Bob Dylan has previewed his first "Theme Time Radio Hour" episode in 11 years in three new clips. Re-introducing the show in one clip, Dylan said: "I'm your host, Bob Dylan. To paraphrase Alexandre Dumas in The Count of Monte Cristo, I'm so delighted to see you again, it makes me forget for the moment that all happiness is fleeting." In two other clips, he shared some history about Charlie Poole's 1920s song "If The River Was Whiskey" and spoke about the Great Molasses Flood that occurred in Boston in 1919. Dylan's began hosting the show on SiriusXM in 2006, with it running for 100 shows until April 2009. - New Musical Express, 9/20/20...... 
Marvin Gaye's landmark 1971 album What's Going On has dethroned the Beatles' 1967 LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Albums of All-Time" list. The Beatles classic, which led the countdown when it was last published in 2003, was moved from number one to 26. Announcing their pick, the RS editors called What's Going On, which was a respectable No. 6 on the 2003 countdown, "one of the most important and influential LPs ever made." "After What's Going On, black musicians... felt a new freedom to push the musical and political boundaries of their art," they added. The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds comes in at two on the new list, ahead of Joni Mitchell's Blue, Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life and the Beatles' Abbey Road. Nirvana's Nevermind, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Prince's Purple Rain, Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, and Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill complete the new "500 Greatest Albums" top 10. - WENN/Canoe.com, 9/22/20...... According to newly released transcripts of John Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman's August parole hearing, Chapman said in the interview that he was seeking glory and deserved the death penalty for a "despicable" act. In the transcripts, which were made available after an open records request, the now 65-year-old inmate expressed remorse for gunning down the former Beatle outside the musician's Dakota apartment building in Manhattan in December 1980. "I assassinated him... because he was very, very, very famous and that's the only reason and I was very, very, very, very much seeking self-glory. Very selfish," Chapman is quoted as saying. Chapman said that in retrospect his actions were "creepy" and "despicable," and that he thinks all the time about the pain he inflicted on Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono. "I just want her to know that she knows her husband like no one else and knows the kind of man he was. I didn't," he said. In denying him parole for an 11th time, the board said Chapman committed an "evil act" and said they found his statement that "infamy brings you glory" disturbing. Chapman, serving a 20-years-to-life sentence at Wende Correctional Facility, east of Buffalo, will be up for parole again in Aug. 2022. He told the board he would have "no complaint whatsoever" if they chose to leave him in prison for the rest of his life. - AP, 9/22/20...... In other Lennon-related news, a pair of John's famous round Windsor glasses that he gifted to his housekeeper in the 1960s and are thought to predate his first public outing of the eyewear are expected to fetch anywhere between £30,000 -- £40,000 during a new auction of Beatles memorabilia conducted by Sotheby's beginning Sept. 23. Also up for sale during the auction, which marks 50 years since the iconic band broke up, will be a detention sheet from John's Quarry Bank Grammar School teachers in the 1950s (they criticize his "complete idleness" and "continuous silly behaviour in class"), and one of his report cards, which is estimated to be worth between £3,000 -- £5,000. A copy of the Beatles's debut single, "Love Me Do," signed by all four members the day after it was released, is expected to fetch between £15,000 -- £20,000. The auction runs from Sept. 23 to Oct. 1 on the Sotheby's website. Meanwhile, John's son Sean Lennon is set to interview Paul McCartney for a new special two-part radio show for the BBC to mark what would have been his late father's 80th birthday. McCartney reflects on his earliest days of making music with Lennon -- admitting that "there were a few songs that weren't very good." He said: "Eventually, we started to write slightly better songs and then enjoyed the process of learning together so much that it really took off. When asked on their final meeting, he revealed: "I look back on it now like a fan, how lucky was I to meet this strange Teddy Boy off the bus, who played music like I did and we get together and boy, we complemented each other!" Other interviewees for the new show include Lennon's oldest son, Julian Lennon, and Elton John -- who was a close friend of John's. And speaking of Julian Lennon, the musician was named a UNESCO Center for Peace 2020 Cross-Cultural and Peace Crafter Award Laureate on Sept. 21, the International Day of Peace, to recognize Julian's "efforts towards the promotion of culture and peace everywhere." His contribution to peace includes his continued work through The White Feather Foundation, which aims to raise funds for "the betterment of all life." In a statement posted to the foundation's website, whitefeatherfoundation.com, Lennon expressed his "deepest gratitude upon receiving the award." "To be recognised for charity efforts on the International Day of Peace means the world to me," he said. - New Musical Express, 9/23/20...... 
