Classic Hits

Led Zeppelin has joined the ranks of rock bands with their own official account on TikTok.

The account, @ledzeppelin, will feature official Led Zeppelin artwork and graphics, live performance clips and other video content on the social media platform.

The hard-rock legends also have made their entire catalog available to TikTok users to soundtrack their own videos creations. Led Zeppelin’s catalog spans over 100 songs, including such classics as “Whole Lotta Love,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “Immigrant Song,” “Rock and Roll,” “Black Dog,” “Ramble On” and “Kashmir.”

The launch of Led Zeppelin’s TikTok account comes in advance of the 50th anniversary of the band’s hugely successful untitled fourth album, known as Led Zeppelin IV, which was released on November 8, 1971. The album, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200, has sold over 23 million copies in the U.S.

It’s track list includes the aforementioned “Stairway to Heaven,” “Rock and Roll” and “Black Dog,” as well as “Misty Mountain Hop,” “Going to California” and “When the Levee Breaks.”

To commemorate the album’s anniversary, the band has launched a video series on its YouTube channel titled The History of Led Zeppelin IV. The first episode focuses on “Black Dog,” which was released as the album’s first single.

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A limited-edition Skid Row box set collecting all three studio albums released by the heavy-metal band’s original Sebastian Bach-fronted lineup, as well as two 1990s EPs, will hit stores on December 3.

Skid Row: The Atlantic Years 1989-1996 will be available either as a five-CD collection or a seven-LP 180-gram-vinyl set. The package features the band’s 1989 self-titled debut, 1991’s chart-topping Slave to the Grind and 1995’s Subhuman Race, as well as 1992 covers EP B-Side Ourselves and the 1995 concert EP Subhuman Beings on Tour!!

The Skid Row album features the band’s two biggest hits, “18 to Life” and “I Remember You,” which peaked at #4 and #6, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself reached #6 on the Billboard 200.

Slave to the Grind topped the Billboard 200 in June of ’91 and included the Mainstream Rock chart hits “Monkey Business” and “Wasted Time.”

Subhuman Race reached #35 on the Billboard 200 and features the top-30 Mainstream Rock hit “Into Another.”

B-Side Ourselves features renditions of songs by The Ramones, KISS, Judas Priest, Rush and The Jimi Hendrix Experience. The Judas Priest tune is a live cover of “Delivering the Goods” that features a guest appearance by Priest frontman Rob Halford.

Subhuman Beings on Tour!! previously was available only in Japan. The box set’s vinyl version will mark the first time that the EP has ever been issued on vinyl. Slave to the Grind and Subhuman Race will appear as two-LP sets on the vinyl collection.

You can pre-order the Skid Row: The Atlantic Years 1989-1996 box set now.

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Bruce Springsteen paid a visit to CBS’ The Late Show on Wednesday, where he discussed, among other things, Renegades: Born in the USA, the book Bruce co-authored with former president Barack Obama coming out on Tuesday; and The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts, a film and album documenting Springsteen’s performances with the E Street Band at the historic MUSE benefit concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden, being released in various formats in November.

When asked how how he came to write the book with Obama, Springsteen told host Stephen Colbert, “It was the president’s idea. He called me. I thought he had the wrong number, because he’s a Columbia graduate, teacher of constitutional law, University of Chicago Law School, first African-American president of the United States,”

On the other hand, joked Springsteen, “I am a guitar player, I am a Freehold High school graduate.”

After playing a throwback clip of Bruce’s high energy performance from 1979, the Boss recalled it took place on his 30th birthday. When asked to compare that 30-year-old guy with the now 72-year-old version, he offered, “Well, it’s funny, on stage I don’t know if there’s a lot of difference… we still come out, and we take it all the way every night that we’re on stage. So, I mean, that’s a completely different person.”

Added Springsteen, “At 30, I was still a kid, and that was my entire life, what you’re viewing right there, you know…So that was different. But basically, I still feel about it the way that kid would have. That hasn’t changed at all.”

Springsteen closed out the show with a live acoustic performance of the title track from his 1979 album, The River.

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With The Go-Go’s being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this Saturday, drummer Gina Schock has just released a new autobiographical photo book focusing on her long career with the famous all-female group.

Made in Hollywood: All Access with the Go-Go’s is highlighted by a bevy of personal photos that Schock took during the group’s 1980s heyday, as well as a variety archival images.

“I am very, very excited about my book, because it’s my life, and it’s from a band member’s perspective,” Schock tells ABC Audio. “[I]t’s taken me years to put it together. [O]ver 40 years of photographs and tales to tell are in this book.”

