Classic Hits

Duran Duran will celebrate their 15th and latest studio album, Future Past, with a special virtual album-release event that will stream live on the Dreamstage.live platform at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 21, one day before the record hits stores.

The event will feature a live Q&A with Duran Duran’s members, during which they will share stories about their 40 years together as a band. The interview segment will be followed by the premiere of a new documentary titled Duran Duran: Alison Jackson’s Double Take, which gives a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the group’s music video for “Anniversary,” a recently released advance single from Future Past.

The “Anniversary” video was directed by Alison Jackson, an award-winning filmmaker, photographer and artist who explores the cult of celebrity while using celeb lookalikes.

The streaming event will replay at 8 p.m. ET on October 21, and then will be available on demand for 72 hours. Tickets can be purchased now at Dreamstage.live. Check out a trailer for the event on YouTube.

As previously reported, Future Past will be released on October 22 and includes guest appearances by Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, Swedish pop singer Tove Lo, German-born U.K. rapper Ivorian Doll, Japanese punk group CHAI and longtime David Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson.

Future Past was co-produced by Duran Duran with the legendary Giorgio Moroder and British DJ/producer Erol Alkan.  You can pre-order it now.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Mark Stein, lead singer and keyboardist of the veteran psychedelic rock band Vanilla Fudge, will release his debut solo album, There’s a Light, on November 26.

Stein recorded the album during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was inspired by the health crisis and other issues the U.S. and the world have been facing — including social unrest, racial disparity and political conflicts — to put together collection of songs offering such themes as hope, unity and redemption.

“This is an album about hope, but at the same time, I had to sing about the dangers of division,” the 74-year-old musician notes. “When I started the newest collection of songs during the early weeks of the pandemic, it dawned on me that I had created an album with a theme. These songs are reflections of what the world is about now, and what we need to do to bring us together again.”

The album’s lead track, “We Are One,” has been released as an advance digital single, and a companion music video for the tune has premiered on YouTube. Stein says the song speaks of “unity and what I know our country and the world is capable of.”

There’s a Light also includes two classic covers tunes that reflect the album’s themes, renditions of The Temptations‘ “Ball of Confusion” and The Rascals‘ “People Got to Be Free,” and culminates with an emotional version of “America the Beautiful.”

There’s a Light can be pre-ordered on CD now at MerchBucket.com, and limited-edition bundles featuring a signed copy of the disc, as well as a Mark Stein T-shirt, bracelet and bandana, also can be purchased at the site.

Here’s the There’s a Light track list:

“We Are One”
“Ball of Confusion”
“We Are Survivors”
“Lyin'”
“Racism”
“All Lives Matter”
“Let’s Pray for Peace”
“People Got to Be Free”
“Break It Down”
“America the Beautiful”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Lionel Richie, Guns N’ Roses‘ Slash and Depeche Mode are among the many artists contributing items to an upcoming auction benefiting the Recording Academy’s MusiCares charity, which provides medical, financial and personal assistance to in-need members of the music community.

A black jacket Richie wore during his 2015 performance at the U.K.’s Glastonbury festival is up for bid, and is estimated to sell for between $6,000 and $8,000.

Slash is parting ways with one of his famous top hats, signed and featuring a hand-drawn skull-and-bones sketch, which is being sold alongside a sterling silver ring. They’re estimated to fetch between $5,000 and $7,000. The guitar great also has contributed a signed Epiphone Slash Les Paul Deluxe, valued between $1,000 to $2,000, to the sale.

Meanwhile, a black-and-white Fender Squier Stratocaster electric guitar signed by Depeche Mode’s David Gahan and Andrew Fletcher, as well as by former band member Alan Wilder, will be going on the block and is expected to sell for $1,000 to $2,000. Gahan also has contributed a red blazer he wore on Depeche Mode’s 2017-2018 tour that’s estimated to sell for $2,000 to $4,000.

The auction will also include items from Dolly Parton, KISS‘ Gene Simmons, Jeff Beck and many others.

Julien’s Auctions is hosting the sale, which takes place online and in Beverly Hills, California, on January 30, ahead of the 2022 Grammys on January 31. For more info, visit JuliensAuctions.com.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Styx‘s formation, and the band will start celebrating the milestone with a new five-show Las Vegas residency at The Venetian Theatre scheduled for January 28 and 29, and February 2, 4 and 5.

Joining the veteran rockers as the special guest during the engagement will be Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson, who released her debut solo studio album, You and Me, in May.

“We are thrilled to announce that Nancy Wilson, the super talented singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist performer we’ve enjoyed as a member of Heart, will be joining STYX on stage when we return to the Venetian,” frontman Tommy Shaw says in a statement. “Talk about ‘these dreams’ coming true!!!”

Adds Wilson, “I’m so pleased to be part of the STYX plus Nancy Wilson collaboration. I think it’s going to be fun and really different from other shows.”

For the shows, Styx has created a special set list and a new stage production. The 2022 residency follows Styx’s September 2021 engagement at the same venue, which is located inside The Venetian Resort Las Vegas.

