Classic Hits

Duran Duran‘s John Taylor and Simon LeBon are wishing their fans a happy holiday with special messages posted to their Instagram page.

“It’s Christmas time, it’s the holiday season,” Taylor shares in an audio message posted with a picture of him in a snow globe. “I want to wish everybody who’s listening to this just the best of times this year. Whatever it is you want, you get, and I hope we all have a great year together next year.”

Frontman LeBon added his own snow globe message, sharing, “Yeah it’s that time of the year when we’re all very fluffy, we’re a bunch of snowflakes really aren’t we? Yes because, you know, it’s the end of the year, it’s that festive season, it’s all those different festivals, which I call Christmas, because I’m white, middle-aged and male.” 

He offers, “I’m just wishing everybody out there a lovely, happy holidays. Merry Christmas.”

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The guy who co-wrote Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” apparently has some issues with the way that she’s described the song’s origins and is sharing his version in a podcast.

Speaking with the podcast Hot Takes & Deep Dives with Jess Rothschild, Walter Afanasieff — sometimes called Walter A — discusses his creative collaboration with Mariah, which resulted in hits like “Hero” and “One Sweet Day.” The two also worked together on her 1994 Christmas album, and Walter claims that at some point in the past 10 years, Mariah has changed her story.

He particularly takes issue with how Carey described the song to Billboard in 2017: “This song that I wrote basically as a kid on my little Casio keyboard.” Walter is calling B.S. on that.

“She doesn’t play anything, she doesn’t play keyboard or piano,” argues Walter. “She doesn’t understand music, she doesn’t know chord changes and music theory … So to claim that she wrote a very complicated chord-structured song with her finger on a Casio keyboard when she was a little girl, it’s kind of a tall tale.”

In a recent Amazon documentary, Mariah claims she wrote the melody and all the lyrics on a keyboard in her house, then brought it to Walter in the studio to get the right sound.

Walter disputes this by describing — in minute detail — how he played the music and the chord changes, while Mariah echoed the melody and came up with lyrics, going back and forth “like ping-pong,” he says. And after that, he claims, she would call him at all hours of the night, asking for his opinion on the lyrics.

And while Walter allows that Mariah is a talented and wonderful artist, he says her story just doesn’t add up.

(Walter’s version of how they wrote the song starts at 12:19 into the podcast)

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 Jon Bon Jovi and his son Jesse Bongiovi will face off against each other live on Instagram the day after Christmas to determine which one of them is this year’s “Pink Pong” champion.

Yes, it’s just regular ping-pong, but it’s dubbed “Pink Pong” after the duo’s acclaimed Hampton Water brand of rosé wine. On social media, Hampton Water posted a video of Jesse presenting his father with a wrapped gift that contains the “championship cup,” on which the winner’s initials have been engraved for 2020 and 2021. It appears as though Jon has beaten his son for the last two years.

“Here ya go b*****s! Defending champ!” Jon brags, showing off the trophy.

When Jesse announces that the 2022 match will take place on December 26, Jon whispers, “You don’t scare me.” But Jesse writes in the comments, “It’s so on! Old man’s going down!”

You can watch the father-son rematch Monday, December 26, at 12 p.m. ET on Instagram Live on Hampton Water’s Instagram page.

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It’s been less than a month since Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie passed away, and her bandmate Mick Fleetwood is opening up about how he’s doing since her passing. 

While appearing at the John Douglas exhibit at the Animazing Gallery at the Palazzo in Las Vegas, Fleetwood told The Music Universe, “I’m doing OK. Coming to Vegas … has been a really healthy distraction from a tragedy for us in Fleetwood Mac.”

Fleetwood praised McVie’s artistry, noting she “would have a lot to say” about Douglas’ work, which has been featured on drums, guitars, album covers and more. “She was a great craftswoman,” he said of McVie. “She was a great painter, in actual fact. [She] did a couple album covers back in the day.” 

“We miss her desperately,” he said.

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Music fans just can’t seem to get enough of classic holiday tunes, and that’s especially true when it comes to the classic album A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The soundtrack, originally released in 1965 by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, just landed its highest position on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart, at two, selling 17,000 copies last week. One week before it surpassed its previous high, moving from seven to five.

The album has always been popular over the holiday season. In fact, from 2012 to 2021 it has been the top-selling holiday album on vinyl. Of course, it may help that the album is available in 15 different vinyl editions, in varying colors and from different retailers.

Overall, the album has sold 4.3 million records since 1991, when Luminate started tracking sales. Of that number, 469,000 were from vinyl sales.

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As we reported, Philadelphia soul icon Thom Bell passed away Thursday at the age of 79. Following news of his death, several artists took to social media to pay tribute to the famed songwriter/producer.

