Classic Hits

R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, The Black Crowes‘ former drummer Steve Gorman and Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker are joining forces for a new supergroup, Howl Owl Howl.

The group formed in 2021 out of a casual jam session between the three longtime friends, with a press release noting that session turned into “something unique.” As for the sound, Howl Owl Howl “fuses organic roots rock with an open-minded alternative flair, matching a fluid, feel-oriented rhythm section to the barrel-chested vocal rasp of an iconic frontman.”

“It feels great to be singing with a rock band again. It’s like buddies getting together, but also getting to play with your idols,” Rucker says. “The stuff we’re writing is so different than anything I’ve tried to do before.”

Mills adds, “You never can explain band chemistry. We all like each other. And we all admire each other musically. All those things come together and if it weren’t fun, we wouldn’t be doing it.”

Music fans will get their first experience of Howl Owl Howl when the band releases their debut track, “My Cologne,” on Oct. 31.

They are also planning to hit the road for the nine-date Howl Owl Howl tour starting Nov. 3 in Indianapolis. The tour wraps Nov. 15 in Athens, Georgia, which is the birthplace of R.E.M. A complete list of dates can be found at howlowlhowl.com.

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The Rolling Stones are revisiting their 1976 album Black and Blue ahead of its 50th anniversary.

The band is set to release a five-LP or four-CD super-deluxe box set on Nov. 14, with both versions also coming with a Blu-ray. The set includes a 2025 remix of the album by producer Steven Wilson, along with an album of outtakes and jams. It also includes a recording of a 1976 concert at Earls Court in London, which was part of a six-night residency at the venue.

The Blu-ray includes the Wilson remix and the Earls Court concert in Dolby Atmos, plus an unreleased TV broadcast of the band’s 1976 concert at Les Abattoirs in Paris.

The six-track album of outtakes include four Stones instrumental jams from the 1975 recording sessions, plus a previously unreleased track, “I Love Ladies,” written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. There’s also a take on Shirley & Company’s “Shame Shame, Shame,” which is out now via digital outlets. A video for the track will be released Thursday.

The set also includes a 100-page hardcover book and replica tour poster.

The Black and Blue reissue will also be released in a variety of other formats, including a limited-edition five-LP black and blue marbled vinyl set; two-disc and one-disc formats on both vinyl and CD; and a limited-edition zoetrope vinyl.

Most formats are available for preorder now.

Released in April 1976, Black and Blue was The Stones’ 13th studio album and the first since guitarist Mick Taylor left the group. His eventual replacement, Ronnie Wood, is featured on three songs. The Stones used the recording sessions as auditions for Taylor’s replacement, with other guitarists like Jeff Beck, Robert A. Johnson and Wayne Perkins taking part.

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The original artwork for David Bowie’s iconic album Aladdin Sane, shot by photographer Brian Duffy aka Duffy, is going up for auction.

The original dye transfer artwork print will be part of The Mona Lisa of Pop: The Duffy Archive auction, taking place Oct. 22 through Nov. 5 at Bonhams in London and bonhams.com. The print is expected to sell for somewhere between $340,000 and $400,000.

The cover art is one of many Aladdin Sane-related pieces that will be part of the auction. Others include the original dye transfer print of the album’s inside cover; the original Hasselblad camera used by Duffy to shoot Aladdin Sane and 1980’s Scary Monsters; the stool Bowie sat on for the Aladdin Sane photo; contact sheets from the photo shoot; and a handwritten note by Duffy explaining the cover’s lightning bolt design.

“Duffy’s iconic photography, paired with Bowie’s incomparable artistic vision, captured the spirit of a generation and cemented their place in cultural history,” Claire Tole-Moir, head of Bonhams’ Popular Culture Department, says. “As collaborators, they produced a body of work that defined the visual language of the 1970s and beyond, influencing music, fashion, and photography.”

She adds that the auction “will be a rare and thrilling opportunity for collectors and fans to own a piece of Duffy/Bowie history.”

Aladdin Sane was released in April 1973. The cover featured a red-haired Bowie, with a red-and-blue lightning bolt down the middle of his face.

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Scott Cooper, the director of the upcoming Bruce Springsteen film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, says fans should expect to learn some new things about The Boss in the movie.

“[Bruce] said to me, ‘Scott, the truth about yourself isn’t always pretty,'” Cooper, who previously directed 2009’s Crazy Heart, tells Empire in a new interview. “We discussed that this was going to be a film so far removed from the mythology of the rock star. The thing that was most important to him was that this would be no hagiography,” meaning he didn’t want an idealized biopic.

“There’ll be things in this film that will be new information to even Bruce’s most ardent fans — not covered in his Broadway show, or in documentaries, or in his memoir,” Cooper tells the mag, noting Springsteen “never once asked me to sand off the rough edges.”

“But would you expect anything else from Bruce Springsteen?” he says. “This man who’s the reluctant moral conscience of America?”

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere follows the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer as he makes his 1982 solo album Nebraska. It stars The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White as Springsteen and Succession‘s Jeremy Strong as his manager, Jon Landau. It opens in theaters Oct. 24.

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In 2013, Richie Sambora left Bon Jovi in the middle of a tour amid troubles in his personal life. Now, Jon Bon Jovi says he still has a lot of “heartbreak” over the way his bandmate departed.

While speaking to Jelly Roll‘s wife, Bunnie Xo, on her Dumb Blonde podcast, Bunnie asked Jon to describe his relationship with Sambora. “The great thing that I have said about him throughout our lives was you would be lucky to call him your friend, and I mean that,” Jon said. “Talented beyond, beyond as a guitar player, as a singer, as a collaborator, wonderful, right-hand man, awesome. Couldn’t ask for more.”

