beginning May 28. With close collaboration from the Beatles legend himself, the 12-stamp collection is set to feature artwork from eight of the musician's solo LPs, including his most recent album, 2020's McCartney III. The remaining four stamps, which are presented in a 'Miniature Sheet', feature images which span three decades of McCartney at work in the studio. David Gold, a spokesman for the Royal Mail, noted that McCartney "remains a vital figure at the centre of rock and pop, an artist whose legacy is immense, but whose work continues to generate popular attention and critical acclaim" and that the collection is "a fitting tribute to one of the UK's much loved and revered musical icons." The Royal Mail has previously celebrated music icons David Bowie (in 2017) and Elton John (in 2019) with their own collections, and more can be found on the McCartney collection at the RoyalMail.com website. - NME, 5/6/21...... In an Apr. 30 appearance on the CBS late night talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Ringo Starr revealed his favorite Beatles tune was the 1969 Abbey Road opener, "Come Together." Starr revealed the track during host Stephen Colbert's 15-question "The Colbert Questionert," asking Starr: "You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life. What is it?" to which Starr quickly answered: "[The Beatles'] 'Come Together'." "There's lots of other favourites, but if you want one, 'Come Together' can't be bad," Starr said, adding that it was his favourite Beatles song. "I just think it worked perfectly with the band and the song and John [Lennon] being John. I loved that moment." Ringo also shared his unique take on the afterlife after Colbert asked him what happens when we did. "I think we go to heaven," Starr said. "Heaven's great, but you don't stay there too long; you just gotta get yourself together again and come deal with all that [shit] you didn't deal with last time you were here." Other revelations made by Starr in the segment included: his favorite sandwich ("Cheese"), scariest animal ("I think a lion would be scary"), his least favorite smells ("Bodily functions", he said, something he discussed in Dave Grohl's What Drives Us film), and the most used app on his phone ("Twitter"). - NME, 5/1/21...... A court case centering on how much the estate of Michael Jackson owes the Internal Revenue Service following the King of Pop's death in 2009 based on Jackson's assets, image and likeness has been ruled in favor of the Jackson estate, giving it what it says is a "huge victory." The singer's contested investments included New Horizon Trust II, which included his stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and New Horizon Trust III, which included Mijac Music, a publishing catalog. While the IRS valued Jackson's image and likeness at $434million (£313,000), the estate initially issued a starkly different valuation of approximately $2,000. The reason for this difference was the estate claimed Jackson's reputation had been damaged by allegations of child molestation. The estate would subsequently increase its valuation to $3 million. While experts for the estate valued Jackson's image based on public perception and the prospects of similar deceased celebrities, such as Elvis Presley or Princess Diana, the IRS focused more on "foreseeable opportunities" such as themed attractions, merchandise, films, shows and musicals. In his 250-page ruling, Judge Mark Holmes valued Jackson's image and likeness at $4.15 million at the time of his death, finding the hypotheticals put forward by the IRS to be "unreliable and unpersuasive." He also found Jackson's interest in New Horizon Trust III to be just over $107 million and his interest in New Horizon Trust II to be valueless because its liabilities exceed its assets by $89 million at the time of his death. The co-executors for Jackson's estate, John Branca and John McClain, labelled the decision as a "huge, unambiguous victory for Michael Jackson's children." "For nearly 12 years Michael's estate has maintained that the government's valuation of Michael's assets on the day he passed away was outrageous and unfair, one that would have saddled his heirs with an oppressive tax liability of more than $700 million," they said. "While we disagree with some portions of the decision, we believe it clearly exposes how unreasonable the IRS valuation was and provides a path forward to finally resolve this case in a fair and just manner," they added. - The Hollywood Reporter, 4/5/21...... The Woody Guthrie Center has announced that Bruce Springsteen is the recipient of its seventh annual Woody Guthrie Prize, which is presented to an artist who reflects the spirit of Woody Guthrie by proving themselves