Classic Hits

Madonna‘s concert documentary, Madame X, has an official release date. It will have its Paramount+ debut on Friday, October 8.

The film was shot in Lisbon, Portugal during the Queen of Pop’s sold-out tour, which ran from September of 2019 to March of 2020. It captures songs off her 2019 album, Madame X, as well as previous hits and fan favorites.

“Sharing my vision with global audiences has been profoundly meaningful to me,” Madonna says in a statement. “The opportunity to bring its message and the incandescent artistry of all involved to an even wider audience comes at a time when music is so deeply needed to remind us of the sacred bond of our shared humanity.”

Madonna’s Madame X trek was unlike any of her previous tours.  Instead of her usual stadium show, she created a much more intimate performance for theaters, and played multiple nights in major cities in the United States, England, France and Portugal.

Several shows on the tour were canceled due to a recurring knee injury Madonna suffered, and the entire trek was subsequently cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Journey‘s classic seventh studio album, 1981’s Escape, has just been certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales and equivalent units of 10 million copies in the U.S.

Escape, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this Saturday, July 17, is the band’s only album to top the Billboard 200. It yielded some of Journey’s most enduring hits, including the anthem “Don’t Stop Believin’,” plus “Open Arms” and “Who’s Crying Now,” as well as the classic-rock-radio staple “Stone in Love.”

Impressively, “Don’t Stop Believin'” has amassed more than a billion streams on Spotify alone.

“This is such a truly gratifying achievement for all the work we did together,” declares guitarist Neal Schon. “Congratulations to all.”

Adds keyboardist Jonathan Cain, “On behalf of all that helped to make our album Escape a Diamond award achievement, we say thank you. To our fans, to our bandmates who took part in recording this album, to our label, to all in radio and finally to the distributors who believed in this music; we are deeply humbled and honored to accept this prestigious award.”

Escape becomes Journey’s second RIAA Diamond-certified album, following the band’s 1988 Greatest Hits compilation, which has sold over 15 million copies or album equivalent units.

Journey recently released a brand-new song, “The Way We Used to Be,” the group’s first new music since 2011, and its first with its three recently added members — bassist Randy Jackson, drummer Narada Michael Walden and keyboardist Jason Derlatka. Jackson previously was a member of Journey during the mid-1980s.

Meanwhile, the band has several concerts on its 2021 itinerary, including a July 31 performance at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago and a July 29 Lollapalooza “Aftershow” event at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom.

Check out the band’s full schedule at JourneyMusic.com.

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If you feel the need to Power Up with alcohol, AC/DC‘s got you covered.

The band has teamed with the high-end collectible company KnuckleBonz and the CaliCraft Brewing Company to introduce two new beers: AC/DC PWR UP Juicy IPA and AC/DC TNT Double IPA.  They’ll be coming to select retail outlets in mid-September, but you can pre-order them now; depending on where you live, direct-to-consumer shipping starts July 26.

The 6.6% ABV PWR UP Juicy IPA is inspired by AC/DC’s most recent album, and features “massive flavors of bright passionfruit, ripe peaches, and juicy mandarin.”  The TNT Double IPA is 8.2% ABV, and is described as “big and bold,” with flavors of “fresh cut grapefruit, sweet mango, and fresh pine.”

If you happen to be in California, there is a series of release events for the beers on July 23, 24 and 25 at the CaliCraft Brewing Company at 2700 Mitchell Dr. in Walnut Creek, CA.

CaliCraft says that AC/DC had final approval over all the details of the beer, including the designs on the cans, and these two brews are the first in what will be a series of AC/DC-branded beers.

 

 

 

 

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Jeff LaBar, lead guitarist for the hair-metal band Cinderella, has died. He was 58.

His son, Sebastian, confirmed his father’s death on Instagram and shared a slew of family photos in the emotional tribute.

“So i just got the call… @jefflabar , my father, my hero, my idol, passed away today,” he wrote Wednesday. “I’m currently at a loss for words. I love you pop!”

Sebastian added, “If you could, please share pictures or video of all the fun times we all had with my dad. It would be greatly appreciated.”

Gaile LaBar-Bernhardt, LaBar’s ex wife, said in a separate statement to TMZ that LaBar was found deceased in his Nashville home.  A cause of death has not been revealed.

According to LaBar-Bernhardt, she went to check on her ex-husband after no one heard from him in a few days.

LaBar’s Cinderella band mates — frontman Tom Keifer, bassist Eric Brittingham and drummer Fred Coury — issued joint statement paying homage to him.

“Heavy hearts cannot begin to describe the feeling of losing our brother Jeff,” the musicians say. “The bond between us over decades of creating music and touring the world is something that we as a band uniquely shared. Those memories with Jeff will be forever alive in our hearts. It’s unimaginable that one of our band brothers has left us. We’re sending his wife Debinique, his son Sebastian, family, and friends our deepest condolences.”