Tickets for the new Vegas shows go on sale to the general public this Friday, October 15, at 10 a.m. PT. Styx fan club members will be able to buy pre-sale tickets starting Wednesday, October 13, at 10 a.m. PT, while Live Nation customers and members of The Venetian Resort’s Grazie loyalty program can purchase pre-sale tickets beginning Thursday, October 14, at 10 a.m.

You can buy tickets via Ticketmaster.com, VenetianLasVegas.com, the box offices at the resort, and by calling 702-414-9000 or 866-641-7469.

Styx, which released a new studio album titled Crash of the Crown in June, also has many other U.S. tour dates on their schedule. Visit StyxWorld.com for more info.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Hey now, Steve Harwell is retiring from Smash Mouth.

In a statement to TMZ, Harwell, 54, says, “Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being a rockstar performing in front of sold-out arenas and have been so fortunate to live out that dream.”

“To my bandmates, it’s been an honor performing with you all these years,” he adds. “I can’t think of anyone else I would have rather gone on this wild journey with.”

Harwell’s announcement comes after his bizarre performance at a recent Smash Mouth concert in upstate New York, during which he repeatedly yelled and swore at the audience while slurring his speech. That show followed a string of dates in which Smash Mouth played with another singer instead of Harwell, who’d taken a break from the band due to his ongoing cardiomyopathy heart condition.

At the time, a rep for Smash Mouth said the replacement singer was only a temporary measure, but TMZ now reports that the New York show convinced Harwell to make the change permanent.

“To our loyal and amazing fans, thank you, all of this was possible because of you,” Harwell says. “I’ve tried so hard to power through my physical and mental health issues, and to play in front of you one last time, but I just wasn’t able to.”

“I cannot wait to see what Smash Mouth accomplishes next,” he adds, implying that the group will continue without him. “[I] am looking forward to counting myself as one of the band’s newest fans.”

Harwell co-founded Smash Mouth in 1994. The band has released seven albums, including the RIAA triple-Platinum Astro Lounge, and has scored hits with singles including “All Star,” “Walkin’ on the Sun” and a cover of The Monkees‘ “I’m a Believer.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Earlier this year, Police guitarist Andy Summers revealed to ABC Audio that he planned to release a new solo instrumental album in the fall titled Harmonics of the Night. Now full details about the project have been unveiled.

The album, which features 12 tracks, will be released this Friday, October 15, on CD, as a digital download and via streaming services.

Summers considers Harmonics of the Night the third in a trilogy of instrumental solo records, following 2015’s Metal Dog and 2017’s Triboluminescence. He recorded the album at his Hill of Beans studio in Venice, California, and co-produced it with longtime collaborator Dennis Martin Smith.

The 78-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer also shot the photos featured on the album’s cover and in its packaging.

Andy says lead track “A Certain Strangeness” was written as a sound installation to accompany his 2019 photo exhibit of the same name that opened in Montpellier, France.

“Bringing the two mediums together was a natural move and from that first piece came this whole new recording,” Summers explains. “In a word, it set the mood for the rest of this album.”

Andy has released a track called “Chronosthesia” as Harmonics of the Night‘s first single, which is available now digitally. You can check out a music video for the tune at Andy’s official YouTube channel, featuring photos Summers shot in downtown Los Angelesm along with superimposed footage of Andy playing guitar.

Harmonics of the Night also will be released as a two-LP vinyl set boasting three tracks not included on the CD or digital versions.

In August, Summers published his first fiction book, Fretted and Moaning: Short Stories, which is available at AndySummersBook.com.

Here’s the Harmonics of the Night CD and digital track list:

“A Certain Strangeness”
“City of Crocodiles”
“Aeromancer”
“Chronosthesia”
“Harmonics of the Night”
“Mirror in the Dirt”
“Prairie”
“Fantoccini”
“Aphelion”
“Spell”
“Inamorata”
“Strange Return”

And here’s the vinyl track list:

Disc 1

Side A
“A Certain Strangeness”

Side B
“City of Crocodiles”
“Aeromancer”
“Chronosthesia”
“Harmonics of the Night”

Disc 2

Side A
“Mirror in the Dirt”
“Prairie”
“Fantoccini”
“Aphelion”

Side B
“Spell”
“Inamorata”
“Micrografia”*
“Ecstasy Blooms”*
“A Joint in West Kensington”*

* = appears on LP version only.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

U2‘s second album, October, was released 40 years ago today, October 12, 1981.

The album helped the young Irish rockers continue their ascendance as a popular new wave band following their memorable 1980 debut, Boy, and that record’s standout track “I Will Follow.”

Many fans in the U.S. got their introduction to U2 thanks to the music video for October‘s second single, “Gloria,” which was the first video by the group to be put in heavy rotation on MTV during the network’s early days. The clip famously features the band performing on a barge at the Canal Basin in their hometown of Dublin.

October was not a commercial success in the U.S., reaching only #104 on the Billboard 200. Things were different in the U.K., where the album reached #11.

