Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on January 25th, 2024

Melanie Safka, the beloved '70s singer-songwriter behind such hits as "Brand New Key," "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" and "Look What They've Done to My Song Ma," passed away "peacefully" on Jan. 23 at her home in central Tennessee, according to her publicist Billy James. She was 76 and the cause was not immediately revealed. "We are heartbroken, but want to thank each and every one of you for the affection you have for our Mother, and to tell you that she loved all of you so much!," Melanie's children Leilah, Jeordie and Beau Jarred, said in a post on her Facebook page announcing her death. "Our world is much dimmer, the colours of a dreary, rainy Tennessee pale with her absence today," the post continued. "She was one of the most talented, strong and passionate women of the era and every word she wrote, every note she sang reflected that. Our world is much dimmer, the colors of a dreary, rainy Tennessee pale with her absence today, but we know that she is still here, smiling down on all of us, on all of you, from the stars." With a voice that could shift from high-pitched and coy to a deep soulful rasp, Melanie scored a No. 1 U.S. hit in 1971 with "Brand New Key," a song from her 1971 album Gather Me that she wrote about about a girl who bikes and skates past the house of a boy she longs for. With echoes of the quaint popular songs of the 1920s and 1930s, "Brand New Key" combined a youthful simplicity with a winking adult sophistication in its chorus: "Well, I've got a brand-new pair of roller skates, you've got a brand-new key, I think that we should get together, and try them on to see." Melanie would say in later interviews that she didn't necessarily intend sexual innuendo in the song, but those who heard it weren't necessarily wrong. "I probably have a quirky way of writing, and I think I was misunderstood," the wholesome-looking singer told the Nashville Tennessean newspaper in 2014. "I had this smiling, cherubic thing, and I think that worked against me. Girls with guitars who were relevant were angst-filled and angular." "Brand New Key" had several revivals in the decades since, being featured in director Paul Thomas Anderson's 1997 film "Boogie Nights" and was lip-synced by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show in 2016. Born in Queens, New York on Feb. 3, 1947, Melanie was the daughter of a jazz singer and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and performed in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village and other New York folk hubs. She released her self-titled debut album in 1969, and had hit songs in Europe with "Bobo's Party" and "Beautiful People." That summer, she was one of only three female solo performers, along with Joan Baez and Janis Joplin, to perform at the generation-defining Woodstock Music and Art Fair in upstate New York. The candles the crowd held up during her opening-night set at the festival inspired her first U.S. hit, 1970's "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" which went to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. That same year came "Look What They've Done to My Song Ma," which would be covered by artists from Ray Charles to Miley Cyrus and adapted into commercial jingles for decades after. The artist later released the single "Peace Will Come (According To Plan)" and a cover version of The Rolling Stones "Ruby Tuesday." The latter release earned her a top 10 in the UK. Melanie founded her own record label, Neighborhood Records, in 1971. Its biggest hit was "Brand New Key," which went to No. 1 in the US, and No. 4 in the UK. "People in the Front Row," a danceable jam from her 1971 LP Garden in the City, got prominent placement in the most recent season of the series Black Mirror. By the mid-1970s Melanie's popularity waned, but she would maintain a following and keep recording and playing live into the 2010s. Melanie was married to her manager and producer Peter Schekeryk from 1968 until his death in 2010. According to Variety, Melanie had been in the studio earlier in January working on a new album of covers called Second Hand Smoke, which would have marked her 32nd full-length LP. She had reportedly already recorded some songs for the new album, including new versions of Morrissey's "Ouija Board Ouija Board," Radiohead's "Creep"' and Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence." It is due to be released via Los Angeles-based label Cleopatra, which had also planned to reissue the majority of her back catalog. Melanie is survived by their children, Leilah, Jeordie and Beau Jarred, who requested that on Jan. 24 fans "light a candle in honor of Melanie... Raise, raise them high, high up again. Illuminate the darkness, and let us all be connected in remembrance of the extraordinary woman who was wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend to so very many people." - AP/New Musical Express, 1/25/24.

