Classic Hits

Go-Go’s drummer Gina Schock‘s recently announced photo book Made in Hollywood: All Access with the Go-Go’s will be released on Tuesday, October 26, and coinciding with its publication, the veteran rocker will launch a promotional tour that will include in-person and virtual events.

Schock will be joined at some of the events by celebrities, including all of her band mates. The Go-Go’s will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on October 30, four days after the book arrives.

The first event, on October 26, is hosted by Greenlight Books in Brooklyn, New York, and will feature a virtual conversation between Gina and The B-52s‘ Kate Pierson.

Next up is an in-person event in Cleveland at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame October 29, a day before the Induction Ceremony. All five Go-Go’s will take part in an interview outside at the Rock Hall’s Union Home Mortgage Plaza, and Gina will sign copies of the book following the Q&A.

Other in-person book events will take place on November 5 in Laguna Beach, California; November 6 in Los Angeles; November 13 in San Francisco; November 16 in New York City; and November 18 in Ridgewood, New Jersey.  Additional virtual events are scheduled for November 8 and November 17, and will be hosted, respectively, by the Book Soup store in West Hollywood, California, and LiveSigning.com.

Go-Go’s bassist Kathy Valentine also will be taking part in the November 6 event, while the band’s singer, Belinda Carlisle, will join Schock on November 8.

As previously reported, in Made in Hollywood, Schock takes fans on a photographic journey through her band’s history, using a treasure trove of personal pics and many other images.

Check out more details about the book tour at HachetteBookGroup.com.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

It’s nice to know that after more than 50 years in the music business, there are still some things that Elton John hasn’t done…until now.

The 74-year-old legend’s latest achievement is topping Billboard‘s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart with “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” his collaboration with U.K. pop star Dua Lipa.

As previously reported, “Cold Heart” is a mashup of four previously released Elton songs from the ’70s and ’80s: “Rocket Man” from 1972, “Sacrifice” from 1989, “Kiss the Bride” from 1983 and “Where’s the Shoorah?” from his 1976 album, Blue Moves.

“Cold Heart” has also been #1 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart for nine weeks, and has ascended to #25 on the Hot 100, which is the highest Elton has been on that chart since March of 1998. 

“Cold Heart” has already become Elton’s first #1 hit in the U.K. in 16 years.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Madonna is giving fans an update on the progress of her upcoming biopic.

In an Instagram post, the pop legend says the film’s script is “almost finished.” She shares a series of photos of herself laying on a luxurious rug while looking through a binder containing pages of the script, marked with post-it notes.

“Grateful for the success of Madame X, that my script is almost finished, and for the support of my beautiful children! While laying on this gorgeous Rug by Alexander McQueen!” she captions the post.

Madonna is co-writing the biopic, as well as directing and producing it. She explained her hands-on approach during a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

“The reason I’m doing it is a bunch of people have tried to write movies about me, but they’re always men…there’s nobody on this planet that can write or direct or make a movie about me better than me and that is just the truth!” she said.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Madonna (@madonna)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman launched the 2021 U.S. leg of his Even Grumpier Old Rock Star Tour earlier this month, but many of the originally announced dates wound up being postponed because of issues regarding COVID-19 restrictions.

As he continues playing a portion of his 2021 stateside outing, Wakeman has now revealed new dates for most of the postponed concerts, which will take place in early 2022. The run of rescheduled shows begins with a February 22 performance in Seattle and is mapped out through a March 11 concert in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The 72-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s next show is scheduled for this Friday, October 22, in Huntington, New York, and his final 2021 U.S. date will take place on November 1 in Woodstock, New York.

A concert scheduled for November 6 in Wichita, Kansas, has been canceled, and refunds will be available at the point of purchase. Wakeman notes that news will be announced soon about postponed shows that haven’t been rescheduled yet in Albany, New York; Chicago; Kent, Ohio; and Buffalo, New York. You can check out Rick’s full schedule at RWCC.com.