Appearing on the UK early morning talk sow Lorraine on Sept. 22, Yusuf/Cat Stevens says although he's enjoyed performing for his fans from the comfort of his home amid the coronavirus pandemic, he's looking forward to 2021 when he hopes to put on some "scaled-back" gigs to coincide with the release of his upcoming autobiography. "Lockdown changed everything. But I'm getting used to Zooming, to be honest, it's very comfortable to sit in your own kitchen or living room and put on a concert," the 72-year-old singer/songwriter legend said. "We will probably go out and do something when everything is clear and perhaps it will be scaled-down a little bit. But I've also got a few projects in the pipeline, like my autobiography. It might be a combination of 'Tillerman' and my autobiography," he added. Yusuf re-recorded his 1970 classic Tea for the Tillerman earlier in 2020 to mark its 50th anniversary, and on Sept. 21 he and his son Jesse Royal contributed to Peace One Day's Live Global Digital Experience, which is also the UN International Day of Peace. The event, produced by Jude Law and Jeremy Gilley and was broadcast live across the world. It marked Yusuf's third contribution to Peace One Day, having previously performed in 2007 and 2011. Yusuf's Tea For The Tillerman 2 is currently at the No. 3 spot on the UK's Official Albums Chart Update. - Music-News.com, 9/22/20...... Jimmy Buffett, the late B.B. King, and Mac McAnally are among the latest inductees into the Mississippi Songwriters Hall of Fame, in was announced during a virtual ceremony on Sept. 17. Pascagoula, Miss., Mayor Steve Demetropoulos congratulated the Parrothead-In-Chief, noting: "It's been said that Mississippi is the birth place of America's music. Well, Jimmy Buffett is America's music." In a recorded message, Buffett said: "It's a long way from the Pascagoula run and my early days growing up in Mississippi certainly had an impact on the way I wrote songs and what I wrote about. So, thank you Mississippi for that." The Mississippi Songwriters Hall of Fame is sponsored by the Mississippi Songwriters Alliance. - AP, 9/22/20...... On Sept. 21 Neil Young announced a massive new The Archives Vol. II: 1972-1976 box set will drop on Nov. 20. The sequel to his 8-disc 2009 The Archives Vol. 1: 1963-1972, the new 10-disc collection will include a vintage live album recorded in London and Japan with all previously unheard versions of classic songs. Arranged chronologically, it will stretch from songs tracked after the 1972 release of landmark album Harvest, stretching through an early 1976 European/Japanese tour with his longtime band Crazy Horse. According to the Neil Young Archives site, the set -- with 12 previously unreleased songs and 50 unreleased versions of songs -- will be available only on the NYA site, with pre-orders beginning on Oct. 16. The full track listing for Archives Vol. II can be viewed on the NYA site. - Billboard, 9/21/20...... Speaking of archives, Bruce Springsteen has told Rolling Stone magazine that his upcoming projects includes a follow-up to his 1998 box set Tracks that will feature full-length pieces from his own archives, and that he has full-length "lost albums" which he plans to release in the future. Springsteen, who will release a new 12-song album called Letter to You on Oct. 23, says he has "a lot of projects that are in the planning," including recording songs that were written long ago. "There's a lot of really good music left. You just go back there. It's not that hard. If I pull out something from 1980, or 1985, or 1970, it's amazing how you can slip into that voice. It's just sort of a headspace. All of those voices remain available to me, if I want to go to them," he said. Meanwhile, Springsteen has shared an official video for Letter to You's title track on YouTube. - New Musical Express, 9/21/20...... Elvis Costello says his upcoming studio album Hey Clockface has songs that alternate between withering and whimsical. "It's much closer to the approach of a jazz ensemble, playing like that without scoring every note," says the 66-year-old musician. In Feb. 2020, after recording three songs by himself in Helsinki, he immediately traveled to Paris to record a dozen more with a small ensemble of musicians who "came recommended as people who liked adventure," Costello says. Hey Clockface also explores a comforting past (the title track sounds like something out of the American Songbook) and the disturbing present. On "Hetty O'Hara Confidential," Costello -- who sang about the creepiness of mass media on songs like "Radio Radio" and "Watching the Detectives" -- now turns on new media. In it, he tells the story of a vindictive gossip columnist undone by a mistake and a world in which everyone has the power she did. "It's one of the great dangers of the speed of communication, being faster than the ability to reason," says Costello. Even before the release of Hey Clockface on Oct. 30, Costello says he's already preparing to reissue some of his previous albums with bonus material. - Billboard, 9/18/20...... 
Hall & Oates are celebrating one billion streams of their 1980 hit "You Make My Dreams," which has become of the most one of their most recognizable songs, ubiquitous in films such as 500 Days of Summer, The Wedding Singer, Dumb & Dumberer and Despicable Me 2. "It's amazing, right?," says John Oates. "What really gets me about this is when 'You Make My Dreams' was released as a single in 1981, it wasn't a massive Number One hit -- it reached Number Five in the US. We couldn't have predicted the impact it would have. Over the years, it's taken on a life of its own. It's become this anthemic feel-good thing. A lot of it started with its use in the movie 500 Days of Summer and the dance sequence they created around that song. From there on, it took on this life of its own. It's the gift that keeps on giving. It's an amazing feel-good groove and it has a great timeless appeal." Oates adds that "Daryl [Hall] and I were set to do some recording [in 2020] and when everything broke down, we had exchanged ideas... sending each other tracks and we were starting to formulate [a record]. But when COVID broke everything down, it put the brakes on it. So I think he and I will probably do our best work when we're physically together and because we're not, we'll just put it on hold for a while and see what happens." To add to "You Make My Dreams"' massive streaming count, fans can head to YouTube. - NME, 9/23/20...... Patti Smith, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and many other artists have teamed up for a group rendition of Smith's 1988 song "People Have The Power." The video of the performance was released by climate action non-profit Pathway to Paris -- co-founded by Patti Smith's daughter, Jesse Paris Smith -- on its sixth anniversary. The video's release also coincides with Climate Week NYC, which takes place between September 21-27. The video, which can be viewed on Vimeo.com, was released by climate action non-profit Pathway to Paris -- co-founded by Patti Smith's daughter, Jesse Paris Smith -- on its sixth anniversary. It has been performed at every Pathway To Paris event since 2014. The video's release also coincides with Climate Week NYC, which takes place between Sept. 21-27. The clip also encourages Americans to vote in the upcoming November election. "Vote to choose something, vote to reject something," a statement from PTP read. - NME, 9/23/20...... Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford says he thinks his band deserves to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and feels it needs more heavy metal acts. "I've always admired it," Halford said of the Cleveland-based hall and museum. "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame isn't any different from those other institutions they have in America, like the one for football, where you'll always get some people complaining one player deserves to be there over another." He continued: "Emotions always run high whenever these awards take place. But I've always supported it -- only because of the company we'd be in. I think if any metal band deserves to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it's Priest and beyond that, there needs to be more metal there because there's not enough." Elsewhere in the interview, Halford commented on the band's iconic song "Breaking The Law" being played over stolen police radios during protests in New York earlier in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd's death. "It's mad over here in America right now and that was a horrible thing that happened to that guy [George Floyd] and I can understand the anger and why that [song] was chosen," he said. "When we wrote that song in the "80s in the UK, there was a lot of unrest, rioting and pushback to the Margaret] Thatcher government. There was a lot of divisiveness going on, much like is happening in many parts of the world now. History tends to repeat itself unfortunately." - NME, 9/22/20...... In other heavy metal news, AC/DC have seemingly confirmed their return with singer Brian Johnson and drummer Phil Rudd in a series of photos which were posted online. According to a Brazilian AC/DC fansite, photos showing the band's returning line-up were briefly posted on the AC/DC website earlier in September before quickly being removed. They appear to have been taken during a video shoot and show Rudd playing with guitarist Stevie Young for the first time -- with the fan site claiming that the footage was shot in the Netherlands earlier in 2020. But the most interesting detail for fans is the return of Johnson, after he departed the group in 2016 following extensive hearing loss. He was subsequently replaced on the band's "Rock or Bust" tour by Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose. The new look at the band comes after it was claimed that they have already recorded their next album. - NME, 9/21/20...... 