Gina notes that during the band’s early years, “I was carrying a camera around with me all the time and snapping shots…everywhere, on the tour bus, in hotel rooms, backstage.”

Schock also wrote commentary to accompany many of the pics in the book.

“I think I recapped things pretty evenly and pretty honestly,” she says. “And people will get an inside look at the band in a way they never have, because it’s being shown to them visually, and I’m writing text to it.”

Made in Hollywood also features essays from the other Go-Go’s, as well as from some of the group’s famous fans and friends, including as The B-52s‘ Kate Pierson, Jodie Foster, Eurythmics‘ Dave Stewart and Paul “Pee Wee Herman” Reubens.

“Everybody was pretty honest and was telling…when they first met the band, what happened, how we first came together,” Schock explains. “It’s great to relive all that.”

Gina says she thinks fans will love the book.

“[T]hey’re gonna look at this and they’re going to remember what they were doing [then],” she maintains. “It’s gonna make people smile.”

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Journey has been preparing a new studio album, and now comes word that the forthcoming release will be supersized.

Narada Michael Walden, who replaced longtime Journey member Steve Smith as the band’s new drummer last year, and also is producing the new record, posted a message Friday on his Facebook page revealing that he was in the studio with Neal Schon “wrapping up the exciting new Journey double album.” He added, “Stay tuned.”

On the same day, Schon posted a video on his Facebook page showing him laying down a guitar track, along with the message, “We had some fun today as I replayed all Guitar’s [sic] on this 1st track we cut over a year ago when we began the new Journey album. It’s a [wrap]!”

Journey gave fans the first taste from the upcoming album in June with the release of their latest single, “The Way We Used to Be.”

In addition to Walden, the new album marks the return of bassist Randy Jackson, who previously played with Journey in the mid-1980s, and of drummer Deen Castronovo, who was a member of the group from 1998 to 2015.

While no release date has been announced for the album, Schon told ABC Audio in July that he expected it to come out either at the end of this year or in early 2022.

Meanwhile, Journey is preparing to kick off a six-show Las Vegas residency at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in December. The dates are scheduled for December 1, 2, 7, 8, 10 and 11. The band also will be playing a special symphonic concert on December 18 in Vegas at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

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During a recent interview on a Dutch radio station, U.K. pop star Ed Sheeran randomly announced that he and Elton John were planning to release a joint Christmas single this year. But Elton wasn’t very amused, since the news was supposed to be kept on the down low — and besides, the record isn’t even complete.

Speaking to the British music publication NME, Elton laughs, “Yeah, he let the cat out of the bag didn’t he? I was sworn to secrecy and then big mouth f***ing Sheeran goes to the Netherlands!”  Elton adds, “It’s supposed to come out — we haven’t finished it yet, so there’s still work to be done.”

Elton added, “I can’t say any more than that because it’s in his hands.”

If the record does come out, it’ll likely be Elton’s second big hit of 2021, following the U.K. number-one chart success of his Dua Lipa collaboration, “Cold Heart,” from his new album The Lockdown Sessions.

“Everything’s been a bonus with this record. Whether it sells one copy or a million copies, it doesn’t matter to me,” Elton says of the album. “I had so much fun and I learnt so much from doing it.”

Elton plans to resume his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour next year, and he confirms that yes, this really is it.

“At the moment, I finish supposedly in 2023, in the summer, by which time I’ll be 76,” Elton tells NME. “And that’s it, baby. I can’t wait to do it and have a great time, and I can’t wait to finish and say, ‘No more — I’ve had enough.'”

Elton confirms that he’ll continue to make records but as far as live shows, he admits, “I’ve had enough applause. I wanna be with my family. I wanna be with my boys.”

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Bruce Springsteen will pay a visit this evening to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where the Boss will be interviewed and will deliver a solo performance.

Springsteen has at least two upcoming releases that he can promote on the show. On Tuesday, October 26, Renegades: Born in the USA, the book Bruce co-authored with former president Barack Obama, will be published; and in November, The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts, a film and album documenting Springsteen’s performances with the E Street Band at the historic MUSE benefit concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden, will be released in various formats.

This will mark the third time that Springsteen has been a guest on The Late Show, having previously appeared on the program on October 2020 and September 2016.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

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Eric Clapton has premiered a new preview clip from his upcoming performance video The Lady in the Balcony: Lockdown Sessions that captures him playing an acoustic version of the 1968 Fleetwood Mac classic, “Black Magic Woman.”

