Genesis frontman and drummer Phil Collins landed his first-ever solo number one with “Against All Odds (Take A Look at Me Now).”
The track was featured in the romantic thriller Against All Odds, which starred Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward and James Woods.
In addition to being number one, the song was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Grammy.
Collins went on to have 14 top-10 solo hits and six more solo number-one songs: “One More Night,” “Sussudio” and “Separate Lives,” featuring Marilyn Martin, which were all released in 1985; 1988’s “Two Hearts” and “Groovy Kind of Love”; and 1989’s “Another Day in Paradise.”
Queen is back with the latest installment of their YouTube series Queen The Greatest Live, with this week’s episode taking another look at their iconic stage wear — this time with a special performance of the track “Ogre Battle.”
The performance is from their 1975 Christmas Eve show at the Hammersmith Odeon, which was broadcast live on BBC TV and radio, and eventually released as A Night At The Odeon.
The concert featured an ambitious production from the band, including elaborate lighting that flooded the stage in a green glow. And the band went for it with their look, as well, with Freddie Mercury in a chest-baring white satin catsuit and Brian May in a winged cape. The pair also wore contrasting nail colors, Mercury with black and May with white.
“The black and white stuff we got into – it’s all designed to be dramatic,” May explained in a previous episode. “It’s designed to accentuate our movements and accentuate the moods of the songs.”
Record Store Day is happening Saturday, April 22, and music fans are going to want to be prepared before they head out to shop at their local independent record store this weekend.
A whole lot of exclusive releases will be available, and here are some to be on the lookout for:
The 2020 John Lennon compilation Gimme Some Truth is being released as a box set consisting of nine 10-inch vinyl EPs. Meanwhile, Paul McCartney is contributing a 50th anniversary reissue of the 1973 Wings album Red Rose Speedway, while fellow surviving Beatle Ringo Starr is putting out a reissue of his 1981 solo effort, Stop and Smell the Roses.
Keith Richards‘ long out-of-print Vintage Vinos collaboration will be out as a two-LP set, while TheRolling Stones‘ 1968 classic Beggars Banquet is being reissued on vinyl with its original artwork.
Stevie Nicks‘ Bella Donna Live1981, capturing a 1981 live show supporting the Fleetwood Mac star’s first solo album, is making its vinyl debut. Fleetwood Mac’s early single “Albatross” is also getting a vinyl reissue.
And U2 is celebrating the 40th anniversary of their album War with a 12-inch EP featuring remixed versions of “Two Hearts Beat As One” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” as well as two versions of the same songs from their recently released Songs of Surrender album. The EP will be released on 180g white vinyl.
RSD 2023 will also feature exclusive releases from Duran Duran, Pearl Jam, The Allman Brothers Band, David Byrne, The Cranberries, The Cure, The Doors, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Jerry Garcia Band, The Grateful Dead, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Billy Joel, Elton John, Todd Rundgren, T. Rex, Van Halen, Yes and Warren Zevon.
For the full list of releases and participating stores, visit RecordStoreDay.com.
Paul McCartney is celebrating the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Wings album Red Rose Speedway with the release of a special half-speed mastered vinyl arriving on Saturday, April 22, for Record Store Day.
To mark the special release, McCartney is sharing memories of the album in a Q&A on his website, and he reveals that there are at least two songs on the album that are very personal to him.
Asked about what songs stand out to him, Sir Paul notes, “I’m very proud of ‘My Love.’ This was early days for me and (wife) Linda, so it’s a love song to her really.” He adds, “One of the things I was proud of, funnily enough, was that it charted. It sort of did very well,” referring to the fact that the song hit number one in the U.S.
McCartney shares that another song on the album, “One More Kiss,” was inspired by his family, this time his daughter Mary, who was 3 or 4 at the time it was written.
“And you know how fathers often fuss over their kids? So I was fussing over her, she was a really cute baby,” he explains. “And I’m fussing away going, ‘Give me a kiss. Come on, give me a kiss!’ And she’d get fed up with me and sort of go: ‘Dad. Alright. But only one more kiss.’ So I got one more kiss … and a song!”
