Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 7th, 2024

After UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed the country's new budget in an Oct. 30 speech, The Who's Roger Daltrey has criticized it as a "kick in the balls" to the charity sector. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Daltrey said that some of the changes announced may have "catastrophic effects" on cancer charities, including his own Teenage Cancer Trust, which he has curated for over 20 years. Although he has recently stepped back from some of his responsibilities for the organization, he remains passionate about supporting cancer charities. He warned that tax hikes may force cancer charities to get rid of specialist nursing staff. Daltrey said, in part: "If we can't raise more money we will have to lay people off. We have specialist nurses that are trained specifically to care for that 13-24 age group, and I don't like to think about the consequences of this. To lose nurses would be catastrophic." In other Who news, Pete Townshend said the band will "definitely" return in 2025. Speaking to the Standard, Townshend revealed that The Who will "do something next year." Though he never explicitly shared what that is, his answers to the newspaper imply that they may be hitting the road. He revealed that he had "met with Roger for lunch," and that they're in "good form". "We love each other. We're both getting a bit creaky, but we will definitely do something next year." - New Musical Express, 11/6/24...... Former president Donald Trump's decisive win over Vice Pres. Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election has drawn stunned reaction from many in Hollywood and the music industry, including one of his longtime detractors, Bette Midler. Taking to social media, Midler quoted journalist and essayist H.L. Mencken in one of the night's most scathing responses. "When a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people." The quote continues, "On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." Trump would be the first former president to return to power since Grover Cleveland regained the White House in the 1892 election. He also stands to be the first person convicted of a felony to be elected president and, at 78, he will be the oldest person at the outset of a presidential term. - Billboard, 11/6/24...... Former Genesis frontman and '80s solo star Peter Gabriel announced on Nov. 5 that his WOMAD festival will be taking a break next year, before returning to a "new home" for 2026. WOMAD, which stands for World of Music, Arts and Dance, was founded by Gabriel in 1980 with the aim of spotlighting an eclectic mixture of genres. Since then, the festival has travelled to 27 countries across the world, while the main UK event has taken place in Charlton Park in Wiltshire since 2007. This year was its 42nd edition and will be its last in Charlton Park. In a statement, Gabriel has shared that, after 17 years in Wiltshire, WOMAD is "moving to a new home" that is "not far" from the current site. "To ensure that the festival can continue to thrive for years to come in our new location, we have decided to take a year off in 2025 before returning fully charged in 2026," he added. In 2023 Gabriel appeared in a video by Artist for Action to Prevent Gun Violence, an organization that asks Americans to vote to eradicate gun violence in the country. "As much as I love the United States, I am always appalled at the ease with which anyone can get a weapon," Gabriel says in the video. He also weighed in on the AI debate, saying, "I'm probably just as scared [of AI] as everybody else, but I like to jump in the river rather than talk about itI do think about it quite a lot, and I think not enough people are thinking about it." - NME, 11/5/24...... Bruce Springsteen stopped by the set of the upcoming biopic about him, Deliver Me From Nowhere, on Nov. 4 to visit its titular star, Jeremy Allen White during filming. Springsteen and The Bear actor were photographed together alongside director Scott Cooper while shooting a scene in a car dealership in Bayonne, New Jersey. White and Springsteen were seen hugging and sharing a smile, as well as taking a look at some classic cars. The cars included a Chevrolet Z28 Camaro, which the Boss has said was the first car he ever bought, and could indicate the content of the scene being filmed. In the movie, White will play '80s-era Springsteen, with the film chronicling the recording of his acclaimed 1982 album Nebraska. The biopic is being produced by Disney's 20th Century Studios, and the shoot is happening mostly on location in Springsteen's native New Jersey and New York. The biopic was first announced in April. Springsteen recently shared his thoughts on White's casting, saying: "I only had to see him on The Bear, and I knew he was the right guy, because he had that interior life, but he also had a little swagger." Deliver Me From Nowhere does not yet have a confirmed release date, but should arrive on screen sometime in 2025. - NME, 11/6/24...... In