On Jan. 30 a special theatrical version of The Beatles' final live performance on the rooftop of their Apple Corps headquarters in London's Savile Row on Jan. 30, 1969, played to near-sellout crowds in nearly 70 Imax theaters across North America and at the BFI Imax theater in London. The debut of the 60-minute The Beatles: Get Back -- which features the roughly 45-minute concert in its entirety -- was accompanied by a live Q&A with director Peter Jackson and BBC broadcaster, author and musician Matt Everitt. Jackson used footage from his 8-hour docu-series to create the larger-than-life presentation of the rooftop concert. The acclaimed series itself debuted on Disney+ over Thanksgiving 2021. According to Imax, a majority of the Jan. 30 locations were sold out in cities including New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Charlotte, St. Paul, Pittsburgh, San Antonio and Cleveland, with the special event generating roughly $500,000 in grosses. The Beatles: Get Back -- The Rooftop Performance will play exclusively in select Imax locations across the globe over the Feb. 11-13 weekend. The concert footage was digitally remastered with proprietary Imax technology. The film can also be streamed in its entirety on Spotify.com. Meanwhile, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Oh. has announced that The Beatles: Get Back to Let It Be, an immersive compliment to Jackson's docuseries, will open on Mar. 18 and run through the remainder of the month. SiriusXM radio's Beatles Channel also debuted a Beatles The Rooftop Concert Special on Jan. 30. - The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard, 1/30/22...... 
In other Beatles-related news, Paul McCartney has posted an emotional tribute to his late friend and former bandmate John Lennon. To celebrate the 50th anniversary reissue of their debut album Wild Life, a Q&A about the record from 2018 has been shared on PaulMcCartney.com, and can also be viewed on YouTube. Speaking about the Wild Life track "Dear Friend," Sir Paul says that he finds it "very emotional when I listen to it now... I have to sort of choke it back." He went on to explain how the track is "me talking to John after we'd had all the disputes about The Beatles break up." "That lyric: 'Really truly, young and newly wed'. Listening to that was like, 'Oh my God, it's true!' I'm trying to say to John, 'Look, you know, it's all cool. Have a glass of wine. Let's be cool.' And luckily we did get it back together, which was like a great source of joy because it would have been terrible if he'd been killed as things were at that point and I'd never got to straighten it out with him." He goes on to say that "Dear Friend" was "me reaching out... So, I think it's very powerful in some very simple way. But it was certainly heartfelt." - New Musical Express, 1/31/21...... In a new interview with Eddie Trunk's Sirius XM radio show Trunk Nation, Alice Cooper revealed he is working on both his 29th and 30th studio albums simultaneously -- less than a year after releasing his 28th LP, Detroit Stories. "I'm working on two albums right now," the Coop said. "One is... totally written, and we'll be doing bed tracks for that one pretty soon. The other one is just a touch in the future, but that's being written right now too," he added. Alice also confirmed the sound of the two albums, which are both being overseen by his longtime producer Bob Ezrin. "They're two entirely different kinds of albums, but they're Alice Cooper, pure rock'n'roll albums. The two albums will really be hard rock albums," he said, adding that he expects to release one of the albums in 2022. Cooper is also scheduled to kick off a co-headlining UK arena tour with The Cult and a run of US dates later in 2022, as well as appearing at the Graspop Metal Meeting and the "Monsters Of Rock" cruise. - NME, 1/31/22...... Cher has paid tribute to late legendary sitcom actress Betty White with a brand-new rendition of the theme song from one of Ms. White's shows, The Golden Girls. Cher shared the high-energy clip to her social media pages, which includes Instagram, on Jan. 28, with the caption, "Every Friend is Golden." Cher is among the many stars honoring Betty White that were featured in an all-star tribute titled Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl on Jan. 31 on NBC. Betty White passed away on Dec. 31 at age 99. The telecast, available to stream on NBC's Peacock service the following day, includes clips and never-before-seen footage that best capture Ms. White's unmatched spirit and comedic timing throughout her decades-long career. - Billboard, 1/28/22...... On Jan. 31 The Beach Boys confirmed on Twitter that they'll play a second UK show this summer, with the iconic American group taking to Dreamland in Margate on June 23, 2022, as part of ther "Sixty Years of the Sounds of Summer" tour. It follows news that the legendary band will play London's Royal Albert Hall on June 24. The current iteration of The Beach Boys is led by Mike Love alongside long-time member Bruce Johnston. - NME, 1/31/22...... 
Former Bee Gees member Barry Gibb has won the 2022 Americana Album Award for the Best-Selling Americana Album by a UK Artist, for his 2021 album Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers' Songbook Vol.1. "This is a wonderful thing! I would really like to thank the UK Americana Awards for recognising this album. It's amazing that this can happen to me at this point in my life," Sir Barry said in an acceptance speech for the award. He also recognized his son Stephen Gibb for "bringing this wonderful idea to my attention... He played me a Chris Stapleton record which blew my socks off and inspired this album." He also praised producer Dave Cobb "for his passion, his patience, and his wonderful team" as well as "all of the legendary artists that took part... Making an album like this is a labour of love. Once again, thank you very much!" The UK Americana Awards 2022 were produced in conjunction with The Official Charts Comany and broadcast via YouTube on Jan. 27. - Music-News.com, 1/27/22...... In an open letter to the music streaming service Spotify.com posted on his Neil Young Archives website on Jan. 28, Neil Young has called out the popular streaming platform for being more of a tech company instead of a music service. "When I left Spotify, I felt better," Young wrote. The iconic singer/songwriter went on to state that he believes Spotify offers a lesser quality product than other streamers such as Apple Music, Amazon and Qobuz, and encourages music fans "to switch to one of the alternatives over Spotify." Young claims that Spotify cuts the quality of its music to 5% of its original content and adds, "It's easy to do that with digital, thus allowing more songs and less music to stream faster. That's because 95% is missing. That's what Spotify the tech company does. Spotify then sells you the downgraded music." He continues by writing that Spotify chooses "business over art, and Young claims the streamer "is ripping you off and has been since day 1. Young's note follows an open letter shared on the NYA site Jan. 24 -- which was later deleted -- requesting that his catalog be pulled from Spotify, citing the spread of vaccine misinformation on the popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast as the reason. "They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both," Young wrote in that letter, which was addressed to his manager as well as the co-chairman and COO of Warner Records, which releases Young's music through its Reprise Records imprint. Young concludes his Jan. 28 letter by declaring that he "believes in free speech and is not in favor of censorship" and "As an unexpected bonus, I sound better everywhere else." The musician has put his money where his mouth is by offering fans free four-month subscriptions to Amazon Music. Taking to Twitter on Jan. 28, Young plugged Amazon Music to his followers, offering them free access for four months. "Amazon has been leading the pack in bringing Hi-Res audio to the masses, and it's a great place to enjoy my entire catalog in the highest quality available. Thanks also to Apple Music (I LOVE APPLE) and Qobuz for sticking with my High Res music," he wrote .In another post, he wrote: "All folks looking for my music can easily head to AMAZON MUSIC and click here https://t.co/xvhKGMkA36 - all new listeners will get four months free. pic.twitter.com/a66GaGUKEk" On Jan. 30, it was reported that Spotify had lost more than $2 billion (£1.5b) in market value after Young removed his music from the site. Due to Young's pressure campaign, announced on Jan. 26 that it is granting Young's wish and removing his music from the platform, and confirmed that it will be adding Covid content advisories to all relevant podcast episodes. Meanwhile, SiriusXM radio has announced it is bringing back the "Neil Young Radio" channel to the airwaves on Jan. 27. The show will be making a second limited run on the platform, and will feature exclusive stories and music from the veteran rock musician's decades-long career. - Billboard/NME, 1/27/22...... 