Former Slade frontman Noddy Holder says he's been "playing guitar again" and is thinking about a big comeback. Holder, 74, told the UK's Daily Star's "Wired" column that while he has been working on new material "over the years," he wouldn't want to go back to a full time schedule. "I have a stockpile written over the years. I didn't just stop, bang, and that was the end of the story. I still have moments when I get the inspiration. But I couldn't do it night after night, year after year," he says. Holder, who quit Slade in 1992, hasn't made a solo record or hit the road since, but isn't ruling out a return to the stage. "Well, never say never -- I might do it now. If they ever let me out of the house. I'm brushing up on my guitar technique, going back to my roots." In 2019, Holder said he meets with some of his former Slade bandmates, including Don Powell and Dave Hill, occasionally, but played down the idea of ever reuniting with his old mates. "When I left the band, we weren't getting on. We did get together in the same room about 10 years ago but we were arguing again within five minutes," he says. - Music-News.com, 9/23/20...... ABBA members Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Faltskog and Frida Lyndstad have reportedly reunited at Ealing Studios in West London to resume working on their avatar show after facing technical delays and then the coronavirus pandemic halting their plans. The Swedish quartet are said to be now looking to 2022 to launch the tour as part of their 50th anniversary. "ABBA have kept everything about their reunion shrouded in mystery but this has really been a long time coming," a friend of the group told The Sun paper. "They announced the tour in 2016 and although it's been a slog to get to this point, it is now full steam ahead and the show is taking shape. Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Frida have all recorded bits and pieces and they have enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane with it all. They are all getting a nice cheque out of it, so it will be worthwhile, but they've got more than enough money from their music, so it's not about that. All four of them just wanted to give back to their fans, so they have done everything in their power to fly into London for the filming, despite the travel restrictions," the source added. ABBA, who parted ways in 1982, performed together for the first time in decades in 2016 at a private event, which marked the 50th anniversary of the first meeting between songwriters Bjorn and Benny. - Music-News.com, 9/22/20...... A new David Bowie photography exhibition is set to open on Oct. 17 at the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. "Rock "n' Roll with Me Bowie/MacCormack 1973-76" features images captured by Geoff MacCormack, a childhood friend of Bowie who, in the early 19070s, was asked to join the expanding lineup of his band, the Spiders From Mars. MacCormack's exhibit will feature 60 shots he took as he travelled with Bowie around the world, including some taken on the Trans-Siberian Express. "Those holiday snaps, as I call them, are sometimes even better than the one where he looks wonderful and heroic, which in a lot of them he does. They're holiday snaps really," MacCormack told The Guardian. The exhibit is set to run through June 6. - NME, 9/20/20...... Steve Miller has unearthed his tribute to Jimi Hendrix -- a rendition of his band's "Peppa Sauce" recorded live on Sept. 18, 1970, the day the legendary guitarist died, and shared it on YouTube to mark the 50th anniversary of Hendrix's death. The tribute was recorded at San Rafael, California's Pepperland. "The next song is in memory of Jimi Hendrix," Miller told the crowd before before launching into an epic seven-minute long rendition of "Peppa Sauce" filled with guitar licks inspired by the late guitar god. Miller and Hendrix were friends for years who would occasionally jam together. However, after sharing the bill at 1967's Monterey Pop -- where Hendrix famously burned his Fender Stratocaster onstage -- Miller admitted to not being a fan of the stunt. "I thought that was pathetic," Miller told the Washington Post in 2019. "When I saw Jimi Hendrix stop playing the music he was playing and get down on his knees and pull out a can of lighter fluid and squirt it on the thing and light it, I went, "Boy, this really f---ing sucks." - NME, 9/19/20...... Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann has criticised Van Morrison's recent decision to release three anti-lockdown protest songs in a new op-ed. "There's a real feeling of disappointment -- we expected better from him," Swann said in a guest op-editorial for Rolling Stone magazine. "It's entirely right and proper to debate and question policies. It's legitimate to ask if the right balance is being found in what is being done; if the right steps are being taken. None of this is easy or straightforward," Swann said. "But Van Morrison is going way beyond raising questions. He is singing about "fascist bullies' and claiming governments are deceiving people and wanting to 'enslave'." Swann also pointed out a 2017 interview with Morrison, during which the Celtic crooner said he was apolitical. "He's changed his tune big time since then. He could have chosen to sing about how we all can help save lives. He could have written a tribute to our health and social care workers on the frontline," Swann said. - NME, 9/22/20...... 
Pamela Hutchinson, a member of influential '70s R&B group The Emotions, passed away on Sept. 18 at the age of 61. "In loving memory, we are saddened to announce the passing of our sister, Pamela Rose Hutchinson, on Friday, September 18, 2020," the group confirmed on their Facebook page. "Pam succumbed to health challenges that she'd been battling for several years. Now our beautiful sister will sing amongst the angels in heaven in perfect peace," the statement added. The group signed off the post by writing "Thank you and as always, You Got The Best of Our Love," referencing the band's massive 1977 hit "Best Of My Love". Along with "Best Of My Love," The Emotions are also remembered for their collaboration with Earth, Wind & Fire on "Boogie Wonderland." - NME, 9/21/20...... Drummer Lee Kerslake, a former member of Uriah Heep who also played with Ozzy Osbourne, has died at 73 after a long battle with prostate cancer. Uriah Heep announced the sad news on their Facebook page, with Heep member Bernie Shaw describing him as "one of the most revered yet under rated drummers in the world... Lee was also one of the main voices in Uriah Heep. Never dropped a note in all the years I worked with him." Kerslake served two stints in Uriah Heep from 1971-1979 and then again from 1981-2007, drumming and singing backing vocals on the albums Demons and Wizards (1972), The Magician's Birthday (1972), Sweet Freedom (1973), Wonderworld (1974), Return to Fantasy (1975), High and Mighty (1976), Firefly (1977), Innocent Victim (1977) and Fallen Angel (1978). He rejoined Uriah Heep for their 14th studio album, Abominog, playing on six more studio efforts before leaving again in 2007 due to health issues. - Billboard, 9/21/20...... Tommy DeVito, a founding member of The Four Seasons, died at a hospital in Las Vegas on Sept. 18 after he contracted COVID-19. He was 92. Mr. DeVito joined forces with bandmate Frankie Valli in 1956, before they formed the Four Seasons in 1960 alongside Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi. They went on to become one of America's most popular doo-wop groups of the 1960s -- with hits such as "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," and "December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)". The band's story was later immortalised in the Tony award-winning musical "Jersey Boys," which was adapted for the big screen by Clint Eastwood in 2014. Confirming DeVito's passing, Gaudio and Valli wrote: "It is with great sadness that we report that Tommy DeVito, a founding member of The Four Seasons, has passed. We send our love to his family during this most difficult time. He will be missed by all who loved him." DeVito was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, along with the rest of the Four Seasons. - NME, 9/23/20...... 
Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers died on Sept. 23 at the age of 77. David Baker, president and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, issued a statement on Sayers' death: "All those who love the game of football mourn the loss of one of the greatest to ever play this game with the passing of Chicago Bears legend Gale Sayers. He was the very essence of a team player -- quiet, unassuming and always ready to compliment a teammate for a key block. Gale was an extraordinary man who overcame a great deal of adversity during his NFL career and life." Sayers spent his entire seven-year NFL career with the Chicago Bears from 1965 to 1971. He was named to the All-Pro first team in each of his first five seasons, won the NFL Rookie of the Year Award in 1965 and was a four-time Pro Bowl selection. A knee injury suffered during the 1968 season limited Sayers to just nine games. He led the NFL in rushing yards (1,032) and was named Comeback Player of the Year in 1969, but knee problems plagued him for the subsequent two years before he was forced to retire during the preseason in 1972. Sayers was portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in the acclaimed 1970 made for TV movie Brian's Song, which told the story of Sayers' relationship with fellow Bears player and cancer victim Brian Piccolo. - AP, 9/23/20...... Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the demure firebrand who in her 80s became a legal, cultural and feminist icon, died on Sept. 18. She was 87. The Supreme Court announced her death, saying the cause was complications from metastatic cancer of the pancreas. Architect of the legal fight for women's rights in the 1970s, Ms. Ginsburg subsequently served 27 years on the nation's highest court, becoming its most prominent member. Stevie Nicks posted a heartfelt tribute to the late Supreme Court icon on her social media page on Sept. 20, calling Ms. Ginsberg "my hero." "She fought for me, and all women," the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman penned. "I feel today very much like I felt on the night my own mother died. I feel like someone punched me in the stomach. I so believed that she would live for a few more years... As with all legends, you think they will live forever, so you will get there in time." Cher also tweeted praise to Ms. Ginsberg, calling her "1 OF GREATEST WOMEN IN (American) HISTORY." - NPR.org/Music-News.com, 9/18/20.
The BBC is reporting that Van Morrison has recorded three new songs in which he lashes out at what he calls "crooked facts" told by the UK government concerning the coronavirus lockdown. On one track, Morrison sings, "The new normal, is not normal. We were born to be free," however the BBC says his anger reaches a peak on "No More Lockdown" -- which sees him likening the government to "fascist bullies." "No more lockdown/ No more government overreach," Morrison reportedly sings in the track's chorus. Another track is said to reference a widely-shared Facebook post which states that "Covid-19 is no longer considered to be a high consequence infectious disease (HCID) in the UK." While Covid-19 is not classed as a "HCID" -- which typically boasts a high fatality rate -- the disease is still considered highly infectious with cases rising across the UK. Morrison, who has yet to announce a release date for the new songs, posted an open letter to fans on his official website in late August, criticizing the "pseudo-science" of socially distanced gigs. - New Musical Express, 9/18/20...... 
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason says his side project Saucerful of Secrets, in which he has spent the last few years reinventing early Floyd material on stage, gives a needed edge to late Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett's music. "Syd had a strange way of writing, which made it sound like a 'normal' pop song, and then it would lurch into something else," says Mason of Barrett, the band's original singer whose mental health struggles led to his departure during their second album, 1968's A Saucerful of Secrets. "The best review was our first review," adds SOS guitarist Gary Kemp (formerly of Spandau Ballet). "[Critic] Neil McCormick called it 'Punk Floyd', which I loved, because there is that energy Floyd had before they became posh. When we got the band together, it wasn't like, 'Well, let's try and emulate those records.' Also, we're not trying to be a tribute band. Nick is the genuine article, so we agreed, 'Let's make this band as fresh as we possibly can.'" Earlier in 2020, Mason and SOS released Live at the Roundhouse, live album and concert film that captures a 2019 show at London's fabled Roundhouse, where the Syd Barrett-era Floyd also performed around the time of their 1967 debut, Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Mason, 76, says SOS is his sole focus now, and he's having "the time of his life" with no plans to hang up his drumsticks soon. "...If at some point somebody brought in new music to work on, great. That, I think, would be the greatest tribute we could pay to Syd, in a way," he says. - Billboard, 9/17/20...... David Byrne announced a new edition of his online magazine Reasons to be Cheerful, which focuses on tackling division within society, on his Twitter page on Sept. 17. "This series is hopeful at a time when that is in short supply," Byrne said. "I realise the title might come as a shock. Not divided? Are you kidding me? What world are you living in?," he adds. Running through Nov. 2, the latest Reasons to be Cheerful edition is titled "We Are Not Divided" and tells the stories of places and institutions that are succeeding in overcoming division via a multimedia presentation of dozens of written features, infographics, video content and interactive storytelling. It also features a collection of original illustrations hand-drawn by Byrne. "I am more than a little aware of what's happening, but the truth is there is evidence that we can find ways to come together -- I have to believe that or I would sink into despair," the former Talking Heads frontman says. "Luckily, there are people and initiatives out there that we can look to for inspiration, and boy do we need it." - New Musical Express, 9/17/20...... Movie studio Trafalgar Releasing announced on Sept. 16 that Stevie Nicks will debut her new concert film 24 Karat Gold for two nights only on Oct. 21 & 25 at select cinemas, drive-ins and exhibition spaces around the world. Directed and produced by Joe Thomas during the singer/songwriter's fabled 67-city sold out "24 Karat Gold Tour," the filming and recording took place in Indianapolis and Pittsburgh in 2017. "The 24 Karat Gold Tour was my all-time favorite tour," Nicks said in a statement. "I not only got to sing my songs but I was able to tell their stories for the first time. I love having the opportunity to share this concert with my fans. From me to you - 24 Karat Gold." 24 Karat Gold features a set of fan favorites from Nicks' solo career and as a member of Fleetwood Mac, including "Rhiannon," "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," "Edge of Seventeen," "Landslide," and more as well as rare gems from her platinum-selling catalog. The film also features intimate storytelling and inspirations for some of the artist's most famous and timeless songs and lyrics. Tickets go on-sale beginning Sept. 23 at StevieNicksFilm.com, where fans can find the most up-to-date information regarding participating theaters and event alerts. Also, a 2-CD & digital/streaming release will be available on Oct. 30 via BMG, featuring 17 tracks of Stevie's greatest hits live; including "Stand Back," "Gypsy," and "Edge of Seventeen," as well as the first ever live recording of "Crying In The Night," and other live rarities. Also, a 2-CD & digital/streaming release will be available on Oct. 30 via BMG, featuring 17 tracks of Stevie's greatest hits live. The release will be available exclusively at Target stores on Oct. 30, and the digital release will be available everywhere on the same day. A limited-edition 2-LP 180-gram version will be available on crystal clear vinyl exclusively at Barnes & Noble, while a 180-gram black vinyl version will be available everywhere. - Billboard, 9/16/20...... 
