Classic Hits

KISS is celebrating the 35th anniversary of their album Hot in the Shade with an all-new merch collection.

The line includes special limited-edition bundles; one features a 35th anniversary Hot in the Shade deluxe picture disc, along with a Hot in the Shade track list T-shirt, while another includes a limited-edition color vinyl with a hoodie.

The line also includes various T-shirts, a brown hoodie, tank top, hat, sunglasses and a bandana.

All are on sale now through the KISS store.

Released in October 1989, Hot in the Shade was the 15th studio album by KISS and came out during their non-makeup era. It was the final KISS album to feature drummer Eric Carr on all the songs. Carr was also featured on vocals for the song “Little Caesar,” the first time since 1981’s Music From The Elder that someone other than Paul Stanley or Gene Simmons handled lead vocals on a tune.

The biggest hit on the record was “Forever,” a ballad written by Stanley and Michael Bolton, which was a top 10 hit for the rockers.

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Def Leppard fans may debate which of their albums is better, 1983’s Pyromania or 1987’s Hysteria, but you won’t hear frontman Joe Elliott picking a favorite.

Elliott was asked to pick a fav in an interview with the Los Angeles Times and had a very diplomatic answer.

“Obviously, the breakthrough was Pyromania — the memories from that tour of being this band that got out of a bus and walked into a hotel to being this band that got off the bus and we couldn’t even get into the hotel because there were too many kids blocking the way,” he shares. “But by 1987, when it’s the second time, it’s the second time, you know what I mean? So what you had was the first and then the bigger.”

He adds, “Which of them is better? I just blend them together and go, The ’80s were great.”

Elliott also shared his thoughts on Taylor Swift, who the band did a CMT Crossroads with back in 2008. He says while nobody could have predicted the success she’d have, “you look at it now and it kind of makes sense.”

Elliott says in 2008 “there was no such thing as what she accomplished,” comparing her success to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, noting, “for people born this century or in the ’90s, this is a phenomenon that’s never been seen before –  technically bigger than the Beatles and the Stones combined, at least commercially.”

“But I always knew she’d be big. And for all the hardships she’s gone though — the people who’ve tried to trip her up over the years at certain parts of her career — she’s just dusted herself down,” he adds. “She’s a fantastic role model for a generation of kids.”

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Bryan Adams has dropped a video for the song “War Machine,” which is his take on one of two songs he co-wrote in the ’80s with Jim Vallance and Gene Simmons for KISS.

The video opens with Adams walking through a field holding a white flag with a peace sign, and as the camera pans out you realize he’s next to a battlefield. That’s followed by combat footage, including fighter planes flying through the air and soldiers on the ground.

There’s also footage of men in suits in a war room making decisions about what’s happening on the battlefield, and it ends with the man in charge ordering the bombing of the area, only for the missile to turn around and drop on the big white house where the man is calling the shots.

Earlier in August, Adams dropped his version of the other song he co-wrote for KISS, “Rock and Roll Hell.” Both tracks appeared on KISS’ 1982 album, Creatures of the Night.

Adams is set to release both songs as a limited-edition double A-side 7-inch single on Aug. 30. It is available for preorder now at bryanadams.com.

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Daryl Hall was forced to cut his Thursday night concert short after not feeling well.

The singer, one half of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame duo Hall & Oates, was performing in Vancouver when he walked off the stage after just three songs. A post on social media from his management revealed that he had started to feel ill during the show and later tested positive for COVID-19. 

Because of his positive test, Hall has now canceled his Friday appearance at the Albertsons Boise Open in Idaho.

“Daryl feels horrible about having to cancel and would like to thank the many concerned fans for their well wishes,” the post concluded.

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On This Day, Aug. 23, 1946 … 

Future The Who drummer Keith Moon was born in North West London.

Moon joined the band in 1964 before they recorded their first single and went on to play on eight of The Who’s albums, with his last being 1978’s Who Are You.

Throughout his musical career, he was known for his destructive nature and turned trashing hotel rooms into an art. 

He dealt with alcohol problems over the years and died in September 1978 from an overdose of a drug that was supposed to prevent alcohol withdrawal.

The Who’s Roger Daltrey has been very vocal about his attempts to make a Keith Moon biopic. In February 2023, he revealed that he had finished the script for the movie, but since then no other details about the film have been revealed.

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Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde wants people to stop and think before they eat meat again.

The rocker and well-known vegetarian is featured in a new billboard for PETA that just went up in Chicago ahead of the Pretenders’ concert in the city on Friday, urging folks to reconsider consuming animal products. 