As Neil Young continues his battle with Spotify over Covid misinformation, his old friend and fellow Canadian singer/songwriter legend Joni Mitchell announced on Jan. 28 that she's also "decided to remove all my music for Spotify." "Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue," Mitchell posted on her offical website JoniMitchell.com. Mitchell's note was accompanied by a link to the open letter published earlier in January by a group of 270 doctors, scientists, professors and other medical professionals expressing concern over Joe Rogan's platforming of misinformation around Covid-19. In the letter, the signees asked Spotify to implement a misinformation policy as a means of combatting claims made by Rogan and his guests. Among other comments, they noted that Rogan has discouraged young people from receiving the vaccine, incorrectly claimed that mRNA vaccines are "gene therapy" and promoted the use of ivermectin to treat Covid-19, contrary to FDA warnings against using the drug to treat the virus. As of Jan. 28, Mitchell's music was still available on Spotify. - Billboard, 1/28/22...... Also upset over Spotify's spreading of Covid misinformation is longtime Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren. In a statement shared to the NeilYoungArchives.com site on Jan. 29, Lofgren wrote: "A few days ago, my wife and I became aware of Neil and Daryl [Hannah] standing with hundreds of health care professionals, scientists, doctors and nurses in calling out Spotify for promoting lies and misinformation that are hurting and killing people." Lofgren noted that 27 years of his music has been taken off the service and that he is also reaching out to labels that own his earlier music to have that removed as well. "Neil and I go back 53 years," Lofgren's statement continued. "[Wife] Amy and I are honored and blessed to call Neil and Daryl friends, and knew standing with them was the right choice. The musician then encouraged "all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere, to stand with us all, and cut ties with Spotify." He went on to call music "our planet's sacred weapon, uniting and healing billions of souls every day." - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/30/22...... In related news, Eric Clapton has said he isn't "concerned with being misunderstood" over his comments about Covid-19 vaccines and other safety measures used during the pandemic. In the second part of a new interview with Real Music Observer that has been shared on YouTube, Clapton discussed the response to his views saying that he wasn't for or against vaccines. "I'm making a rod for my own back by talking about the thing and the things, but one thing about the thing I would like to make clear -- because I have to keep re-establishing it -- is I'm neither anti or pro," he said. He continued by calling those who criticize him over the issue "monsters" who are "always going to be after people who are looking for truth or seeking something, a way forward." "I'm not that concerned with being misunderstood," he said. "You can make decisions about what you're going to do or say without being overly concerned about the repercussions. When the repercussions happen, that's when maybe I will learn my lesson about, well you shouldn't have said that, or you should have said this," he added. Meanwhile, the David Bowie tribute band Holy Holy have announced that they have removed drummer Woody Woodmansey from an upcoming tour due to his unvaccinated status. The band, which also features Bowie's longtime producer Tony Visconti, are set to tour the UK for a series of "Best Of Bowie"' shows in March. Woodmansey, who played drums for Bowie in his Spiders From Mars era, told fans in a statement on Jan. 28 that he was no longer in the band, as the other members didn't feel it was safe to tour with a member not protected against Covid. "It is with deep regret that I have to announce I will no longer be a part of the band Holy Holy," he wrote, adding that "I have no negative feelings towards the band, they are doing what they believe is best for them, whilst I am doing the same." - NME, 1/26/22...... 
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice flashed his pet bulldog's butt to critics during his State of the State address on Jan. 28, telling Bette Midler and others to "kiss her hiney." Midler had recently described the people of WV as "poor, illiterate and strung out" in a tweet after WV Sen. Joe Manchin refused to support Pres. Joe Biden's Build Back Better Act. Midler responded to the governor's message in a Twitter post on Jan. 28 by sharing a ranking of states that showed West Virginia in the bottom tier among states in categories such as health care, education and the economy, and commented that the governor's dog's heinie would make a better governor than him, though she used a stronger word than that. "BTW, here are the state rankings of all the areas and agencies for which the so-called "Governor of WVA, #JimJustice, is responsible. Judging from these rankings, I'd say his dog's ass would make a better Governor than him!" she wrote. After receiving backlash to her initial tweet, Midler apologized "to the good people of WVA for her "outburst" in follow-up tweet later that day. - Billboard, 1/28/22...... Supermodel Heidi Klum has revealed she had to ask permission from Rod Stewart to sample one of his songs for her new collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg. Earlier in January, the supermodel released Chai Tea with Heidi, which features a chorus inspired by Stewart's 1983 single "Baby Jane" and Snoop raps the verses. But while Klum and Snoop recorded the track and accompanying music video, she was waiting anxiously to hear if Stewart would agree to the sample. Klum says she didn't hear anything from Stewart for five weeks, then discovered that he had "immediately emailed me back" but his message had become caught up in her spam filter. "He had immediately emailed me back, he had loved the song, and (called it) outrageously amazing... he said, 'Yes, two thumbs up,'" Klum says. - Music-News.com, 1/30/22...... Original The Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock has signed a new solo record deal with Universal Music Group. Matlock will release a new album in 2022 under the deal, and his previous solo albums will also be rereleased under UMG's catalog division. "I am over the moon to have now signed to Universal Music Group, who will be releasing my brand spanking new album, and I can't wait to get cracking with the team. Watch this space," Matlock said in a statement via Music Week. Matlock has released six previous solo albums, most recently his 2018 LP 'Good To Go which saw him partner with guitarist Earl Slick (David Bowie/John Lennon) and drummer Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats). - NME, 1/27/22...... Eddie Van Halen was remembered on social media on what would have been his 67th birthday on Jan. 26 with posts from his son, brother, and former members of his band Van Halen. Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen wrote: "Happy birthday, Pop. I love and miss you more than you could ever know." The late musician's brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, wrote: "Hey Ed, Happy birthday! May your light never dim. Love you, miss you and btw... Wolf is killin' it. (sic)" Former VH bassist Michael Anthony added: "Happy birthday Ed, I miss ya brother! You were such a huge part of my life, I will always celebrate and wave the VH flag high!! (sic)". Eddie Van Halen passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer in Oct. 2020 at the age of 65. - Music-News.com, 1/27/22...... 
Barry Manilow posted on Twitter on Jan. 28 that rumors that his music will be removed from Spotify.com after Neil Young's feud with the streaming service over Covid-19 misinformation "didn't start with me." "I recently heard a rumor about me and Spotify. I don't know where it started, but it didn't start with me or anyone who represents me," Manilow posted to Twitter. In support of the "Heart of Gold" singer, his fans started a boycott against Spotify, tweeting that they are canceling their subscriptions with the hashtags #SpotifyDeleted and #CancelSpotify, both of which were trending on Twitter. "Manilow" was also trending amid rumors that the fellow star would be removing his songs as well. - Billboard, 1/28/22...... It has been revealed that one of Meat Loaf's final TV appearances is set to be aired in a new episode of the US paranormal series Ghost Hunters. Meat Loaf was a keen paranormal investigator and worked with the Ghost Hunters team numerous times after his first appearance on the show in 2009. He joined them on an investigation for one last time in Sept. 2021, visiting an old farmhouse in Tennessee. "I am so incredibly honored and thankful to Jason [Hawes, star and co-producer of the show] and the team for inviting me out again," Meat Loaf says in a new trailer for the episode, which has been shared on Facebook. Meat Loaf's final Ghost Hunters appearance will air in "The Haunted House On The Hill" episode on Discovery+ on Feb. 12. Meat Loaf, whose real name was Marvin Lee Aday, died on Jan. 21 at the age of 74. - NME, 1/30/22...... Sam Lay, a Chicago blues drummer and vocalist who played with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, died on Jan. 29 at age 86. Known for wearing a cape and carrying a walking stick, Mr. Lay was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 as part of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Mr. Lay, a native of Birmingham, Ala., played professionally in Cleveland in the mid-1950s before moving to Chicago, the record label said. In 1969, he played drums on Fathers & Sons, Muddy Waters' best-selling record on Chess Records. Mr. Lay backed up Bob Dylan on drums in 1965 at the Newport Folk Festival. It caused a stir in the crowd because Dylan played an electric guitar and had turned to a rock sound. - Billboard, 1/31/22...... Hargus "Pig" Robbins, a Country Music Hall of Fame member and renowned session pianist who played with the likes of George Jones, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and many more, died on Jan. 30 at age 84. Mr. Robbins' breakout performance as a session player came in 1959, on George Jones' "White Lightning." In the Nashville studio, he went on to work on innumerable sessions with country stars. Notable credits would include Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces," Loretta Lynn's "You're Looking at Country" and "Coal Miner's Daughter," Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors, Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" and Tammy Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" -- just to name a handful of highlights. Mr. Robbins was also the pianist on Bob Dylan's classic Blonde on Blonde, during the album's Nashville sessions in 1966. Beyond his countless contributions over decades as a session player, Mr. Robbins also recorded a number of his own solo studio albums in the '60s and '70s. Mr. Robbins was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012. Among the various awards he's won, Mr. Robbins was named the CMA's instrumentalist of the year in both 1976 and 2000, and he took home a Grammy for best country instrumental performance in 1978. - Billboard, 1/30/22...... 
