After reopening his acclaimed "Springsteen on Broadway" show at Jujamcyn's St. James Theatre in New York on Nov. 6, Bruce Springsteen headlined the annual "Stand Up for Heroes" benefit on Nov. 8 at Lincoln Center. During the 15 years that the event has taken place, Springsteen has only missed it once, in 2017 when he was performing his Broadway show. "We don't have to ask him. He comes to us," journalist Bob Woodruff said about the event that raises money to help injured veterans and their families. This year's "Stand Up for Heroes," which was started after Woodruff was seriously injured by an improvised explosive device while covering the war in Iraq in 2006, raised $4.6 million. Other performers included Jon Stewart, Brandi Carlisle, Grace Gaustad and the group Sing Harlem. Current and former military also attended the event, including five members of the Marine company involved in the deadly ambush in Kabul that left 13 American service members killed in August during the Afghanistan withdrawal. Springsteen's performance at the event, which also sees the New Jersey rocker cracking a number of jokes, has been shared on Twitter.com. - AP, 11/10/21...... 
American blues guitarist Robert Cray has pulled out of his opening gig for Eric Clapton's upcoming tour after Clapton released a song comparing Covid-19 lockdowns to slavery. Cray, a Black man born into a segregated community in 1953 Georgia and who has frequently collaborated with Clapton in the past, said he sent Clapton an email after he heard Clapton's song "Stand and Deliver," a joint release with his fellow Covid skeptic Van Morrison, last December. "Do you wanna be a free man / Or do you wanna be a slave? / Do you wanna wear these chains / Until you're lying in the grave?," go the lyrics, a comparison which Cray took issue with. Cray said he sent Clapton an email and that "his reaction back to me was that he was referring to slaves from, you know, England from way back." Cray said the two shared another email exchange before he stepped back and cut ties completely with Clapton, making contact one last time to formally scrap his planned stint opening for Clapton on tour. In August, Clapton followed "Stand And Deliver" (which itself was met with significant backlash) with another politically charged anti-lockdown song, "This Has Gotta Stop." On it, he declares: "You wanna claim my soul, you'll have to come and break down this door." In July, he vowed never to perform at a venue that required proof of vaccination as a condition of entry (however two months later, he did indeed perform at such a venue). Then in October, it was reported that Clapton had donated £1,000 and lent his own van to UK anti-lockdown music group Jam For Freedom, congratulating its founder on doing "great work." Clapton was also the subject of a recent article in Rolling Stone magazine titled "The Dark Side of 'God'" which explored his history of making a "full-tilt" racist rant one time during a 1976 concert along with his more recent controversial opinions about vaccines. - New Musical Express, 11/12/21...... ABBA's latest album Voyage has conquered the U.K. by outselling the rest of the country's Top 40 combined. Voyage racked up 118,000 sales over the first weekend in November for the biggest first-week sales of 2021 in the UK, and is on track to be the biggest opening week sales leader in four years. If the album does hold course, it'll give the Swedish pop icons their 10th U.K. No. 1, and first studio set to lead the Official U.K. Albums Chart since 1981's The Visitors, ABBA's final album before disbanding. Voyage contains the U.K. Top 10 single "Don't Shut Me Down" (No. 9), and the previously released songs "I Still Have Faith In You" (No. 14), and "Just a Notion" (No. 59). Brits have a deep connection with ABBA, with the quartet's1992 retrospective ABBA Gold notching a record 1,018 weeks on the Official U.K. Albums Chart and is one of the territory's best-selling albums of all time. Meanwhile, Voyage has also sailed to the No. 1 position Down Under. The album is an immediate hit in Australia, bowing at the summit of Oz's ARIA Albums Chart. It's the second ABBA album (and first studio set) to top the ARIA chart following the ABBA Gold compilation, which logged four straight weeks at No. 1 in Dec. 1992. ABBA also had three albums hitting No. 1 in Australia prior to the launch of the ARIA Charts in 1983, and in 2018, their Mamma Mia! soundtrack also hit the top of the ARIA Albums Chart. - Billboard, 11/8/21...... Also making waves in Australia is Elton John, whose recent single "Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)" has soared to the top of the ARIA singles chart. The single, lifted from Elton's The Lockdown Sessions LP, moves to the summit after entering the charts 12 weeks ago and then five straight weeks at No. 2. With his latest feat, Sir Elton, at 74 years, seven months and 14 days, becomes the oldest artist to top the ARIA Singles Chart, overtaking Beatles great Paul McCartney. "Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)," featuring vocals from Dua Lipa and remixed by the Sydney-based trio Pnau, marks Elton's 20th Top 10 single in Australia, and his third official No. 1, according to Universal Music. Meanwhile, John has remarked that he's "full of beans" and "raring" to make new music after being given a prestigious award by England's Prince Charles during a ceremony at Windsor Castle on Nov. 10 in which the Rocket Man was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to Music and to Charity. "I've had an amazing life, music has been my life, and I got this for music and for work for charity," John said. "I may not look as if I'm 100 per cent fit -- but I'm not quite -- but I'm still raring to go and I've got a lot more work to do as far as my life goes. So this is just a reminder that there's more to do. More work to do for music, more work to do for charity and life is great -- I'm so lucky. I've had a hip replacement but I'm full of beans and I'm full of zest, but this is just a prompter to say 'come on you've got more to do now'," he added. Elton's acceptance of the honor can be viewed on YouTube. - Billboard, 11/7/21...... The Grateful Dead has scored its highest charting album since 1987 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart -- and its biggest sales week for an album in over 25 years -- with its latest archival live album Dave's Picks, Vol. 40: Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN 7/18/90 & 7/19/90. The set debuted at No. 13 on the chart dated Nov. 13, starting with nearly 23,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 4, according to MRC Data. All of its 23,000 units came from pure album sales, as the set was issued exclusively as a four-CD set, and limited to 25,000 numbered copies. It becomes the iconic jam band's highest charting album since 1987's In the Dark peaked at No. 6 in Aug. 1987, fueled in large part by the band's lone top 10, or even Top 40, Billboard Hot 100 hit, the No. 9-peaking "Touch of Grey." The Grateful Dead regularly releases archival live albums and other from-the-vaults recordings, and Dave's Picks, Vol. 40 marks the fifth such project to debut from the band in 2021 on the Billboard 200. - Billboard, 11/8/21...... Legendary Beatles member and climate change activist Paul McCartney is urging leaders at COP26 -- the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference -- to acknowledge the part that animal agriculture is playing on our quickly deteriorating planet. Sir Paul -- with the support of his family -- is calling on COP26 delegates to adopt the Plant Based Treaty to accompany the Paris Agreement, the 2015 international agreement settled on at COP21 that covers climate change mitigation, adaptation and finance. "We believe in justice for animals, the environment and people. That's why we support the Plant Based Treaty and urge individuals and governments to sign it," the McCartney clan said in a joint statement. "Increasingly people are recognizing that meat, dairy and egg consumption are driving carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions, the three major greenhouse gases - now we need COP26 delegates and other leaders to acknowledge it," the statement added. In 2009, alongside daughters Mary and Stella McCartney, Paul founded the Meat Free Mondays initiative to "encourage people to help slow climate change, conserve precious natural resources and improve their health by having at least one plant-based day each week." Meanwhile, Macca's new boxed-set memoir The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present has debuted at No. 1 on Amazon.com's best-selling rock books list -- just ahead of the Beatles new hardcover photo book, The Beatles: Get Back. The book is the first ever standard, full-fledged memoir by any living or dead Beatles member and is described in a press release as "a treasure trove of material from McCartney's personal archive -- drafts, letters, photographs -- never seen before, which make this also a unique visual record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time." - Billboard, 11/9/21...... 