“My heartbreak with him is the way he walked out on us, compounded by the fact that it took him years to come back in the room just to have a meal with [drummer] Tico [Torres] and [keyboardist] David [Bryan] and I and say, ‘I’m sorry,'” he continued.

“It’s unfortunate. It’s heartbreaking … but if what he wanted was to be just ‘Richie Sambora,’ not a member of Bon Jovi, do it! I always encourage all of my guys, because my attitude was, ‘Bring the information back that you learn outside. It’ll only help us.'”

“And so for whatever reason, he walked out, and then that was that. But I can’t defend or accuse … it’s just not worth it anymore,” Jon added. “It’s been so many years, I just … if you can’t figure [it out] or get it together, then it’s not on us. I love the man; heartbroken that he walked out on us.”

In the 2024 documentary Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story Sambora apologized to the band and to the fans for how he left Bon Jovi.

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Last year’s 40th anniversary of The Cars’ Heartbeat City is being marked with a new expanded reissue of the album.

Dropping Oct. 31, Heartbeat City (Deluxe Edition) is a four-CD/one-LP set that comes with the original album on both LP and CD, along with two CDs of bonus material made up of unreleased studio recordings, B-sides, early mixes, alternative takes and demos, including a demo for the band’s top-10 hit “Drive.”

There’s also a CD with a live concert recorded at The Summit in Houston on Sept. 11, 1984. The concert was originally released on VHS and Laserdisc, and this marks its first-ever CD release. The package also comes with a color booklet with photos, liner notes by keyboardist Greg Hawkes and an essay by drummer David Robinson.

Heartbeat City (Deluxe Edition) is available for preorder now.

Heartbeat City was produced by Mutt Lange and released in March 1984. It became a huge hit for The Cars, peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart and hitting #1 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart. It went on to be certified four-times Platinum by the RIAA.

Much of the album’s popularity was due to singles like “You Might Think” and “Drive,” both of which reached the Billboard Hot 100 top 10. They both benefited from videos that received huge airplay on MTV, especially “You Might Think,” which went on to win the first-ever video of the year award at the MTV Video Music Awards.

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Barry Manilow is back with new music.

The iconic singer just released the new single “Once Before I Go,” produced by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Demonte Posey, and written by Peter Allen and Dean Pitchford.

“Once Before I Go” is available now via digital outlets.

Coinciding with the song release, Manilow has announced nine new shows, which will mark his final concerts in each of the cities.

The new dates kick off Jan. 6 in Sunrise, Florida, with Manilow also playing final shows in four other Florida cities: Orlando, Tampa, Estero and Jacksonville. He’s also announced final shows in Charleston, South Carolina; Greensboro, North Carolina; Duluth, Georgia; and Columbus, Ohio.

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

Manilow’s next show is in Las Vegas. He begins a new set of dates at the Westgate Las Vegas on Oct. 9.

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Tears for Fears is celebrating the 40th anniversary of their multi-Platinum album Songs From the Big Chair with a variety of special-edition reissues.

The album, featuring hits singles “Shout,” “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” “Head Over Heels” and more, will be released Nov. 14 in a variety of formats, including a limited-edition two-LP set on transparent red vinyl, which will feature unused artwork and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl.

In addition, the album will be reissued as a three-CD deluxe set, which includes B-sides, single versions and remixed tracks; a limited-edition LP on Coke bottle clear vinyl; and a single vinyl picture disc.

Released in February 1985, Songs From the Big Chair was a breakthrough album for the duo, made up of Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal. The album hit #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the U.K.; the singles “Shout” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” hit #1 in the U.S. “Head Over Heels” was also a top-five hit, peaking at #3.

The album went on to be Tears for Fears’ most successful album to date and has been certified five-times Platinum in the U.S.

All formats are available for preorder now. 

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On This Day, Sept. 23, 2019 …

Lyricist Robert Hunter, best known for his work with the Grateful Dead, died at his home in San Rafael, California, at the age of 78.

Hunter began working with the Grateful Dead early in their career and contributed songs to several of their albums, starting with 1969’s Aoxomoxoa. Many of the band’s signature tunes were either written or co-written by Hunter, including “Ripple,” “Terrapin Station,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “Box of Rain,” “Dark Star” and “Truckin’.”

Following the death of The Dead co-founder Jerry Garcia and the disbanding of the band, Hunter continued his songwriting, working with artists like Bruce Hornsby, Elvis Costello and others.

Hunter was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 with the Grateful Dead, and he and Garcia were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.

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Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham recently reissued their debut album, Buckingham Nicks, and it’s got Stevie in a nostalgic mood.

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer shared on Instagram a handwritten letter she wrote to her family while working on the album, revealing in the caption, “My mom saved it and it’s been in a drawer for over 50 years.”

“I am getting very tired of sitting around listening to 12 hours of music per day,” she writes in the note. “Oh well, I know it will pay off in the end, and when I am sitting in my small but luxurious Beverly Hills home overlooking my small but tasteful pool that is totally secluded, where I can sun in the nude and tan my entire fat body while waiting for my plastic surgery leg lift — it will all be worth it.”

She then reflects on her upcoming 25th birthday.

“I have decided that we should set aside the entire month of May to celebrate the fact that I am now 1 quarter of a century old,” she writes. “A new landmark like this should not simply be passed over as yet another birthday, but should include a gala celebration.”

She ends by telling her family that she wishes they could hear the music she and Lindsey are working on. Referencing the song “Don’t Let Me Down Again,” she writes that Lindsey “may go down in history as one of the ‘greats’ in guitar playing. It really is quite amazing.”

Finally Stevie asks them to “hold good thoughts about this thing.”

Released in 1973, Buckingham Nicks was the only album the artists released a duo. It eventually led to them being invited to join Fleetwood Mac.

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