Beloved American sitcom actor Howard Hesseman, who made a career out of portraying off-the-wall characters -- none more popular than the disc jockey Johnny Fever on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati -- died on Jan. 29 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles of complications from colon surgery he first had last summer. He was 81. A member of the San Francisco improv group The Committee and a real-life DJ back in the 1960s, Mr. Hesseman also was known for his stint as out-of-work actor turned history teacher Charlie Moore on the ABC comedy Head of the Class, quitting that show after four seasons to aim for a movie career. And on the ninth and final season of One Day at a Time, his character, architect Sam Royer, married longtime divorcee Ann Romano (Bonnie Franklin). In other eccentric turns, Mr. Hesseman played hippies in director Richard Lester's Petulia (1968) and on NBC's Dragnet (he was billed as Don Sturdy back then); a patient suffering from writer's block on The Bob Newhart Show; a psychiatrist on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; a pimp opposite Dan Aykroyd in the film Doctor Detroit (1983); and a shock rocker in the cult heavy metal band classic movie This Is Spinal Tap (1984). Mr. Hesseman received Emmy nominations in 1980 and '81 for his work on CBS' WKRP in Cincinnati, which ran for four seasons (1978-82). With his shades, mustache and slouch, he became a countercultural icon. Hugh Wilson, a former sales executive at a Top 40 radio station who created WKRP (the fictional station's call letters were a pun on "W-crap"), based the rock DJ on "a guy I knew in Atlanta called Skinny Bobby Harper," he once said. "That was funny, because he was the morning guy, so Skinny had to get up at 4 in the morning to get in there. But he also loved being in the bars at night. He was like Fever." Mr. Hesseman went on to host Saturday Night Live three times and fronted music specials like 25 Years of Motown and Supernight of Rock & Roll. 
Born on Feb. 27, 1940, in Lebanon, Ore., Mr. Hesseman spent a couple of years at the University of Oregon after graduating high school in 1958, then was off to San Francisco, where he landed a gig as a disc jockey for the underground rock station KMPX. He then latched on with The Committee, where he took the Don Sturdy stage name. "Howard had at one time been a DJ," director Jay Sandrich said in a 2001 interview for the website The Interviews: An Oral History of Television. "He just stepped in and killed it. He knew exactly what he was doing." With WKRP switching to a top 40 rock format, he christened himself Dr. Johnny Fever. After that series ended, he came back a few times for The New WKRP in Cincinnati, which had a couple of seasons in syndication. Afterward, Hesseman kept busy with appearances in such films as Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985), Heat (1986), Gridlock'd (1997), About Schmidt (2002), The Rocker (2008) and Halloween II (2009). He also guest-starred as a judge on Boston Legal, a radio station manager on That '70s Show, a former drug dealer on John From Cincinnati and a schoolmaster on Fresh Off the Boat. In addition to his wife -- they lived together for seven years before getting married in July 1989 -- survivors include their godchildren Grace, Hamish and Chet. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/30/22...... UK comedian, entertainer and writer Barry Cryer has died at the age of 86. One of the most prolific scriptwriters in British comedy, Mr. Cryer wrote gags for The Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise. A hugely talented stand-up comedian himself, he became famous in his own right for appearances on BBC Radio 4's "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue." - BBC.com, 1/27/22.
Elton John announced on Jan. 25 that he has tested positive for Covid-19 and has postponed the the Dallas leg of his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour. "Hi everyone, wanted to send a message to let you know that I have contracted COVID and so have had to reschedule my shows in Dallas," the star posted on his Instagram Stories page on Jan. 25. "If you have tickets, you'll be contacted with the new dates really soon. It's always a massive disappointment to move shows and I'm so sorry to anyone who's been inconvenienced by this but I want to keep myself and my team safe," he added, also assuring fans that his symptoms are mild, and he still plans to play the shows scheduled for Arkansas over the weekend. "As always, thank you for all your love and support and I can't wait to see you all soon," he concluded. Elton kicked off his farewell tour in 2018, but paused in March 2020 along with the rest of the live music industry as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread. To kick off 2022, the star resumed his tour with a sold out show in New Orleans, La., on Jan. 19. His final show ever is scheduled in 2023. - Billboard, 1/25/22...... 
In the wake of Meat Loaf's death on Jan. 20 allegedly from Covid-19 complications at age 74, streams of the rock star's catalog have leaped 2,583%, while sales of his songs and albums have also made sizable jumps. From Jan. 21 through Jan. 23, on-demand audio and video streams of his music soared to 15.9 million, according to initial reports to MRC Data. That's up from 593,000 streams over Jan. 18-20. Leading the way are his hits "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" (3.2 million streams, up 1,645% from the three previous days), "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" (3.1 million streams, up 4,399%), and "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" (1.9 million, up 1,856%). Meanwhile, digital sales of Meat Loaf's catalog ballooned 21,298% to 54,000 Jan. 21-23 from a negligible amount Jan. 18-20. In album sales, Meat Loaf's discography moved 19,000 copies Jan. 21-23, a 11,856% surge from a negligible amount Jan. 18-20. 1977's Bat Out of Hell accounted for 13,000 of those sales (up 14,941%), followed by 1993's Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell (3,000, up 14,195%) and his hits collection, The Essential Meat Loaf (1,000, up 44,700%). Lyrics to Meat Loaf's songs have similarly skyrocketed, with 10 of the top 25 entries on the LyricFind U.S. site being Meat Loaf songs, led by "Bat Out Of Hell" which experienced a 26,483% blast in lyric views and usages following the death. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the Grammy-winning singer's material has also soared on the charts. Based on sales and streaming data from the first 48 hours in the chart cycle, the title track from Bat Out Of Hell flew to No. 4, which would mark a new chart peak if it maintains its position. Bat was released in Great Britain in 1979 and has a U.K. chart best of No. 8, set in 1993. His 1993 leader "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" is at No. 7 on the country's First Look chart, and "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad" is poised to enter the Top 20 for the very first time at No. 15, having originally topped-out at No. 32 back in Sept. 1978. Meat Loaf had six U.K. Top 10 singles during his lifetime, most recently with 2006's "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" featuring Marion Raven, which peaked at No. 6. His last single to impact the weekly chart was 2007's "Cry Over Me," which reached No. 47. In other Meat Loaf news, the singer's widow, Deborah Aday, said in an exclusive interview with People magazine that "some of my fondest memories will always be about how we so often laughed, and how we brought out the silliness and playfulness in each other." "Michael was a hugger -- such a physically affectionate and kind man -- and I'm grateful that he brought out those traits in me," Deborah said. The couple married in 2007, and "there wasn't a day that went by that we didn't tell the other how much we loved them. Not a day that we didn't hug each other," she reminisced. It's also been reported that Meat Loaf had been planning a world tour, a new EP of music, and a new game show titled after his 1993 hit "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" before his death. - Billlboard, 1/25/22...... 
