Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on February 10th, 2022

David Byrne will make a guest appearance in the forthcoming Hulu dramedy Life & Beth, starring Amy Schumer as a woman going through a midlife crisis as she approaches 40. The former Talking Heads frontman will portray a doctor in the new series, and a peak trailer for the series shows him telling Schumer's character that "sometimes, mental pain manifests in our body," before operating an MRI scan. In addition to Schumer, who has her first regular starring TV role since Inside Amy Schumer concluded in 2016, Life & Beth also stars Michael Rapaport, Jon Glaser, Jonathan Groff and Yamaneika Saunders. It premieres on Hulu on Mar. 18, and will also be broadcast on Disney+ internationally, including in the UK. - New Musical Express, 2/9/22...... The Who announced on Feb. 7 that they're ready to hit the road in 2022 after a two-year pandemic hiatus. Frontman Roger Daltrey and guitarist/singer Pete Townshend will be paired with orchestras on their "The Who Hits Back!" tour which will launch with a run of 15 spring dates slated to kick off on Apr. 22 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla., and run through a May 28 gig at Bethel Woods Center of the Arts in Bethel, N.Y. That leg will also include a visit to a venue that figures prominently in The Who lore -- a May 15 date at Cincinnati's TQL Stadium where 11 people tragically died in a pre-show stampede in 1979. It will be the first time in 42 years The Who has played in the venue. Long haunted by the tragedy, the band has for years supported a memorial scholarship effort in a Cincinnati suburb where three of the victims went to school. Two years after The Who performed with local orchestras on their "Moving On!" tour, they will once again share the stage with classical ensembles in the U.S. and Canada on the upcoming dates. They will be joined by guitarist/back-up singer Simon Townshend, keyboardists Loren Gold and Emily Marshall, bassist Jon Button, drummer Zak Starkey, backing vocalist Billy Nicholls, orchestra conductor Keith Levenson, lead violinist Katie Jacoby and lead cellist Audrey Snyder. On Oct. 2, The Who will mount a run of 13 fall dates beginning in Toronto, Ont., also visiting such cities as Detroit (10/4), Columbus, Oh. (10/9), Chicago (10/14), St. Louis (10/14), Denver (10/17), Portland, Ore. (10/20), Seattle (10/22), Sacramento (10/26), Anaheim, Calif. (10/28) and Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl (11/1) before wrapping with a two-night stand at Las Vegas' Dolby Live at Park MGM on Nov. 4 and 5. In other Who-related news, it appears that Pete Townshend s working on a new solo album -- the first since his 1993 release Psychoderelict. Townshend was spotted in the studio over the first weekend of February with with session bassist Guy Pratt (whose portfolio includes work with Pink Floyd, Madonna, The Smiths and more) and drummer Ged Lynch (a longtime collaborator of Peter Gabriel). On Feb. 5, Pratt posted a photo of the trio on Twitter, writing: "To say the last couple of days recording has been beyond magical would be an understatement." Townshend's most recent efforts as a solo artist came in 2015, when the new songs "Guantanamo' and "How Can I Help You" featured on the compilation album Truancy: The Very Best Of Pete Townshend. - Billboard/NME, 2/7/22...... Kraftwerk have announced details of a new 19-track remix compilation entitled Kraftwerk Remixes on their Twitter page on Feb. 2. Set to drop on Mar. 25, Kraftwerk Remixes will feature the pioneering German electo-pop troupe's 1991-2021 period and see the band remixing themselves alongside a host of other contributors, including Hot Chip, Orbital and William Orbit. Kraftwerk Remixes will be available on double CD, triple heavyweight black vinyl LP, and MP3 formats. Kraftwerk are set to make their return to touring in 2022, playing a new North American tour, headlining London's Field Day as part of All Points East, and playing new Spanish festival Cala Mijas alongside Arctic Monkeys and more in September. - NME, 2/6/22...... Iggy Pop has been announced as one of the two recipients of Sweden's prestigious annual Polar Music Prize for 2022. In an official video posted on YouTube announcing the winner, the Polar Music Prize hailed Pop as a "one-of-a-kind" artist. "And with his poetic lyrics and provocative stage presence, he is considered the godfather of punk music," a voiceover added. He was also praised by the prize organizers for "paving the way for significant punk and post-punk acts such as Sex Pistols, Ramones, Blondie, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Joy Division and Nick Cave." Pop, who will pick up the award at a ceremony in Stockholm on May 24, said in a statement that he was "aware of the very fine range of people that have gotten the Polar Music Prize. Patti Smith... also Metallica, a really great band. And Steve Reich [...] and so many others... so yeah, it's a nice step for me. I respect it and I'm honoured by it." Other previous recipients of the prize, which will return in 2022 after a two-year Covid-19 gap, include the likes of Paul McCartney, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin and Björk. - NME, 2/8/22...... The estates of two late Jimi Hendrix Experience band members -- bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell -- have responded to a lawsuit filed by Sony and the Hendrix estate in New York federal court earlier in 2022 with their own lawsuit filed in London's High Court of Justice on Feb. 4. At issue in the dueling lawsuits are the rights to music created by the trio's Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix's estate says Redding and Mitchell signed away any rights shortly after the legendary rocker died in 1970; the bandmates' heirs say those deals were flawed and that they're owed millions in royalties. Redding and Mitchell's suit contained far less detail than a typical American legal complaint, and merely says that their heirs want a ruling that they have an ownership stake in the music, that those rights have been infringed, and an assessment of damages. Now that lawsuits have been filed on both sides of the Atlantic, it's unclear where the dispute will ultimately be litigated. The New York case was filed first, and Hendrix's estate proceedings took place in New York courts, including the execution of the release agreements at the center of the case. The current fight kicked off in Dec. 2021, when entities representing the families of Redding and Mitchell sent a cease-and-desist claiming to own a stake in Hendrix's music and threatening to sue for infringement. The Hendrix estate and Sony responded with a preemptive lawsuit in January, seeking a ruling from a New York federal court that they owe nothing. Hendrix teamed up with Redding and Mitchell in 1966 to form the Experience. The trio went on to release a number of now-iconic songs before Hendrix's death, including "All Along The Watchtower," which spent nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 and peaked at No. 20. - Billboard, 2/8/22...... On online auction conducted on the Julien's auctioneers website on Feb. 7 saw a non-fungible token (NFT) of Paul McCartney's handwritten notes for "Hey Jude" selling for $76,000 (£56,136). The six available NFTs sold for a combined $158,720 (£117,236) with McCartney's personal "Hey Jude" notes coming in as the biggest-seller at $76,800 (£56,727). It was estimated that this individual NFT would fetch between $50,000 to $70,000 (£36,932 and £51,704). Elsewhere, an NFT of John Lennon's Help! cape brought in $12,800 (£9,455) while the NFT of the Afghan coat he wore in the Magical Mystery Tour film sold for $22,400 (£16,545). An NFT of a 1959 Gibson guitar that John gave to his son Julian Lennon as a gift was also snapped up for $22,400. In January, Julian launched a special range of NFTs containing digitized pieces of Lennon and Beatles memorabilia from his personal collection. Each item in the auction was presented as an audio-visual collectible, with Julian also providing narration as well as accompanying imagery of the item in question. A portion of the proceeds from sales of the Beatles and Lennon NFT collection will go towards Julian's White Feather Foundation. - New Musical Express, 2/8/22...... In other Beatles-related news, Ringo Starr has announced he'll kick off an 18-city spring/summer tour of North America with a two-night stand in Rama, Canada's Casino Rama on May 27 and 28. The famous drummer's first tour of the continent in nearly three years, the trek will also see Ringo and his All Starr Band visiting such markets as Boston (6/2), New York's Beacon Theater (6/6,7,8), Red Bank, N.J. (6/10), Providence, R.I. (6/12), Baltimore (6/14, 15), Pittsburgh (6/18), Philadelphia (6/19), Atlanta (6/22), and Hollywood, Fla. (6/25) before wrapping in Clearwater, Fla. on June 26. Ringo's current All-Starr Band lineup is comprised of Starr, Steve Lukather (Toto), Colin Hay (Men at Work), Edgar Winter, Hamish Stuart and Warren Ham. Ringo, who celebrated his 81st birthday in 2021, released his latest solo LP, What's My Name, in 2019, and shared two EP's -- Zoom In and Change the World -- in 2021. He also contributes to Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder's upcoming solo album, Earthling. - NME, 2/8/22...... ABBA have responded to reports that their music was played during one of U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's alleged lockdown-flouting parties that was held at 10 Downing Street in 2020. One of the 12 alleged gatherings which were the subject of senior civil servant Sue Gray's recent report -- and are now under police investigation -- reportedly took place on Nov. 13, 2020 following the departure of Johnson's controversial aide Dominic Cummings. Sky News reports that a "victory party" was allegedly held in Johnson's flat on that date by friends of his now-wife Carrie Johnson, during which a number of ABBA tracks, including the 1980 single "The Winner Takes It All," were played. Cummings also recently claimed that there would be "witnesses who say 'we could all hear a party with ABBA playing'." "You can't call it an ABBA party," ABBA's Benny Andersson said in a new interview. "It is a Johnson party where they happened to play some ABBA music. It is not an ABBA party. You see how [Johnson] wriggles himself out of this," he added. ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus added: "I mean, wow. Did they only play ABBA music? Are you kidding? Of course they played other music as well." - NME, 2/8/22...... Neil Young posted a new letter to his Neil Young Archives site on Feb. 7 encouraging a mass exodus of Spotify employees following his highly publicized debate with the streaming service. "In our communication age, misinformation is the problem. Ditch the misinformers. Find a good clean place to support with your monthly checks. You have the real power. Use it," wrote Young, who requested his catalog be removed from Spotify in late January and cited the spread of vaccine misinformation on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast as the reason for his departure. Young also shifted the focus away from Rogan and onto Spotify CEO Daniel EK. "To the workers at SPOTIFY, I say Daniel Ek is your big problem -- not Joe Rogan. Ek pulls the strings. Get out of that place before it eats up your soul. The only goals stated by EK are about numbers -- not art, not creativity," he said. Young has led his own exodus of artists from Spotify, including Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, India.Arie and more. "To the musicians and creators in the world, I say this: You must be able to find a better place than SPOTIFY to be the home of your art," he wrote. - Billboard, 2/7/22...... It was announced on Feb. 7 that Lionsgate movie studio will team with Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King and his GK Films on the forthcoming Michael Jackson biopic, Michael. Lionsgate picked up the worldwide rights to the film also produced by the co-executors of the Jackson estate, John Branca and John McClain, which will allow the project access to Jackson's music. John Logan will write the screenplay for Michael after he and King previously collaborated on Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator. Logan also penned director Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning best picture winner Gladiator. Micheal promises an "in-depth portrayal of the complicated man who became the King of Pop. It will bring to life Jackson's most iconic performances as it gives an informed insight into the entertainer's artistic process and personal life." It will cover Jackson's beginnings with The Jackson 5, his rise to pop superstardom, and his legal struggles with both civil and criminal lawsuits stemming from allegations of child sex abuse through his death in 2009 at the age of 50. - The Hollywood Reporter, 2/7/22...... An 11-year-old British drumming prodigy named Nandi Bushell has brought Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson to tears after she posted a YouTube video of herself nailing the Rush classic "Tom Sawyer." "This one is for you Professor," Nandi wrote on Feb. 6 in a tribute to late Rush drummer Neal Peart. "I wanted to try a @rushtheband song that would really challenge me. I watched an interview where Neil Peart said Tom Sawyer 'remains so difficult to play.' So I thought I would give it a try. It's actually really fun to play. I really hope I have done the song justice, Professor Peart's playing is incredible. I hope I got the strength and smoothness balance right. I have a new found love for RUSH now too!," she added. Lifeson, upon seeing the video clip tweeted back to her the following day: "Oh @Nandi_Bushell, you brought a tear to my eye with this tribute! Tom Sawyer is a difficult song to play drums to and you made it so much fun. Neil would have loved your performance and wonderful smile, as both [Rush frontman] Geddy] [Lee]] and I do!" Nandi has previously posted covers of other famous bands including Foo Fighters, The Rolling Stones and Tool on YouTube. And her goals aren't limited to male bands and music -- she also recently said she wants to jam with Billie Eilish and become Prime Minister of Great Britain. - Canoe.com, 2/7/02...... Betty Davis, a pioneering funk singer who released three albums of raw, gritty and sexually liberated music in the 1970s, has died at age 77. Although her chart presence was slight -- she notched just two singles on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the No. 66-peaking 1973 single "If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up" and the 1975 single "Shut Off the Lights," which barely scraped by at No. 97. -- her impact on music was substantial. With her convention-flaunting outfits, dirty funk tunes and no-apologies bravado, Davis kicked open doors for a new generation of boundary-pushing pop stars such as Prince, Madonna and Janet Jackson who would go on to enjoy much greater success. For the last 40-some years of her life, Davis would remain a recluse, resurfacing briefly in 2017 when she agreed to participate in director Phil Cox's documentary, Betty: They Say I'm Different. Growing up in rural North Carolina, Davis wrote her first song, "Bake a Cake of Love," at age 12. When she turned 16, Davis moved to New York City to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. She began modeling, but grew tired of the scene, finding greater inspiration in the percolating musical underground. Following a 1964 R&B single credited to Betty Mabry, she wrote a song for the Chambers Brothers and struck up a friendship with Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone and Hugh Masekela. In 1968, she began a relationship with the nearly two decades older Miles Davis that would result in a brief marriage and a name change from Betty Mabry to Betty Davis. Despite the brevity of their time together, Davis credited Betty with opening his