KISS co-founder Gene Simmons has announced his first solo show since KISS retired from touring with the final show on their "End of the Road" farewell tour at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 2. Simmons, 74, will headline the Apr. 26 show of Brazil's Summer Breeze festival alongside Mr. Big and Sebastian Bach. Simmons' band will reportedly include Corey Taylor's guitarist Zach Throne and Sebastian Bach's axeman Brent Woods as well as session drummer Brian Tichy, who has played with acts such as Whitesnake, Billy Idol and Foreigner. Simmons last toured as a solo act back in 2018. KISS recently surprised fans by debuting digital versions of themselves created by the teams behind ABBA's lucrative Voyage hologram show. They declared the avatars signal the start of a "new era" and Simmons has claimed millions of dollars are being pumped into the project. - Music-News.com, 1/20/24...... George Clinton, the mastermind behind the legendary bands Parliament/Funkadelic, was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Jan. 19. Acknowledging all the members of his bands over the years, Clinton (a.k.a. "Dr. Funkenstein") said, "Lots of them are here, lots of them not. But for all of them I say thanks and I'm blessed to be representing a bunch of funky mothers. Thank you, Hollywood!" Clinton's star, the walk's 2769th, is located at 6752 Hollywood Blvd. in front of the Musicians Institute. Also speaking at the ceremony were Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, civil rights attorney Ben Crump and songwriter Janie Bradford. As the leader of Parliament/Funkadelic, Clinton steered the way across the cosmos to such classics as "(I Wanna) Testify," "P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)," "Star Child (Mothership Connection)," "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)," "Flash Light," "Aqua Boogie," "One Nation Under a Groove," "(Not Just) Knee Deep" and "Atomic Dog," from such notable albums as Parliament's Mothership Connection and Funkadelic's Maggot Brain and One Nation Under a Groove. - Billboard, 1/21/24...... Sting and DEVO will be among the headliners at the upcoming BeachLife Festival 2024, set for Redondo Beach, Calif., on May 3-5. The high-end live music, art and culinary event is celebrating its fifth year as the South Bay's premiere event, and is organized and promoted by local promoter and restauranteur Allen Sanford. Also among the headliners are My Morning Jacket, Trey Anastasio and Dirty Heads. The full lineup can be viewed on BeachLife Festival's Instagram page. - Billboard, 1/19/24...... In other festival news, the New Orleans Jazz Festival has confirmed a litany of huge names for its annual two-weekend event, this year occurring between Apr. 25 and May 5 at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. The Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Crazy Horse and Foo Fighters will top the bill along with such famous acts as The Beach Boys, Bonnie Raitt, Heart and Earth, Wind & Fire. The full lineup can be viewed on the NO JazzFest's X page. The JazzFest will be just one of the stops on the Rolling Stones' huge 2024 North American tour, which gets underway in Houston on Apr. 28. - NME, 1/19/24...... Dolly Parton celebrated her 78th birthday on Jan. 19 by dropping a deluxe version of her 2023 debut rock-themed album, Rockstar. "It's my Birthday so I'm going to give you a present!" Parton wrote on X. "I'm releasing four never released songs for my birthday, to go with the Rockstar album, and a few others that you may have heard before that were not on the album. I hope you enjoy them, and I hope you all have a happy birthday for me! LOL." Her nine fresh tracks include a live version of her originals "Rockin' It," "Mama Never Said" and the golden oldie "Stay Out of My Bedroom," featuring Sylvester Stallone from the 1984 Rhinestone soundtrack. Other bonus tracks include songs originally by Pat Benatar, Eddie Money, Billy Joel, Eurythmics and Simon & Garfunkel. A preview of the deluxe version of Rockstar can be streamed on Spotify.com. - Billboard, 1/19/24...... A running feud between former Van Halen lead singers David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar has escalated after Roth claimed that Hagar was "sex probed by aliens." Roth and Hagar have been locked in a war of words for the past several months, with Hagar recently stating their was "no f---ing way" he would want to do a full tour with Roth in honor of Eddie Van Halen who died at age 65 in Oct. 2020 after long battle with cancer. Roth's latest retort came in the form of a YouTube video titled "The Ballad of Popsicle Sam," in which he made the claims about Hagar, referencing a 2011 story in which Hagar claimed he was abducted by aliens. "In the face of a constant fart gas aimed in our direction here at the Mojo Dojo Diamond Dave Laboratories, I think we've arrived at both the technical and the medical answer that may explain some of Sammy Hagar's conduct and his constant spew of diarrhea vitriol in our direction," Roth says. "Sammy Hagar was abducted by aliens and he was sex probed." Hagar replaced original VH vocalist Roth in 1985 and continued to front the band until 1996, returning between 2003 and 2005. In Oct. 2023, Hagar joined The Killers on stage at the Ohana Festival in California for a version of VH's "Why Can't This Be Love." Roth, meanwhile, announced his retirement back in 2021. "I am throwing in the shoes. I'm retiring. This is the first, and only, official announcement You've got the news. Share it with the world," he said at the