Sony Music Group announced on Jan. 24 that they had bought the master recordings of perhaps their most prestigious artist, Bob Dylan. Although neither Sony nor Dylan's team would comment on the deal terms, it is estimated that Dylan's masters are worth $200 million or more, based on the revenue they generate -- an estimated $16 million a year worldwide -- and the standard multiple investors now apply to determine the value of assets. The deal closed in mid-2021, however, when recorded-music catalogs were trading at slightly lower multiples, meaning that Sony could have paid a bit less. In a separate deal, Dylan also extended his recording contract with Columbia. Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music Group, said in a press release that "Columbia Records has had a special relationship with Bob Dylan from the beginning of his career and that the company was "excited to work with Bob and his team to find new ways to make his music available to his many fans today and to future generations." For his part, Dylan said that "Columbia Records and Rob Stringer have been nothing but good to me for many, many years and a whole lot of records. I'm glad that all my recordings can stay where they belong." The catalog deal includes all of Dylan's recordings -- 39 studio albums, 16 "Bootleg Series compilations of outtakes and live recordings, and numerous singles and rarities -- plus unreleased material that could be compiled and put out in the future. It does not include rights to Dylan's lyrics and compositions, which Universal Music Group announced it bought in Dec. 2020, for a price said to be about $400 million, almost 30 times its net publishers share. Meanwhile, the rock bard has announced details of a U.S. run of dates this spring for his "Never Ending Tour." The tour resumes in Phoenix on Mar. 3 and will run for 27 dates in Southwest and Southern states over five weeks, wrapping on Apr. 14 in Oklahoma City. Dylan's website hints that more dates will be announced after this, saying that the tour will run until 2024. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 1/24/22...... In related news, BMG Music Publishing announced on Jan. 25 that they've signed an exclusive, worldwide publishing administration agreement with Elvis Costello. The deal will let BMG administer the publishing rights to the acclaimed artist's entire catalog of 32 studio albums dating back nearly 44 years. The arrangement includes future works as well, according to BMG. Costello's works had previously been represented by Universal Music Publishing Group, which had inherited the catalog in the mid-2000s when then-parent company Vivendi bought BMG Music Publishing. A BMG exec noted that "it is not often that a catalogue as distinguished as Elvis Costello's becomes available" and that the company "looks forward to working with Elvis and his management to further raise awareness and appreciation of one of the greatest songwriters the UK has produced." Costello's discography includes a now-inconceivable string of critically revered albums that kicked off his career, beginning with 1977's My Aim Is True and followed (yearly) with such gems as This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Get Happy!!, Trust, Almost Blue, Imperial Bedroom and Punch the Clock. Born Declan Patrick MacManus in London, Costello was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Songwriters Hall in 2016. The singer/songwriter and his backing band The Imposters appeared on CBS's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Jan. 21 to deliver a pair of performances including an impromptu medley. He and the band performed a standalone rendition of "Magnificent Hurt" followed by a surprise medley that combined "Farewell, OK" and his 1978 cover of Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding." His performances and interview with host Stephen Colbert have been shared on YouTube. - Billboard/NME, 1/25/22...... The Rolling Stones guitarist and sometime vocalist Keith Richards has announced a limited edition, super-deluxe box set of his 1992 second solo album, Main Offender, will drop on Mar. 18 via BMG Records. The 30th anniversary release will feature an 88-page book with never-before-seen photos, a Main Offender tour guitar pick, bumper sticker, promotional posters, reproductions of handwritten lyrics, reprinted essays from the album's release and an archival envelope with exact replicas of promotional and tour material from the 78-year-old rock icon's archive. In addition to the original album, the release includes the previously unreleased 12-track Winos Live in London '92 recorded at the Town & Country Club in Kentish Town which features nearly all the album tracks in performance, plus the Stones' "Gimme Shelter" and several cuts from Richards' 1988 solo debut, Talk Is Cheap. The collection is also available in a two-CD mediabook, limited edition LP on red (or black) 180g vinyl, CD digipak and digital formats. The track listing and a live video of "How I Wish" can be viewed on YouTube. - Billboard, 1/25/22...... 
Julian Lennon, the eldest son of John Lennon, has announced on Instagram that he'll sell a range of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) featuring digitized pieces of Lennon and Beatles memorabilia from his personal collection in an online Julien's Auction on Feb. 7. While Julian will keep the physical items from his collection, bidders will have the chance to buy NFT versions of the memorabilia in the auction. Each item, which will be presented as an audio-visual collectible, will include narration by Julian and imagery of the item in question. The NFT collection includes handwritten notes by Paul McCartney from the writing of "Hey Jude," which as legend goes was originally written for Julian to comfort him during the time of John and Cynthia Lennon's divorce. The bidding for this NFT starts at $30,000 (£22,258). Other items include the Afghan coat worn by John Lennon in the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour, a Gibson Les Paul guitar gifted by the late artist to his son, and the black cape worn by John in the film Help!. A portion of the proceeds from sales of this NFT collection will benefit Julian Lennon's White Feather Foundation. Julian told Variety that "I have a lot of projects happening this year, including a new album, and these [items] tie in to a few of them. I can't really say much more -- you'll understand why when it happens. The first release will be April 8 and that will inform you of the campaign going forward." - New Musical Express, 1/25/22...... In related news, Ozzy Osbourne's recent launch of a series of NFTs was reportedly targeted by scammers who made use of a fake Discord server to defraud supporters of hundreds of dollars in cryptocurrency. The project, known as "CryptoBatz," is a collection of 9,666 "digital bats" -- a reference to Osbourne infamously biting the head off a bat during a concert in the early '80s. The collection was previewed earlier in January, with Osbourne himself describing the project as "f---ing mental," and a pre-sale for the NFTs opened in December through its official Discord server. Users who joined the scam Discord server were asked to "verify [their] assets in order to participate, and were directed to a phishing site that gave the scammers access to the users' cryptocurrency wallets." One victim reportedly said he lost about $300 to $400 in Ethereum cryptocurrency to the scammers. On Jan. 21, the official "CryptoBatz" Twitter account warned supporters of the scammers, saying it was trying to get Discord to close down the fake servers. Osbourne has yet to comment on the reported scam. - NME, 1/24/22...... Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA has announced he's launching a radio show on the Apple Music streaming platform, with hopes of figuring out why his songs like "Mamma Mia" and "Dancing Queen" have stayed stuck in the heads of so much of the world for so many decades. Ulvaeus will host Bjorn from ABBA and Friends on Apple Music Hits starting Jan. 24. The limited series includes music and conversations with Ulvaeus' friends and collaborators, starting in the first episode with his fellow producer, songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Nile Rodgers of Chic. The episode finds Ulvaeus and Rodgers talking about the secrets of hit-making and why ABBA's music has remained in the public consciousness. "I have long wanted to ask some emotionally intelligent as well as intellectual people who know about ABBA about why they think our songs have lasted for such a long time -- almost 40 years -- because I don't understand it myself," the 76-year-old Ulvaeus said. - Billboard, 1/25/22...... 
