Classic Hits

The late Warren Zevon is one of the 14 artists in the running for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction this year. It’s his first nomination, and for many fans and folks in the industry, the wait has been way too long.

“Warren Zevon is an artist we have heard about a lot,” the Rock Hall’s Jason Hanley tells ABC Audio. “Many bands have come out and asked us why isn’t he in.” 

Zevon, who passed away in 2003, may not be as well known as some of this year’s other nominees, but he’s certainly made a big impact on his fellow artists. “Warren was not one of those guys the critics didn’t like. I mean, people loved his music at the time,” Hanley shares. He “influenced so many other artists and songwriters over the years.”

“I think it’s great, this is the first time he’s been nominated on the ballot, and I think a lot of fans have been asking for that,” Hanley offers. “I think you might see a lot of people, particularly voters … who are music historians, scholars and other inductees, are really gonna respect the work Warren Zevon has done over the years. So I think, he’s got a real chance to see a lot of votes.”

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Michael Jackson’s huge catalog of music is reportedly the next one to be sold. Sources tell Variety that the late singer’s estate is working on a deal to sell half of its interests in Jackson’s catalog, possibly to Sony and a financial partner.

The deal is reportedly worth between $800 and $900 million. It will have Sony acquiring 50% of the estate’s share of Jackson’s publishing, recorded music and revenues, as well as the Broadway show MJ: The Musical and the upcoming biopic. TMZ adds that one stipulation in the sale is that despite it being a 50/50 deal, the estate is demanding complete management and control.

So far there’s been no comment from any of the interested parties. If it happens, it would be another huge deal for Sony, which reportedly paid between $150 and $200 million for Bruce Springsteen’s publishing and recorded music, and also reportedly paid the same amount for Bob Dylan’s catalog.

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Producer Steve Albini is not a fan of Steely Dan and he let everyone know about it. Albini, who has worked with artists like Nirvana, PJ Harvey and The Pixies, went off on a Twitter rant about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band, writing, “I will always be the kind of punk that sh*ts on Steely Dan.” He added, “Christ the amount of human effort wasted to sound like an SNL band warm up.”

Albini then seemed to shoot down fan arguments about why Steely Dan was so great. “’They spent three weeks on the guitar solo…’ Three weeks of watching guitar players give it their all while doing bumps and hitting the talkback, ‘More *Egyptian* but keep it in the pocket…,'” he wrote.

As for the argument “Their engineer invented a machine to play the bass drum,” he shot back, “Did he now. And yet it sounds like this.” 

He then described two types of perfectionists, offering, “One will prepare, revise and rehearse carefully, with intent, honing an idea to a keen edge, ready to cut the cloth of execution. The other makes other people responsible by saying, ‘do it again,’ until by chance they are satisfied, then take credit.”

He added, “There’s some video where they talk about every song on an album, and each one begins with the not-bald one saying, ‘this song is based on my deep love of the blues, just a very bluesy blues. Deep blues.’ Then lays his jazz dork hands on the f***ing electric piano…”

And if all of that wasn’t enough, at one point he described Steely Dan as “Music made for the sole purpose of letting the wedding band stretch out a little.”

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Bette Midler has worn some outrageous costumes over the years, and now she’s being honored for it. Variety reports the singer/actress will receive the Distinguished Collaborator Award at this month’s 25th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards.

The award honors “individuals who demonstrate unwavering support of costume design and creative partnerships with costume designers.” 

“In my very long career, I have been blessed to work with some of the greatest costume designers ever in the worlds of stage and film,” Bette shares. “It’s been a wild ride, and I am delighted that they have chosen me as their honoree this year; I truly owe them everything. I look forward to thanking each and every one of them; geniuses all.” 

Previous recipients of the Distinguished Collaborator Award include Meryl Streep, Quentin Tarantino, Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy.

The CDGAs are happening February 27 at The Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

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We won’t have to wait much longer to hear Dolly Parton and Dionne Warwick sing together. The pair’s previously announced gospel collaboration, “Peace Like A River,” is set to drop February 24, along with a video the singing icons are shooting in Nashville on Tuesday.