The first single from October, “Fire,” was released in July of 1981, and it became U2’s first top-40 hit in the U.K., peaking at #35.

October was a challenging project for U2, largely because of an infamous incident that occurred while the band was on tour in the U.S. early in 1981 while promoting Boy. At a show in March of that year in Portland, Oregon, a briefcase with Bono’s lyrics and song ideas for the album went missing backstage. This led to the singer having to quickly pen new lyrics or improvise words when it came time for U2 to record the album.

In comparison with Boy, October‘s songs featured more religious and spiritual themes, exemplified by tunes such as “Gloria,” “With a Shout (Jerusalem),” “Rejoice” and “Tomorrow.”

The album also featured guitarist The Edge contributing his piano talents to a number of songs.

October has gone on to sell more than a million copies in the U.S.

Here’s the October track list:

“Gloria”
“I Fall Down”
“I Threw a Brick Through a Window”
“Rejoice”
“Fire”
“Tomorrow”
“October”
“With a Shout (Jerusalem)”
“Stranger in a Strange Land”
“Scarlet”
“Is That All?”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Doors‘ Robby Krieger delivers a candid, in-depth account of his famous band’s history in his new memoir, Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar with The Doors, which was released today.

Krieger tells ABC Audio that one of the main reasons he wrote the book was he wanted to address the inaccuracies and exaggerations included in such popular accounts of The Doors’ story as Danny Sugerman‘s 1980 book No One Here Gets Out Alive and Oliver Stone‘s 1990 film The Doors.

“The most fun part was to correct a lot of the misinformation out there that people really believe, I guess,” the 75-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer says of the project. “I’m trying to set the record straight as much as possible.”

Krieger says he especially hopes his book gives a clearer picture of what late frontman Jim Morrison was really like, noting, “[W]hen they see the movie, they see Jim in this one light, and he just was so much more than [that].”

In addition to delving into all phases of The Doors’ history, Krieger also writes about his childhood, his post-Doors musical career, his struggles with cancer and drug addiction, and the legal battle that drummer John Densmore initiated against him and keyboardist Ray Manzarek over usage of the group’s name.

Robby says he believes that Densmore’s lawsuit was motivated by bitter feelings he had over insulting things Manzarek wrote about him in his 1998 memoir, Light My Fire, and that Ray, in turn, had been upset by John’s portrayal of him in his 1990 book Rider on the Storm.

Krieger says he made sure to show Densmore “all the parts about him” in his new book before it was released, noting that “he was fine with it.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Eddie Van Halen‘s hometown of Pasadena, California, has unveiled an honorary plaque dedicated to the late Van Halen guitarist.

According to Pasadena Now, the plaque is displayed on the outside wall of the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, which commemorates Eddie and Van Halen for “reinventing rock ‘n’ roll” and their “connection to Pasadena.”

Eddie and his brother Alex were born in The Netherlands before the Van Halen family moved to Pasadena in 1962. By the time they started their namesake band in the early ’70s, the brothers were local sensations — as the plaque notes, Van Halen performed at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium 14 times between 1975 and 1978.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Pasadena council member Felicia Williams said, “This event brings together history and community to celebrate a world-renowned artist.”

“It’s not just the history of Eddie as a guitar legend, but also the challenges he faced growing up mixed race in Pasadena, which always spoke to me,” Williams added, referring to Eddie’s Dutch-Indonesian heritage.

The plaque arrives a week after the one-year anniversary of Eddie’s death. He died October 6, 2020, at age 65 following a battle with cancer.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Members of The Police, Queen and The Rolling Stones were among the honorees today at the 2021 BMI London Awards, given out annually by the music-rights management and licensing company BMI.

Part of the ceremony was dedicated to the presentation of the Million-Air Awards, which recognize the songwriters of iconic songs that have been broadcast on TV and radio more than a million times in the U.S.

At the top of this list is Sting for writing The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” which was honored for amassing 16 million performances.

The honorees in the eight-million-plays category were the writers of Queen‘s “Another Bites the Dust” and “We Will Rock You,” composed, respectively, by John Deacon and Brian May; The Rolling Stones‘ “Honky Tonk Women,” penned by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; and Steve Winwoood‘s “Higher Love,” which Winwood co-wrote with Will Jennings.

The songwriters recognized for tunes with seven million performances were Elton John for “Bennie and the Jets” and his Kiki Dee duet “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”; Gerry Rafferty for “Baker Street; Sting for The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and his contribution to Dire Straits‘ “Money for Nothing”; Paul McCartney for “Live and Let Die”; Freddie Mercury for Queen’s “We Are the Champions”; and ex-Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden for co-writing his old band’s hit “Here I Go Again.”

As for the six-million-play honorees, they included Elton for “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues,” former Yes members Trevor Rabin and Jon Anderson for “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” Cutting Crew‘s Nick van Eede for “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” and Roxette‘s Per Gessle for “It Must Have Been Love.”

To check out a full list of BMI London Awards winner, visit BMI.com.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.