Neil Young fired off a public missive to his management on Jan. 24, demanding that they remove his music from Spotify.com in protest of controversial radio host Joe Rogan spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine on his popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. "They can have Rogan or Young. Not both," Young wrote in an open letter to his management team and record label posted to his Neil Young Archives website, according to Rolling Stone. "I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform," Young wrote. "I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines -- potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them. Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule," he wrote Young addressed his letter to his manager and the co-chairman and COO of Warner Records, which releases Young's music through its Reprise Records imprint. The post has since been removed, and as of Jan. 24, Young's music was still available on Spotify. Joe Rogan has come under fire for spreading misinformation on his show about Covid-19 and vaccines. In addition to broadcasting his own vaccine-skeptical views, Rogan has hosted firebrands including Dr. Robert Malone, an immunologist who has drawn comparisons between the Covid-19 vaccine drive in the U.S. with the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, among other inflammatory remarks. In 2015, the singer-songwriter ordered his music removed from Spotify -- along with Apple Music and other subscription streaming services -- after stating that he felt the audio quality of the streamers was too low. His music reappeared on the platforms the following year. Meanwhile, a new documentary about the making of Young and Crazy Horse's latest album, Barn, has been shared on YouTube. Directed by his wife Daryl Hannah, the doc shows the group as they worked on the album together in an old, 19th century log barn. - AP News/Billboard, 1/24/22...... In related news, vaccine skeptic Eric Clapton has seemingly embraced a controversial theory claiming that secret messages are allegedly being hidden inside YouTube videos with the goal of driving mass compliance with Covid precautions. The 76-year-old guitar great pointed to the theory as an explanation for his divisive views on the global pandemic that has killed more than 5.6 million people worldwide. "[I thought], "What's going on here?' I didn't get the memo. Whatever the memo was, it hadn't reached me," Clapton told YouTube channel the Real Music Observer about why he decided to team up with his old friend -- and fellow lockdown opponent Van Morrison -- for the anti-lockdown screed "Stand and Deliver," as well as releasing his own similar take, "This Has Gotta Stop." Clapton told the YouTube channel's host that he then realized that he had, in fact, gotten the memo in the form of a controversial theory espoused by clinical psychology professor Mattias Desmet, who has been promoting the idea that we are all suffering from a "mass psychosis when it comes to Covid-19. The theory proposes that messages encouraging people to get vaccinated against Covid and to take other precautions are part of a shadowy attempt to hypnotize the masses to fall in line. The theory, which has been widely debunked, gained steam in Dec. 2021 on the popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, which has frequently been the source of incorrect and medically dubious information about the pandemic. Clapton has claimed that he suffered from severe nerve damage to his fingers as a result of taking the AstraZeneca vaccine, and was so sick he could not play his guitar for months. Meanwhile, Graham Nash has hit out at the anti-vaccination campaigner Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for using his song "Chicago" to promote an anti-vaxx rally. The chorus of the 1971 song, which is also known as 'We Can Change the World," can be heard in Kennedy's track "Heart of Freedom," which credits Kennedy as the lyricist. The song was used to promote a march in Washington D.C. on Jan. 23) where Kennedy wanted attendees to "stand united to protest all government mandates." After Nash's manager Mark Spector confirmed to Rolling Stone that "a cease-and-desist letter is in the works," Nash shared a post on Instagram on Jan. 22 which criticized the unauthorised use of "Chicago." "The use of my song 'Chicago' by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s Children's Health Defense movement in a video to promote his organization's rally in Washington, D.C. tomorrow is not authorised and I am taking steps to cause the cessation of its use," Nash wrote. "I do not support his anti-vaccination position as the history of the efficacy of the Covid19 vaccines is well documented," he added. - Billboard/NME, 1/24/22...... 
Don Wilson, the guitarist and co-founder of the Sixties and early Seventies instrumental guitar band The Ventures, died on Jan. 22 in Tacoma, Wash., of natural causes. He was 88. "Our dad was an amazing rhythm guitar player who touched people all over world with his band, The Ventures," son Tim Wilson said in a statement. "He will have his place in history forever and was much loved and appreciated. He will be missed." The Ventures charted 14 singles and 38 albums in the U.S., and with over 100 million records sold, are the best-selling instrumental band of all time. The band's hits included the 1960 No. 2 "Walk, Don't Run," and the theme song for Hawaii Five-O. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. The band, which formed in Tacoma in 1958 and also included guitarist Bob Bogle, bassist Nokie Edwards and Mel Taylor who replaced Howie Johnson on drums, continued to perform through numerous lineup changes, but Mr. Wilson was the one constant throughout. He didn't miss a tour until his retirement in 2015, according to the family's statement. - Billboard, 1/23/22...... Trombonist/keyboardist/flutist Dick Halligan, a co-founder of Blood, Sweat & Tears, died of natural causes on Jan. 18 in Rome, Italy. He was 78. Halligan also co-wrote several BS&T tracks, including "Redemption" and "Lisa Listen To Me." Halligan's expertise in music stemmed from hours spent listening to the big band music of Stan Kenton, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller as a boy growing up in Glens Fall, N.Y. He went on to receive a master of arts degree in music theory and composition from the Manhattan School of Music and continued his studies in voice and piano. Halligan left the band in 1971 following the recording of the group's fourth studio album, B,S&T4. Of the four albums that Halligan created with the band, four were certified Gold by the RIAA and one was certified four-times Platinum. Following his time with the two-time Grammy-winning Blood, Sweat & Tears, Halligan went on to score over 20 film and TV projects, including The Owl and the Pussycat, the Chuck Norris movies A Force Of One and The Octagon, as well as ABC's Holmes And Yoyo. He also composed for orchestras and, most recently, wrote, performed and toured with the one-man show "Musical Being," which was based on his book of the same name detailing his unique musical journey. Halligan is survived by his daughter and musician Shana, a son-in-law, a grandson and a stepson. - Billboard, 1/24/22...... 
Peter Robbins, who voiced the beloved Charlie Brown in the classic Peanuts specials of the 1960s A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, has died of an apparent suicide in San Diego, Calif., according to a statement by his family. He was 65. Born in Los Angeles on Aug. 10, 1956, Robbins got his start as a child performer and, beginning at age 9, brought to life beloved Peanuts character Charlie Brown. His first project as the voice of the so-called "blockhead" was A Boy Named Charlie Brown, a 1963 television documentary about the life of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz. He went on to voice Charlie in six television specials, including perennial holiday staples A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966), along with the 1969 feature film also entitled A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Additionally, he appeared as an actor on such '60s TV series as Rawhide, The Donna Reed Show, The Munsters, F Troop, Get Smart and Blondie. An appearance on a 1972 episode of My Three Sons marked his final acting role before stepping away from Hollywood. Robbins then dealt with a series of unfortunate addiction issues and had been open about his mental health struggles, including suffering from bipolar disorder. In 2019, shortly after he was released from prison following a 2015 sentence for making criminal threats against people as he was going through rehab, Robbins told a San Diego television station that he felt "much more humble, grateful and thankful that I lived through the experience." At the time, he shared with the outlet that he had recently gotten some touch-up work done to a tattoo on his right arm showing Charlie Brown and Snoopy, as the characters remained so important to him. "Charlie Brown fans are the greatest fans in the world," he said back then. "And everybody is willing, I hope, to give me a second chance." - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/26/22.
