Classic Hits

A cryptic ad posted in London’s Hackney Gazette appears to be teasing a new album from The Rolling Stones. It promoted something called Hackney Diamonds, with the ad’s message featuring several Stones song titles, leading to speculation that an album announcement is coming.

Well, the editor of the paper has confirmed the ad was taken out by the band.

“It’s very exciting to have such a massive band announcing their new album in our papers, especially in such a cryptic manner,” Simon Murfitt, senior editor of both the Hackney Gazette and Islington Gazette, said, confirming the ad was taken out by Universal Music Group. “I have already had several emails requesting back copies and no doubt the papers will become collectors’ items for music fans.” 

He added, “I’ve always said The Rolling Stones have good taste when it comes to their local news and this just proves it!”

If the speculation is true, the album will be The Stones’ first record since 2016’s Blue and Lonesome, which was an album of blues covers.

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Lou Gramm doesn’t sound at all happy that his former band, Foreigner, which he fronted until 2003, is not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He believes the omission is personal. 

“It’s not anything to do with our music or the amount of hits or notoriety or anything like that,” Gramm shares in an interview with The Rock Shop With Ralph. “It’s a personal thing that we’re not in there. It’s a personal vendetta between the gentleman who owns Rolling Stone and Mick,” referring to Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones.

The Rolling Stone owner he’s likely referring to is Jann Wenner, who cofounded the mag and is also the cofounder of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In reality, Wenner no longer owns Rolling Stone, having sold his remaining interest in the mag in 2017.

Regarding the band’s snub, Gramm notes, “It’s very juvenile, the whole thing, and I don’t think it’s gonna get any better. I think it’s gonna stay that way. I think we’re being made an example of.”

Foreigner has been eligible for the Hall of Fame since 2002, but to this day have never been nominated, and Gramm thinks it’s a travesty. 

Asked whether he thinks they deserves to be in the Hall, Gramm declares, “Of course I do,” although he notes it should be “the original Foreigner” as opposed to later lineups. He adds, “I put an exclamation point at the end of that.”

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Culture Club’s Boy George is one of several artists set to appear in Camden, a new Disney+ documentary series focusing on London’s Camden neighborhood and the music and performers identified with it. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is being directed by Asif Kapadia, who directed Amy, the documentary about Amy Winehouse, one of the biggest stars identified with Camden.  

Other musicians featured in the film include Nile Rodgers, Coldplay‘s Chris Martin, Mark Ronson, the Black Eyed Peas, and Dua Lipa, whose production company, Radical22, is producing the film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, they are all artists whose “lives and careers have been changed forever” by the neighborhood. 

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Yes’ biggest hits are about to be all in one place. Rhino is set to release the new vinyl Yessingles on October 6, featuring 12 of the band’s most popular tunes. 

The album features a chronological history of Yes hits, with songs from 1971 to 1984. Tracks on the album include “Your Move,” “Starship Trooper,” “America,” the #1 hit “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and more. Also included is a promo radio edit version of “And You And I (Part One),” which has just been released digitally for the first time.

Yessingles will be released on 140-gram black vinyl, with a special splatter-vinyl coming to retailers. It is available for preorder now.

Here is the track list for Yessingles:

“Your Move” – Single Version
“Starship Trooper: Life Seeker” – Single Version
“Roundabout” – Single Edit
“America” – Single Edit
“And You And I (Part One)” – Promo Radio Edit
“Soon” – Single Edit
“Sound Chaser” – Single Edit
“Wondorous Stories” – Single Version
“Don’t Kill The Whale” – Single Version
“Into The Lens” – Single Version
“Owner Of A Lonely Heart” – Single Version
“Leave It” – Single Remix

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On this Day, August 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 suffered from alcohol problems over the years and died in September of 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; as of February, he revealed that he had finished the script for it.

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A new TV music series coming this fall will try to answer an often debated question: Who is the greatest rock star?

AXS TV is teaming with SPIN for the new series, SPIN’s 100 Greatest Rock Stars Since That Was A Thing, which is inspired by a list the mag initially put out in 2021. The series, which premieres October 2 at 8 p.m., will spotlight artists who “best embody the ‘Rock Star’ spirit,” including Stevie Nicks, Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Page, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Syd Barrett, Grace Slick and more.