time. - New Musical Express, 1/19/24...... Organizers of a Michael Jackson Las Vegas tribute act called MJ Live filed a complaint in Nevada federal court on Jan. 17 asking a judge to rule that they could continue to stage their concerts featuring an MJ impersonator, which are held six nights per week at the Tropicana in addition to other venues around the country. MJ Live and Jackson's estate have been embroiled in a dispute, with MJ Live charging the late King of Pop's attorneys have unfairly begun threatening to sue over a show that's been performed nightly on the Vegas Strip for more than a decade. Despite the fact that the show has allegedly been performed more than 3,600 times since 2012, MJ Live says the Jackson estate has only recently begun threatening to sue -- including sending cease-and-desist letters to other venues demanding that they cancel upcoming tour dates. Their lawsuit is primarily what's known as a "declaratory judgment action" -- a type of case aimed at proving that you've done nothing wrong. In the complaint, MJ Live's lawyers argue that the group has not infringed any trademarks held by the estate, nor has it violated his likeness rights by impersonating him. Notably, Nevada's state likeness laws have an unusual carveout the allows for the legal use of a celebrity's likeness by "impersonators in live performances" -- likely a nod to the long-standing and beloved tradition of Elvis Presley look-alikes in Las Vegas. Citing that statute, as well as the First Amendment's protections for free speech, MJ Live says it has a clear legal right "to impersonate Michael Jackson" in its shows. MJ Live is even claiming it's actually the Jackson estate that's infringing intellectual property. By using the "MJ Live" name for more than a decade, MJ Live's lawyers maintain the group has developed its own trademark rights to that particular name -- and that the estate's recent use of "MJ The Musical" on a Broadway show is infringing of those rights. An attorney for the Jackson estate described MJ Live's lawsuit as "beyond frivolous," and that they, "as always, will vigorously defend all intellectual property rights of Michael Jackson." - Billboard, 1/19/24...... Earth, Wind & Fire are among the first wave of performers being announced for CBS's upcoming Super Bowl Soulful Celebration 25th Anniversary special, set to air on the network on Feb. 10 at 8:00 p.m. EST. Hosted by Cedric the Entertainer and Tichina Arnold, stars of the CBS series The Neighborhood, the special will be taped on Feb. 7 during Super Bowl LVIII week in Las Vegas. The taping will take place at the Pearl Theater in the Palms Casino Resort. Also performing will be The Players Choir. The ensemble of NFL talent has been a staple of the league's Super Bowl weekend festivities for 16 seasons. Additional Super Bowl Soulful Celebration performers, honorees and partners will be announced in the coming weeks. Launched in 1999 during Super Bowl XXXIII, the Super Bowl Soulful Celebration was formerly known as the Super Bowl Gospel Celebration, and has previously welcomed such entertainers as Snoop Dogg, Gladys Knight and Fantasia. - Billboard, 1/18/24...... Speaking of Earth, Wind & Fire, the legendary rock-soul troupe have extended their co-headlining "Sing A Song All Night Long Tour" with Lionel Richie into the first half of 2024. The pair's joint tour kicked off last year with a 20-date run around the United States, and they have now extended it for 13 more shows this spring. New dates include Knoxville, Tenn.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Birmingham, Al.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Orlando, Fla. in May, and 11 shows in June in such cities as San Antonio, Tex.; Kansas City, Mo.; Tulsa, Okla.; Omaha, Neb.; and Louisville, Ky. The full tour intinerary can be viewed on Richie's X page. Richie will then go straight into a Las Vegas residency that will take him through until the middle of November. - NME, 1/17/24...... Steely Dan are among the latest inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the SHOF announced on Jan. 17 on CBS's morning program. Also being inducted are R.E.M., Timbaland, Carrie Underwood and Lady Gaga, with non-performing writers Hilary Lindsey and Dean Pitchford rounding out the 2024 class. The 2024 Songwriters Hall Of Fame induction ceremony will take place on June 13 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The SHOF's website states that more honorary inductees will be announced soon. - NME, 1/18/24...... The Ray Charles Foundation has donated $2 million to the Grammy Museum Foundation to fund the museum's Campaign for Music Education. The Campaign, launched in Oct. 2022, will expand access to the museum's educational programs, including the Grammy in the Schools programming. The Ray Charles Foundation provides funding in the area of hearing disorders and in empowering young people through educational institutions and non-profit education programs. In honor of the donation, the Grammy Museum is renaming its rooftop terrace The Ray Charles Terrace at the Grammy Museum. The renaming will take place as an official Grammy week event on Jan. 29 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by Jimmy Jam. The terrace, which offers views of downtown LA and the Hollywood sign and hosts more than 150 events each year. - Billboard, 1/18/24...... Marlena Shaw, the jazz and soul singer best known for her 1969 recording of "California Soul," died of as yet undisclosed causes on Jan. 19 at the age of 81. Ms. Shaw is known for her release of "California Soul," which