a new interview with the UK paper The Sun, Art Garfunkel revealed that a recent reunion with Paul Simon left him in tears, feeling he had "hurt" his former musical partner. Simon & Garfunkel were one of the best-selling acts of the 1960s, selling over 100 million records and recording timeless hits such as "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "The Sound of Silence" and "Mrs. Robinson." However, they also became known for their troubled relationship, with artistic disagreements leading to their breakup in 1970. They have performed together sporadically since then, but not since 2010. That year, they had planned a huge reunion tour across North America, but it was shelved after one show, with Garfunkel suffering from vocal issues. Simon later commented that he felt "let down" by the cancelled tour. "I didn't feel I could trust him any more," he told biographer Robert Hillman. Garfunkel, in response, described Simon as a "monster with a Napoleon complex." However, in the new interview Garfunkel revealed that the duo shared a lunch together recently and that "it was very, very warm and wonderful." Recounting his complex emotions from the meeting, he added: "There were tears. I was crying at a certain point because I felt that I had hurt him. But there were hugs. I'm cherishing this two-week-old memory of having lunch with Paul Simon." In October, Simon revealed that he was feeling "optimistic" about a potential live return, after going through the "scary, frustrating" experience of a near-total loss of hearing in his left ear. He had previously spoken about how he had not "accepted" his hearing loss but was in the process of finding a new solution which would help him return to the stage. - NME, 11/4/24...... Judas Priest announced on their Instagram page on Nov. 4 that the band will embark on a new string of tour dates across Europe in 2025. Touring behind their latest album Invicible Shield, Priest's tour will consist of 12 shows with stops in Norway (6/14), Germany (6/17, 18), Italy (7/1), Switzerland (7/3), Poland (7/7), Sweden (7/10), France (7/15) and more. The European tour announcement comes shortly after the conclusion of Judas Priest's North American tour. During that tour, the band performed a mix of Invincible Shield and fan favorites across nine classic albums. Recently, the band's bassist Ian Hill has said that Judas Priest are in the midst of re-mixing their debut album Rocka Rolla, which has just turned 50: "It's just coming out shortly, I believe. It's only a few weeks away, I'm sure it is It's gonna be re-released, which is great news. It's finally got the production it's always needed." - NME, 11/5/24...... It has been announced that Eddie Murphy will portray funk-rock legend George Clinton in an upcoming biopic directed by Bill Condon and produced by Murphy. The script, written by Virgil Williams, is based on Clinton's memoir Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You?, which traces his roots in 1940s North Carolina to becoming a pioneer of funk and founding the musical collective Parliament-Funkadelic. Murphy and Condon previously joined forces on 2006's Dreamgirls, another musical drama, inspired by Motown Records and The Supremes starring Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson. Murphy received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film. Parliament-Funkadelic released their last album Medicaid Fraud Dog in 2018, marking their first new music in 38 years. Shortly after, Clinton announced his retirement from the road in 2019 and played his final shows in 2022 after they were delayed by the pandemic. In 2024, he appeared on Kamasi Washington's new album Fearless Movement, on the track "Get Lit." Clinton has previously been portrayed by Wiz Khalifa in the 2023 film Spinning Gold. Clinton will also executive produce the new biopic. - NME, 11/2/24...... On Nov. 4, Iggy Pop took to Instagram to announce two "landmark" UK shows in London and Glasgow for 2025. The shows will celebrate Iggy's musical legacy and will see him perform hits from across his five-decade career -- from his work with The Stooges to his solo music. According to a press release, the punk icon will also be joined by "special guests" and a band of "celebrated collaborators," though no names have currently been announced. The two UK shows will take place at London's iconic Alexandra Palace on May 28, before heading to Glasgow on June 3 to play O2 Academy. Iggy has been re-visiting his back catalogue recently, singing a collection of Stooges songs for the first time in over a decade earlier this year. During a performance with Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner and Matt Sweeney, the punk icon surprised fans with some of the band's classic hits, from "1970" to "I Got A Right." Pop also recently announced a new live album titled Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 2023. The 18-track record captures his career-spanning set at the Montreux Jazz Festival in July last year. It is due for release on CD, Blu-Ray, 2LP