Elton John, who worked with Bell in the late ’70s/early ’80s on songs like “Are You Ready For Love” and “Mama Can’t Buy You Love,” called Bell a “wonderful producer of timeless records.” He added, “Working with him was a highlight of my career,” calling the two songs, “Two hits I will always cherish.”

Nile Rodgers also shared his thoughts, describing Bell as “one of the greatest writers and producers of all time.” He continued, “He was the architect of the relationship between #BernardEdwards & me as we were the band for the group New York City (I’m Doing Fine Now) a #ThomBell smash.” 

And songwriter Diane Warren shared, “Just heard about Thom Bell. He didn’t make sounds, he WAS a sound. Too many classics to name here but music wouldn’t be the same without him. Rest in Power and thank U gor [sic] the music.” 

Philadelphia’s own Questlove noted, “This gentleman wrote the soundtrack of our lives,” listing Bell’s many songs. He added, “#ThomBell was the PHILLY-est of the foundational songwriters that gave my city its identity. Be it covers/samples/the originals from soundtracks form wedding bands, karaoke, or seeing in concert—-his life’s work no doubt was our soundtrack. Rest In Melody Thom Bell!”

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Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin are in the midst of their annual Hanukkah Sessions, performing songs by Jewish artists. One of those artists was Janis Ian, who was thoroughly impressed by the performance. 

The clip had Grohl on drums, Kurstin on keyboards and Dave’s daughter Violet Grohl singing Ian’s classic “At Seventeen.” Ian, who recently revealed she can no longer sing due to scarring on her vocal cords, loved hearing it. 

“This morning I woke up and thought ‘How strange. I’ll never be able to sing “At Seventeen” again.’ And I don’t mind admitting that it was really depressing,” she shared on Facebook. “But what better antidote could there be than to hear my work, 47 years after I wrote it, beautifully and sincerely sung by Violet Grohl?”

She added, “What a perfectly happy day this turned out to be. Thank you, Violet. Thank you, Dave. Thank you.”

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Ozzy Osbourne‘s worked with a ton of legendary rockers over his long career — just look at the guests on his new Patient Number 9 solo album — but there’s one that’s continued to elude even the Prince of Darkness.

In an interview with Yahoo, Ozzy shares his dream to one day work with Paul McCartney.

“That will never happen,” Ozzy says of collaborating with the Beatles icon. “I asked him one time, and he had some excuse.”

Should an Ozzy/Macca joint track ever occur, though, the metal legend declares, “Then I could go, ‘OK, I’ve achieved all my dreams.'”

The artists who contribute to Patient Number 9 include Ozzy’s Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi, Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith, Guns N’ Roses‘ Duff McKagan, Black Label Society‘s Zakk Wylde, Metallica‘s Robert Trujillo and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Ozzy also reached out to Jimmy Page to guest on the record, but told Metal Hammer that he never heard back from the Led Zeppelin guitarist.

Elsewhere in the Yahoo interview, Ozzy opens up about wanting to return to the road. A variety of health issues — not to mention a worldwide pandemic — have kept him from touring since 2018.

“I just wanna get back on that stage,” Ozzy says. “I’ve gotta get back on that stage. It’s driving me nuts, not being able to.”

“I can’t relax,” he adds. “I’ve always gotta be doing something … I mean, I could say let’s call it a day, but I can’t stop.”

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Bryan Adams has written several Christmas songs over the years, including the 1985 hit “Christmas Time” and the recently released track “Let’s Get Christmas Going.” But no matter how many songs he may put out, he knows there’s no competing with classic holiday tunes. 

“I’m just trying to have a laugh,” he tells ABC Audio. “You know, I think Christmas is a fun time and it should be about that.”

While Bryan says “Christmas Time” is a more “sentimental” holiday track, his latest tune was inspired by something his daughter said to him. “And I thought, ‘That’s a good idea,’” he explains. “Because it was September or something. She’s like, ‘Papa! Let’s just get Christmas going!’”

As for how the family will be celebrating the holiday, Bryan notes there won’t be any ham or turkey on the table because his family is vegan. “Oh, no, no, there’s no animals in our house. My kids have never eaten any animals,” he says. “You can have a perfectly good nut roast or something with gravy and roast potatoes.” 

He adds, “I mean, Christmas is obviously a time to pig out. So I have no problem making an absolute pig of myself without the pig.”

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While some people can gather around the fire on Christmas, others are not so lucky and will settle for watching the televised Yule log. But if Christmas music isn’t your thing, and you’re a Deadhead, there’s another option. 

The Grateful Dead has gone live with their holiday Yule log, a tradition they started last year. This year, Deadheads can watch the burning flame as they listen to the band’s 1973 three-night stand at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California, which took place November 9-11.

The band launched the Yule log last year featuring recordings of their 1972 shows at London’s Lyceum Theatre.

And fans are certainly excited to have it back. “Best Yule Log ever!” noted one commenter, while another added, “caught this the other night awesome stuff for the holidays.”

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