Classic Hits

Another summer means another summer music playlist from Barack Obama.

Over the weekend, the former president took to social media to share what he’s listening to these days. Like past playlists, the 2021 edition encompasses a range of genres, and it includes songs by several famous rock veterans.

Among the tunes that appear on the 38-track playlist are The Rolling Stones‘ “Tumbling Dice,” George Harrison‘s “My Sweet Lord,” Stevie Wonder‘s “If You Really Love Me,”  Chicago‘s “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles‘ “The Tears of a Clown.”

Alongside the list, Obama wrote, “With so many folks getting together with family and friends, there’s a lot to celebrate this summer. Here’s a playlist of songs I’ve been listening to lately — it’s a mix of old and new, household names and emerging artists, and a whole lot in between.”

Other artists that Obama has been listening to include Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Simply Red, The Staple Singers and Miles Davis.

With so many folks getting together with family and friends, there’s a lot to celebrate this summer. Here’s a playlist of songs I’ve been listening to lately—it’s a mix of old and new, household names and emerging artists, and a whole lot in between. pic.twitter.com/xwTPun9wsw

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 10, 2021

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E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt was honored by the American Federation of Teachers over the weekend and, during the emotional ceremony, praised teachers for being “on the frontlines against ignorance.”

According to a statement from AFT, Van Zandt, 70, was awarded the organization’s Making a Difference award for his support of teachers, inclusive of his “years of work promoting and appreciating the work of educators” through his philanthropy.

The guitarist appeared virtually at the federation’s TEACH summer educational issues conference on Saturday.

“This is an amazing award, coming from my favorite people — you,” Van Zandt began in his pre-recorded speech. “You, my friends, are the ones who make a difference every day. Teachers are on the frontlines against ignorance. Honestly, we have never needed you more.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer also praised the arts-inclusive twist on the STEM acronym, now called STEAM to include arts education.

“There are no wrong answers in the arts,” said Van Zandt. “The arts provide a comfort zone, and that extends to other disciplines.”

He closed his speech by praising all educators, saying, “I can’t overstate my appreciation for all you do and for this award. I salute you. You are helping to create the next generation of engineers, scientists, doctors, nurses, artists, activists, writers and even musicians.”

In the statement, AFT president Randi Weingarten said they chose Van Zandt to receive the honor because he “passionately spreads the gospel of teachers’ tireless work and actively engages with teachers and students during regular classroom visits and through TeachRock.org, his free online music and arts curriculum.”

The statement adds, “He lends his name and notoriety to supporting educators, which is particularly special given everything they’ve done to support students in the last year.”

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Grand Funk Railroad returned to the road earlier this month for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020.

Founding Grand Funk drummer/singer Don Brewer tells ABC Audio that he feels “awesome” about getting to play concerts again, noting that as the health crisis got worse, he’d feared that normal touring might never come back.

“And when it finally started turning around and things started opening up and the vaccines came in, it was like, ‘Man, maybe we can do this again,” he notes. “And now it’s like this is a blessing…that we’re able to get back out and do it.”

The 72-year-old rocker says he’s excited “hear the crowd again and look at the faces and to see the smiles and to see people enjoying what we do.”

The band currently has about 20 confirmed upcoming dates on its 2021 trek, which is called the the Some Kind of Wonderful Tour, named after Grand Funk Railroad‘s hit 1974 cover of the 1967 Soul Brothers Six tune “Some Kind of Wonderful.”

Brewer tells ABC Audio that Grand Funk’s 2021 set list is similar to the one they played prior to the pandemic, although they’re adding a couple of old tunes back into the show, 1969’s “Heartbreaker” and 1970’s “Mean Mistreater,” the latter of which Don says the band hasn’t played since 1998.

The current Grand Funk lineup, which also features founding bassist Mel Schacher, has now been together for 22 years.

“We’re brothers,” says Brewer. “Not only Mel, but everybody. And we lucked out to put this group of guys together, because I don’t think I’ve ever been in a band where you get along with everybody…And we do.”

Check out the band’s full tour schedule at GrandFunkRailroad.com.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Funk/R&B legends Kool & the Gang will release Perfect Union, their first new studio album of original music in more than a decade, on August 20.

The 10-track collection was produced by the group’s late co-founder, Ronald Khalis Bell, who died in September of 2020 at age 68. The album, which can be pre-ordered now, will be available on CD and digital formats.

Perfect Union begins and ends with two different versions of a song titled “Pursuit of Happiness.” The second version of the track, a rap version, has been released as the album’s first single.

Kool & the Gang leader Robert “Kool” Bell explains, “My brother, Khalis, wrote the single ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ around the time of Obama‘s second campaign for President. That was such an inspirational time and the hook and music just bolted out of him. That time period was a pretty creative period for him and all of us.”

Adds Kool, “Now that he has passed, that [album title], Perfect Union makes even more sense to me. It’s about us. He used to say we were the ‘koolective’ genius of a band called Kool & the Gang. We came together as kids and it’s been a perfect union. He knew that.”