LaBar had served as Cinderella’s guitarist since 1985, replacing Michael Schermick, and assisted with their hits “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone),” “Somebody Save Me,” “Nobody’s Fool” and many others.

LaBar also toured with fellow rockers such as Bon Jovi, Poison, Quiet Riot and Skid Row.  He also served as guitarist for Naked Beggars.

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A few months ago, Carlos Santana told ABC Audio that his band will be releasing a new album later this year titled Blessings and Miracles, and in a new interview with the network, the guitar legend shares some updated details about the project.

Carlos reveals that the album was “just completed” and is due out in the fall. An eclectic list of artists contributed to the record, which Santana says will feature various musical genres, including “country, gospel and reggae.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer also reports that country star Chris Stapleton “wrote an incredible song for us, ‘Joy,'” and that hit-making pop songwriter Diane Warren “wrote some great songs” for the project as well.

In the previous interview, Carlos told ABC Audio that Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett will be featured on the album, and that Steve Winwood and Living Colour frontman Corey Glover also might appear on the record. Santana now confirms that Winwood and Glover will be on the album, and says Hammett will be featured on a track alongside Mark Osegueda, lead singer of the Bay Area thrash-metal band Death Angel.

In addition, Ally Brooke of the girl group Fifth Harmony also sings on Blessings and Miracles.

“This new album is going to blow a lot of people [away],” Carlos gushes.

Meanwhile, Santana says he’s feeling great about still creating vibrant music at this time in his life.

“I just feel like it’s wonderful to be 73 years old, young, and be relevant, and stay relevant,” he declares. “You know, it’s quite a gift from God, man.”

Carlos adds, “I’m still dreaming of doing music with new musicians and discovering new avenues to the unknown and unpredictability.”

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Queen‘s Greatest Hits may have been released 1981, but the 40-year-old compilation was still among the best-selling albums in the U.S. for the first half of 2021.

According to music-sales info provider MRC Data, Queen’s Greatest Hits landed at #7 on the Top Physical Albums tally, charting total combined vinyl and CD sales.

The compilation also landed at #9 on the Top Vinyl Albums list. Other albums by veteran artists appearing on the top-10 of the vinyl-sales tally included Prince‘s Purple Rain at #5, Michael Jackson‘s Thriller at #6 and Fleetwood Mac‘s Rumours at #10.

Queen’s Greatest Hits also was #2 on the Top Rock Albums list, which is compiled using combined traditional album sales, individual track downloads and on-demand streams. Further down on the tally were Rumours at #3, Elton John‘s Diamonds compilation at #4 and Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits at #5.

Looking at individual tunes, Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” was #3 on Top Rock Songs chart, which is ranked by combining digital song sales and on-demand streams.

As for the Top Radio Songs list, which is ranked by “audience impressions across all monitored formats of radio,” Journey‘s classic anthem “Don’t Stop Believin'” was #5.

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R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has contributed a track to a compilation paying tribute to The Velvet Underground and Nico‘s legendary 1967 self-titled debut album.

The record, titled I’ll Be Your Mirror, will be released September 24, and features new versions of The Velvet Underground & Nico‘s 11 songs recorded by various artists. Stipe’s contribution is a rendition of the album’s lead track, “Sunday Morning.”

I’ll Be Your Mirror is available for pre-order now. In advance of the album’s arrival, you can listen to indie-rocker Kurt Vile‘s version of “Run Run Run” now via digital outlets.

The Velvet Underground & Nico was initially a flop, but later came to be considered one of the best records of all time, as well as a massive influence on the what would become punk rock and alternative rock. Even if you’ve never actually heard the album by the Lou Reed-fronted band, you’d surely know it by its iconic Andy Warhol-designed cover artwork, featuring a partially peeled banana on a white background.

Other artists featured on I’ll Be Your Mirror include Iggy Pop, St. Vincent, Sonic Youth‘s Thurston Moore, Primal Scream‘s Bobby Gillespie, Courtney Barnett and  The National‘s Matt Berninger.

Here’s the full track list:

“Sunday Morning” — Michael Stipe
“I’m Waiting for the Man” — Matt Berninger
“Femme Fatale” — Sharon Van Etten
“Venus in Furs” — Andrew Bird & Lucius
“Run Run Run” — Kurt Vile
“All Tomorrow’s Parties” — St. Vincent & Thomas Bartlett
“Heroin” — Thurston Moore feat. Bobby Gillespie
“There She Goes Again” — King Princess
“I’ll Be Your Mirror” — Courtney Barnett
“The Black Angel’s Death Song” — Fontaines D.C.
“European Son” — Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney

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Ex-Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford has debuted the title track from an upcoming album of previously unreleased archival recordings called For All the Money in the World that he made in 1986 with late Greg Kihn Band bassist Steve Wright.