Meat Loaf, the "larger than life" rock superstar loved by millions for his 1977 
By the mid-1970s, he was playing the lobotomized biker Eddie in the theater and film versions of 
He explained at the time: "I don't do drugs. I don't drink. I have a pinched nerve in my back and it feels like when I stand up to walk, that Norman Bates from Psycho is stabbing me in the back. And it hurts like hell." When asked if he is on medication, he replied: "No, if you get on medication then you can't speak. And my assistant said 'don't talk about this'. But I went to a doctor the other night and he told me my tongue was swollen. And I have no idea why. It's causing me to talk slower than normal." Other health scares include collapsing on stage during performances in 2003, 2011 and 2016. In March 2021, it was reported that Meat was launching a new relationship-based competition reality TV series called I'd Do Anything For Love, But I Won't Do That. He was to serve as the project's executive producer, according to Deadline.com. The singer was also planning to launch a world tour in 2022, and recently said he told his agent: "Let's do five weeks, 16 shows in America, take a little break, do 16 shows in Europe, take a break, do another 16, then see how we like it. I'm ready to get out there." He is survived by Deborah Gillespie, his wife since 2007, and by daughters Pearl and Amanda Aday. Among those paying tribute to Meat on social media are 
Seventies artists Stevie Nicks, The Who, Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band, Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello & the Imposters and Lionel Richie have been announced as among the headliners for the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which is back after two years of cancellations and postponements due to the coronavirus pandemic. Set for the Big Easy this spring, the first weekend of the festival will take place from Apr. 29 through Sunday, May 1, while the second will begin on May 5 through May 8 at the festival's longtime home at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, La. An announcement and miniaturized poster listing all performers can be viewed on the NOJ&HF's 
Fleetwood Mac co-founder and drummer Mick Fleetwood will serve as an executive producer and contribute creative ideas and music for a new musical drama called 13 Songs for the Fox television network. From writers Will Reiser (50/50) and Jonathan Prince (Four Weddings and a Funeral), 13 Songs revolves around rock legend Jasper Jones, who with his band, The Grift, once made music that spoke to a generation of Americans. Decades later, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Jasper is given only a few months to live. As a final love letter to his fans, Jasper reconnects with his band to write and record 13 final songs and leave his mark on the world forever. 13 Songs arrives as Fox continues to look to musical-driven scripted originals for its primetime roster. Previously, Fox's Glee became a massive franchise thanks in part to global tours, downloads and merchandising. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/18/22...... A digitally restored 4K Ultra HD edition of the iconic 1964 Beatles film 
Stevie Wonder took to 
Comedian Louie Anderson, an Emmy-winning actor, author and stand-up comic, died on the morning of Jan. 21 of complications from cancer, according to his publicist. He was 68. Anderson was being treated in a Las Vegas hospital after being diagnosed with a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Mentored by legendary stand-up Henny Youngman, the gap-toothed Minnesota native was named one of "100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time" by Comedy Central in 2004. He also co-created Life With Louie, the Saturday morning animated series in which he played a version of his 8-year-old self, and hosted a revival of the game show Family Feud. For his first big movie part, Saturday Night Live cast member Eddie Murphy picked Anderson to portray Maurice, a upward-striving employee at McDowell's, in Coming to America (1988), and he returned for the 2021 sequel. Born on March 24, 1953, in St. Paul, Minn., Anderson, who said he had a "lifelong food addiction," claimed his weight problem was the result of the turmoil at home, and he told People magazine in 1987 that he "ate to escape." In 1981, he took first place in the Midwest Comedy Competition, hosted that year by Youngman, who hired him as a writer and helped shape him as a performer. His breakthrough came in Nov. 1984 when he made his national TV debut on The Tonight Show. True to form, his 5 1/2-minute routine was mostly made up of fat jokes, starting with, "I can't stay long, I'm in between meals, so bear with me." A few months later, he was featured alongside Bob Saget, Rita Rudner and Sam Kinison on HBO's ninth annual Young Comedians special. He made his film debut as a taxi driver in Cloak & Dagger (1984), then showed up in the 1986 films Quicksilver, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Ratboy. In 1988, he starred with Richard Lewis and Richard Belzer in The Wrong Guys and had his memorable cameo in Coming to America. His portrayal of Christine in Baskets earned him his Primetime Emmy in 2016, the first of three straight years with a nomination. He also once had a stint as the host of the game show Family Feud. - Billboard, 1/21/22...... Songwriter and music exec Jon Lind, who co-wrote such hits as Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland, Madonna's "Crazy For You and Vanessa Williams" 'save the Best for Last, died on Jan. 15 following a two-year cancer battle. He was 73. While still a teenager, the Brooklyn native started as a folk singer, sharing stages with Judy Collins, Harry Chapin, Tom Paxton and other legendary artists. While at New York City's Mannes College of Music, he formed the Fifth Avenue Band, which was managed by Bob Cavallo and signed with Warner Reprise in 1969, according to an interview Lind gave Songwriter Universe in 2012. He was subsequently in bands that signed with A&M and Capitol before switching to full-time songwriting. Among the other artists who recorded his songs include Cher, Cheap Trick, Aaron Neville, Jennifer Holliday, Rick Astley and Pete Townshend. Lind received a Grammy nomination for song of the year in 1992 for "Save the Best for Last," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks and was ASCAP's Song of the Year. He was equally successful as a label executive, serving as head of A&R at Hollywood Records from 1998-2011. Among the artists he worked with were Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and Jesse McCartney. He is survived by his wife, Kobalt executive Sue Drew, and the couple's two daughters. - Billboard, 1/17/22...... Rosa Lee Hawkins, a member of the 1960s girl group trio The Dixie Cups, died on Jan. 11 at age 76. The Dixie Cups, a New Orleans girl group, did not want to sing "Chapel of Love." "It sounded like a country song, OK?" the trio told the Brill Building professionals who'd written the tune. "Chapel of Love," written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (with a songwriting credit to the late producer Phil Spector), hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, displacing The Beatles' "Love Me Do." It became a foundational song for '60s girl groups, rock 'n' roll and pop music. In addition to soundtracking countless weddings, The Dixie Cups classic has been covered by Elton John and Bette Midler, and appeared in movies from Father of the Bride to Full Metal Jacket. After "Chapel of Love," The Dixie Cups recorded many other tracks, including "People Say" and a version of the Mardi Gras standard "Iko Iko." The group was doing shows in Las Vegas when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and they lost many of their belongings in the flood. Rosa and Barbara later moved to Tampa, Fla., where Rosa Hawkins died during surgery at Tampa General Hospital. - Billboard, 1/17/22...... 