was written by Ashford & Simpson and made available in 1969 under Cadet Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records. There, she released the albums Out of Different Bags (1967) and The Spice of Life (1969), the latter of which featured the oft-sampled songs "California Soul" and "Woman of the Ghetto." Ms. Shaw also released several recordings under Blue Note Records, and music on labels including Columbia and Verve. - Billboard, 1/20/24...... British composer Laurie Johnson, whose theme for The Avengers was among the most famous of 1960s spy-show signatures, died in his sleep on Jan. 16, in North London, according to a statement from the family. He was 96. Mr. Johnson was among the last of the prominent English film composers active during the 1950s, '60s and '70s. He also scored "Dr. Strangelove" for Stanley Kubrick in 1964, along with such features as "Tiger Bay" (1959), the Werner von Braun biopic I Aim at the Stars (1960) and sci-fi and fantasy films First Men in the Moon (1964) and Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter (1972). But it was his music for The Avengers, the lighthearted and stylish teaming of troubleshooters John Steed and Emma Peel, winningly played by Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg, that gave him star status. Mr. Johnson came aboard for the fourth season of the British-made series, which aired in America starting in 1966. He remained with the series after Rigg's departure and the arrival of Linda Thorson as Tara King in the series' sixth season. Mr. Johnson scored virtually every episode, "an unheard-of extravagance," he once said. "Sometimes there would be as much as 30 minutes of music to be recorded and synchronized every week. Over the whole series I must have composed around 50 hours of music." The Hampstead, England native became active in the British music industry in the 1950s and contributed considerable music to the KPM music library (some of which could be heard, decades later, in the cartoons Ren and Stimpy and SpongeBob SquarePants). He is survived by his wife Dot, a daughter, son-in-law and grandson. - Variety, 1/17/24...... If you missed the big screen re-release of Talking Heads' acclaimed 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense you're in luck. The movie will be back in select theaters in the U.S., Canada and U.K. starting Jan. 27 after its well-received 2023 4K re-release. The latest reboot is thanks to independent film company A24 (Everything Everywhere All At Once, Uncut Gems), which snagged the worldwide rights to the film to coincide with its 40th anniversary. According to Variety, the film will have residencies in a number of cities during the run, including Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and others. Tickets and screening locations and dates can be found at tickets.stopmakingsense.movie. Talking Heads, which split in 1991, reformed for one night for their 2002 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and came back together in 2023 to promote the re-release of the Stop Making Sense, which pulled in $5 million at the box office during last year's A24 re-release, besting the haul for its initial 41-week run ($4.95 million) in 1984. A collector's edition Blu-ray of the film will be on sale at the screenings. - Billboard, 1/18/24...... Mary Weiss, lead singer of the 1960s pop girl group The Shangri-Las, died on Jan. 20. She was 75. In 1964, when Weiss was just 14, her singing group -- which also included her older sister Elizabeth "Betty" Weiss and friends Marguerite "Marge" and Mary Ann Ganser -- met producer and songwriter George "Shadow" Morton. Working with him, they broke through with their recording of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" released in 1964 via Red Bird Records and subsequently covered by Aerosmith, followed by singles like the chart-topping "Leader of the Pack" and "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" the same year, and "I Can Never Go Home Anymore" in 1965. As Weiss was a minor, her mother signed her contracts. The group released only two studio albums before shifting to Mercury Records and disbanding in 1968 amid litigation. The Shangri-Las shared concert bills with the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, James Brown and more famed acts, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored "Leader of the Pack" in its singles category in 2019. After her time performing with The Shangri-Las, Weiss went on to pursue a career as a commercial interior designer and consultant in New York City. Weiss is survived by her husband, Ed, and sister, Liz, who is the last living member of The Shangri-Las. - Billboard, 1/20/24...... Actress Lynne Marta, who played Lulu Warnicker in the hit 1984 film Footloose, passed away at her Los Angeles home from cancer on Jan. 18. She was 78. The New Jersey-born actress and singer appeared on episodes of smash TV shows including The Mod Squad, Starsky & Hutch and The Streets of San Francisco. She started her career on the syndicated teen dance series The Lloyd Thaxton Show and also appeared in episodes of Gidget and The Monkees in 1966. In 1973 she starred in a pilot for an ABC sci-fi series, Genesis II, written by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, which was not picked up. Her other TV roles included parts on Kojak, The Rockford Files, Knight Rider, Law & Order and soap operas such as The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives. She also appeared in the 1990 box office hit Three Men and a Little Lady. - Bang Showbiz, 1/16/24.