In other Beatles-related news, the childhood home of George Harrison, where as a teen he rehearsed with Paul McCartney and John Lennon, is up for auction. According to a listing from Omega Auctions, the Harrison family moved into the spacious three-bedroom family home at 25 Upton Green in Liverpool in 1949 when the late singer/guitarist was six-years-old and lived there for the next 12 years as George began his rise to superstardom as part of the Fab Four. "During this period the house became a regular rehearsal venue for The Quarrymen and then latterly The Beatles," reads the description. "There are numerous pictures of George inside and outside the property." Though the Harrisons moved out in 1962, the home reportedly still contains some of the original features from the star's time, including the "bath, sink, some original doors, hanging rails in wardrobes and outbuildings complete with original doors and decor." Harrison learned to play guitar in the home, which the family moved out of when the Beatles were just beginning their ascent to global superstardom. The auction house currently has the home listed for $216,000-$270,000; the auction is slated to take place on Nov. 30. A video tour of the property can be viewed on YouTube. Meanwhile in other Beatles news, a previously unheard track from Harrison and Ringo Starr has been played for the first time after being unearthed in a loft. According to BBC News, the song -- titled "Radhe Shaam" -- was written and produced in 1968 by broadcaster Suresh Joshi. It features former Beatles bandmates Starr and Harrison on drums and guitar respectively, as well as Indian classical musician Aashish Khan. The track, which can be streamed on the BBC's website, was rediscovered at Joshi's home during the coronavirus lockdown, and received its first play at the Liverpool Beatles Museum on Nov. 10. It was also aired on BBC Radio Merseyside, with an official release set for Nov. 11. Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, a biopic of Beatles manager Brian Epstein titled Midas Man has been shut down mid-shoot following the exit of its director, Jonas Akerlund. Akerlund announced he is "taking a break" from the shoot and could be "unlikely to return," according to Deadline.com. Midas Man will tell the story of Epstein, the Liverpudlian record shop manager who signed the biggest band of all time. Epstein also discovered other popular acts including Cilla Black, Billy J Kramer and Gerry And The Pacemakers, and helped promote acts including Jimi Hendrix. Akerlund's departure from the project reportedly concerns other work commitments as opposed to health issues, and the filmmaker's team is yet to respond for comment. - Billboard/NME, 11/8/21...... Michael Jackson's classic spooky track "Thriller" has returned to the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 19, making it one of four Halloween treats to re-enter the chart for the week dated Nov. 13. "Thriller"'s latest chart action marked its highest placement since its original chart run in 1984, when it peaked at No. 4. The song tallied 12.9 million U.S. streams (up 109%), 8.2 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 275%) and 6,300 downloads sold (up 71%) in the Oct. 29-Nov. 4 tracking week, according to MRC Data. The title cut of Jackson's landmark 1983 album was produced by Quincy Jones and written by Rod Temperton, while its video was inducted into the National Film Preservation Board's National Film Registry. Notably, the King of Pop has now placed a solo song in the Hot 100's top 20 in the 1970s, '80s, '90s, 2000s, '10s and '20s. (As a Jackson 5 member, he also ranked in the top 20 in the '60s thanks to the group's debut hit "I Want You Back," which reached the region in Dec. 1969 on its way to No. 1 the following month.) Other Halloween-oriented tunes re-entering the chart include Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers' novelty tune "Monster Mash" (No. 37), Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters (No. 40), and Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" (No. 42). - Billboard, 11/8/21...... 
Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has urged men to get their "prostate checked" after his cancer battle. Halford was diagnosed with prostate cancer amid the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, but, fortunately, he is in remission. Halford, 70, explained to MariskalRock the reason he updated his version of his Confess autobiography to include his diagnosis was in order to encourage men of a "certain age" to get themselves checked out regularly. "It's in remission. I count my blessings -- thanks to God. It was a time when ... You know, timing is everything in rock and roll and heavy metal. And, of course, this was going on during the pandemic -- the initial stages of the pandemic -- so the world was completely closed down. And so I was able to take care of three things, really -- promote [my autobiography] Confess, do some writing with the band before I came back [home] to Phoenix, and then get this cancer business sorted out." He then urged: "It's just a miracle what they can do with health care these days; it's absolutely remarkable. So in my story, my main message is to guys everywhere around the world, when you get to a certain age, it's very important that you get your prostate checked, your bloodwork checked, get a colonoscopy," he added. - Music-News.com, 11/10/21...... Former The Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) was unmasked as a contestant on the US version of the reality talent show The Masked Singer on Nov. 10. In the latest episode of the show, which sees singers perform in costume while hiding their identity, Lydon was revealed to be "The Jester." During previous episodes of the show, he had covered Alice Cooper's "School's Out" and more, while the Nov. 10 episode saw him share a version of the classic folk song "Man of Constant Sorrow." After the judges guessed that the person behind the mask of "The Jester" could be Cooper, Roger Daltrey, Sammy Hagar or Joe Elliott, Lydon was eventually unveiled. His performance of "School's Out" and his unmasking can be seen on YouTube. - NME, 11/11/21...... Speaking of Sammy Hagar, the Red Rocker has opened up about his thoughts on his Van Halen predecessor David Lee Roth, saying he ultimately has "no problem" with the hard-rock mainstay. Plugging his current gigs at the Las Vegas venue The STRAT, Hagar said in an interview on the Vegas KKLZ radio program The Mike & Carla Morning Show that he and Roth "don't even have a feud." "To be honest with you, I have no problem with Dave. I don't know what he's got going with me, but I think he always feels competitive," Hagar said. "I think he feels like he has to raise his flag, like, 'I'm Van Halen.' 