eyes to the music of Hendrix and Stone, which would push him into jazz fusion territory on classics such as Bitches Brew (1970) and On the Corner (1972) (she also appeared on the cover of his 1968 album Filles de Kilimanjaro). The two divorced due to what Betty described as his "violent, jealous temper." Following their divorce, she finally got her music career off the ground with her 1973 debut, Betty Davis, followed by 1974's They Say I'm Different, both on the label Just Sunshine. Not only do those cult favorites rank among the best of '70s funk, but they were decades ahead of their time in terms of perspective: A sexually liberated woman who was frank and completely in control of her desires and kinks. - Billboard, 2/9/22...... R&B singer Donny Gerrard, who scored a No. 9 hit with "Wildflower" as the lead vocalist for the group Skylark, died on Feb. 3 after having been under hospice care amid a battle with cancer. He was 75. Born in Vancouver, Canada, on Mar.19, 1946, Gerrard was the singer for the early 1970s band Skylark, which counted producer David Foster as a keyboardist. Their 1973 breakout ballad "Wildflower" peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was later sampled on Jamie Foxx's 2005 platinum-certified hit "Unpredictable." By 1975, Skylark had split up, and Gerrard focused on a solo career. He signed with Elton John's Rocket Record Company and dropped the single "(Baby) Don't Let It Mess Your Mind," in addition to providing background vocals on John's 1975 album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. Soon after, he signed with Greedy Records, and in 1976, he recorded his self-titled debut album, featuring "Words (Are Impossible)," which became his highest-charting solo track, reaching No. 87. In the 1980s, he provided backup vocals on recordings for numerous top-tier artists, including Bette Midler, Neil Diamond, Bob Seger, Linda Ronstadt, B.B. King and Dusty Springfield. He would team up again with Foster on 1985 charity single "Tears Are Not Enough," featuring a long list of renowned vocalists. Gerrard and Bryan Adams performed a line as a duet for the song that Foster co-wrote and co-produced and which was included on the Quincy Jones-produced album We Are the World. More recently, he released The Romantic, a 2000 album of pop standards, and performed vocals on Mavis Staples' Grammy-winning 2010 album You Are Not Alone. He is survived by wife Myra, two sons, three sisters and a brother. - The Hollywood Reporter, 2/6/22...... Blues and soul icon Syl Johnson, who made his first hit in 1967 with"Come On Sock It To Me" which he followed later that year with "Different Strokes," has died at the age of 85. Describing him as "fiery, fierce, fighter, always standing for the pursuit of justice as it related to his music and sound," Johnson's family continued: "He will truly be missed by all who crossed his path. His catalog and legacy will be remembered as impeccable and a historical blueprint to all who experience it. To his fans around the world, he loved you all. A lover of music and a Chicago icon, Syl Johnson lived his life unapologetically." Though it didn't make substantial waves at the time, "Different Strokes" would go on to become one of the sampled tracks in history -- at least 330 songs sport elements of the track, according to WhoSampled.com, including Wu-Tang Clan's "Shame On A N****," Kanye West and Jay-Z's "The Joy," Public Enemy's "Fight The Power" and De La Soul's "The Magic Number." In 1969, he recorded his biggest hit yet, "It It Because I'm Black?," which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard R&B Chart. After learning that "Different Stroke" had become a staple of hip-hop sampling, Johnson was spurred to make his comeback in the early '90s, releasing "Back In The Game" -- which featured his youngest daughter, Syleena -- in 1994. He was vehemently against sampling, however, and sued several of the artists who'd used elements of his work -- including West and Jay-Z -- well into the 2010s. In 2015, he was honoured with a feature documentary, Syl Johnson: Any Way The Wind Blows, which sported an original score by Yo La Tengo. In the wake of Mr. Johnson's death, the film was made available online for the first time on Feb. 6. - NME, 2/7/22.

Jethro Tull has landed their first UK Top 10 in 50 years on the Official Albums Chart, as their latest effort The Zealot Gene entered the tally at No. 9. Their last UK Top 10 appearance was 1972's Living In The Past. The Zealot Gene is Tull's 22nd studio album. - Music-News.com, 2/4/22...... Meat Loaf's classic 1977 album Bat Out of Hell has hit a new peak on the Billboard Hot 200 LP chart after the portly rocker's death on Jan. 20. For the tracking week ending Jan. 27, Bat Out of the Hell re-entered the chart at No. 13, surpassing its original No. 14 peak in 1978. It sold 28,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. -- up 3,677%, according to MRC Data. Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell: Back Into Hell also re-entered the chart at No. 91 with 10,000 equivalent album units earned - up 2,320%. It originally spent a week at No. 1 in 1993. In total, Meat Loaf's overall catalog of albums earned 47,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 27, according to MRC Data -- up 3,201% compared to the previous week. Of that sum, album sales comprised 27,000 -- a gain of 5,648%. - Billboard, 1/31/22...... On Feb. 2 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced a healthy roster of 17 music acts elegible for induction into the Rock Hall's Class of 2022. First-time nominees include Carly Simon, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Beck, Eminem, Duran Duran and A Tribe Called Quest. A series of repeat nominees will also be under consideration for the 2022 class -- MC5 and Rage Against the Machine nabbed their sixth and fourth nominations, respectively, while Kate Bush, Judas Priest, New York Dolls, Eurythmics and Devo secured their third nods. Two-time nominees include Dionne Warwick, Pat Benatar and Fela Kuti. A body of more than 1,000 artists, industry members and historians decide which nominees will be inducted into the Rock Hall, but fans can also have input in the selection process by casting their vote for the RRHOF Class of 2022 at vote.rockhall.com, or in person at the museum in Cleveland. The five artists who receive the most votes of these 17 nominees will be tallied among the other ballots to ultimately decide the Class of 2022. The list of inductees will be revealed in May 2022, with the ceremony itself taking place at a to-be-announced date and location this fall. - Billboard, 2/2/2022...... After Joni Mitchell's classic catalog of Reprise, Asylum and Nonesuch albums were excised from Spotify after she announced on Jan. 28 she was following Neil Young's lead in protest of Covid-19 misinformation spread by podcaster Joe Rogan, the singer's oft-overlooked Geffen Records releases of the 1980s remain on the platform as of Feb. 3 and have been seeing a major uptick in streaming traffic. The four albums in question are Wild Things Run Fast (1982), Dog Eat Dog (1985), Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm (1988) and Night Ride Home (1991). A source at Geffen's parent, Universal Music Group, says that the company is in talks with Mitchell's team about how to proceed with her request of removing all her music from Spotify. However it appears artists do not contractually always have the right to pull their music from a platform or store. Mitchell's releases on Warner Music Group's Reprise, Asylum and Nonesuch imprints were removed almost immediately following her announcement on Jan. 28, and her 2007 album Shine, which was released on Concord in partnership with Starbucks, was pulled earlier in February as well. Following a statement by Graham Nash on Feb. 1 saying he was following his former Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young bandmate Neil Young's lead in also pulling his solo music from Spotify, David Crosby and Stephen Stills added the following day that they "support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify's Joe Rogan podcast." "While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly consequences. Until real action is taken to show that a concern for humanity must be balanced with commerce, we don't want our music -- or the music we made together -- to be on the same platform," Crosby and Stills said in a joint statement. On Jan. 31, Joe Rogan shared a 10-minute statement to Instagram, in which he said he had vaccine skeptics such as Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Peter McCullough on his show to "to hear what their opinion is" and promised to "balance things out amid his Spotify controversy." Spotify CEO Daniel Ek also released a statement saying the streaming service would introduce an advisory on podcasts that discuss Covid-19. - Billboard, 2/3/22...... In a new conversation with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay Alice Cooper says he doesn't think "rock 'n' roll and politics belong in the same bed together," and commented about his current relationship with his fellow Detroit-raised rocker Ted Nugent. "Ted and I grew up together in Detroit, and he's always been the mouth that roared," Alice said of the controbersial right-wing rocker. "When he gets going, nobody can stay with him. I kind of look at him as his own entity," he added. Cooper also said that, unlike Nugent who recently called Bruce Springsteen a "dirtbag... for supporting communists," he shies away from politics. "I don't ever talk politics... I hate politics," Cooper says. "I don't think rock 'n' roll and politics belong in the same bed together, but a lot of people think it does -- because we have a voice, and we should use our voice. But again, rock and roll should be anti-political, I think. When my parents started talking about politics, I would turn on The [Rolling] Stones as loud as I could. I don't want to hear politics, and I still feel that way." Instead, the shock rock legend explained that he wanted his show to be an escape from the news. "My music and my show is designed to give you a vacation from CNN, you know what I mean? I'm not preaching anything up there, and I'm not knocking anybody. If I do a thing like on 'Elected', which we would always do during the elections, and I'd bring out [Donald] Trump and Hillary [Clinton] to fight, and both of them would get wiped out!" he said about performing his Billion Dollar Babies LP track. "That's what was funny about it. If you're in the political theater, you'd better be able to take a joke. So, that's okay. I don't mind the satire of it, but I don't ever