“The animal you’re eating wanted his life just as much as you want yours,” the billboard reads. “Don’t pretend any different!”

PETA’s future plans include running the ad in Hynde’s hometown of Akron, Ohio, as well as in cities on Pretenders’ upcoming European tour.

Friday’s show at the Chicago Theatre is the last U.S. date on the Pretenders’ 2024 tour. The European leg kicks off Sept. 6 in Randers, Denmark. A complete list of dates can be found at thepretenders.com.

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Journey’s Neal Schon has once again addressed the ongoing dispute between him and bandmate Jonathan Cain, revealing on social media that they plan to bring in a third party to help them settle their issues.

“Anyone who follows Journey will know that Jon Cain and I don’t always see eye-to-eye on everything Or, sometimes, on pretty much anything,” Schon wrote. “Recently, Jon Cain made a number of claims and slanderous accusations about me and my wife – and I can’t stress enough how much it upset me and how wrong they are.” 

Regardless, Schon says his main goal is to stay focused on the band’s current tour, adding he’s “determined to take the high road and push all this aside for the moment.”

He says that he and Jon are now agreeing that “the current dynamic can’t continue,” so they plan to hire “someone impartial” to deal with their issues. He says the person’s aim will be to “help us resolve our disputes, bring clarity to what we’re doing and allow us, as a band, to get back to what we should all focus on – making music and performing for our fans.”

So far Cain hasn’t commented on Schon’s remarks, although he seems to be getting what he wants. On July 24 he filed a lawsuit in Delaware detailing what he claimed was Schon’s overspending, although in a statement he insisted the aim of the suit was to get the court to appoint a third, independent director to serve on the band’s Freedom 2020 board in order to deal with “growing issues” between them.

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Dead & Company wrapped their Dead Forever residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Aug. 10, and fans are already eager to find out if they’ll be returning. Well, it sounds like there’s a good chance of it happening.

The band’s co-manager Bernie Cahill was interviewed by Pollstar about the residency, and he sounded hopeful that they’ll do more shows there.

“The band loved playing the Sphere, I can tell you that. And they love the residency,” he said. “I know they would definitely be interested in going back.” 

Cahill isn’t the first person to suggest Dead & Company would be open to returning for more residency dates. In a recent interview, drummer Mickey Hart gave fans hope of more shows, sharing, “There’s no reason why there wouldn’t be. Let’s leave it at that.”

Meanwhile, next year marks the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead, and Cahill was asked about whether there are any plans in the works to celebrate the huge milestone.

“In terms of next year and what GD60 holds, it’s all a conversation, we’ll see,” he said. “There’s a lot to celebrate.”

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Aerosmith canceled their Peace Out tour and retired from the road in early August, citing Steven Tyler’s continuing vocal problems. Now bassist Tom Hamilton is giving fans a little more detail about what happened to the Aerosmith frontman.

In an interview with Charlie Kendall’s Metalshop, Hamilton says Tyler didn’t hurt himself singing, but actually fractured his larynx when he fell during the band’s third show of the 2023 tour.

“It wasn’t a case of him blowing his throat out by doing something wrong,” Hamilton said. “He has been healing well and working his a** off to get ready to go back out on the road, but it just wasn’t possible.” 

He added: “We don’t know what the future holds, but it won’t include touring.”

But it sounds like he doesn’t think Aerosmith will go away completely, sharing, “The future is still out there and I imagine we’ll figure out a way to be part of it.” He insists the idea of replacing Tyler is out of the question.

“There’s been no talk at all about going on the road with another singer,” he says. “I can’t imagine it.”

As for their fans, Hamilton says they’re “grateful for all for all of the people in this world who have come to love this band.” 

“I think that was the hardest part about retiring from the road,” he says. “just knowing that there are so many people out there who have found meaning in our music. We see you and we feel you.”

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Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz ended his speech at the DNC Wednesday and walked off the stage to Neil Young’s classic tune “Rockin’ In The Free World,” and it turns out Young was perfectly OK with that.

Reps for Young have confirmed to ABC Audio that the rocker personally gave his permission to allow Walz to use the track, which originally appeared on Young’s 1989 album, Freedom.

It’s far from the first time “Rockin’ In The Free World” has been used by a politician, but Young hasn’t always been happy about it. In fact, in the past he’s threatened to sue Donald Trump over his repeated use of the song. Trump first used the song when he announced he planned to run for president back in 2015, then used it in subsequent rallies over the years.

News of Young’s approval was first reported by CNN.

And Young’s tune wasn’t the only classic track to soundtrack Walz’s appearance at the DNC. Ahead of his speech he walked out to John Mellencamp’s “Small Town.”

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