'Cause I had a solo career before Van Halen. I was in Montrose before Van Halen. I've had Chickenfoot. Dave has got Van Halen, so I think he has to hold on to that kind of tight. But I don't care about that. If someone said, 'Oh, I never knew you [were] in Van Halen,' I'd say, 'Eh...'," he added. Hagar joined Van Halen in 1985 after Roth quit the band, and Hagar left the band in 1996 following his falling out with the late Eddie Van Halen, leading VH to a temporary reunion with Roth that same year. - NME, 11/7/21...... It was announced on Nov. 10 that Rick Jarrard, the Grammy Award-nominated producer who crafted hits for the likes of José Feliciano, Jefferson Airplane and Harry Nilsson, and counted Elvis Presley among his circle of friends, died Oct. 13 from undisclosed causes. Jarrard got his start behind the mixing desk at a relatively young age, as staff producer in the 1960s for RCA Records in Los Angeles. He produced four singles for RCA acts that became Top 10 hits in the late '60s -- Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit," Feliciano's "Light My Fire" and Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'." Two of these smashes -- "White Rabbit" and "Everybody's Talkin,'" have been voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In the '70s, when Presley wanted to get his band together for a comeback tour in Las Vegas, he called on Jarrard. They remained friends until Elvis passed away in 1977. Away from the studio, Jarrard served on the Board of Governors for the Recording Academy, and owned a string of music companies, including Rick Jarrard Productions, Uncle Josh's Song Emporium, Friday Records LLC, Friday Group Music Publishing LLC, and Friday Records Music Publishing LLC. Across his career, songs produced by Jarrard have been used in over 230 motion pictures, TV shows and commercials. "His career was legendary," says a rep for José Feliciano. - Billboard, 11/10/21...... Veteran actor Dean Stockwell, whose Hollywood career spanned 70 years and who was best known for his role as Admiral Al Calavicci on the television series Quantum Leap, died on Nov. 7. He was 85. Mr. Stockwell reportedly died peacefully and of natural causes at home, according to a rep. Mr. Stockwell starred in all 97 episodes of the hit sci-fi TV show Quantum Leap from 1989 to 1993. The cult classic series earned Mr. Stockwell multiple Emmy nominations, and the 1990 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. Mr. Stockwell started out a child actor for MGM Studios back in the 1940's, starring in films like The Boy With the Green Hair, Anchors Aweigh and Gentleman's Agreement, and he had a steady string of roles right into the 1980s. Mr. Stockwell earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for 1988's Married to the Mob, and also co-starred in big films like the original Dune, Blue Velvet and Paris, Texas. He found even more TV popularity when he joined the Battlestar Galactica cast in 2006. Thanks to that role, and his Quantum stardom, Mr. Stockwell became a fixture at sci-fi conventions all over the US. He is survived by his wife, Joy Stockwell and their 2 children, Austin and Sophie. - TMZ.com, 11/9/21...... 
Graeme Edge, best known as the longstanding drummer, poet and founding member of prog-rock icons The Moody Blues and the only Moodies member to perform on all 16 of their albums, passed away on Nov. 11 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 80. Mr. Edge's passing was confirmed in a statement shared to the Moody Blues' Facebook page on Nov. 11, with frontman Justin Hayward writing: "It's a very sad day. Graeme's sound and personality is present in everything we did together and thankfully that will live on. When Graeme told me he was retiring I knew that without him it couldn't be the Moody Blues anymore. And that's what happened. It's true to say that he kept the group together throughout all the years, because he loved it." Born on Mar. 30, 1941 and raised in the East Staffordshire village of Rocester, Mr. Edge formed the Moody Blues in Birmingham, England in 1964 alongside guitarist Denny Laine, bassist Clint Warwick, keyboardist Mike Pinder and flautist Ray Thomas. Mr. Edge remained with the band until his death, standing as the last founding member associated with it (The Moody Blues' two current members, Hayward and bassist John Lodge, both joined in 1966). As well as its drummer, Mr. Edge contributed to The Moody Blues as a poet, penning "Morning Glory" and "Late Lament" for Pinder to narrate on their 1967 album, Days Of Future Passed. On the next year's follow-up, In Search Of The Lost Chord, Mr. Edge made his own vocal debut with the opening poem "Departure." When the Moodies went on hiatus in 1974, Mr. Edge formed his own project, The Graeme Edge Band. Alongside vocalist/guitarist Adrian Gurvitz and bassist Paul Gurvitz, the new act went on to release two studio albums: 1975's Kick Off Your Muddy Boots and 1977's Paradise Ballroom. The Moody Blues reformed the following year, with Mr. Edge continuing his dual role as drummer and poet. In 2018, Mr. Edge was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Moody Blues. Outside of the band and his own project, Graeme was known to have an affinity for sailing, golf and science fiction, practiced transcendental meditation, and is often credited -- alongside Sussex University professor Brian Groves -- as the creator of the first electronic drum. Moody Blues member Ray Thomas died on Jan. 7, 2018 at age 76 after revealing in 2014 he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. - NME, 11/12/21.
A recent financial statement issued by Sony on Oct. 28 reveals the new solo album from Ozzy Osbourne will land within the next six months. The legendary heavy metal star is among a suite of artists said to have new releases "anticipated over the next six months" from Sony, appearing alongside the likes of Adele, Black Eyed Peas, A$AP Rocky and Travis Scott. Osbourne's last full-length studio album was early 2020's Ordinary Man, his first solo effort in 10 years and featuring the singles "Under The Graveyard," "Straight To Hell" and "It's A Raid" (featuring Post Malone). Ozzy recently told the heavy metal outlet Metal Hammer that his 13th solo LP would be "similar in tone" to that album, but conceded that he "can't describe it completely." "I've not heard it for a while because it keeps going over to the next person to add their parts - we're fucking around with it all the time," he said. In the interim since Ordinary Man, Osbourne became the star of an 8-bit video game called Legend Of Ozzy, reissued Blizzard Of Ozz to mark its 40th anniversary and No More Tears for its 30th anniversary, announced a lengthy stint of UK and European dates for his "No More Tours 2" tour, and was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. - New Musical Express, 11/6/21...... 