The Beatles' Apple Corps. announced on Instagram on Sept. 16 that an expansive coffee table book, The Beatles: Get Back, will be released on Aug. 31, 2021, as a companion to director Peter Jackson's upcoming 2021 Beatles documentary The Beatles: Get Back. The 240-page hardcover book with "hundreds of previously unpublished images" from the 1969 studio sessions for the Let It Be album will hit stores just days after the rescheduled release of the film, which was postponed earlier in 2020 until Aug. 27, 2021, due to the coronavirus. In a press release, the book is described as the "definitive volume" of the Let It Be sessions and will "present an exclusive, in-their-own-words account" of the recordings, "illustrated with hundreds of previously unpublished images, including photos by Ethan A. Russell and Linda McCartney." The book, according to the statement, "will feature transcribed conversations between the four Beatles culled from more than 120 recorded hours of the studio sessions over three weeks... (an) intimate, riveting book invites us to travel back in time to January 1969, the beginning of the Beatles' last year as a band." Meanwhile, Jackson's anticipated film will look back at the sessions for Let It Be using more than 55 hours of unreleased original 16-mm footage filmed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg in 1969. A video announcement for the book, which retails for $60, can be viewed on YouTube. - Billboard, 9/16/20...... In other Beatles-related news, a new John Lennon documentary, Lennon's Last Weekend, is coming to BritBox in December. Directed by Brian Grant ("Video Killed the Radio Star"), the film will focus on the musician's final interview with the BBC Radio's Andy Peebles before his death in Dec. 1980. John discusses the break-up of the Beatles, his new Double Fantasy LP with wife Yoko Ono, his relationship with Paul McCartney, and his own solo albums. Lennon's Last Weekend will premiere in December to honour the 40th anniversary of John's death, and will include a number of new interviews about the iconic musician. - New Musical Express, 9/16/20...... Speaking of 40th anniversary releases, Ozzy Osbourne released an expanded edition of his solo debut Blizzard of Ozz on Sept. 18. Originally released on Sept. 20, 1980, Blizzard of Ozz marked the metal icon's first foray on his own after splitting with Black Sabbath, and launched him into the stratosphere with the hit "Crazy Train." That classic, as well as "Mr Crowley," feature late guitarist Randy Rhoads. The extended version will hit streaming platforms with a number of rare bonus tracks and 7 live songs recorded during his "Blizzard" tour that are currently unavailable digitally, according to a press release announcing the set. Also being released digitally are two of Osbourne's beloved live DVD's, Live at Budokan and Live & Loud, the latter containing guest appearances from Ozzy's former Black Sabbath bandmates Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Tony Iommi. Ozzy is continuing the celebration on with a trove of "Blizzard" merch on his official store, including puzzles, vintage tour t-shirts, pins and a track jacket. - Billboard, 9/16/20...... Meanwhile, Osbourne has addressed allegations in a 1986 lawsuit brought by the parents of a 19-year-old suicide victim, John McCallum, who alleged Ozzy's song "Suicide Solution" was responsible for their son's death. Osbourne told SiriusXM radio's Billy Morrison in a YouTube clip previewing his forthcoming Blizzard of Ozz anniversary special that the song's lyric, "Where to hide, suicide is the way out/ Don't you know what it's really about?" was wrongly read into. "Well, that was all taken out of perspective," he explained. "We were all doing some serious pounding of the booze back then. I'd been drinking heavily for a long, long time. And it's, like, 'Suicide Solution' means solution being liquid -- not a way out. People get the f---ing thing wrong." A California court dismissed the McCollums' lawsuit in 1988, ruling that their son's suicide was not a foreseeable result of "Suicide Solution." 40 Years Of Ozzy Osbourne's 'Blizzard Of Ozz' premieres on Sept. 18 at 5:00 pm ET and 11:00 pm ET on SiriusXF in the US, and will be rebroadcast throughout the weekend. - NME, 9/17/20...... 