The upbeat pop-rock song got its premiere Tuesday on The Aquarian Weekly‘s official website and is available now as a digital download and via streaming services.

The For All the Money in the World album is the first in a series of archival project Clifford is planning to release via his new CliffSongs Records label under the Cosmo’s Vaults moniker.

It features 11 tracks co-written by Clifford and Wright, and boasts contributions from a variety of guest musicians, including guitar-whiz Joe Satriani, as well as keyboardist Pat Mosca and guitarists Jimmy Lyon and Greg Douglass, all of whom played with The Greg Kihn Band around that time. Lead vocals were handled by a singer named Keith England.

Speaking to The Aquarian Weekly about the newly released single, Clifford notes, “‘For All the Money in the World’ has a very nice uptempo groove and it’s a love song, as well.”

Regarding the album in general, Doug says, “It’s a rock ‘n’ roll album, that’s for sure, but it covers many different [rock] genres.”

Wright, who died in 2017, co-wrote many Greg Kihn Band songs, including their two biggest hits — “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em)” and “Jeopardy.” He and Clifford both grew up in the same California town, El Cerrito, and had known each other since they were young, before finally collaborating together during the ’80s.

For All the Money in the World will be released on August 27, and can be pre-ordered now.

Here’s the album’s track list:

“For All the Money in the World”
“I Need Your Love”
“She Told Me So”
“Lost Pride Fever”
“I See Your Silhouette”
“Real Love”
“You Keep Runnin’ Away”
“Just in the Nick of Time”
“Weekends”
“Lonesome Boy”
“You’re Gonna Love Again”

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Andy Summers recently announced that he’ll be publishing his first book of short stories, Fretted and Moaning, in August.  The Police guitarist has now revealed that he’ll also be releasing a new solo album in the coming months.

Summers tells ABC Audio that the album is a collection of “beautiful” instrumentals called Harmonics of the Night that he’s planning to release in October.

“[A]ctually, I’ve had this around for a while,” the 78-year-old Rock & Hall of Famer notes. “I made this record actually about 18 months ago. Everything got so crazy [because of the pandemic], we couldn’t get it out. Anyway, I’ve got a lot of help now, so it is coming out.”

In addition, Summers says he will be doing “a big photography show,” also called “Harmonics of the Night,” at the Leica Gallery in London.

“[T]he idea is that [all] the pictures in the show…sort of reflect the album,” he explains. “So, everything is going along nicely together…So, you know, lots of energy there.”

Back in 2019, Summers did a multimedia show called “A Certain Strangeness” that featured him playing guitar to accompany a presentation of photos he took that appeared in his 2019 photography book of the same name.

Andy tells ABC Audio that he’d like to do more shows like that once he’s able to tour again.

“That show [was] just me on stage…with my sophisticated guitar equipment that makes all sorts of amazing sounds,” he points out. “And we project on a…full-sized cinema screen…various photographic sequences. It’s all very exotic and lovely.” 

As previously reported, Fretted and Moaning will be released on August 19. You can pre-order three different editions of the book now at Rocket88Books.com and AndySummersBook.com.

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Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who, a 2007 documentary that takes a career-spanning look at the legendary British band, is available to stream for the first time via Amazon Prime’s music-themed streaming service The Coda Collection.

The film features in-depth interviews with The Who‘s surviving original members — singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend — as well as rare footage, live performance clips and segments examining various facets of the band’s music and history.

Amazing Journey, which was directed by Murray Lerner and Paul Crowder, also includes interviews with some of The Who’s famous musical friends and fans, among them Sting, U2‘s The Edge, Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder, Oasis‘ Noel Gallagher, and Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols.

The doc covers The Who’s connection to the U.K.’s 1960s mod scene, the band’s penchant for destroying their instruments on stage, their landmark 1969 rock opera Tommy, the untimely deaths of drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle, Daltrey and Townshend’s complex relationship, and the band’s historic 2001 performance at The Concert for New York benefit.

Daltrey says of the documentary, “It’s not easy to capture in film the power and energy of any rock band, especially the four characters that made up The Who, the brilliance of Pete Townshend’s music, and the magic that happened between Pete, John, Keith and myself. But Who fans tell me Amazing Journey does just that.”

A companion film to the doc, Amazing Journey: Six Quick Ones, which features six mini-documentaries offering an extended look at The Who’s four band members, also has premiered as part of The Coda Collection.

The Coda Collection is available to Amazon Prime members for $4.99 a month. A seven-day free trial also is offered.

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