The post office of The Isle of Man issued a special set of stamps on Nov. 3 celebrating the musical career and the tireless charitable work of superstar singer/songwriter/producer and Barry Gibb. Gibb, the last surviving member of the legendary The Bee Gees, was born at the Jane Crookall maternity home in the Isle Of Man's capital Douglas on Sept. 1, 1946, and lived on the island until 1955 when the family moved first to Manchester, then emigrated to Australia in 1958 before returning to the UK in 1967. He currently resides in Miami in the US. "I was born and bred on the ancient, mystical, magical Isle Of Man, and I have very fond memories of growing up there, so to appear on a set of its stamps is not only a wonderful surprise, but also an honour and a privilege," Gibb said in a statement. The seven stamps feature Barry at various stages in his incredible musical career, including the filming of the Bee Gees' 1969 TV special Cucumber Castle, on the set of the 1977 film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, on tour in Europe in 1989, and a solo concert at the Glastonbury Festival in England in 2017. The stamps can be viewed and purchased at the iompost.com website. - Music-News.com, 11/4/21...... In the 1980s and 1990s when many fans started to snap up CD versions of albums they already owned on cassette and vinyl, record companies quietly offered a rare concession to some of their top-selling artists: they granted the artists ownership of their earlier albums. Now, as streaming fuels another boom, the major labels are paying handsomely to get those classic albums back. The latest such in-the-works purchase is Sony's negotiations to acquire Bruce Springsteen's album catalog. While it is unknown what the asking price is for Sony to acquire complete ownership of his masters -- which could mean the label is no longer obliged to pay royalties to Springsteen depending on how the deal is structured -- it is estimated Springsteen's canon of albums could carry a valuation of between $145 million and $190 million. Sources say Springsteen is also shopping his publishing catalog, with some of those sources adding that the Springsteen camp had been looking for upwards of $350 million for both the publishing and recorded masters catalogs. Springsteen's album catalog has racked up 65.5 million sales in the United States according to the RIAA website and still has plenty of firepower, with The Boss generating sales of 2.25 million albums in the U.S. since the beginning of 2018, according to MRC Data. All told, if Springsteen is selling all of his rights, that means his pay day could be anywhere from $330 million to $415 million. Many artists are reportedly scrambling to get music assets deals done before the end of 2021 in the hope that a capital gains tax increase sponsored by Democrats in control in Washington won't apply until 2022. - Billboard, 11/2/21...... In other Springsteen-related news, E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt's new SiriusXM channel, "Little Steven's Coolest Songs in the World," aims to prove that rock music is not dead by introducing over 1,000 new rock bands over the past 20 years. Van Zandt has spun off his long-running "Coolest Songs" feature into its own stand-alone streaming channel at channel 721 on the digital dial. Van Zandt has been introducing his fans and listeners to a one new "Coolest Song in the World" for two decades, spotlighting them on his original "Little Steven's Underground Garage" channel as well as on a series of compilation albums. "It's to encourage the new music and it's a way of focusing in on the new bands and new music from older bands," says Van Zandt, who has been famously hands-on when it comes to his original Sirius channel, which features his stem-winding audio essays about music, movies and landmark cultural events between garage rock nuggets and beloved songs from rock progenitors. The new channel, however, will eschew that format for hand-picked, non-stop tracks from some of today's best fuzz-loving bands, as well as new tracks from inspirations such as Paul McCartney and Jeff Beck. "There's nothing wrong with classic rock, but it got limited over the years to the point where it didn't play new songs that much," Van Zandt notes. "I grew up with that newness, the constantly refreshing well of great music that's in our archive and the new stuff that connected you to that archive and that makes the old stuff more relevant. People want curation because there's too much information out there these days. [The listeners] learned to trust me over the last 20 years and this is more evidence of that trust. You're reminded of the great stuff or reminded of new stuff that will blow your mind. People think rock is dead... wait till they get a load of this!," he adds. - Billboard, 11/4/21...... Paul McCartney has weighed in about UK chancellor Rishi Sunak's plan invest to £2million in looking at the potential of giving the Beatles' hometown of Liverpool yet another museum dedicated to its hometown heroes -- arguing that he's "happy that they're recognizing that it's a tourist attraction" but he "thinks they could also spend the money on something else." In late October, Sunak announced the proposals on Liverpool's Waterfront in his Budget as part of an £850 million investment to protect museums, galleries, libraries and local culture across the UK -- which included "securing up to £2 million to start work on a new Beatles attraction." Critics branded this plan as "pointless nonsense," given that the £2 million is only going towards allowing the Liverpool City Region to "develop a business case" for the museum and not actually building it, as well as the fact that the city already has two museums dedicated to The Fab Four, plus their legendary old haunt and venue The Cavern, each band member's old house, a "Beatles Week" festival and numerous Beatles city tours. Sir Paul let his thoughts about a potential new Beatles project in Liverpool be known during an event on Nov. 5 to launch his new book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall. McCartney referenced Joni Mitchell's lyrics about "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot" when in the early days of the Beatles fame the city infamously filled in the Beatles' early venue The Cavern. "I'm quite happy that they're recognizing that it's a tourist attraction, but I think they could also spend the money on something else," he said. During the event, Paul also revealed that his parents were the original inspiration for his Beatles and solo music. "My mum was very reassuring and, like so many women often are, she was also the one who kept our family going. She kept our spirits up," he said. - New Musical Express, 11/6/21...... In other Beatles-related news, the director of the 1970 Beatles film Let It Be has said he "doesn't care" that Ringo Starr isn't a fan of the documentary after Ringo said during a Zoom interview in March that he "didn't feel any joy in the original" Let It Be film. Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg told Rolling Stone that "personally, I don't care." "That's his opinion. And we all have them. I mean, the polite version is everybody's got elbows and everybody's got opinions. I like Ringo. And I don't think he's seen the movie for 50 years," Lindsay-Hogg added. He continued: "And I think, if you haven't seen the movie in a long time, and you may not have the best memory in the world, all that kind of gets mixed up in your brain about what it was like. Because when I saw it last, I'm thinking, 'What is he talking about?' In fact, there's great joy and connection and collaboration, and good times and jokes and affection in Let It Be." Starr also criticized Let It Be for only including "seven to eight minutes" of The Beatles' show on the Apple Corps rooftop in 1969, while Peter Jackson's new The Beatles: Get Back documentary presents a 43-minute version. The new film arrives in the UK on Nov. 25 via Disney+. - NME, 11/3/21...... 