to be "a champion for the voiceless with an understanding of how a platform can be used to shine a light on our world, showing us what needs to be fixed and how to fix it." The late folk icon has been one of Springsteen's biggest influences, with the New Jersey rocker's 1995 hit "The Ghost of Tom Joad" beind directly inspired by Guthrie's "The Ballad of Tom Joad." Springsteen has also covered such Guthrie standards as "This Land is Your Land," "I Ain't Got No Home," and "Blowin' Down The Road" during his live performances. "I'm honored to receive the 2021 Woody Guthrie Prize," Springsteen said in a statement. "Woody wrote some of the greatest songs about America's struggle to live up its ideals in convincing fashion. He is one of my most important influences and inspirations," he added. Springsteen will accept the honor during a virtual event later in May. Previous honorees of the award include Joan Baez, Mavis Staples and Chuck D. - NME, 5/5/21...... The Sparks Brothers, the new documentary on the '70s L.A. pop-rock duo Sparks, is set to open the 2021 Sundance London film festival this summer, it was announced on May 4. Directed by Edgar Wright (Baby Driver), The Sparks Brothers focuses on musical brothers Ron and Russell Mael and will receive its UK premiere at the physical iteration of the festival, which runs from July 29-Aug. 1. "I was just five years old when I was hypnotized by Ron & Russell Mael (collectively Sparks) staring at me from the telly on a 1979 episode of Top Of The Pops," Wright said of his film. "It's very exciting for me to finally bring The Sparks Brothers to Sundance London, as the U.K. were the first country to embrace Sparks' genius. I look forward to everyone falling in love all over again or being as amazed as I was when I first saw and heard them," he added. - NME, 4/5/21...... The Neil Young fansite Thrasherswheat.org is reporting that the folk-rock icon is planning a mammoth schedule of archival projects to be released in the near future, including six "Official Bootleg" releases as well as instalments 4-7 in Young's Original Recording Series, including several albums in hi-res. Young, through the site, offered his fans an update on all the archival projects currently in the works, explaining that the events of 2020 brought "the focus, a gift," allowing him to significantly ramp up his release schedule. He also has two unreleased Crazy Horse albums on the way called EARLY DAZE and Toast; a Crazy Horse live album from 2012 and 2013 entitled Live Alchemy; a live album from CSNY's 1970-1971 shows at the Fillmore East, including a four-camera video of the show; a Buffalo Springfield box set; an abundance of studio outtakes and concert bootlegs; the third volume of Neil Young Archives; and eight films. In addition to the release slate, Young also revealed that he and wife Daryl Hannah have moved from Colorado to a 116-year-old wooden cottage on a lake near his hometown of Omemee, Ontario. - NME, 5/1/21...... CNN will premiere an hour-long documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of Marvin Gaye's seminal 1971 album What's Going On, What's Going On - Marvin Gaye's Anthem for the Ages, on May 9 at 8:00 PM EDT. Stevie Wonder, Spike Lee and other prominent African-American musicians and celebrities discuss the lasting relevance of Gaye's masterpiece and its continuing influence on Black culture and music. - CNN.com, 5/6/21....... Former The Commodores member and '80s solo superstar Lionel Richie says his biggest regret in life is never performing "Endless Love" with his fellow Motown superstar Diana Ross again since the Oscars in 1981. "Endless Love" began as an instrumental for the Franco Zeffirelli romance of the same name, and snowballed into a summer hit that spent nine weeks at the top of the U.S. charts. But the track was hurriedly recorded in Canada, in between Ross's concerts, and the superstar singers only ever performed it once -- at the Academy Awards -- before the hit lost to "Arthur's Theme" by Christopher Cross. "From that time on that stage to the present day, we have never stood together onstage...," Richie shared during a recent chat on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. "Either I was on tour, she was on tour, she was in this part of the world, I was in that part of the world; we could never get our schedules together. That's one of the things I miss about my entire career," the American Idol judge added. - Music-News.com, 5/3/21...... John Hinch, the former Judas Priest drummer who played on the band's debut album, Rocka Rolla, has died aged 73. Born on June 19, 1947, in Staffordshire, England, Hinch began his career playing in several bands in the Birmingham area. He first joined Halford in the