“I was honored to get to sing with one of my idols, Dionne Warwick,” Dolly, who wrote the song, shares. “I have loved her since we were younger and getting to sing with her was one of the highlights of my career. I loved that she loved my song, and I loved singing it with her.” 

Dionne adds, “I so admire Dolly Parton’s talent and work ethic. I am thrilled to have this opportunity for us to work together.”

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The Beach Boys and Sheryl Crow are just a few of the artists set to play the Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey. 

The two-day fest, which takes place September 16 and 17 at North Beach and Bradley Park, will be headlined by The Killers on Saturday and Foo Fighters on Sunday, with Crow booked for Saturday and The Beach Boys on Sunday’s bill. 

Other artists confirmed for this year’s festival include Living Colour, Greta Van Fleet, Weezer, The Breeders, and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.

The festival will once again incorporate surf and art into the experience. The North Beach Rumble surf contest will return, featuring the best surfers from the East Coast. The art portion will go down at Stoke Henge, located just off the boardwalk, and feature returning artist Pork Chop with his jellyfish and surfboard arch. Transparent Gallery in Bradley Park will also display artwork from participating festival musicians.

Presale tickets go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. ET, with a general sale date to follow if there are tickets left. Ticket info and the full lineup can be found at seahearnowfestival.com.

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King Charles III’s coronation is happening May 6, and now the government is offering up some suggestions for songs to play at street parties celebrating the occasion.

The United Kingdom’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport has released a coronation playlist of 27 songs, including tracks from The Beatles, David Bowie, Queen and Kate Bush. According to a spokesperson, the playlist had been chosen to “celebrate British and Commonwealth artists ahead of the upcoming Coronation.”

Songs making the playlist include The Beatles’ “Come Together,” Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” Bowie’s “Last Dance,” Madness’ “Our House,” Queen’s “We Are The Champions,” Tom Jones’ “Green Green Grass of Home,” ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky,” Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart’s “People Get Ready” and The Who’s “Love Reign O’er Me.” The complete list can be found at Spotify.com.

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We’re about to learn a whole lot more about Barbra Streisand. The 80-year-old icon is set to release her memoir, My Name is Barbra, on November 7.

According to the book’s publisher, Babs “tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career,” including growing up in Brooklyn, her early struggles, her breakout performance in Funny Girl and more. “The book is, like Barbra herself, frank, funny, opinionated, and charming,” the publisher says.

My Name is Barbra will delve into her achievements as a singer, actor, director, producer, songwriter, philanthropist and more, and will touch on her friendships with big names like Marlon Brando and Madeline Albright, as well as her relationship with husband James Brolin.

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Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and Roger Waters have been on the outs for years, and based on a recent tweet by Gilmour’s wife, we won’t be seeing a reunion happening anytime soon. Polly Samson, who’s responsible for writing several post-Waters Floyd songs, took to social media to respond to a recent interview Waters gave in which he criticized Pink Floyd for releasing a Ukrainian protest song.

In an interview with the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung, Waters discusses his take on Ukraine, Israel and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He called it “really, really sad” that his former bandmates recorded the song “Hey Hey Rise Up” with Ukrainian musician Andrij Chlywnjuk, calling it “lacking in humanity.”

That article prompted Samson to respond, “Sadly @rogerwaters you are antisemitic to your rotten core. Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense.”  Gilmour then re-tweeted the post, “writing Every word demonstrably true.”

Waters later responded to the tweet, writing, “Roger Waters is aware of the incendiary and wildly inaccurate comments made about him on Twitter by Polly Samson which he refutes entirely. He is currently taking advice as to his position.”

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On This Day – February 7, 1976

Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” hit number one on the U.S. singles chart, his first and only number one as a solo artist. It spent three weeks at the top of the chart and also topped the Adult Contemporary charts for two weeks.

The tune was his second single from Simon’s fourth studio album, Still Crazy After All These Years, and featured background vocals by Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson and Phoebe Snow.

“50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” went on to be certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over one million copies.

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