As previously reported, The Lady in the Balcony, which will be released on November 12 on video and audio formats, features an intimate performance by Clapton and members of his touring band in February 2021 year at the Cowdray House country mansion in West Sussex, U.K.

The show was recorded without an audience, with exception of Eric’s wife, Melia, who watched the performance from a balcony — hence the release’s title.

For his version of “Black Magic Woman,” Clapton is featured on acoustic 12-string guitar, joined by Chris Stainton on keyboards, Nathan East on standup bass and Steve Gadd on drums.

As he begins the tune, Eric declares, “This one’s for Peter,” referring to founding Fleetwood Mac singer/guitarist Peter Green, who wrote the song and who passed away in July 2020 at age 73. Of course, Santana recorded the most famous version of “Black Magic Woman,” scoring a 1970 hit with the song.

The show also featured Eric performing some of his best-known original songs, several blues classics and another Green-penned Fleetwood Mac tune, “Man of the World.”

The Lady in the Balcony, which you can pre-order now, will be available as a DVD/CD or Blu-ray/CD set, a 4K UHD/Blu-ray package, a two-LP colored-vinyl set, as digital video and audio versions, and as a Deluxe Edition featuring the DVD, Blu-ray and CD housed in a 40-page hardback photo book. In addition, a standalone CD version will be sold exclusively at Target.

Here’s the full The Lady in the Balcony track list:

“Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out”
“Golden Ring”
“Black Magic Woman”
“Man of the World”
“Kerry”
“After Midnight”
“Bell Bottom Blues”
“Key to the Highway”
“River of Tears”
“Rock Me Baby”
“Believe in Life”
“Going Down Slow”
“Layla”
“Tears in Heaven”
“Long Distance Call”
“Bad Boy”
“Got My Mojo Working”

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John Fogerty will headline three special benefit concerts in Florida next month, that will raise money for The Charity Pro’s, a Fort Myers, Florida-based non-profit established to support and advocate for children’s social causes.

The shows, scheduled November 20 in Tampa, November 21 in Estero, and November 23 in Orlando, will raise funds for the organization’s “Charity Pro’s for Heroes” initiative, which will help provide educational scholarships to children of first responders and healthcare workers who died from complications of the COVID-19 virus.

Proceeds from the events also will go toward granting children of fallen heroes a “Megan’s Wish,” that is, a special experience that will enrich their lives with love, hope and strength.

Joining Fogerty at the concerts will be three special support acts — country star Lauren Alaina on November 20, Foreigner on the 21st and Cheap Trick on the 23rd. Recent American Idol finalist Casey Bishop, an Estero native, will perform at all three shows.

Immediate family members of first responders and healthcare workers who passed away from COVID-19 are invited to attend the concerts for free. Those interested in reserving seats can email meg@thecharitypros.org.

First responders and healthcare workers will be able to purchase discount tickets for the events through the end of the day today by using the promo code HERO. Visit TheCharityPros.org for more information.

“Every day, we learn of the incredible stories of the children and families of our Heroes nationwide who are dealing with the effects of losing a parent or loved one,” says The Charity Pro’s founder Megan Maloney. “Bringing these families together to honor their loved ones, their Heroes and ours, is the very least we can do.”

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Jay Black, former lead singer of the 1960s pop-rock group Jay and the Americans, died Friday at age 82, his family revealed to Rolling Stone.

According to the statement, Black passed away from complications from pneumonia, and he also battled dementia in recent years.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Black, whose given name was David Blatt, joined Jay and the Americans after original lead singer Jay Trainor left the group in 1962, not long after the band had scored a #5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “She Cried.”

Led by Black’s soaring voice, the band scored many more top-40 hits throughout the 1960s, its biggest coming in 1964 with “Come a Little Bit Closer,” which peaked at #3. Jay and the Americans also hit the top 10 in 1965 with “Cara Mia” and in 1969 with “This Magic Moment,” which reached #4 and #6, respectively.

Among the group’s other hits were “Let’s Lock the Door (And Throw Away the Key),” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Sunday and Me” and “Walkin’ in the Rain,” which all cracked the top 20.

The band split up in 1973, and afterward, Black continued to tour as a solo artist, playing his final show in 2017.

Jay and the Americans reformed in 2006 with a new lead singer named “Jay.” The band paid homage to Black in a message posted on their Facebook page on Saturday.

“Today, we mourn the passing of David Blatt a/k/a Jay Black and we acknowledge the great successes we had with him both as a partner and as a lead singer,” the note reads. “We shared both wonderful and very contentious times, and much like an ex-wife, we are so proud of the beautiful children we created. We’ll always remember The Voice.”

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