Classic Hits

On This Day, March 30, 1945 …

Eric Patrick Clapton was born in Surrey, England, and would go on to be regarded as one of the most influential and successful musicians to emerge from the 1960s British music scene.

Clapton started his career with The Yardbirds and went on to have successful careers with such groups as Cream with Ginger Baker, Blind Faith with Steve Winwood, and Derek and the Dominoes.

Clapton eventually went solo, releasing his debut solo album in 1969, and scored his first number one in 1974 with a cover of Bob Marley’s “I Shot The Sheriff.” Clapton has sold more than 280 million records worldwide and is best known for such classic songs as “Lay Down Sally,” “Tears in Heaven,” “Wonderful Tonight,” “I Can’t Stand It” and “Change the World,” as well as covers of the J.J. Cale songs “After Midnight” and “Cocaine.”

Clapton is the winner of 18 Grammys and to this day is the only musician to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame three times — as a solo artist, and as a member of both The Yardbirds and Traffic.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

KISS may have announced their final tour dates, but that doesn’t mean they are done adding shows.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just added four new U.S. dates to their The End of the Road Tour. The new shows will take place in October, starting with Detroit on October 20. The other additions are Nashville on October 23, St. Louis on October 25 and Fort Worth, Texas, on October 27. 

Tickets for the new dates go on sale to the KISS Army on April 3 at 10 a.m. local time, with a general sale happening April 7 at 10 a.m. local time.

As previously reported, KISS has already announced they will wrap the tour December 1 and 2 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, which they say will be the band’s final shows ever. A complete list of KISS dates can be found at kissonline.com.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Noted anti-gun violence activist Sheryl Crow performed Wednesday night at a candlelight vigil in Nashville following this week’s shooting at the city’s The Covenant School, which left six people dead, including three children.

Rolling Stone reports that Sheryl was joined by first lady Jill Biden, the mayor of Nashville, the chief of police, religious leaders, and alt-country musicians Margo Price and Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. 

Sheryl, a Nashville resident herself, performed “I Shall Believe,” a song from her debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club. The lyrics go, “Come to me now/ And lay your hands over me/ Even if it’s a lie/ Say it will be alright/ And I shall believe.”

Three months ago, Sheryl released a live version of “I Shall Believe” to benefit Sandy Hook Promise, a charity that was established after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The charity educates and empowers youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes and communities.

Following The Covenant School shooting Monday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee tweeted, “Please join us in praying for the school, congregation & Nashville community.” Sheryl replied, “Oh yes… prayers. Sure hope all those prayers keep bullets from assault rifles from flying into our children.”

And when Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn tweeted, “My office is in contact with federal, state, & local officials, & we stand ready to assist,” Sheryl shot back, “If you are ready to assist, please pass sensible gun laws so that the children of Tennessee and America at large might attend school without risk of being gunned down.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Keith Reid, Procol Harum lyricist and co-writer of the British band’s classic 1967 hit “Whiter Shade of Pale,” died on March 23 after a battle with cancer, according to the band’s website. He was 76.

“Whiter Shade of Pale,” whose hook was borrowed from Bach’s Suite No. 3 in D Major, was credited to Reid, Procol Harum’s lead singer and pianist Gary Brooker, and later, organist Matthew Fisher following a lengthy lawsuit. It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold more than six million copies globally. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and recognized as “Best British Pop Single 1952–1977″ — along with Queen‘s “Bohemian Rhapsody” — at the BRIT Awards as part of Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee. It was also played a major role in writer-director Lawrence Kasden’s 1983 film, The Big Chill.

Reid’s association with the band began with their self-titled 1967 debut album and lasted through their 2003 release, The Well’s on Fire.

In August 2008, he released the album The Common Thread under The Keith Reid Project. Reid wrote the lyrics for the songs, which were performed by a variety of musicians, including Southside Johnny and John Waite. The Keith Reid Project also released the album In My Head in 2018.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A new book coming this summer is set to delve into four influential women behind one of the biggest rock ‘n’ roll bands in the world – the Rolling Stones.

Parachute Women, named after the Stones’ 1968 Beggars Banquet tune “Parachute Woman,” is being released July 11 by Hachette Books. It focuses on Marianne Faithfull, Marsha Hunt, Bianca Jagger and Anita Pallenberg, four women who, according to the description, “inspired, styled, wrote for, remixed, and ultimately helped create the legend of the Rolling Stones.”

The book, written by Elizabeth Winder, explores how the women provided much needed emotional support and guidance to the band, details their intimate relationships with the rockers, and features stories of wild nights and more, telling rock ‘n’ roll history from a woman’s point of view. 

Faithfull had a highly publicized relationship with Mick Jagger from 1966 to 1970, while Bianca was married to Jagger from 1971 to 1978 and had one child with him, daughter Jade. Hunt dated Jagger between 1969 and 1970, and is the mother of his oldest daughter, Karis. Pallenberg was romantically involved with Stones founder Brian Jones, and was also with Keith Richards from 1967 to 1980; she had three children with him.