As previously reported, Wakeman’s Even Grumpier Old Rock Star Tour shows feature him playing solo piano versions of Yes classics, material from his solo albums, and well-known songs by other artists to which he contributed, including hits by David Bowie and Cat Stevens. Rick also presents his arrangements of a few Beatles tunes at the concerts, as well as telling bawdy jokes and humorous anecdotes.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Al Stewart‘s hit 1978 album Time Passages has been reissued as a limited-edition four-disc box set featuring three CDs and a DVD-Audio disc.

The expanded collection’s CDs feature a newly remastered version of the album created by original producer Alan Parsons, single edits, 1977 demos, an album outtake called “Tonton Macoute,” and a full previously unreleased concert that Stewart played in October 1978 at a Chicago radio station.

In addition, the DVD boasts a new 5.1 surround-sound version and an original remastered stereo mix of Time Passages by Parsons.

The box set also comes with an illustrated 68-page book that includes an essay featuring an exclusive interview with Stewart, plus a replica promo poster and four postcards.

Released in September 1978, Time Passages was British singer/songwriter Stewart’s eighth studio album, and followed his 1976 breakthrough record Year of the Cat. Time Passages‘ title track became Stewart’s highest-charting single in the U.S., reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on Billboard‘s Adult Contemporary chart. A second single, “Song on the Radio,” peaked at #29 on the Hot 100.

The album reached #10 on the Billboard 200 and went on to be RIAA-certified Platinum for sales of one million copies in the U.S.

The Time Passages box set follows a similar deluxe reissue of Year of the Cat that was released earlier this year.

To order the Time Passages box set and check out its full track list, visit CherryRed.co.uk. A two-CD version of the reissue also is available.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

In honor of late Rush drummer Neil Peart, Modern Drummer magazine has announced the launch of an annual scholarship in his name that’s geared toward inspiring a young drummer to pursue a career as a musician.

The “Neil Peart Spirit of Drumming Scholarship” will provide the chosen recipient with 52 weeks of free drum lessons from respected drum instructor Dom Famularo, as well as a one-year subscription to the Modern Drummer All Access service, and a selection of classic Rush albums.

Entrants must be between 14 and 21 years old, not a professional musician, and not under any entertainment contract or sponsorship that Modern Drummer would consider a conflict with scholarship’s spirit.

To be considered for the scholarship, potential recipients must submit a video displaying their drumming skills running two minutes or less, as well as a brief essay explaining why the scholarship will make a significant positive impact on their life and playing, and how they’ve been inspired by Peart and his legacy.

Submissions, which can be made at ModernDrummer.com, must be received before November 26 of this year.

The scholarship originally was announced during the 2020 Modern Drummer Festival by Neil’s widow, Carrie Nutall-Peart. The first recipient of the scholarship will be revealed at this year’s festival, and the honoree will be featured in an upcoming issue of Modern Drummer.

Peart, widely considered one of the greatest rock drummers of all time, died in January 2020 of brain cancer. He was 67.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The friendship between James Taylor and Carole King has lasted 50 years, and now it’s being examined in a new concert documentary that’s coming to CNN and HBO Max.

The movie is called Carole King & James Taylor: Just Call Out My Name, and is being directed and produced by Frank Marshall.  Marshall is pretty comfortable with projects involving superstars of the 1960s and ’70s: He directed HBO’s acclaimed Bee Gees documentary How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, and produced Hulu’s McCartney 3, 2, 1.

The documentary takes as its starting point the concert that Carole and James did together in 2007 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Los Angeles’ famous club The Troubadour, where they’d first played together in 1970. The ’07 show, which featured them collaborating on songs like “You’ve Got a Friend,” led to a 2010 arena tour.

The film documents the tour and also features interviews with the now-legendary session musicians who played with the duo in 1970, 2007 and 2010, including guitarist Danny Kortchmar, bass player Lee Sklar and drummer Russ Kunkel.