go up there and tell you who to vote for," he added. Alice recently revealed he is working on his 29th and 40th studio albums simultaneously, and is also scheduled to undertake a co-headlining UK arena tour with The Cult and a run of US dates later this year, as well as appearing at UK's Graspop Metal Meeting and the "Monsters Of Rock" cruise. - New Musical Express, 2/4/22...... The annual pre-Grammy gala hosted by the Grammy's Recording Academy and veteran music exec Clive Davis has been canceled for 2022. "Due to the logistical obstacles caused by the ongoing pandemic, including the unavailability of an appropriate venue, we have decided to postpone the 2022 Pre-Grammy Gala," Davis and Academy CEO Harvey Mason, Jr. said in a joint statement. "We will resume the celebration next year when we will host an incredible evening in our unique and glittering way, hospitable to our wonderful music artists, music executives, film, television, sports and illustrious politicians who annually love the event like no other," they added. Davis originated his pre-Grammy party in 1976 as a way of celebrating Barry Manilow's "Mandy," the first hit on Davis's fledgling label Arista Records, which received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. The event quickly grew to become a music business counterpart to talent agent Swifty Lazar's legendary Oscar parties. The Academy later agreed to co-present the party, though the event was invariably still referred to as "the Clive party." The 2022 Grammy Awards were pushed back on Jan. 5 to Apr. 3 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. - Billboard, 2/3/22...... Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has announced details of a new immersive theatre show. His "Theater Of The Mind" will be a collaborative stage production between Byrne and his friend Mala Gaonkar, who is a neuroscientist. The production is to debut in Denver this summer on Aug. 31 before wrapping on Dec.18. In a statement, Byrne said the installation will "take audience members through an immersive journey of self-reflection, discovery, and imagination, inspired by and grounded in neuroscience." It goes on to describe it as "a visceral theatre experience inspired by neuroscientist experiments," and attendees will be participants in sensory experiments intended to "reveal the inner mysteries of the brain," rather than audience members. "Theater Of The Mind' will see groups of 16 enter the exhibition show with a guide. The exhibition will "[use] stories from our own lives to shape a narrative you'll see, feel, taste and hear," according to organizers, meaning each of the experiences will be different as they are informed by guest's individual experiences. In Dec. 2021, Byrne's acclaimed "American Utopia" show returned to Broadway in modified form due to the surge in Omicron Covid-19 cases in New York. That show is presented at Broadway's St. James Theatre and will run through the end of Apr. 2022. - New Musical Express, 2/3/22...... In related news, the new Michael Jackson bio-musical "MJ" has opened on Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre in New York. Produced by arrangement with the late King of Pop's estate, "MJ" is set in 1992, two days before the start of Jackson's "Dangerous" World Tour. The musical takes audiences through Jackson's life and catalog with impressive ease, expertly chronicling major milestones. After breaking up with Motown Records, Michael goes to Epic Records, where he works with Quincy Jones to produce Off the Wall and Thriller. His vision and work ethic become more exacting, his drive to best himself at once breathtaking and worrisome. As the narrative burrows deeper into Michael's mind, the toll his artistry took on him is clear -- he wanted to bring his audiences joyful and spectacular experiences, but he felt isolated and misunderstood. Cast members include Myles Frost, Quentin Earl Darrington, Whitney Bashor, Gabriel Ruiz and Walter Russell III. - The Hollywood Reporter, 2/2/22......The Rolling Stones guitarist and accomplished artist Ronnie Wood has unveiled his latest work -- a giant abstract painting of the Rolling Stones featuring a nude Mick Jagger. Unveiled on the corner of the aptly named Wood Lane and Ariel Way in the Shepherd's Bush area of west London, the musician signed his name on a billboard showing his work on Feb. 1. "It's great because they finally discovered I can paint," exclaimed Wood. "Nobody knows I can paint, so we've got to make sure that people realize I can." Called "Abstract Performance," it's based on Pablo Picasso's "The Three Dancers" and shows Ronnie on stage with the rest of the Stones -- Jagger, Keith Richards and the late Charlie Watts. Wood completed the painting, which can be seen in an Instagram post, in 2020 and there are also others in the series, but Jagger gets no clothes in any of them. "He's nude in all of them, because I got the original inspiration from a Picasso piece called 'The Dancers' and they were all prancing about in the nude. And I thought, why not? You know, it's a good form of expression." Wood is selling limited editions of "Abstract Performance" until Feb. 14 on his official website, ronniewood.com. - Billboard, 2/2/22...... Attorneys for late funk-rock icon Prince and talent management company Primary Wave sparred in a Minnesota state court