Actress Yvette Mimieux, who created a stir in the 1960s with performances in such films as Where the Boys Are, Light in the Piazza, Toys in the Attic and, in a history-making turn, Dr. Kildare, died overnight in her sleep on Jan. 18 at her home in Bel Air, Calif. She was 80. The enigmatic Ms. Mimieux, discovered while horseback riding in the Hollywood Hills, appeared in eight movies before she turned 21 -- lots of them in swimsuits -- and often was cast as a wounded or sensitive woman early on. In 1964, she became what is believed to be the first actress to show her navel on an America TV show when she guest-starred in a two-part episode of NBC's Dr. Kildare in which her surfer character has an ill-fated romance with Richard Chamberlain. A year later, she played a struggling law student in a reunion with Chamberlain in the big-screen melodrama Joy in the Morning (1965). In the 1970s, Ms. Mimieux wrote and starred as a remorseless assassin in the 1974 ABC telefilm 
In a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Steely Dan producer Gary Katz revealed that Eagles principle Don Henley was once fired from contributing backing vocals to Steely Dan's 1977 hit "Peg" because Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen decided his contributions were "no good." As Steely Dan were putting the track together, Katz says he and Fagen discussed how they "both liked Henley's singing" and decided to bring him in with Linda Ronstadt to track some vocals for the song. Since Ronstadt wasn't feeling well, Nicolette Larson came in her place to sing background with Henley. Not long after Henley and Larson added vocals for a second time, Fagen signaled for bandmate Walter Becker to "go get a sandwich" with him, and as the pair left the studio, Katz said Fagen told him to fire Henley and Larson. "It left me with my finger up my ass having to fire Henley. Which I did -- and have heard about for 35 years since, in various ways," Katz said. "It was a difficult day at the office, because, like [Fagen and Becker], I was part of that inner-circle crowd. We were all in the same little area. We lived in the same place and had the same manager. It was always Eagles and Steely Dan for a long time in L.A.," he added. - Billboard, 1/14/22...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Elvis Costello revealed that he doesn't like much modern rock music because "the beat is so square." "I don't like much rock music," the 67-year-old Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame member said. "I like rock & roll. I think if you lose the roll part, a lot of the fun goes out of it." He then went on to say that "when people ask me, 'What's your favourite record?', I usually don't name any electric-guitar records made in the last 30 years because the beat is so square. I like things that float a bit or swing a bit, whether it's rock & roll or actual jazz that swings. You listen to these records out of Nashville, they couldn't float if you filled them full of water. They just don't; they're square and they sound like bad rock records from the nineties. To my ear, they just do. But somebody likes them." Elvis added that his grandfather "was a trumpet player [who] never used to criticize other musicians... I'm trying to live by his example a little better these times and not be so critical of everybody else. But you can't like everything." Costello and his backing band The Imposters released their new album, 
The 2021 Beatles documentary The Beatles: Get Back is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on Feb. 8, and is currently available for pre-order at 
The music publishing and talent management company Primary Wave has acquired the song publishing catalog of Seventies popsters America, as well as a stake in the publishing royalties of former Free and Bad Company singer/songwriter Paul Rodgers, along with Rodgers' master recording income streams from both bands. Terms of the deals, which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, were not announced but were described as multi-million dollar acquisitions. America, a soft-rock band with a penchant for naming their albums with words that begin with the letter "H," scored a string of top 10 hits in the 1970s including "Horse With No Name," "Sister Golden Hair," "Venture Highway" and "Tin Man." All three original America members wrote the band's songs, but Primary Wave is buying the publishing of Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley, not the songs owned by the late Dan Peek, nor his share of co-written songs. "We are pleased that our catalogue is now in the able hands of the good folks at Primary Wave, where the music we have created over the last 50 years will be given new attention and exposure," America's Bunnell said in a statement. "We are proud of the music we produced across these decades, and look forward to watching the catalogue continue to enhance listeners' lives for generations to come through the vision and actions of Primary Wave. Meanwhile, we continue to actively pursue our careers as songwriters and performers into the 21st Century," he added. Meanwhile, Paul Rodgers fronted a string of blues rock/hard rock bands but had his biggest commercial success with Bad Company and Free. The latter band's biggest hit was "All Right Now," but a share in that song's publishing was already purchased through Primary Wave's acquisition of a stake in Chris Blackwell's Blue Mountain publishing company back in 2018. The current deal brings in another share of that song's publishing and other Free songs, as well as hit Bad Company singles like "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love," "Feel Like Makin' Love" and "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy." Other well-known songs by the band, like "Bad Company" and "Shooting Star," were not released as singles but have garnered plenty of FM airplay. Rodgers will also head a new label imprint for Primary Wave distributed by Sun Records, which Primary Wave acquired in Jan. 2021. Besides having the ability to co-sign new artists, Rodgers will also curate compilations for Sun Records. The WSJ reported that sources placed the America deal at about $40 million, and the Rodgers deal at about $20 million. - Billboard, 1/12/22..... In related news, The Round Hill Music Royalty Fund has acquired a bundle of music rights from David Coverdale, the Whitesnake frontman and former lead singer of Deep Purple. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to the announcement, the acquisition includes his music publishing and master recording royalties and from Coverdale's three-album stint in the mid-1970s with Deep Purple -- Burn, Come Taste The Band, and Stormbringer - and from his entire Whitesnake catalog including the band s multi-platinum 1987 self-titled album. Also, as part of the deal Round Hill apparently has acquired some Whitesnake master recordings that Coverdale owned. Round Hill CEO Josh Gruss said in a statement that Coverdale "has blazed a trail since the early '70s, and his legacy and influence on the generations of artist that followed him cannot be understated. To have been entrusted with David"s work is a proud day for Round Hill." - Billboard, 1/14/22...... Doo-wop singer Fred Parris, the frontman of The Five Satins whose smash 1956 ballad "In the Still of the Night" became an enduring standard and was prominently used in movies including Dirty Dancing and The Irishman, died on Jan. 13 after a brief illness. He was 85. Born in New Haven, Conn., Parris grew up listening to big-band star Glenn Miller on the radio before discovering R&B music through family members' records. He delivered newspapers as a teenager and, in high school, joined a group called the Scarlets, for which he wrote a regional hit called "Dear One." On Feb. 19, 1956, Parris and one of his bandmates, Al Denby, were at home on military leave in New Haven when they recorded "In the Still of the Night," produced by Marty Kugell, in the St. Bernadette Catholic Church basement. "Doo-wop was what you had back then when young kids were singing on street corners... it was just honest street music," Jim Freeman, a former Parris bandmate, said in 2019 after The Irishman movie came out. The song was interpolated in Ronnie Milsap's "Lost In The Fifties Tonight (In The Still Of The Night)," a No. 1 hit on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 1985. That genre-crossing update brought Parris and co-writers Mike Reid and Troy Seals a 1985 Grammy nomination for Best Country Song. Later, Parris sang in other groups, including Fred Parris and the Restless Hearts ("Bring It Home to Daddy") in the '60s and Black Satin in the '70s. Of "In the Still of the Night," Parris said in a 2013 interview with WJCT of Jacksonville, Fla.: "Because we did it at the church, I think the song was blessed. And so was I. It lasted a long, long time." - Billboard, 1/14/22...... Ralph Emery, a longtime country music broadcaster and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, died on Nov. 15 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 88. Born in 1933 in McEwen, Tenn., Mr. Emery a successful career in the country music industry for more than 50 years, working in radio before shifting to television. Known as the dean of country music broadcasters, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in 1989. He notably interviewed a number of country music stars as the host of the Nashville Network talk show Nashville Now over the course of a decade, from 1983 to 1993. Throughout the years, he also hosted the syndicated TV series Pop Goes the Country (1974-1980) and the live show Nashville Alive on WTBS (1981-1983). From 2007 to 2015, he hosted the weekly program Ralph Emery Live on satellite and cable television channel RFD-TV. In 1961, he charted with a song that he recorded. "Hello Fool" peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. It was an answer song to Faron Young's country classic "Hello Walls" (an early hit for songwriter Willie Nelson). Loretta Lynn, T. Graham Brown, The Bellamy Brothers and The Oak Ridge Boys are among the country stars who paid tribute to Mr. Emery on social media. - Billboard, 1/15/22...... 