On October 30, King will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the second time; she was previously inducted as a songwriter in 1990.  Inducting her will be Taylor Swift, who, incidentally, was named after James Taylor.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Sammy Hagar and his current band The Circle will be heading to the Lone Star State this December for four special shows that also will celebrate the recent launch of Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co., the Red Rocker’s new line of canned sparkling rum cocktails.

Hagar & the Circle’s “A Toast to Texas” tour will feature concerts on December 3 in Fort Worth, December 4 in San Antonio, December 6 in Austin and December 8 in Houston.

Tickets for the shows go on sale to the general public this Friday, October 22, while pre-sale tickets will be available starting October 20. Visit RedRocker.com for more information.

“We chose cool, smaller venues on this tour so we could throw a party like we do in Cabo,” says Hagar, referring to his Cabo Wabo Cantina club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. “It’s about the whole experience, fans can sample my new…sparkling rum cocktails, along with some Santo Tequila and Beach Bar Rum, while listening to The Circle jam. We’ll be back next summer with the big rock shows, this is a party we’re throwing just for Texas.”

Prior to the Texas shows, Hagar will kick off his six-date “Sammy Hagar & Friends” Las Vegas residency at The Strat that runs from October 29 through November 13. All of those performances are sold out.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Billy Idol has debuted an official lyric video for “Rita Hayworth,” one of the four brand-new songs featured on the pop-punk veteran’s recent released EP, The Roadside.

The clip, which you can watch now on Idol’s official YouTube channel, mixes grainy footage apparently taken from the car driving around the streets of Hollywood mixed with ominous cartoon animations depicting the song’s theme of a young woman navigating the seedy side of the movie business.

In the hard-driving tune, Idol sings about the woman being approached by “some nothin’ producer” who tells her she looks like Hollywood legend Rita Hayworth. “You’re swimming with Jaws/ This dream town will swallow you whole,” Billy belts out in the chorus. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

Idol co-wrote “Rita Hayworth” with his longtime lead guitarist Steve Stevens, along with songwriters Sam Hollander and Grant Michaels.

The Roadside was released on September 17, and also features songs titled “Bitter Taste,” “U Don’t Have to Kiss Me Like That” and “Baby Put Your Clothes Back On.”

The bulk of the EP was written, recorded and mixed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The record, which was produced by Butch Walker, is Idol’s first collection of new original songs since his 2014 album Kings & Queens of the Underground.

Idol currently is halfway through a four-date Las Vegas residency at The Cosmopolitan that will wrap up this week with shows on Friday and Saturday. Billy then will head to Playa Mujeres, Mexico, for an October 26 performance at the star-studded 80s in the Sand festival. Idol also has acoustic duo gigs with Stevens in four U.S. cities in late November and early December.

Visit BillyIdol.net for his full schedule.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Sweet has just released a new single, an updated version of their song “Everything,” which originally appeared on the veteran U.K. glam-rock band’s 2002 studio album, Sweetlife.

Sweet’s current U.K. incarnation is led by the band’s sole surviving original member, guitarist Andy Scott, who says he was inspired to record a new rendition of “Everything” while watching his group’s latest lineup rehearse the tune.

“During the rehearsals for Sweet’s forthcoming UK tour 2021, we were trying out various songs from our back catalogue that could be added to the set list,” explains Scott. “As soon as I heard Paul Manzi and Lee Small‘s vocals on the song ‘Everything,’ I knew that we needed to get it down and record it as our new single.”

He adds about “Everything (2021),” “I think the new version is a far superior production. It’s much closer to how I envisaged it when I co-wrote the song back in the day.”

“Everything (2021)” is available now via streaming services, and you also can check out a music video for the song at Sweet’s official YouTube channel.

Sweet kicks of their 2021 U.K. tour in late November. Check out their full schedule at TheSweet.com.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.