group Hiroshimabefore following the frontman to Judas Priest in 1973. Hinch and Halford joined forces with guitarist K.K. Downing and bassist Ian Hill in the band, and later second guitarist Glenn Tipton. In 1974, the group recruited Black Sabbath and Budgie producer Rodger Bai and recorded their debut LP, Rocka Rolla. The album was very different to what Judas Priest would go on to be known for -- it was more blues rock than heavy metal -- but it gave the band its first bit of exposure. They toured the LP throughout the UK and Europe, and Hinch handled most of the driving as well as the band's finances -- although he admitted later it was frustrating. "Drumming to me just became secondary," Hinch admitted. "It was like, 'Ok, here we go we're on stage,' and then invariably you'd get an argument just for the sake of an argument." After the tour was over, the band turned their attention to second album Sad Wings Of Destiny, and it was at that point that Hinch was fired from the band. Following his stint in Judas Priest, Hinch pursued a career in band management, working with artists such as Jameson Raid and Uli Jon Roth of Scorpions fame. Hinch's death was confirmed by Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, who shared a photo of his former bandmate on his Instagram Story with the caption: "RIP." "His style was strong, direct and unique," Halford recalled to Loudwire.com. "I'll be blasting 'Rocka Rolla' today!" - NME, 5/2/21...... Actress Olympia Dukakis, who won an Oscar for her performance as a sardonic, middle-aged mother who advises her headstrong daughter on matters of love in the 1987 romantic film comedy Moonstruck, died on May 1 after months of failing health, according to her agent Allison Levy. She was 89. Ms. Dukakis, the Massachusetts-born daughter of Greek immigrants, worked for decades as a stage, TV and film actor before rocketing to fame at age 56 playing the mother of Cher's character in Moonstruck. She built on that with roles in films including Look Who's Talking (1989) and its sequels with John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, Steel Magnolias (1989) with Shirley MacLaine, Sally Field and Julia Roberts, director Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995) and Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) with Richard Dreyfuss. Ms. Dukakis, a master of deadpan humour, also was nominated for Emmy awards for TV roles in 1991, 1998 and 1999. In accepting her Oscar as best supporting actress for Moonstruck in Apr. 1988, when her cousin Michael Dukakis was battling to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee, she thanked Jewison, her husband and a few others. She then raised the golden statuette over her head and shouted to the worldwide TV audience, "OK, Michael, let's go." Michael Dukakis won the nomination but the Massachusetts governor lost badly in the general election to Republican Vice President George H.W. Bush. Like her cousin, Olympia Dukakis embraced liberal views, advocating for causes including women's rights, gay rights and the environment. "She had an incredible life and we were very proud of her," Michael Dukakis told the Boston Globe on May 1. "Olympia Dukakis Was An Amazing, Academy Award Winning Actress," Cher wrote in memory of her friend on Twitter the same day. "I talked to her 3Wks Ago. Rip Dear One," she added. Dolly Parton also paid tribute to her Steel Magnolias co-star on May 1. "I was so sorry to hear that Olympia Dukakis had passed away," Parton wrote. "She has been one of my favourite people that I have ever known or worked with... She will be missed by her fans, her family, and those of us that were lucky enough to get to know her personally," she added. - Reuters, 5/1/21...... Billie Hayes, the actress who portrayed Witchiepoo on NBC's H.R. Pufnstuf from 1969 to 1970, has died. She was 96. From H.R. Pufnstuf, Ms. Hayes reappeared as Witchiepoo on The Paul Lynde Halloween Special and the series finale of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. Ms. Hayes lso appeared as a witch in several other shows, including Bewitched, Weenie the Genie, The Monkees and Lidsville. H.R. Pufnstuf producer Marty Kroft paid tribute to Hayes in a statement: "In addition to being a very talented and special person, Margret Hamilton (Wicked Witch of the West/Wizard of Oz) once told me that Witchiepoo was the best witch ever. And as far as I'm concerned, there was no one better than Billie Hayes. She was a home run for us and H.R Pufnstuf. The DuQuoin, Ill., native is also well-known for her theater work, including starring as Mammy Yokum in the original 1956 Broadway production of "Li'l Abner," as well as the 1959 film adaptation and a 1971 TV special. - Variety, 5/4/21.