An animated music video for the track premiered this week at RollingStone.com, and you also can watch the clip on YouTube. It follows a robot, apparently living on a post-apocalyptic Earth, who creates a pair of goggles that allow other robots to see the planet as it once was. Together, they’re inspired to help make the Earth thrive again.

Here’s the full track list for Perfect Union:

“Pursuit of Happiness”
“The Weekend”
“Leave It on the Dance Floor”
“High”
“Sexy (Where’d You Get Yours)”
“All to Myself”
“R.O.Y.A.L.T.Y.” (Kool & The Gang Mix)
“Hold On”
“Good Time”
“Pursuit of Happiness” (Rap Version)

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The recently reported remixed and re-edited version of the concert film capturing The Rolling Stones‘ historic 2006 show at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach got its release today.

The Rolling Stones — A Bigger Bang: Live on Copacabana Beach is available as a DVD/two-CD set, an SD Blu-ray/two-CD package, a deluxe two-DVD/two-CD collection, a three-LP colored-vinyl set, and digitally.

The Copacabana Beach concert took place on February 18, 2006, in front of 1.5 million people, making it one of the biggest free shows ever. The event was part of The Stones’ tour in support of their 2005 studio album, A Bigger Bang.

The Rio performance featured select songs from A Bigger Bang and a cover of the R&B gem “The Night Time Is the Right Time,” along with a collection of Stones classics.

The updated concert video features four songs that didn’t appear on the original 2007 DVD The Biggest Bang, which included the Copacabana Beach concert: “Tumbling Dice,” “Oh No, Not You Again,” “This Place Is Empty” and “Sympathy for the Devil.”

The deluxe two-DVD/two-CD set includes footage from a 2005 Salt Lake City concert on the second DVD.

Coinciding with the release of A Bigger Bang: Live, a video of The Stones performing “Midnight Rambler” at the Copacabana Beach concert was posted today on the band’s official YouTube channel.

Here’s the track list for the Rio concert:

“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)”
“You Got Me Rocking”
“Tumbling Dice”
“Oh No, Not You Again”
“Wild Horses”
“Rain Fall Down”
“Midnight Rambler”
“Night Time Is the Right Time”
“This Place Is Empty”
“Happy”
“Miss You”
“Rough Justice”
“Get Off My Cloud”
“Honky Tonk Women”
“Sympathy for the Devil”
“Start Me Up”
“Brown Sugar”
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

And here’s the track list for the Salt Lake City show (deluxe versions only):

“Start Me Up”
“You Got Me Rocking”
“She’s So Cold”
“Tumbling Dice”
“Rain Fall Down”
“It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)”
“Wild Horses”
“All Down the Line”
“Night Time Is the Right Time”
“Slipping Away”
“Infamy”
“Miss You”
“Rough Justice”
“Get Off of My Cloud”
“Honky Tonk Women”
“Sympathy for the Devil”
“Brown Sugar”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A new documentary focusing on the poetry, prose and artistry of late Doors frontman Jim Morrison is being developed as part of a partnership between JAM Inc. — the managers of Morrison’s estate — and the Gunpowder & Sky production company.

The film will incorporate the singer’s recently unearthed personal diaries, as well as rare home-movie footage. News of the documentary comes on the heels of the recent publication of The Collected Works of Jim Morrison: Poetry, Journals, Transcripts and Lyrics. The book that features most of Morrison’s previously published work, as well as a bounty of unpublished writing, including the aforementioned diaries.

“Jim was a poet and a writer and a filmmaker long before he ever thought about music,” JAM Inc. CEO Jeff Jampol tells Billboard. “All these decades everybody talked about Jim Morrison the rock star, which he certainly was. But we really felt it was time to even the playing field and talk about these other aspects of Jim, which were either not as known or celebrated or discussed.”

Jampol also notes that the producers are searching for a director “who understands the import and the depth and the gravity” of Morrison.

“You need a director who is empathetic to the human and the artist and the art, [who] understands the history and context,” Jampol maintains.  He adds that he’s hoping the as-yet-untitled film will be ready for release by late 2022 or early 2023.

July 3 marked the 50th anniversary of Morrison’s death at age 27 in Paris.

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Def Leppard‘s second album, High ‘n’ Dry, was released 40 years ago this Sunday, July 11.

The album helped establish the band in the U.S. in advance of its massive 1983 breakthrough, Pyromania, peaking at #38 on the Billboard 200.

The best-known song from High ‘n’ Dry is “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak,” which garnered the band a lot of attention in the States when a performance video for the tune went into heavy rotation on MTV.

The album also featured the song “Let It Go,” which reached #34 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Both “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” and “Let It Go” were co-written by frontman Joe Elliott and guitarists Steve Clark and Pete Willis. Willis, who struggled with alcoholism, was fired from the group in 1982 and replaced by Phil Collen.