Former The Commodores member and '80s solo superstar Lionel Richie has signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), it was announced on Nov. 4. Richie's new relationship with the world's second largest music publisher will include some of his most iconic songs, like "All Night Long (All Night)" "Hello," "Lady," and "Dancing On the Ceiling," among others. It also sees Richie's publishing and records united under the Universal Music Group (UMG) umbrella after a six-year stint with Kobalt Music Publishing, a relationship first announced in September 2015. Richie remains in contract with Capitol Records for his master recordings. The Alabama-born Richie became a member of The Commodores in 1974, and launched his solo career in 1982 with a self-titled solo album. He has earned a total of 32 Grammy nominations and eight total wins, also appearing as a judge on American Idol and holding residencies in Las Vegas. - Billboard, 11/4/21...... Lionel Richie's "Endless Love" duet partner, Diana Ross, has hinted she'll be playing the legendary Glastonbury festival in the UK in the summer of 2022. Ross, who released her first studio album in 15 years, Thank You, on Nov. 5, had been scheduled to play the Sunday afternoon legend's slot on the Pyramid Stage at the 50th-anniversary edition of the world-famous festival in 2020, which was axed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ross is set to head out on a UK tour behind the new album in June, the same month as the Glastonbury festival, and in a new interview with the Daily Mirror teased: "So many people asked me to return to the UK -- I'm answering the call, and looking forward to seeing everyone next summer." - Music-News.com, 11/6/21...... On Nov. 4 ABBA shared it first trailer for the slick digital ABBA avatars who will take the stage in London in 2022 for the group's "Voyage" concert series, and released more tickets for the events. The high-energy 20-second trailer, which can be viewed on YouTube, finds the Swedish pop superstars -- Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad -- rocking the stage in glowing, Tron-like suits on a giant stage filled with digital neon pyramids as they dance along to their 1978 Europop ditty "Summer Night City." On the same day ABBA also released more tickets for the concerts, which are now taking bookings through Dec. 4. The concerts promise a run through the group's legendary catalog of pop hits, performed by their digital avatars, as well as new tracks from the Voyage album, including "I Still Have Faith in You," "Don't Shut Me Down" and a third recent single, "Just a Notion." In other ABBA-related news, two men have died and one woman has been injured in an accident before an ABBA tribute concert in Uppsala, Sweden, on Nov. 2. Two men died when one of them jumped or fell from the 7th floor of a culture center in Sweden and landed on the other, police said. The 80-year-old man who crashed into the lobby of the Uppsala Konsert and Kongress venue died at the scene north of Stockholm, and the 60-year-old man he struck died later, police said. A woman who was with the 60-year-old man was hurt but her injuries were not considered life-threatening, police said. A tribute concert to the two male members of ABBA, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, had been scheduled at the culture center on Nov. 2, but the event was canceled, according to Swedish media. - Billboard/AP, 11/4/21...... The lives and careers of legendary A&M Records founders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss will be explored in a new two-part documentary series, Mr. A & Mr. M: The Story of A&M Records, which will premiere on the EPIX cable channel in December. The new documentary promises to give a weighty account of the record company which launched the careers of such acts as The Carpenters, Joe Cocker and The Police with a blend of rare archival footage, interviews, and music from its roster of stars. Alpert and Moss's lifetime achievements were recognized in 1997, when they received a trustees award from the Recording Academy, and again in 2006, when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Episode One of Mr. A & Mr. M airs on Dec. 5, and traces the early days of the label, which, like so many other great creative endeavors, began life in the humblest of beginnings: a garage in Los Angeles. A week later, on Dec. 12, a second episode tells the tale of A&M Records' commercial heyday, its sale in 1989 to Polygram, and the big-picture perspective from Alpert and Moss, as they recount their work and friendship. The series will be internationally distributed by MGM on dates yet to be announced. A trailer for the film can be viewed on YouTube. - Billboard, 11/4/21...... 
AC/DC has just joined YouTube's elite "billion views club" as its track "Thunderstruck" has crossed the one-billion views mark on the video streaming platform. Although "Thunderstruck" boasts intricate guitar work, a relentless build-and-release tension, and hellhound shriek vocals from AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson, it may not exactly be the top AC/DC song that comes to mind, unlike their Bon Scott-era classics "Highway to Hell" or "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," or their highest Billboard Hot 100 charting hit, "Moneytalks." That "Thunderstruck" is such a YouTube favorite may be explained by the fact that many of the band's classic hits with stronger mainstream recognition preceded the MTV music video era (although "You Shook Me" did receive a second video in the format's golden era when AC/DC did the soundtrack to the bizarre killer-vehicle movie Who Made Who); "Thunderstruck," meanwhile, came out well after MTV debuted and before music videos became a scarce commodity on cable TV. Also, a strong argument could be made that the inclusion of "Thunderstruck" in both Iron Man 2 and Deadpool 2 has gone a long way toward establishing it as the go-to AC/DC rocker for new generations. - Billboard, 11/3/21...... The Eagles have announced a new support act for its 2022 European stadium tour, which it will kick off on June 17 at the Gelredome in Arnhem, Netherlands. On June 26, they'll headline British Summer Time in London's Hyde Park with special guests Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Now, it has been confirmed that the Alabama country group Little Big Town will also open for Eagles at British Summer Time -- as well as their other European dates. The Eagles will join the likes of Elton John, Pearl Jam and Duran Duran at BST Hyde Park 2022, with Adele scheduled to make her long-awaited live return across two nights (July 1/2). Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the Eagles had planned to make a UK comeback this summer to bring their "Hotel California" tour to London's Wembley Stadium. - NME, 11/3/21...... Elton John has unveiled his very first collection of eyewear in a new partnership with Sam's Club for US retailer Walmart. "Elton John Eyewear celebrates confidence, self-expression and authenticity," John said in a statement. "The line is designed to have something for everyone, so no matter who you are, you can always Look Yourself. It's not just about glasses, it's about changing the way people see themselves," he added. The Foundations Collection includes 60 frames in total, with each design available in prescription, non-prescription, sun and reader categories. Frames are priced from $95-$100 (£70 - £74). In addition, executives at Walmart will support the mission of the Elton John AIDS Foundation's by donating a minimum of $1 million annually in order to help increase HIV education and awareness and encourage individuals to take the first steps toward a healthier future. "Our customers and members are going to love this collection," a Walmart exec says. "We're thrilled to celebrate Elton John's creativity and iconic style by launching a fun, on-trend eyewear collection that will help customers feel their best, all at an everyday low price. On top of that, we're proud to shine a light on the work of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and donate a portion of the sales to their important mission," she added. - Music-News.com, 11/2/21...... The son of '70s soul icon Gladys Knight has been sentenced to serve two years in prison for failing to withhold payroll taxes for the restaurants that bore his mother's name, federal prosecutors in Atlanta said. Shanga Hankerson, 45, opened his first restaurant, Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles, in Atlanta in 1997. Over the next several years, he opened at least three more locations in Georgia and Washington, D.C., and according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine "willfully disregarded his tax obligations for many years." During his sentencing on Nov. 3, Hankerson, who pleaded guilty in July, was also ordered to serve a year of supervised release following his prison sentence and to pay more than $1 million in restitution, having failed to remit more than $1 million in payroll taxes from at least 2021 to 2016. Gladys Knight won a legal battle to sever ties to the business in 2017, and her son was ordered to stop using her name, likeness and memorabilia, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. - AP, 11/5/21...... 