On Sept. 17 Elton John announced a special 50th-anniversary boxset titled Jewel Box on YouTube containing over 60 previously unreleased tracks. Set for release on Nov. 13 via UMC/EMI, Jewel Box will be split into four parts -- "Deep Cuts," "Rarities," "B-sides," "And This Is Me" -- and will be available across a range of formats, with 81 songs coming to digital platforms for the first time. John has provided a track-by-track commentary for the "Deep Cuts" discs, which he personally curated. Elsewhere in the collection is a hardback book featuring new interviews and archival graphics. "To delve back through every period of my career in such detail for Jewel Box has been an absolute pleasure," John explained in the announcement. "Hearing these long lost tracks again, I find it hard to comprehend just how prolific Bernie [Taupin] and I were during the early days." Vinyl editions of the "Deep Cuts," "Rarities," "B-sides," and "And This Is Me" parts will also be available. - NME, 9/17/20...... In other Elton news, the Rocket Man and his ex-wife Renate Blauel have reportedly halted their bitter divorce battle amid ongoing peace talks. On Sept. 16, Britain's The Sun newspaper reported that the legal fight is currently on hold, as lawyers for the singer and his former spouse have been given until Oct. 13 to reach a deal. If the pair agree on a settlement, it will mean they will avoid an ugly court fight in which further details about their relationship would likely emerge. In July, Blauel announced she was suing Elton after he wrote about their four-year marriage in his memoir Me, which she alleged breached their 1988 divorce deal. Blauel claimed that the details he wrote about in the book, and the references in 2019 biopic Rocketman, had seriously damaged her health, and sued the pop superstar for a reported $3.8 million. John is presently married to movie producer David Furnish and has two sons; Zachary, nine and seven-year-old Elijah. - Music-News.com, 9/16/20...... Iggy Pop has gifted his song "Free" to help the non-profit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to spread the message about the horrors monkeys that used in lab experiments face. "Anyone can see the pain and terror in these monkeys' eyes," Pop told Billboard on Sept. 14. "No one should have to suffer like this." The song, the title track off Pop's 18th studio album, soundtracks a new PETA video that shows terrified monkeys caged, being held down for experiments and more. In the haunting tune, Pop repeats the simple lyric "I want to be free" twice. The PETA video, which contains disturbing imagery and may not be suitable for all viewers, has been shared on YouTube. - Billboard, 9/14/20...... The music of late country icon Johnny Cash has been reimagined by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for an upcoming album set to arrive on Nov. 13. The RPO recorded their own take on 12 legendary hits by Cash for Johnny Cash and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which sees Cash's original vocals being complimented by the orchestra in sessions recorded at London's legendary Abbey Road Studio 2. As well as new takes on hits such as "Man In Black' and "Ring of Fire, the album also features lesser-known tracks such as "Farther Along," "Flesh and Blood' and "Girl From The North Country," his beloved collaboration with Bob Dylan. Don Reedman, who produced the album alongside Nick Patrick, said: "I believe we have captured the emotion, sensitivity and genuine honesty of Johnny Cash through his story telling and his touching and captivating vocal performances." - NME, 9/14/20...... 
A bass guitar once belonging to former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman sold at auction for a record-breaking $384,000 over the second weekend of September. The 1969 Fender Mustang Bass, with a competition orange finish, was used by Wyman for Stones concerts and recordings in 1969 and 1970, and was one of over 1,000 items from his archive that went under the hammer, including musical instruments, amplifiers, stage-worn ensembles, awards and personal items. The collection contained pieces from Wyman's three-decade stint in the Stones as well as from his solo career, and was sold at a Julien's Auctions event in Beverly Hills. The top-selling item was a 1968 Gibson Les Paul Standard Model Gold Top guitar and case used by late Stones co-founder Brian Jones in the band's Rock And Roll Circus concert in 1968, which sold for $704,000 -- more than three times its pre-auction estimate. Wyman, 83, who played with the band from 1962 to 1993, said he will donate some of the proceeds to a group of his favourite charities. Speaking about the sale, Wyman said: 'Collecting and archiving has been one of the great pleasures of my life and will undoubtedly be one of my legacies. It feels like the right time to share my archive with the world and I hope people will get as much joy from my collections as I have. It is easier to let these items go knowing that a portion of the proceeds from this sale will support three causes that are close to my heart." A portion of the proceeds from the auction will benefit the Prince's Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support and CCMI (Central Caribbean Marine Institute). - DailyMailUK.co, 9/15/20.
Bruce Springsteen made a surprise release of a heartbreaking rocker titled "Letter to You" on 
Joni Mitchell has announced a new series of archival releases from across her 50+ year career that will feature 29 songs that have never been released with the legendary singer/songwriter's vocal. The first edition, Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963 -- 1967) will drop on Oct. 30 and feature recordings prior to the release of Joni's 1968 debut album, Song to a Seagull. It will be a five-disc set containing over six hours of unreleased material, and come with 40-page liner notes, comprised of Mitchell's conversations with former Rolling Stone journalist Cameron Crowe discussing the archives. Crowe has interviewed Mitchell throughout her career, and will purportedly continue to contribute to subsequent entries into the series. Ahead of Archives Vol. 1's release, the first known recording by Mitchell as a 19-year-old performing a cover of the Animals' hit "House of the Rising Son" has been shared on 
Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley hailed US Pres. Donald Trump as "the strongest leader that we've got" in a new interview on Cassius Morris' radio show in support of his forthcoming new covers album, 
Ronald "Khalis" Bell, a founding member of Kool & The Gang who produced some of the group's biggest hits including "Celebration" and "Jungle Boogie," died of as yet undisclosed causes at his home in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sept. 9. He was 68. Born on Nov. 1, 1951, Bell formed a band in 1964 initially called the Jazziacs, with his brother Robert "Kool" Bell and friends Spike Mickens, Dennis Thomas, Ricky Westfield, George Brown and Charles Smith. They settled on the name Kool & The Gang in 1969. Ronald Bell was a driving force behind the band's distinct blend of funk, soul and R&B, and was co-writer for much of their material, including the classic hits "Celebration," "Jungle Boogie," "Cherish," "Summer Madness" and "Open Sesame." In 1979, Bell and Kool & The Gang achieved international success with their disco crossover smash "Ladies Night," with the group going on to rack up seven Top 10 and 18 Top 40 singles in the UK alone. Bell is survived by his wife Tian Sinclair Bell who was at his side when he passed, 10 children, grandchildren, two brothers including Robert "Kool" Bell, and a sister. - NME, 9/10/20...... Toots and the Maytals leader Toots Hibbert has died from complications of the coronavirus at age 77, the band confirmed on Sept. 12. "It is with the heaviest of hearts to announce that Frederick Nathaniel "Toots" Hibbert passed away peacefully tonight, surrounded by his family at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica," the band posted to Twitter. "The family and management would like to thank the medical teams and professionals for their care and diligence, and ask that you respect their privacy during their time of grief," the statement added. Hibbert grew up singing in church, and formed the Maytals in the 1960s. He was a contemporary of his Island Records labelmate Bob Marley, and would go on to appear on stage with the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Earlier in September, Hibbert was hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus. Tributes pouring in online following the news of his death include those from Ziggy Marley, who wrote: "He was a father figure to me his spirit is w/us his music fills us w/his energy i will never forget him," as well as Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood, Willie Nelson, Debbie Harry, The Who and Echo & the Bunnymen. - NME, 9/12/20...... Actor Kevin Dobson who starred as Telly Savalas' eager young partner Bobby Crocker on the '70s series 