on Feb. 4 over how to best end six years of courtroom proceedings over the superstar's estate, presenting alternate plans to a judge over how to start distributing his assets. Attorneys for three of Prince's siblings dueled over corporate structures with attorneys representing Primary Wave, which has acquired half the estate from three other siblings. Because Prince, who died of a fentanyl overdose in Apr. 2016 at the age of 57, had no children or spouse, six of his half-siblings were named legal heirs, each entitled to 1/6th shares of his estate. But three have since sold all or most of their shares to Primary Wave, meaning the company stands to inherit about half of Prince's estate. The estate's administrator, Comerica Bank & Trust, which participated in the hearing, mostly avoided choosing sides. Judge Kevin W. Eide did not issue a ruling at the conclusion of the hearing, taking the issues under advisement for a future decision. - Billboard, 2/4/22...... It has been revealed that the long-awaited biopic about The Who drummer Keith Moon will finally begin production this summer. Provisionally called The Real Me (after the Quadrophenia song), the movie will be executive produced by surviving Who members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, with Paul Whittington (The Crown) set to direct, while the script has been penned by British screenwriter Jeff Pope. It's still undetermined who will play Moon, although Daltrey has previously said the casting will need to be very specific -- and will need to be based on the actor's eyes. "I've got to find a Keith Moon," Daltrey told BBC 6Music's Matt Everitt back in 2018. "It's going to be very, very dependent on the actor and the actor's eyes. Because you've got to cast it completely from the eyes because Moon had extraordinary eyes." When Everitt suggested it might be hard to find an actor who could play a musician like Moon, Daltrey replied: "What makes you think Keith was a f---ng musician? He would have said, 'How dare you, my boy! A musician? I'm a f---ing drummer!'" Daltrey also explained that he'd spent a long time searching for "the right screenplay" for the Moon bio-pic, which has now been in the works for over a decade. - NME, 2/1/22...... Aerosmith announced on Feb. 1 that they've decided to cancel their planned 2022 summer European tour due to uncertainty over the spread of Covid-19. "It is with deep regret we must announce that our European Tour, scheduled to take place in June and July 2022, has been cancelled," the band wrote in a Facebook note to fans on Jan. 31. "We have continued to monitor the ongoing COVID situation and with the related uncertainty around travel logistics and the continued presence of COVID restrictions and other issues, it has become clear that it will not be possible to go ahead with our summer shows in the region," they continued. "The health, safety and well being of our fans is our number one priority. We will be back to rock out with everyone and we hope to have some exciting news to announce soon." Aerosmith's summer dates were originally announced in 2019 -- with shows slated for 2020 -- as a follow-up to their "Deuces Are Wild" Las Vegas residency, but due to the global lockdown due to the still-raging Covid-19 pandemic they pushed them back to 2021 and then again to 2022 before being canceled. The band's last show was a Feb. 15, 2020 "Deuces Are Wild" gig at the Park Theater. The only show still left on the Boston-based band's itinerary this year is a Sept 8. gig at Boston's Fenway Park with Extreme that was originally supposed to take place in 2020 to commemorate the group's 50th anniversary. - Billboard, 2/1/22...... In related news, Lionel Richie has cancelled his forthcoming UK and European summer tour due to the continuing spread of Covid. The legendary Motown singer confirmed on Feb. 1 that all his 2022 "Hello" shows which included the Eden Project, his Isle Of Wight and Cambridge Club Festival headline slots in June, have been pulled. Richie was due to headline the former on the Friday night (June 17) alongside Lewis Capaldi. Further shows were also set to take place in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Dublin and Belfast. In a statement, Richie said that he "hopes you all understand and I hope to see you very soon when we can all gather safely." The singer's "Hello" tour was originally set to take place in 2020, before being rescheduled to last summer. - NME, 2/1/22...... The legendary Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, Tenn., is set to offer another virtual exhibition this year to celebrate October's Black History Month. The museum is set on the site of the iconic Stax Studios building in Memphis, which hosted sessions from Otis Redding and other soul stars. The studio also runs a Stax Music Academy, which teaches music theory, performance and business to students. This year's exhibition, held in conjunction with Black History Month (Oct. 1-31, 2022) will see students from the Stax Music Academy performing the songs of Beyoncé, B.B. King, Ike & Tina Turner and other stars, while the tour will focus on the career of Mavis Staples of The Staple Singers. Fans can register for the exhibition at staxmusicacademy.org. - NME, 1/31/22...... Meanwhile, legendary Memphis R&B singer Al Green can currently be heard on a new Apple Music Hits