Stevie Wonder will bring back his annual House Full of Toys Benefit Concert at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Dec. 18. "In a most challenged time throughout the world is when we show up to show our deepest love and commitment to helping those to still enjoy this holiday season," Wonder said in a release announcing the event. "It is my joy to be able to return and present House Full of Toys," he added. Wonder, who underwent a kidney transplant in 2019, last hosted House Full of Toys in 2018. The 25-time Grammy winner then welcomed a lineup of special guests that included Anderson .Paak and Ella Mai. On behalf of Wonder's nonprofit organization, We Are You Foundation, concertgoers are asked to bring an unwrapped toy or gift to the holiday event to help children, people with disabilities and families in need. Tickets for the 23rd annual House Full of Toys 2021 event go on sale to the public on Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. ET via AXS.com. - Billboard, 11/3/21...... Ronnie Wilson, one of the founding members of long-running sibling R&B/funk act The Gap Band, died on Nov. 3 after suffering a stroke the previous week which sent him into a coma he never recovered from. He was 73. "The love of my life was called home this morning, at 10:01am," Wilson's wife, Linda Boulware-Wilson, wrote in a Facebook post. "Please continue to pray for The Wilson, Boulware, and Collins family, while we mourn his passing. Ronnie Wilson was a genius with creating, producing, and playing the flugelhorn, Trumpet, keyboards, and singing music, from childhood to his early seventies. He will be truly missed!!!" Wilson formed the group in 1967 with his brothers Charlie and Robert Wilson in Tulsa, Okla., and they scored a series of Billboard R&B hits over a 40-year career during which they released 15 albums and such beloved singles such as "Shake," "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops Up Side Your Head)," "Early in the Morning," "Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)" and one of their highest-charting singles, 1982's No. 31 Hot 100 funk bop "You Dropped a Bomb on Me." The brothers originally named their group the Greenwood Archer Pine Street Band -- for the three streets in the Black part of Tulsa that were attacked by a white mob during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre -- and they released their full-length debut, Magicians Holiday, in 1974, that same year contributing to fellow Oklahoman Leon Russell's album Stop All That Jazz. The group finally broke through on their self-titled 1979 album -- which featured R&B hits "Shake" and "I'm in Love" -- crossing over to the pop charts in 1979 with their first platinum album, Gap Band III, which topped out at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart and yielded the singles "Humpin'" and "Burn Rubber." Though their chart success began to wane by the late 1980s and 1990s, their funky songs gained a robust second life during that period when they were heavily sampled and covered by the likes of Snoop Dogg, Nas, Ice Cube, Tyler, the Creator and Mary J. Blige. - Billboard, 11/3/21.
New David Bowie subway cards have just been introduced in New York City's massive subway system. Bowie MetroCards are now available at Broadway-Lafayette station, just a few blocks from where the late rock legend used to live in SoHo for a portion of his life. The entire Broadway-Lafayette station has been transformed into something of a tribute to Bowie, too Advertisements for the "David Bowie Is" exhibition -- currently in progress at the Brooklyn Museum -- decorate the station, and outside, there's another giant Bowie mural. Costing $6.50, the new MetroCards reportedly have a two ride minimum. Meanwhile, Bowie's former collaborators are bringing Bowie's musical "Lazarus" back to life in New York City. "Lazarus" will be returning to the Big Apple for the first time since Bowie's death, in a one-night performance on May 2 at Kings Theater in Brooklyn. The new iteration is a screening of a previously filmed London performance accompanied by a live band. Dexter's Michael C. Hall will return to his leading role, with the original band performing 20 of Bowie's songs as they were arranged by the artist and band leader Henry Hey. The one night performance boasts a team of Bowie's peers behind the scenes, who joined the new project in order to preserve the artist's original vision. "I would like people to know that David Bowie really was -- far above being an incredible artist and an incredible performer -- he was, most importantly, an amazing human being," Hey said. - New Musical Express/Billboard, 4/17/18...... James Taylor and Bonnie Raiit are gearing up for a 17-date co-headlining summer tour that's set to kick off May 8 in Jacksonville, Fla. "We're a good 30 percent ahead of where we were last time," says Taylor's manager, Sam Feldman, of ticket sales for the upcoming arena road trip. The tour will cover 30-plus markets between the U.S. and Europe, where the pair will join fellow legend Paul Simon's farewell tour for two shows in Dublin and London. - Billboard, 4/13/18...... Doors from rooms where such iconic rockers as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell once stayed at the Chelsea Hotel in New York have been sold at auction, selling for thousands of dollars each. Dylan's door went for a whopping $100,000 alone, while the door to a room occupied by Cohen and Joplin during an affair that is rumoured to have inspired Cohen's track "Chelsea Hotel No. 22" went for $85,000. Jimi Hendrix and Madonna's doors went for $13,000 each. The doors were reportedly rescued by Jim Georgiou, a former tenant, who saw them being thrown away and arranged to take possession of them. - New Musical Express, 4/13/18...... Director Milos Forman, who earned Oscars for his movie masterpieces 
British pop singer Cliff Richard has begun his High Court battle against the BBC, after the corporation broadcast a police raid on his Berkshire home in 2014. Richard, 77, is seeking "very substantial" damages after the BBC acted on a tip-off from South Yorkshire Police and offered live coverage of a raid on his apartment in Sunningdale, Berkshire, as part of an investigation into a historical child sex abuse allegation. Sir Cliff was previously questioned over the allegation, but he has constantly maintained his innocence and has never faced charges. The BBC has confirmed that they will "defend ourselves rigorously," and argued in court that South Yorkshire Police attempted to "shoot its messenger." The public broadcaster also claims that it was in the public interest to broadcast the raid, and insists that their reporting "fully respected the presumption of innocence" of the popular singer. The BBC previously offered an apology to the singer in 2016. - NME, 4/13/18...... Character actor Tim O'Connor, best known for portraying Elliot Carson, Mia Farrow's father and Dorothy Malone's husband on more than 400 episodes of the 1960s ABC primetime soap Peyton Place, has died. He was 90. Mr. O'Connor also starred as Dr. Elias Huer on the 1979-81 NBC sci-fi series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, starring Gil Gerard, and on a memorable 1975 episode of All in the Family, he guest-starred as a former sweetheart of Edith's (Jean Stapleton) from Scranton, Pennsylvania, who's interested in rekindling their childhood romance. - The Hollywood Reporter, 4/12/18...... Actor R. Lee Emery, best known for his Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, has died after complications from pneumonia. He was 74. Ermey had several other mostly authority figure roles to his credit, including Sheriff Hoyt in 2003's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, a police captain in Se7en, and the voice of the plastic army men's leader Sarge in Toy Story. - Variety.com, 4/16/18...... Sitcom actor Harry Anderson, who presided over the hit NBC comedy Night Court for nine seasons, was found dead at his home in Asheville, N.C., on Apr. 16. He was 65. No foul play was suspected, according to police. After his family moved to Los Angeles, the amiable Rhode Island native began performing magic on variety TV series like The Mike Douglas Show, The Late Show With David Letterman, and Saturday Night Live; the latter led to his role as con artist Harry "The Hat" Gittes on Cheers, which in turn led to a starring role as Judge Harry Stone on Night Court. - Variety.com, 4/16/18.