gatefold vinyl, digital download and streaming on Jan. 24 via earMUSIC. - NME, 11/4/24...... In a new interview with the Associated Press, Willie Nelson paid tribute to his "great friend" and former The Highwaymen bandmate Kris Kristofferson, saying he "hated to lose him." "He was a great songwriter. He left a lot of fantastic songs around for the rest of us to sing, for as long as we're here," Nelson said. "Kris was a great friend of mine. And, you know, we just kind of had a lot of fun together and made a lot of music together -- videos, movies. I hated to lose him. That was a sad time." Reflecting on their work together, he added, "If you just take the music part of it and go back to, you know, Waylon [Jennings] and Kris and John [Johnny Cash] and, you know, all of us working together, the Highwaymen. And then I am the only one left. That's just not funny." Kristofferson died on Sept. 28 at the age of 88, four years after announcing his retirement from the entertainment industry. Known for songs like "Me and Bobby McGee" and "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," he was also a celebrated actor, starring in films including A Star Is Born and Heaven's Gate. Nelson recently released an emotional version of The Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize??," taken from his upcoming 153rd album Last Leaf On The Tree. - NME, 11/3/24...... Could '70s singer-songwriter and pop-rock hitmaker Andrew Gold be the new "King of Halloween"? For most of his career, Gold (who died 2011) was primarily associated with two singles: The heartrending story song "Lonely Boy" (a No. 7 hit in 1977) and the heartwarming "Thank You for Being a Friend" (a No. 28 hit in 1978 -- though better associated with a Cynthia Fee cover version, used as the theme to the '80s sitcom The Golden Girls). But thanks to some TikTok trending that first started at the end of the 2010s, Gold is now best known to younger fans as the guy behind 1996's "Spooky, Scary Skeletons," a cartoon-y Halloween number that has been remixed and memed to death over the past half-decade. "Skeletons" (available for streaming on YouTube) racked up 11.2 million official on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending Nov. 2, according to Luminate -- a massive number, and a bump of 1,146% from the 898,000 streams the song notched six weeks earlier. It's not the only song of Gold's to see such gains, either, as his entire 1996 set Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music is also way up, including his version of the classic theme to The Addams Family -- which amassed 2.1 million streams for that same week. All in all, Gold totaled 14.7 million streams for the week, up 1,040% from his 1.3 million total the week of Sept. 19 -- proving that Gold is on the verge of becoming the standard for Halloween-week streaming performance. - Billboard, 11/6/24...... Speaking to Guitar World magazine, Black Sabbath guitarist Toni Iommi says that the Hard Rock Café won't let him have one of his favourite guitars back, despite agreeing that they would. Iommi says that his beloved 1964 Gibson "Monkey" SG Special, which he played on the early Sabbath albums, has been in possession of the restaurant chain, and now they are reluctant to let him have it back. "The guy who used to buy memorabilia for the Hard Rock came to England and visited me," Iommi explained. "He wanted to buy some stuff and I said it should be fine. I'd retired the Monkey SG because it was too valuable to me; I didn't want to take it on the road and risk it getting damaged. He offered to buy it and it seemed like a good idea because the guitar could be displayed for people to see and kept safe, instead of sitting in a case somewhere in my storage. But the deal was if I ever wanted it back, I could let him know and buy it back for the same price. It seemed fair enough, a good deal." However, Iommi revealed that the individual in question has since passed away, and the deal he made is now seemingly lost. "We tried to get in touch with Hard Rock to get it back and they knew nothing about the deal," he added. The Hard Rock did, however, commission a run of replicas of the Monkey SG in 2021, including a limited edition batch that included the knicks and stickers of the original model. - NME, 11/3/24...... Former Jackson 5 star Tito Jackson was laid to rest during a funeral service in Los Angeles on Nov. 4. Tito, the brother of Michael Jackson, died on Sept. 15 at the age of 70 following a heart attack while on a road trip with his business partner Terry Harvey in New Mexico. Tito's family and friends, including siblings LaToya and Marlon Jackson, Michael's daughter Paris Jackson and son Bigi Jackson, gathered at Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles to pay their respects to the late singer. In addition to his three sons, Tito is survived by his mother Katherine Jackson, 94, and siblings Rebbie, Jackie, Jermaine, La Toya, Marlon, Randy and Janet. Michael passed away in 2009 aged 50. - Music-News, 11/5/24...... Musical titan Quincy Jones, the composer and producer who added his tasteful polish to recordings by everyone from Ray Charles to Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, died on the evening of Nov. 3 at his home in Bel Air, Calif., surrounded by his children, siblings and other family members. He was 91. "Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones' passing," the Jones family said in the statement. "And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him. He is truly one of a kind and we will miss him dearly; we take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with the world through all that he created. Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones' heart will beat for eternity." A renowned jazz and pop musician, Mr. Jones was also a prolific cross-genre arranger, conductor, record label executive and civil rights advocate. His talent and drive led to an almost unparalleled career in entertainment, with a long and varied list of credits including composing the score for the Oscar-winning film, In the Heat of the Night," producing Michael Jackson's blockbuster Thriller album and gathering dozens of pop and rock stars to record the 1985 charity single "We Are the World." Quincy Delight Jones Jr. was born in Chicago on March 14, 1933 to a carpenter father and a mother who suffered from mental illness, Jones developed a love of music early on and took up the piano. His family eventually moved to Seattle, Wash., and Mr. Jones began taking lessons from famed horn player Clark Terry. He also met and became close friends with a then-unknown pianist named Ray Charles. The pair would enjoy a lifelong friendship. As a teenager he began performing with jazz bands, and his talent at composing and arranging music drew the attention of bandleader Lionel Hampton. He earned a scholarship to Schillinger House (now known as Berklee College of Music) in Boston, from which he graduated in 1951. After graduation he headed out on tour with Hampton and his band, and soon arranging and recording for such legends as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan and his friend Ray Charles. In 1961 Mr. Jones was hired by Mercury Records as their artists-and-repertoire director. He made history three years later when he was promoted to vice president, making him the first African-American man to hold such a position within a white owned record label. He had his first pop hit with Leslie Gore's No. 1 1963 single "It's My Party," and also worked with the likes of Sinatra and Peggy Lee during his time with the label. That same year found him scoring what would be the first of many Grammys, with the initial one being for the arrangement the Count Basie Band song "I Can't Stop Loving You." In the 1960s he also began composing music soundtracks including In The Heat of the Night and In Cold Blood. He worked with A & M Records from 1969 to 1981 and formed his own label his own record label, Qwest. In 1982 Mr. Jones had one of his most famous collaboration when he produced Michael Jackson's best-selling album Thriller. Thriller sold more than 20 million copies in 1983 alone, helped Jackson become the first major Black artist to have a video played on MTV and influenced countless performers. Three years later he called on Jackson and a host of other stars for the charity single "We Are the World." That same year he found success on the big screen with producing the Steven Spielberg-directed film The Color Purple. Jones also had a hit on the small screen with and the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which starred Will Smith. Mr. Jones was married to his high school sweetheart Jeri Caldwell from 1957 to 1966, and the couple had had one daughter, Jolie. In 1967 he married Swedish model Ulla Andersson, and they had two children, Martina and Quincy Jones III, before divorcing in 1974. That same year Mr. Jones married actress Peggy Lipton, a union which lasted until 1990, and produced two daughters, actresses Rashida Jones and Kidada Jones. He also had a daughter, Rachel, with dancer Carol Reynolds, and a daughter -- fashion model Kenya Kinski-Jones -- with actress Nastassja Kinski. Mr. Jones didn't slow down personally or professionally in his later years; in 2014 he produced the documentary Keep on Keepin' On about his mentor, jazz trumpeter Clark Terry. In 2023, Mr. Jones celebrated his 90th birthday with a star-studded two-night tribute at the Hollywood Bowl, which featured performances from Stevie Wonder among others. In the wake of his passing, Elton John was one of the many famous musicians who paid their respects with a photo of the two men together at one of the Elton John AIDS Foundation's Oscar viewing parties on Instagram. "Nobody had a career as incredible as Quincy Jones. He played with the best and he produced the best. What a guy. Loved him," John wrote on Instagram. "Always a loyal supporter of this important fundraiser," he added. His "We Are The World" collaborator Lionel Richie posted on X: "Wow, Q -- what a great ride!! -- with love always." - CNN, 11/4/24.