English actress Dame Diana Rigg, best known as the indomitable Mrs. Peel in the 1961 cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, died on Sept. 10 following a short battle with cancer. She was 82. Dame Diana, who had a long career both in film and on stage, died peacefully at home with her family, her agent confirmed. Her daughter, Tipping the Velvet actress Rachael Stirling, said she died of cancer that was diagnosed in March. Born in Doncaster on July 20, 1938, Ms. Rigg trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1959, and the British beauty has been described as an actress who "swept all before her." In 1969, the Yorkshire-born actress became only the second Bond girl to marry 007 in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and more recently starred as the cutthroat matriarch Lady Olenna Tyrell in HBO's Game of Thrones. In 2019, Ms. Rigg, who was made a dame in 1994 for services to drama, revealed that she "suffered a #MeToo moment" early in her career at the hands of a "powerful" film director. Speaking on the UK program Newsnight, the actress said she welcomed the rise of the #MeToo movement, following her own experience as a young actress and revealed she felt like a "lone voice" after she discovered she was being paid less than her male co-stars. Her film roles also included 2006 romantic drama The Painted Veil and Andy Serkis' 2017 romance Breathe, and she also played a role in Edgar Wright's upcoming feature Last Night In Soho, which is scheduled for release on Apr. 23, 2021. Posting on Twitter, Wright said it was "beyond a thrill to work with her on her final film." Ms. Rigg was a regular recipient of award nominations for her work both on stage and on screen. In 1994 she won the "Best Actress in a Play" Tony for "Medea," while she was Golden Globe nominated for The Hospital in 1972, won an Emmy for Rebecca in 1997, a BAFTA TV award in 1990, and received several Olivier award nominations. She was married twice, to the Israeli painter Menachem Gueffen from 1973-1976, and to theater producer Archibald Stirling 1982-1990. With the latter she had a daughter, Rachael Stirling, the two-time Olivier Award nominated actress. - DailyMailUK/Deadline.com, 9/10/20.
The Animals' lurid No. 1 1964 hit "House of the Rising Sun" might have been a curious selection for Pres. Donald Trump to play over the loudspeakers as he arrived at an airport in Wilmington, N.C., for a rally on Sept. 2, but former Animals frontman Eric Burdon says he didn't appreciate his former band's signature song being used without his permission nonetheless. "Even though nobody asked my permission, I wasn't surprised to learn that #Trump #864511320 used #Houseof theRisingSun for his rally the other day," Burdon captioned a photo of himself on Twitter wearing a black face mask with the word "vote" printed across the mouth. "A tale of sin and misery set in a brothel suits him so perfectly!," the one time Eric Burdon and War frontman explained. "Far more appropriate for this time in our history might be." Burdon also made his support for the Joe Biden/Kamala Harris ticket apparent, adding "This is my answer #vote #saveourdemocracy #bidenharris2020." Burdon follows the likes of Tom Petty's estate, Neil Young, Steven Tyler, R.E.M., Rihanna and Guns N' Roses in calling out the president for using their songs without permission. - Billboard, 9/7/20...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Rolling Stones say they have no plans to retire anytime soon and are planning a huge gig to celebrate their 60th anniversary in 2022. "You might call it a habit. I mean, that's what we do," guitarist Keith Richards told the magazine. "And also there's that thing between us, like, 'Who's going to be first to get off the bus?' You have to be kicked off or drop off, right? So it's like that. I really can't imagine doing anything else... I hope we're all there, man. It's something to look forward to," he added. The Stones, who were forced to axe their most recent tour due to the Covid-19 pandemic, say they hope to return to touring in the future. "Even though we might have sold tickets, we might not be able to play to them all at once [due to social distancing measures]," frontman Mick Jagger said, adding "I don't know when we're gonna get together at the moment. We don't know when we're going to get together and record. It's got to be in safe circumstances and all that stuff." Richards says he's staying safe at his home in Connecticut during the pandemic, revealing that he even wears a mask to bed. "Oh yeah, I'm a masked man. I mean, it's what you have to do. I wear mine in bed," he said. The Stones are promoting the recent release of an 
A new live set from prog-rock icons Yes, 
To commemorate its 50th anniversary, David Bowie's third studio album The Man Who Sold the World is set to be reissued on Nov. 5 via Parlophone Records with new artwork and a new title, Metrobolist. The Man Who Sold the World was released by Bowie in 1970 and includes the title track, "All The Madmen" and "Running Gun Blues." Bowie initially wanted to release the album under the name Metrobolist as a tribute to the 1927 film of the same name by Fritz Lang. However, Mercury Records changed the name of the record at the last minute without seeking Bowie's approval first. Metrobolist has been re-mixed by Bowie's longtime producer Tony Visconti. - NME, 9/4/20...... Rob Halford of Judas Priest has revealed during a new interview with Darren Paltrowitz in his podcast Paltrocast that he's currently working on a blues album. Halford says the album will be recorded with the same team he collaborated with for his 2019 Christmas LP Celestial, including his brother Nigel Halford and the son of bassist Ian Hill. "I've been working on this blues album with my brother and my nephew and friends that I worked with together on the Celestial album," Halford says. "We had such a great time, and they're so talented. And that blues thing has never left me -- it's just part of rock and roll." Meanwhile, the metal icon will release his autobiography, 
Elton John has told the UK's The Guardian newspaper that late T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan was "a great role model" as he was developing his stage persona. "He was the perfect pop star," says Elton, who can been seen banging away at the piano in a vintage video of T. Rex performing their hit 