Fleetwood Mac released a statement on Apr. 9 announcing that Lindsey Buckingham will be replaced on the band's upcoming tour by both Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House. A disagreement with Buckingham over the tour was apparently the reason for his firing, and the band said it "wishes Lindsey all the best." There was no comment regarding his future plans with the group. The band's Facebook page was also updated on Apr. 9 to an illustrated image, notably scrubbing Buckingham's image from its profile (although band images including Buckingham still remain on the page). The news initially broke in the first week of April after former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Billy Burnette posted -- then deleted -- a tweet declaring Buckingham out. The band added that it is "thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family... With Mike and Neil, we'll be performing all the hits that the fans love, plus we'll be surprising our audiences with some racks from our historic catalogue of songs... Fleetwood Mac has always been a creative evolution... We look forward to honoring that spirit on this upcoming tour." Buckingham, responsible for such hits as "Tusk" and "Go Your Own Way," joined Fleetwood Mac along with his then-girlfriend Stevie Nicks in 1974 and has been with them on an intermittent basis since then, taking time away to record six solo albums. Although Fleetwood Mac are yet to release specific details of their 2018 tour, it's believed that it will kick off in the US in the fall. - Rolling Stone/Billboard, 4/9/18...... An electronic treatment of Paul Simon's classic 1986 solo album Graceland is being prepped for a June 1 release. 
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of their 1978 trend-setting stoner film 
BMG Music announced on Apr. 10 that it has inked an exclusive worldwide publishing deal with Ringo Starr that will cover Starr's Beatles and solo catalog, spanning nearly 50 years, as well as future compositions. Among the over 150 titles included in the deal are his songwriting contributions with the Beatles' "What Goes On" from Rubber Soul, "Flying" from Magical Mystery Tour, "Don't Pass Me By" from the "White Album," "Octopus's Garden" from Abbey Road and "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae" from Let It Be, as well as other rarities. As a solo artist, Starr has released 19 studio albums, spanning from 1970's Sentimental Journey to last year's Give More Love. Starr has been awarded nine Grammy Awards and has twice been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- first as a Beatle and again as a solo artist. In March, he was honored with a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for services to music and his charity work. "I love making music and the song writing process -- and putting new music out there to play along side the old," Ringo said in a statement. "How great to be working with BMG who are excited to have my entire catalogue." Starr will be heading out on tour later this year with a new iteration of his All Starr Band. - Billboard, 4/10/18...... In other Beatles-related news, authorities in Toronto, Canada are working to identify a woman who allegedly stole an individual stone from a Yoko exhibit at the Gardiner Museum on Apr. 6. The rock, which has an appraised insurance value of $17,500, was part of a three-part interactive instillation from Ono called The Riverbed. One of these three parts is an interactive work called "Stone Piece," which "features a pile of river stones that have been honed and shaped by water over time," according to the museum's website. "Ono has inscribed some of the stones with words, such as dream, wish, and remember. Visitors are invited to pick up a stone and hold it, concentrating on the word, and then placing the stone upon the pile of other stones in the center of the room." - Spin.com, 4/9/18...... About 300 Merle Haggard fans turned up in the late country music icon's hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., on Apr. 7 to celebrate the naming of a United States Post Office in Haggard's honor. The event fell on the two-year anniversary of Haggard's death -- and what would have been his 81st birthday -- and was also attended by his sister. Norm Hamlet, who played in the "Okie From Muskogee" singer's band for nearly a half-century, told a local paper that Haggard would've been humbled by the honor. - AP, 4/8/18...... Soul songwriter Ron Dunbar, who co-wrote countless soul classics including Freda Payne's 
Gospel/pop singer Yvonne Staples, who rose to fame as one of the voices of powerhouse trio The Staple Singers, died at her home in Chicago's South Shore on Apr. 10. She was 80. Yvonne performed on the Staple Singers hits including "Respect Yourself," 
Bob Seger has announced he plans to go ahead with the release of his latest album, I Knew You When, despite being forced to cancel the remaining 19 dates on a tour with his Silver Bullet Band behind the new album due to a medical issue. Seger has announced two versions of the album will be released on Nov. 17 -- a 
The Who frontman Roger Daltrey has announced he'll publish a memoir about his storied life that is scheduled to be published in August of 2018. On Oct. 12, Daltrey confirmed that he has a book deal with Blink Publishing in the UK, and Henry Hold and Co. in the US. In addition to his tenure with the Who, Daltrey says the book will cover his solo career, and focus "particularly on how Britain has changed since he was born in 1944." Meanwhile, in a recent interview Daltrey left the future of live shows by the Who up in the air: "We're doing remarkably well for where we are but we just don't know. If we get through this year, we're gonna need some time off. We'll re-think it after that." Daltrey and his fellow Who co-founder Pete Townshend ended their latest tour in August. - New Musical Express, 10/12/17...... Two surviving members of the Velvet Underground, John Cale and Moe Tucker, recently reunited at the "Grammy Salute to Music Legends" concert to perform the band's classic 1967 track "I'm Waiting For The Man" from the debut VU album. March 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the band's seminal The Velvet Underground & Nico LP, and on their performance of "I'm Waiting for the Man," Cale played a Kurzweil keyboard while Tucker played a woodblock along with Cale's backing band. Tucker and Cale are the only surviving members of the Lou Reed-led band. The "Grammy Salute to Music Legends" concert also honors the likes of Sly Stone, Nina Simone and Dionne Warwick. - NME, 10/12/17...... Bruce Springsteen officially kicked off his 18-week Broadway residency, "Springsteen On Broadway," at Walter Kerr Theatre on Oct. 12 New York City, and critical reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Rolling Stone called the show an "intimate triumph," while the BBC described it as "intimate and personal," with reporter Elysa Gardner noting that the residency is "neither a musical nor a concert in the tradition of his previous solo tours." "The two-hour program is also, in its distinctly intimate, sometimes darkly earnest fashion, an affirmation of the earnest showmanship and vivid storytelling that Springsteen's rock and roll shares with musical theatre," Gardner wrote. The New York Post noted that Springsteen's show has been "reducing its audiences to tears," while New York Times critic Jesse Green noted the show was "real and intense... a greatest anti-hits concert." "Many of the songs Mr. Springsteen has chosen to sing are less familiar and more meditative than his chart-toppers, and those that were chart-toppers are almost unrecognizable," Green observed. The production sees Springsteen playing guitar, piano and harmonica, and singing duets with his wife, Patti Scialfa, and first grew out of an acoustic concert at the White House in the final weeks of the Barack Obama administration. Among the celebrities in attendance at the first show were Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Edward Norton, Tina Fey, Jon Stewart, Brian Williams, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Steven Van Zandt. - NME/The Hollywood Reporter, 10/13/17...... 