The description of the book notes these women “consciously (and unconsciously) kept the band current—and confident—with that mythic lasting power they still have today.”

The book is available for preorder now.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Diana Ross is heading out on tour this summer. The legendary singer just announced dates for The Music Legacy Tour 2023, where she’s celebrating her greatest number one hits.

The tour kicks off June 9 in Temecula, California, and wraps July 2 in Chautauqua, New York, with more dates to be announced. A complete list of tour dates, along with ticket sale information, can be found at dianaross.com.

In 2022, Ross released her first album of new material in 20 years, Thank You, and toured on the album. She also dropped a new single, “Turn Up the Sunshine,” last May. The collaboration with the band Tame Impala was featured on the soundtrack for Minions: The Rise of Gru. 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Steven Van Zandt may be busy on tour with Bruce Springsteen, but he hasn’t forgotten about his other band. The guitarist just announced a very special concert with the Disciples of Soul. 

Little Steven and the Disciples Of Soul present Sorcery & Soulfire Live! at the Basie! is set to go down April 18 at Red Bank, New Jersey’s Count Basie Center for the Arts. The show will have Little Steven and the band “reinventing” songs from two of their albums, 2017’s Soulfire and 2019’s Summer of Sorcery, along with other fan favorites.

“Come on down,” says Little Steven, “and we’ll see what sorcery we can conjure up!” 

Tickets for the show are on sale now, but fans who can’t get there still have a chance to experience the evening. The concert will be recorded and released as a concert film later this year.

This isn’t the only performance the Disciples of Soul has planned. On April 15, they’ll be the house band at the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music’s American Music Honors event at Monmouth University, where Little Steven is among the inaugural honorees. 

As for the Springsteen and the E Street Band tour, it hits Detroit, Michigan, Wednesday, March 29. A full list of dates can be found at brucepsringsteen.net. 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The upcoming FloydFest has hit a snag: The three-day event was supposed to take place July 26-30 in Virginia, featuring The Black Crowes, My Morning Jacket, Sheryl Crow and Goose, but organizers just announced that plans are up in the air due to problems with the location.

This year’s fest, dubbed FloydFest 23: Forever, was supposed to take place in a new location, FestivalPark, but apparently things aren’t going as planned.

“Due to final permitting and logistical factors beyond our control, the new FloydFest site, FestivalPark, is not currently viable for a 2023 festival, and we are currently exploring all options,” they write on Instagram, noting, “We will be back with more information on April 6.” 

Regardless of what happens this year, they assure fans, “Make zero mistake — FloydFest and its future are strong, and this we do know: We will see each of you, our FloydFest Family, in July 2024, as we christen your new home, FestivalPark.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

War is celebrating last year’s 50th anniversary of their classic album The World is a Ghetto with a brand-new remix album, dropping May 12.

War: The Remixes features tracks like “The World is a Ghetto,” “Spill the Wine,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends” and more remixed by such well-known DJs as the Beastie Boys’ Mix Master Mike, DJ Logic, Jesse Perez, Preditah and Saxsquatch.

The band has also shared the first tracks from the album, Mix Master Mike’s takes on “The World is a Ghetto” and “Slippin’ Into Darkness.”

Released November 1972, The World is a Ghetto, War’s fifth studio album, went to number one on the Billboard album chart. Songs on the album have been sampled by a variety of artists over the years, including 2Pac, Cypress Hill, Janet Jackson, Method Man and more. 

Here’s the track list for War: The Remixes:

“Slippin’ Into Darkness” (Mix Master Mike Remix)
“The World is a Ghetto” (Mix Master Mike Remix)
“Why Can’t We Be Friends” (Saxsquatch & Stephen Walking Remix)
“Spill The Wine” (Jesse Perez Remix)
“Galaxy” (Preditah Remix)
“Galaxy” (DJ Logic Remix)

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Wham!‘s massive 1984 hit “Careless Whisper” continues to dominate the music landscape — especially when it comes to YouTube.

That song is now the latest offering to join YouTube’s prestigious billion-views club. Variety reports in 2023 alone its music video was watched 400,000 times on average, every day.

“Careless Whisper,” which was uploaded to the video-sharing platform in October 2009, is now the eighth song from the 1980s to earn over 1 billion views.

The song now joins other hits “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley, Cyndi Lauper‘s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” Guns N’ Roses‘ “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson, “Every Breath You Take” by the Police, Europe‘s “The Final Countdown” and A-ha‘s “Take on Me.”

“Careless Whisper,” which was written by Andrew Ridgeley and the late George Michael, was released in July 1984 and was featured on Wham!’s Make It Big album. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and is RIAA-certified Platinum.

The duo shot the song’s music video in Miami and tapped Duncan Gibbins as its director. Gibbins also helmed the video for Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.