Overall, McCartney says Red Rose Speedway sounds “more professional” to him than Wings’ previous releases. He notes, “It sounds like it’s putting in more effort, but it’s less rebellious than (1971’s) Wild Life.”
The Grateful Dead are the latest artists to join TikTok. On Thursday, 4/20 by the way, the band launched their official account with a post featuring archival Dead-related footage soundtracked to a remastered 1969 live recording of “St. Stephen” at San Francisco’s Fillmore West.
The band captioned the clip with a lyric from the 1974 track “Scarlet Begonias,” writing, “Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.”
This isn’t the first time the Dead has made their presence felt on TikTok. Just last month their music launched on the platform, which means fans can now use recordings from the band’s catalog for their posts.
Envy of None, featuring Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, is ready to drop new music. The band, which also features bassist Andy Curran, guitarist/keyboardist Alfio Annibalini and singer-songwriter Maiah Wynne, is dropping the new EP That Was Then, This Is Now on June 9.
The EP consists of one newly recorded track, “That Was Then,” along with remixes of “Dumkoptf” and “Dog’s Life.” It also includes tracks “Lethe River” and “You’ll Be Sorry,” which was previously released as part of the deluxe edition of their 2022 self-titled debut.
“Very happy to say that chapter 2 for Envy of None has officially started,” Curran shares. “We have a brand new song called ‘That Was Then, This Is Now’ which marks the first new track we’ve recorded since our debut album release almost a year ago.”
A famous Eddie Van Halen guitar has sold for big bucks at auction.
The custom-made Kramer electric guitar the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist played in the video for the band’s hit “Hot For Teacher” went up for auction at Sotheby’s earlier this month, and the winning bidder shelled out almost $4 million for the axe.
The auction house had initially estimated the guitar to sell for between $2 million and $3 million, but in the end sold for $3,932,000.
The guitar, designed for Eddie by Paul Unkert of Kramer Guitars, was one of the rocker’s main guitars from 1983 to 1984. In the “Hot for Teacher” video, he memorably shreds his solo while walking across desks in a library.
Roberta Flack is set to receive an honorary degree from the Berklee College of Music at next month’s 2023 commencement ceremony.
The R&B star is being honored for her contribution to music and philanthropy. She will address the students at the ceremony, which will take place May 13 at Boston University’s Agganis Arena.
The singer reacted to the news with a post on her Instagram Story, sharing, “what an honor!”
Also receiving honorary degrees at the ceremony will be Usher and kora player Sona Jorbarteh. Previous honorary degree recipients include Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, Celine Dion, Ringo Starr, Quincy Jones and Willie Nelson.
Leon Russell’s classic tune “A Song For You” has just gotten a new official video. The clip, directed by Spencer Ramsay, features footage from the late singer’s archive, including video of him in the studio and onstage.
“A Song For You” is one of the many tunes featured on the recently reissued Russell compilation Signature Songs. The long-out-of-print collection, which includes solo piano and vocal recordings of some of Russell’s classic tunes, was released digitally and on CD, and on vinyl for the first time.
“A Song For You” appeared on Russell’s self-titled debut solo album, which was released in May 1970. The tune has been covered by a variety of artists, including Andy Williams, Ray Charles andthe Carpenters,and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in January 2018.
R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has contributed a track to a new Earth Day compilation, currently available on Bandcamp.
The EarthPercent x Earth Day ’23 Compilation Album features over 60 tunes that are either new, exclusive or previously unreleased. They can be downloaded individually or as a whole album from April 20 to May 6, with Stipe contributing the song “Give Me A Hand,” featuring folk singer Gaeylynn Lee.
Other artists on the compilation include Coldplay and H.E.R., CHVRCHES with The Cure‘s Robert Smith, Brian Eno and more.
A portion of the proceeds from each track sold will go to EarthPercent’s grant making program, which supports organizations working to tackle the climate emergency.