podcast celebrating the 50th anniversary of his classic 1972 set Let's Stay Together. Interviewed by Estelle, Green discusses the evolution of the titular track, the distinctive "Memphis Sound," working with longtime producer Willie Mitchell, the legacy of the album 50 years on, and more. Recalling how his huge hit "Let's Stay Together" came about, Green said: "Willie Mitchell was playing the melody on the piano and I asked him what that was and he said, 'I don't know.' So Al Jackson came in and he was tapping on the chair, side of the building or something and Willie said, 'Why don't you write something to it?' And I wrote, 'I'm' ... And then, oh, man, I don't know, man. I just started writing some 'I'm's. I said, 'What do you want?' He says, 'So in love with you,' I said, 'I'm so in love with you. Yeah, that's it.' I'm ...I wrote a bunch of stuff, but it didn't fit, you know? So I had to go back that night and separate what's good and what's bad, throw this away, add this in, whatever, you know? Yeah, like that. Then, that one stuck." About "Let's Stay Together"'s legacy, Green says: "Oh, it's a knocked out piece of work to me. I didn't know that, number one, that people was going to like it. I didn't know that it was going to do what it did... It's like in the background. No matter what I sing or stuff, I still hear it. Yeah, it's in my heart, but it's in the background. I can feel, hear the melody of it." - Music-News.com, 2/2/22...... Veteran label executive, songwriter and producer Morty Craft, who worked with a young Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, as well as Herbie Hancock, Bob Crewe, Connie Francis, Conway Twitty and dozens of other artists, died Jan. 27 at the age of 101. Born in Brockton, Mass., in 1920, Mr. Craft began his musical career as an arranger and a saxophonist/clarinetist during the Big Band era. He moved to New York after World War II and experienced success in a number of genres, including pop, doo-wop, rock, rockabilly and R&B. In 1957, he started Lance Records, whose biggest success was the doo-wop hit "Alone (Why Must I Be) by the Shepherd Sisters, which he co-wrote and produced. The song was later covered by Petula Clark. The same year, he moved to MGM Records as recording chief and director of single record sales. While there, among the hits he helped propel included Francis' classic "Who's Sorry Now," Shep Wooley's "The Purple People Eater," Tommy Edwards' "It's All in the Game" and Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe." In 1959, Mr. Craft launched the short-lived Warwick Records which released music from Johnny and the Hurricanes, The String-A-Longs and The Tokens, who included a young Neil Sedaka in their lineup. Other highlights in his decades-long career include producing "A Sunday Kind of Love" by The Harptones and "Church Bells May Ring" by The Willows. - Billboard, 2/3/22...... Australian music icon Glenn Wheatley, the former musician who earned a place in the ARIA Hall of Fame with The Masters Apprentices before pivoting into artist management, whereupon he guided some of Australia's most successful recording artists, including Little River Band, John Farnham and Delta Goodrem, died of complications from Covid-19 on Feb. 1 in Melbourne. He was 74. Born in Brisbane, Queensland, the son of a truck driver, Wheatley got his break with the local blues-rock outfit Bay City Union, whose frontman Matt Taylor would later front breakout blues outfit Chain. In the late 1960s, heco-founded The Masters Apprentices, whose output included the hit singles "Turn Up Your Radio," "Because I Love You" and the 1971 album Choice Cuts, recorded at London's iconic Abbey Road Studios. The Masters Apprentices would call it a day in 1972, after a whirlwind four-year span during which they would become one of the country's leading rock bands. Their popularity was confirmed in 1998 with elevation into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Wheatley is survived by his wife Gaynor Martin and three children. - Billboard, 2/2/22...... Publishing executive and music historian Alan Warner died Jan. 27 in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 78. Warner spent more than a decade at EMI Music Publishing as vp and senior vp global catalog promotion. He also served as a creative consultant for EMI, Warner Chappell and Sony/ATV (Now Sony Music Publishing). Warner was revered as a music historian and creative catalog marketer -- his interviews with such legendary songwriters as Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Kenny Gamble & Lon Huff, Gerry Goffin, Lamont Dozier, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Neil Sedaka and Allen Toussaint were used for catalog promotional purposes by publishers. He also compiled vintage song catalogs for a number of publishing companies, who then promoted the music to producers, music supervisors and ad agencies. British-born Warner began his career with EMI Records in 1961, shifting to United Artists Records' London office before transferring to the label's Los Angeles office in 1976. In addition to his blog, The Door to Yesterday, which was devoted to music and vintage movies, Warner's most recent project was writing the liner notes for Can's 2021 album Live In Stuttgart 1975. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Pat. - Billboard, 2/1/22.