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain released a new solo holiday album, 
Tech giant Apple Computer has scrapped a planned 10-part Elvis Presley biopic that was to have been produced by Hollywood studio The Weinstein Co. after the explosive scandal involving that company's co-founder Harvey Weinstein, who was fired from the company following allegations of decades-long sexual harassment. The series, dubbed Elvis, was first announced in Sept. 2016, and was to be produced by TWC in partnership with the Presley estate. The estate allowed producers access to Presley's entire music catalog, access to film at his Graceland home as well as his cars and clothing. The drama was to be based on rock critic Dave Marsh's 1982 book Elvis. Presley's ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, was set to exec produce alongside Harvey Weinstein, Jerry Schilling and David Glasser. A writer and star had not been attached, and Elvis was one of four scripted originals that Apple was reportedly planning, including biopics on Michael Jackson, Prince and Frank Sinatra. - The Hollywood Reporter, 10/9/17...... Former The Scorpions and U.F.O. guitarist Michael Schenker will kick off a new "Michael Schenker Fest" tour of the U.K. on Nov. 2 at London O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, also visiting Sheffield O2 Academy on Nov. 3, Manchester O2 Ritz on Nov. 4, and Hull City Hall on Nov. 5. The project reunites the original Michael Schenker Group vocalists - Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet and Robin McAuley, plus MSG musicians Steve Mann (guitar, keys), Chris Glen (bass) and Ted McKenna (drums). Says Schenker, "It's a miracle that after all these years, a tour like this will take place with the original band members of M.S.G.... To being able to re-experience, and for the new audience to get a feel of what it was like, is incredibly enjoyable." - Noble PR, 10/10/17...... Bob Schiller, an Emmy-winning TV comedy writer whose credits reach back to the infancy of the television medium, died on Oct. 10 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 98. Mr. Schiller's writing credits include I Love Lucy, Maude, All in the Family and The Carol Burnett Show, among others. - The Washington Post, 10/13/17.
On Oct. 5 the 
Four original members of Foreigner -- guitarist Mick Jones, vocalist Lou Gramm, drummer Dennis Elliot and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald -- reunited on Oct. 6 at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Hotel in Michigan for the first of two weekend reunion concerts, the final U.S. dates of the group's 40th anniversary tour. The band, joined by newer members Rick Wills on bass and Michael Bluestein on keyboards, performed a five-song mini-set that included an acoustic version of "Fool For You Anyway" and their titanic hit "Juke Box Hero," which was introduced with a section of their 1978 instrumental "Tramontane." Some surviving original members of the original band had already reunited earlier in 2017 -- in Florida, Spain and at Jones Beach in New York -- but this marked the first time all of the musicians were together onstage at the same time. "It's good to be back," Wills told the crowd. "We don't believe it. You probably don't believe it, either." The reunion concert was recorded and filmed for a live album, home video and broadcast production set for 2018. The current Foreigner has a run of Canadian dates starting Oct. 10 in Calgary, while a Foreigner with the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra album and PBS special are in the works for 2018. - Billboard, 10/7/17...... After their nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 5, the Moody Blues members Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge issued a joint statement the same day saying, "We are very honored to be considered for an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We know that the fans have been diligently supporting us along the way on this, and that it means a lot to them, as well as to us. Being a British band, we are grateful for our American recognition, and especially to fans who have been with us throughout our musical journey." It has been speculated that a Moodys RRHOF induction could lead to a potential reunion of the group's most famous lineup. Hayward, Lodge and Edge remain active in the group, while keyboardist Mike Pinder left the band during 1978 and flutist Ray Thomas retired in 2002, though both made guest appearances on Lodge's 2015 solo album 10,000 Light Years Ago. Not included in the nomination are co-founding members Denny Lane or the late Clint Warwick, or keyboardist Patrick Moraz. Lodge will be releasing a solo live album this fall and playing a short U.S. tour starting Oct. 26, while the Moodys recorded and filmed one of the Days Of Future Passed 50th anniversary shows for subsequent release. The group plans to set sail on its Moody Blues Cruise on Jan. 2 out of Miami and follows with a short U.S. tour that winds up with four nights at the Wynn Las Vegas. - Billboard, 10/6/17...... 
Jeff Lynne's ELO have unveiled a trailer for their new live album and DVD, 
Flamboyant rock & roll icon Little Richard has reportedly renounced his homosexuality, and also says he now believes that same-sex relationships are "unnatural affections." Little Richard, 84, recently appeared on a program on the Christian network called Three Angels Broadcasting, and revealed that, in addition to abandoning his famous wig, he's also renounced his attraction to men because it's "unnatural." "When I first come in show business they wanted you to look like everybody but yourself," he said. "And, anybody that comes in show business they gone say you gay or straight God made men, men and women, women." - Dlisted.com, 10/7/17...... A group of residents in New York City has petitioned their leaders to have a street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood named in honor of Jimi Hendrix. Organizers of the petition are seeking to co-name West Eighth Street as "Jimi Hendrix Way," and hope the co-naming also would attract visitors to an area fighting gentrification. Richard Geist, a local store owner, says the block has "lost the magic and we want to bring that magic back." Hendrix opened his Electric Lady Studios on the West Eighth Street just before his death in 1970. To co-name a street, petitioners would have to make a proposal to the local community board before it could be proposed to the full New York City Council for a vote. - AP, 10/4/17...... Pop and R&B singer Walter "Bunny" Sigler, producer and artist that helped Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff create the "Philly Sound," died on Oct. 6 at home of a heart attack. He was 76. Sigler was known for his work with Patti LaBelle, Lou Rawls, the Spinners and countless others, and his music was sampled by such contemporary acts as Jay Z, Nelly and Outkast. "He wrote, produced, recorded and sang," said his attorney Lee Remick, "and he wrote gospel, Christmas music, R&B and funk. He was a musical genius." According to Remick, Sigler had been sick for the last 10 months and suffered from diabetes. Both LaBelle and Gamble and Huff released statements paying tribute to Sigler. - 10/7/17...... Songwriter Jerry J. Ross, who co-wrote and produced such hits as The Supremes' "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" and "Someday," died on Oct. 4 of prostrate cancer at the Holy Redeemer Hospital hospice unit in Meadowbrook, Penn. He was 84. Mr. Ross is credited with discovering and mentoring Kenny Gamble in a relationship that goes back to the late 1950s, when he helped Gamble and Thom Bell record "Someday" for his Heritage label as Kenny and Tommy. "Jerry Ross was instrumental in introducing Thom Bell and me to the music business, including signing me to my first recording artist deal with Columbia Records," Gamble said in a statement. "He mentored Thom Bell and me to write songs. He was our good friend and was key to the beginning of the Gamble, Huff and Bell legacy." - 10/7/17.