A pink feather boa famously worn by Jimi Hendrix during his legendary performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in California in 1967 is expected to bring up to £15,000 when it's auction during the second week of September. Following the show and his return to London, Hendrix gave the fashion accessory to photographer Karl Ferris, who says he is now selling the boa to mark the 50th anniversary of Hendrix's death on Sept. 18, 1970 at the age of 27. "Jimi called it his 'Magic Boa' because it brought him much luck and as he wore it on [the cover for his debut album] Are You Experienced and at his best ever concert, Monterey Pop," Ferris said. "As a tribute to the great man I thought it would be the right time to offer the 'Magic Boa' along with a selection of the photographs of Jimi I took back in 1967," he added. The boa will be on the auction block in the UK at Merseyside's Omega Auctions on Sept. 8 as part of their music memorabilia sale, with the full catalogue and other info available at www.omegaauctions.co.uk. In August, Hendrix's Japanese sunburst electric guitar that he used in the early 1960s sold for more than £160,000 at auction. - New Musical Express, 9/2/20...... David Byrne is apologizing for what he describes as a "major mistake in judgement" for making himself up in blackface in a 1984 promo piece for the Talking Heads' concert film Stop Making Sense. Posting to 
In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh has shared his experience with coronavirus, saying he nearly died from the disease. Mothersbaugh, 70, said he contracted the virus earlier this summer and spent 10 days on a ventilator in hospital in Los Angeles in June, initially believing his symptoms were from exhaustion, until his temperature registered at 103F. "A nurse came over the next morning and said, 'You should be in ICU'. 'I said, 'That's ridiculous'. She replied that she'd been a nurse for three decades: 'You need an ambulance right now'." Mark said he went from not feeling very good on a Tuesday to being in an ambulance on the way to hospital on Saturday: "It was terrifying." He also recalled suffering from vivid delusions: "I felt blood from being hit. I was handcuffed to a parking deck downtown. I had this whole elaborate story of how these kids sold me to an ambulance company that then got some sort of payment for delivering Covid patients to their ICUs. I totally believed it." Speaking of the world's response to the coronavirus, he said: "Everything's become more devolved than I would have imagined possible. For anybody that's doubting whether the coronavirus and Covid-19 is real, it's really real." It was reported in the last week of August that Mothersbaugh had been one of a number of neighbors to complain about parties held by TikTok stars at the Sway House in Hollywood as he attempts to recover from the disease. - NME, 8/31/20...... While the coronavirus pandemic has been a disastrous event for the live music industry, it's proven to be a boon to the sales of physical music. Online music marketplace Discogs says global sales on its platform in the first half of 2020 have increased dramatically during lockdown, with vinyl, CD and cassette sales seeing a surge. Discogs reports physical sales on their marketplace rose 29.69% -- 4,228,270 orders -- between January and June of 2020, compared to the same period last year. A dramatic spike in sales can be seen from April, shortly after the coronavirus pandemic forced many record stores to shut their physical shopfronts. The most substantial year-over-year improvement came via vinyl record sales, which increased 33.72% with over 5.8 million units sold. CD and cassette sales weren't far behind, demonstrating a 31.03% (1.6 million units sold) and 30.52% (over 137,000 units) increase respectively. Vinyl sales accounted for over 75% of transactions on the Discogs platform in the first half of the year. Overall, more than 7.6 million pieces of physical music were sold by independent sellers around the world throughout the first six months of the year -- an overall 33.83 per cent increase over the same period last year. - NME, 9/1/20...... As Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones continue their press availability to promote the new 
Bette Midler heads a cast of five Americans who team up at a safe distance to star in the new HBO series Coastal Elites. The Paul Rudinick-penned, Jay Roach-directed satire is about a teacher (Midler), an activist, an actor, a nurse, and a meditation guru who are scattered across the country during our politicized pandemic. Issa Rae, Dan Levy, Kaitylin Dever, and Sarah Paulson also star as different people with different goals, all with the same hope to survive these trying, traumatic times. Coastal Elites premieres on HBO on Sept. 12 at 8:00 p.m. EDT. - Entertainment Weekly, 9/20...... In an early draft of the 1966 Beatles' classic "In My Life," John Lennon referred to the Abbey Cinema in Liverpool as one of the song's "places I'll remember all my life." "In the circle of the Abbey, I have seen some happy hours," John wrote, before deciding to scratch that line for the final version. Now that same cinema frequently visited by John and his fellow Beatle George Harrison in their youth is under threat of being rebuilt by the UK supermarket chain Lidl, which says they are "considering all options for the site, which include the potential for a new building of high quality design and that their preference was 'to erect purpose-built food stores' -- but added that they have 'preserved original structures in the past'. Fans concerned about the venue's Beatles heritage have submitted an application for the Abbey Cinema, which hasn't shown a film since 1979, to be listed to Historic England for its preservation. A petition calling for the preservation has attracted over 2500 signatures, while a "Save the Abbey" Twitter account has been set up to support the appeal as well. - New Musical Express, 8/30/20...... Director Spike Lee has shared a new version of the video for Michael Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us" on 
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Tom Seaver, a baseball legend who became a pop culture icon after helping the New York Mets win the team's first World Series in 1969, died peacefully in his sleep on Aug. 31 of complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19. He was 75. Known as "Tom Terrific," Seaver won 311 games and had a 2.86 earned-run average over a 20-year major league career that spanned from 1967-1986. Seaver, a 1992 inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame, was also a three-time Cy Young Award winner and 12-time all-star player. He also played for the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. "I am deeply saddened by the death of Tom Seaver, one of the greatest pitchers of all-time," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "Tom was a gentleman who represented the best of our National Pastime. He was synonymous with the New York Mets and their unforgettable 1969 season. After their improbable World Series Championship, Tom became a household name to baseball fans -- a responsibility he carried out with distinction throughout his life. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my condolences to Tom's family, his admirers throughout our game, Mets fans, and the many people he touched." Lewy body dementia is the same life-changing disease that devasted Robin Williams before the comedian/actor committed suicide. - CNN, 9/3/20...... Ian Mitchell, a bassist for the Scottish '70s pop band the Bay City Rollers, has died of as yet undisclosed causes at age 62. The group confirmed Mitchell's passing via a statement posted on their official Facebook page: "We are deeply saddened by the news of Ian Mitchell's death. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Wendy, their family and friends. Rest In Peace, Ian." Mitchell replaced bassist Alan Longmuir in 1976 when he was just 17, and was the first non-Scottish member of the group. With Mitchell on bass, the group released their album Dedication and reached No. 12 in the US charts with their cover of Dusty Springfield's hit "I Only Want To Be With You." Mitchell was later replaced by Pat McGlynn, before Longmuir, who died in 2018, made his eventual return in 1978. - NME, 9/2/20.