“‘Bringin’ On the Heartbreak’…when that came out on MTV, I think that kind of blew the doors off the place,” Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen tells ABC Audio. “If anything, that record really set up Pyromania perfect. And then…once Pyromania came out, you know, with MTV and everything that was going on at that time, I think that was a big reason for our success. But…I think that was probably one of the most important songs off of [High ‘n’ Dry].”

Allen adds that he also was a fan of the rocking “Let It Go,” which he says was “the closest we’ve ever got to sounding like AC/DC.”

A remix of “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak,” with new guitar parts by Collen replacing Willis’ original licks, was released in 1984, and made it to #61 on the Billboard Hot 100.

High ‘n’ Dry went on to sell over 2 million copies in the U.S.

Here’s the full High ‘n’ Dry track list:

“Let It Go”
“Another Hit and Run”
“High ‘n’ Dry (Saturday Night)”
“Bringin’ On the Heartbreak”
“Switch 625”
“You Got Me Runnin'”
“Lady Strange”
“On Through the Night”
“Mirror, Mirror (Look into My Eyes)”
“No No No”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Queen fans can now take a crack at becoming a champion at a new interactive trivia game that focuses on the band’s music and history.

The Queen Trivia Challenge was created by Amazon in partnership with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers as the latest interactive skill experience for the Alexa voice-activated search program.

While taking the challenge, fans will be able to discover some some surprising facts and insights into the legendary U.K. group.  The game features more than 400 questions, and includes audio clips of some of Queen’s biggest hits, as well as footage from documentaries and concerts. The video footage will be viewable on Alexa-enabled devices with screens.

To access the Queen Trivia Challenge on your device, visit Amazon.com.

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The Go-Go’s released their classic debut album, Beauty and the Beat, 40 years ago today, and in conjunction with that milestone anniversary, the famed all-female band has announced plans to issue a special limited-edition pink-vinyl version of the record on September 10.

The reissue features new cover art: a previously unseen image from the same photo shoot that produced Beauty and the Beat‘s original cover, showing the group wearing bath towels and face cream.

Each copy of the Beauty and the Beat vinyl reissue will be numbered, and the LP is available exclusively at the group’s official store, at uDiscoverMusic.com and at The SoundofVinyl.com. You can pre-order the album now.

Released on July 8, 1981, Beauty and the Beat spent six consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 in March and April of the following year. To date, it’s the only Billboard 200 number-one album by an all-female band who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments.

Beauty and the Beat featured two of the group’s biggest hits: “Our Lips Are Sealed,” which peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100, and “We Got the Beat,” which reached #2.

Earlier this year, The Go-Go’s were chosen for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and the band will be welcomed into the hallowed institution at an October 30 ceremony in Cleveland.

The group also recently lined up a five-date series of late-2021 and early-2022 concerts, running from a December 28 show in San Francisco through January 3 in San Diego.  Those dates also include a December 31-January 1 stand in Las Vegas.

To follow up with the 40th Anniversary of BATB… we’re launching an Exclusive LP! 🤩💿 Pre-order yours now!! 💗https://t.co/EzKgfKg91D pic.twitter.com/D2OuJaV2XT

— The Go-Go’s (@officialgogos) July 8, 2021

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After playing a handful of shows in Florida last month, Heart singer Ann Wilson has now lined up a brief U.S. trek dubbed The Howl Tour, which currently features eight East Coast concerts taking place in August.

The outing kicks off with an August 14 performance in Alexandria, Virginia, and winds down with an August 23-24 engagement in New York City at the City Winery.

Ann will be joined by her solo backing band, which now has been dubbed The Amazing Dawgs.

One of the events Wilson is scheduled to play is a star-studded benefit show called the Never Forget Concert that will be held August 21 in Wantagh, New York. The show is being presented by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, pays homage to firefighter Stephen Siller, who died while trying to save others during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and also honors military members and first responders who continue to serve the U.S.

In addition to Wilson, the concert’s lineup also features John Fogerty, Journey, the Steve Miller Band, Jesse Colin Young, Wyclef Jean and others.

In other Wilson news, Ann recently released a digital EP titled Sawheat 8 that gathers together four tracks she issued individually over the last year — “Tender Heart,” “The Hammer,” “Black Wing” and her rendition of country-rocker Steve Earle‘s “The Revolution Starts Now” — as well as a cover of Alice in Chains‘ “Rooster,” which previously was only available as the B-side of a limited-edition vinyl single.

Here are all of Wilson’s upcoming solo shows, according to AnnWilson.com:

8/14 — Alexandria, VA, Birchmere
8/15 — Annapolis, MD, Maryland Hall
8/17 — Albany, NY, Hart Theatre at The Egg
8/18 — Hampton Beach, NH, Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
8/20 — Atlantic City, NJ, Sound Waves at Hard Rock Hotel
8/21 — Wantagh, NY, Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater – Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s Never Forget Concert
8/23 — New York, NY, The City Winery
8/24 — New York, NY, The City Winery

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