The series will include “Artist Spotlights,” and there will be segments celebrating musicians who are loved by other artists, including Sammy Hagar, The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and AC/DC’s Angus Young. There will also be plenty of guests chiming in about what makes the artists on the list great, with appearances by Twisted Sister‘s Dee Snider, The Police‘s Stewart Copeland, Steve Vai, Joel McHale, Carnie Wilson and others.

“The problem with lists like this is they are invariably BS. So our prime objective was to make sure we didn’t do a BS list,” says SPIN founder Bob Guccione Jr. “A rock star is, perhaps by definition, undefinable. They just are. They’re luminescent. Even when, in some cases, they didn’t want to be,” adding, “I’m excited to bring this list to life with AXS TV!” 

So, who made SPIN’s list of the greatest rock stars? Well, it’s certainly possible the list will change, but the original 2021 article picked The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards for the top spot, with Prince, Hendrix, Page and Bowie also making the cut.

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A new documentary about Paul Simon is getting its U.S. premiere next month. 

Variety reports that In Restless Dreams: The Music Of Paul Simon, from award winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney, is set to premiere at the Camden International Film Festival, taking place September 14-17 at venues throughout Camden and Rockland, Maine.

In the film, Gibney follows Simon’s career, from growing up in Queens to his partnership with Art Garfunkel and more. It also goes in the studio with the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer during the making of his most recent album, Seven Palms, which was released in May.

While the Camden Festival is the movie’s U.S. premiere, it won’t be the first time people will see it. It’s getting its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Saturday, September 9.

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Guns N’ Roses continues to surprise fans on their current world tour. The latest instance came Monday, August 21, during their show at Fenway Park in Boston, when Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde came out to join them on the track “Bad Obsession.”

Fan-shot footage posted to YouTube shows Chrissie joining Axl Rose and the others on harmonica for the Use Your Illusion I track, which was the second song of the night.

Chrissie and the Pretenders are currently one of the opening acts on the Guns N’ Roses tour. The trek hits Chicago’s Wrigley Field on Thursday, August 24. A complete list of dates can be found at gunnroses.com.

Pretenders, who are dropping the new album Relentless on September 1, are also currently headlining a club tour. Their next club show is happening Saturday, August 26, in Nashville, Tennessee. A complete list of dates can be found at thepretenders.com.

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Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith, often called the Godmother of Punk, continues to to be an inspiration to future generations of musicians, and the latest artist paying her respects to her is Dua Lipa.

The pop star has just picked Smith’s acclaimed memoir, Just Kids, as the September pick for her Service95 Book Club. 

The book documents Smith’s relationship with late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the late ’60s and early ’70s New York art scene. The book was a New York Times best seller, and in 2010, it won the National Book Award for Non-Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

“Patti is an absolute rock and roll icon and a personal hero of mine so I am beyond excited to dive into this book,” Dua writes on Instagram. “It’s hard to define Patti – she is a singer, a songwriter, a poet, a painter and, of course, an author. It’s safe to say that we get something of all of these personas through this beautiful book.”

Dua continues, “I’d have loved to be part of such a cool era. Patti gives us the next best thing – possibly the most spellbinding account of New York in the ’70s ever written. As we witness the ascent of two legendary artists – Robert and Patti – it’s clear that her respect and love for artistry never dims.”

Throughout September, Book Club followers will see Dua chatting with Smith about her life experiences and creative process. Smith will also share two exclusive readings, a playlist and a compilation of her own must-reads.

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On This Day, August 22, 1979…

Led Zeppelin released their eighth and final studio album, In Through the Out Door, in the United States.

The album went to #1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, where it spent seven weeks, tying it with Led Zeppelin II for the Led Zeppelin album with the most weeks at #1. The album’s best known songs include “All of My Love” and “Fool in the Rain.”

In Through the Out Door wound up becoming the last studio album from the legendary rockers. Their drummer, John Bonham, died in September, 1980, and they disbanded that December.

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