Legendary '60s girl group singer Ronnie Spector, the leader of The Ronettes, died on Jan. 12 after a brief battle with cancer according to a statement on her 
Spector went on to launch her own solo career, releasing four solo albums between 1980 and 2016, plus three EPs. Prior to making full-length records, she also put out seven singles, including 1964's "So Young" and 1976's "Paradise." On her 2006 solo record Last Of The Rock Stars she collaborated with the likes of Patti Smith, The Raconteurs, Yeah Yeah Yeahs Nick Zinner and more, while in 2017 she shared a track called "Love Power" under the name Ronnie Spector And The Ronettes. With The Ronettes, Spector has been inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999 for "Be My Baby," the Vocal Group Hall Of Fame in 2004 and the People s Hall Of Rock And Roll Legends in 2010. In 1986, AOR rocker Eddie Money invited Spector to feature on a new single, "Take Me Home Tonight," which allowed Spector to recreate her epochal"Be My Baby" hook on the chorus (following Money's vocal lead-in, "Listen, honey, just like Ronnie sang... ). The song was an enormous hit, peaking at No. 4 on the Hot 100 the highest-charting single of Money's career, and Spector's highest since the original "Be My Baby" and giving her career a second wind. Spector would never have another hit single, however, she continued to record and perform, with future generations of rock and pop stars citing her as a key inspiration -- including Joey Ramone, who co-produced her 1999 EP "She Talks to Rainbows," and Amy Winehouse, whose throwback image and sound in the mid-2000s suggested nothing so much as a more streetwise and tougher-luck Ronnie Spector. "Ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye, a spunky attitude, a wicked sense of humour and a smile on her face," according to the statement by Spector's family. "She was filled with love and gratitude. Her joyful sound, playful nature and magical presence will live on in all who knew, heard or saw her." Ronnie was married to Phil Spector from 1968 until 1974 and shared three adopted sons with him, and in 1982 she married manager Jonathan Greenfield, with whom she shared two sons, in 1982. Tributes to Spector that began to flow in after news of her death broke include those by 
Britain's Royal Mail has honored The Rolling Stones with a set of 12 special stamps. Available on the 
David Bowie fans flocked to social media on Jan. 8, what would have been the late rock icon's 75th birthday, to pay tribute to the highly influential musician who died following an 18-month battle with cancer in 2016. Bowie's widow Iman Abdulmajid paid tribute to her late husband by sharing a quote from Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood: "I exist in two places, here and where you are," while Lenny Kravitz posted a photo of he and Bowie, accompanied by the caption: "Happy Birthday to The Thin White Duke." The official John Lennon Twitter account posted Bowie's performance of "Fame" with the Beatles legend on the Cher show in 1975, writing: "Happy Birthday David Bowie." Meanwhile, the Madame Tussauds exhibit in London announced they will celebrate Bowie's 75th birthday by unveiling a new figure of David -- their second to feature at the Baker Street attraction -- later in 2022. Madame Tussauds have also released new images taken during Bowie's 1983 sitting with their artists for his original figure. Also, a 
In a new interview with the UK paper The Telegraph, Elvis Costello called on radio stations to stop playing his controversial 1979 single "Oliver's Army." The track, which is taken from his third studio album 
Michael Lang, the legendary co-creater of the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Fair, died on Jan. 8 from a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City. He was 77. Lang worked alongside partners Joel Rosenman, Capitol Records' Artie Kornfeld and John P. Roberts for the 1969 festival held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, NY. The three-day lineup included icons such as Richie Havens, Santana, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone and The Who, among others. After Woodstock, he started a record company in 1971 called Just Sunshine Records, which first signed Karen Dalton followed by Billy Joel. He later went into management, primarily working with Joe Cocker for about 15 years. In 1994, he helped promote Woodstock's 25th anniversary with Woodstock '94. In 2019, Lang planned to host "Woodstock 50," with a lineup including Miley Cyrus, Dead & Company, Jay-Z and others. The event was ultimately cancelled following a variety of permit and production issues, venue relocations and artists backing out. Lang is survived by his wife Tamara, their sons, Harry and Laszlo, and his daughters, LariAnn, Shala and Molly. - Billboard, 1/9/22...... Calvin Simon, a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, died on Jan. 8 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 79. Born in 1942 in West Virginia, where he sang with his church choir, Simon relocated to New Jersey with his family as a teen. He worked as a barber, and by the late 1950s, Simon joined the group originally known as the Parliaments, first formed as a doo-wop quintet with fellow barbers George Clinton and Grady Thomas and customers Ray Davis and Fuzzy Haskins. Simon, who was drafted in 1967 to serve in Vietman, went on to sing with the group that later became known as Parliament-Funkadelic. He eventually parted ways with the group due to financial disputes.A long with other members of Parliament-Funkadelic, Simon was inducted by Prince into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Simon later released several gospel projects, and in 2019, he, Clinton, and the other members of Parliament-Funkadelic received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy. - Billboard, 1/8/22...... Lyricist Marilyn Bergman, who teamed with her husband, Alan Bergman, to win three Academy Awards as one of the most revered writing tandems in the annals of movie music history, died on Jan. 8 in her Los Angeles home, according to family rep Ken Sunshine. She was 93. The cause of death was respiratory failure (non-COVID related). Her husband, 96, survives her. Bergman, whose work includes such classics as "The Windmills of Your Mind," "Nice 'n' Easy," "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" and "The Way We Were," and her husband worked extensively for the movies, writing the lyrics for three of the five songs nominated for the best song Academy Award in 1983 -- "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (from Best Friends), "If We Were in Love" (from Yes, Giorgio), and "It Might Be You" (from Tootsie). In all, the Bergmans received 16 Oscar nominations. During the period from 1969-74, they couple received one Academy Award nom each year, which they shared with their composing partners: "Windmills of Your Mind," "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" "Pieces of Dreams," "All His Children," "Marmalade, Molasses and Honey" and "The Way We Were." The Bergmans were voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980. - Billboard, 1/8/22...... Burke Shelley, singer and bassist of the Welsh hard rock band Budgie, has died at the age of 71 of as yet undisclosed causes. Born in Canton, Cardiff, UK, in 1950, Shelley co-founded Budgie in 1967 with Tony Bourge (guitar/vocals) and Ray Phillips (drums). The group released 10 studio albums between 1971 and 1982. Budgie stopped touring in 1987 before reforming in the mid-1990s and 2000s. The band's 11th and final full-length record, You're All Living in Cuckooland, came out in 2006. The group influenced hard rock and metal acts such as Metallica, Iron Maiden and Megadeth, all of whom have covered Budgie previously. Lars Ulrich and co. offered up a live take on "Breadfan" at one of Metallica's 40th anniversary shows in San Francisco in December. Shelley had battled Stickler syndrome -- a genetic disorder -- in recent years, as well as suffering two aortic aneurysms. - NME, 1/11/22...... 
Actor Dwayne Hickman, who starred as the hopelessly in love high school kid on the popular CBS comedy series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, died on Jan. 9 at his Los Angeles home of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 87. Dobie Gillis, which ran for 147 episodes from 1959-63, starred the fresh-faced, crew-cut Mr. Hickman (25 years old when the series began) as a student always looking to date the most beautiful, unattainable girls. Future Gilligan's Island star Bob Denver played his pal, beatnik Maynard G. Krebs. Dobie's quest for love often was capsized by his grocer father (played by Frank Faylen) or something goofy that Maynard had done. The show began with a Dobie monologue such as this: "My name is Dobie Gillis and I love girls. I'm not a wolf, mind you. A wolf wants lots of girls, I just want one." Mr. Hickman also performed in films, most notably as a con man in Cat Ballou (1965) opposite best actor Oscar winner Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda and in the 1965 beach party movies How to Stuff a Wild Bikini and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine. During the rebellious 1960s and early '70s however, with the Vietnam protests and hippie movement in full force, Mr. Hickman's clean-cut persona was out of vogue, and his acting career faltered. Born on May 18, 1934, in Los Angeles, Mr. Hickman began his acting career at age 6, appearing as a youngster in such films as Heaven Only Knows (1947), The Boy With the Green Hair (1948) and Mighty Joe Young (1948). He earned a degree from Loyola Marymount University (Denver was a fellow classmate) and during college turned down a job at a utility company to play Cummings' nephew Chuck MacDonald in 150 episodes of The Bob Cummings Show, which ran for five seasons on NBC and CBS. It all led to Mr. Hickman's gig on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which was based on a 1951 collection of short stories written by Max Shulman. His other TV credits include The Lone Ranger, The Loretta Young Show, Wagon Train, Ironside, The Flying Nun, The Mod Squad, Combat, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote and Clueless. He had a role as a lighting emporium owner in the 1998 film A Night at the Roxbury. He wrote a 1994 autobiography, Forever Dobie: The Many Lives of Dwayne Hickman, and developed another talent, painting. He had a penchant for picturesque buildings and vibrant flowers. Mr. Hickman married to actress Joan Roberts, whom he met while she was co-starring in TV's Private Benjamin, in 1983. The couple had a son, Albert. He had another son, John, from a previous marriage to actress Carol Christensen. His older brother is Darryl Hickman, a former child actor who appeared in such films as The Grapes of Wrath and later became a program executive at CBS. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/9/22.