Classic Hits

If you wondered why Elton John has been invited to perform on the White House’s South Lawn today, September 23, it may be because President Joe Biden has a special connection to the Rocket Man.

USA Today reports that as a young, single dad, Biden would drive his sons Hunter and Beau to school, and their ritual was to sing Elton’s number-one hit “Crocodile Rock” as loudly as possible. In 2015, when Beau was dying of brain cancer, Biden sat at Beau’s bedside and sang “Crocodile Rock” to him. 

“Beau didn’t open his eyes, but I could see through my own tears that he was smiling,” the president wrote in his book Promise Me Dad.

As previously reported, Elton will perform at today’s event, “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme,” which is a collaboration with A+E Networks and The History Channel. It will not only honor Elton and celebrate “the unifying and healing power of music,” but it’ll also pay tribute to what the White House calls “everyday history-makers,” like teachers, nurses, frontline workers and mental health advocates.

It’s not clear whether Elton will perform “Crocodile Rock” at the event, though he has been playing it on his Farewell Tour. He previously said that it’s the song he can’t wait to finally say goodbye to when the tour ends.

Less than two weeks ago, another of Biden’s favorite musicians, James Taylor, performed at the White House to celebrate the Inflation Reduction Act.

In other “Crocodile Rock” news, the song will also appear on the soundtrack of the upcoming movie Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, in theaters October 7.

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Billy Joel‘s acclaimed eighth studio album, The Nylon Curtain, was released 40 years ago — September 23, 1982.

The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200. It included the hit singles “Allentown” and “Pressure,” which reached #17 and #20, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Produced by Phil Ramone, the Beatles-influenced project is one of the first to be digitally recorded, mixed and mastered, and featured Joel exploring more complex arrangements.

The album also found the Piano Man tackling weighty topical themes, such as the aforementioned “Allentown,” which was about the declining steel industry in the U.S., and the Vietnam War elegy “Goodnight Saigon.”

Joel filmed a video for “Goodnight Saigon” at New York’s Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and the clip featured a group of Vietnam vets joining him onstage to sing the song. Over the years, Billy has continued to have veterans and military members sing the tune with him onstage when he plays it in concert.

The Nylon Curtain was nominated for an Album of the Year Grammy, but lost to Toto‘s Toto IV.

In a 2011 video interview, Joel explained that he wanted The Nylon Curtain to be “a sonic masterpiece,” adding, “I consider [it] maybe my best recorded effort.”

The Nylon Curtain has gone on to sell over 2 million copies in the U.S.

Here’s the full track list:

“Allentown”
“Laura”
“Pressure”
“Goodnight Saigon”
“She’s Right On Time”
“A Room of Our Own”
“Surprises”
“Scandinavian Skies”
“Where’s the Orchestra”

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The #iVoted Festival and Live Nation have teamed up to raffle off tickets to shows by artists including The Who, ZZ Top and Earth, Wind & Fire in an effort to encourage early voting for this year’s upcoming U.S. midterm elections.

To enter, eligible U.S. voters need to send in a selfie from outside of their polling place, or from home with their unmarked absentee ballot. If you’re not of voting age but still over 14, you can enter by sharing your first voting-eligible election year along with why you’re “excited to vote.”

The sweepstakes is also offering tickets to see artists including Santana, 38 Special, The B-52s, Blue Oyster Cult, Smokey Robinson, Goo Goo Dolls, Chaka Khan, The Marshall Tucker Band and The Grateful Dead‘s Bob Weir.

You can enter between September 26 at noon ET and November 7 at 6 p.m. ET. Election Day is Tuesday, November 8. The virtual #iVoted Festival, featuring artists including Richard Marx, Los Lobos, Bruce Sudano, Jeffrey Gaines, Lake Street Dive, Umphrey’s McGee and Yacht Rock Revue, will air on Election Day.

For more info, visit iVotedFestival.org.

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Humble Pie has just released a collection of rare studio tracks, titled I Need a Star in My Life, that they recorded during the mid-1970s.

The 20-song compilation is available now on CD, via digital formats and as a two-LP set pressed on either blue, orange or red vinyl.

I Need a Star in My Life was recorded from 1974 to 1976 by a Humble Pie lineup that featured founding lead singer/guitarist Steve Marriott and bassist Greg Ridley, as well as guitarist Clem Clempson, who had replaced original member Peter Frampton in 1971.

The recordings capture the trio experimenting with various musical styles and include several original tunes alongside covers of songs by Sam Cooke, Bo Diddley and more.

King Crimson sax player Mel Collins makes a guest appearance on the album.

In addition, Humble Pie released a companion seven-inch red-vinyl single that features their rendition of Cooke’s “Shake,” which also appears on the I Need a Star in My Life album, paired with the rare track “Bluestalk,” a blues jam between Marriott and The Rolling Stones‘ Brian Jones that was recorded in 1969.

Here’s the full track list of I Need a Star in My Life:

“Shake”
“Mona”
“Lend Us a Quid”
“Send Me Some Lovin'”
“She Moves Me Man”
“Street Rat”
“Captain Goatcabin’s Balancing Stallions”
“High and Happy”
“Be My Baby”
“It’s All Over”
“Bluegrass Interval”
“Don’t Take But a Few Minutes”
“Louisiana Blues”
“You’re a Heartbreaker”
“I Need a Star in My Life”
“Cocaine”
“I’ll Find You”
“Lord Let Me Hold Out”
“Hambone”
“Signed Sealed”

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Nile Rodgers celebrated his 70th birthday on Monday. In honor of the milestone, and to mark the 20th anniversary of his We Are Family Foundation, the legendary guitarist, producer and songwriter is donating $1 million to the organization.

We Are Family Foundation seeks to promote cultural diversity, and to support and encourage young people who are involved with programs that address basic human needs and work toward creating a more peaceful world.

“My mother used to say, ‘It’s better to give than to receive,'” Rodgers says. “I knew the best thing I could do to celebrate my 70th birthday and the 20th anniversary of WAFF was to provide a million-dollar endowment to sustain the foundation’s important work. Our Global Teen Leaders and Youth to the Front Fund ‘Frontliners’ give us their all and this is the least I can do to continue supporting them.”

In 2020, the foundation launched its Youth to the Front Fund, which supports youth activists under age 30 and youth-led organizations and initiatives focused on fighting racism and racial injustice in the U.S. and around the world.

In conjunction with Rodgers’ announcement about the generous endowment, the We Are Family Foundation revealed the latest list of “Frontliners,” almost 30 young activists from around the world who will receive financial assistance from the fund to aid in their various projects.

Rodgers is best known as a co-founding member of the influential funk/R&B group Chic, and he continues to lead the current incarnation of the band. Nile has written and produced songs for an impressive list of well-known artists.

He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 in the Musical Excellence category.

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The Human League is releasing a new limited-edition colored-vinyl box set featuring four LPs and an EP issued on the Virgin Records label from 1981 through 1990 on November 11.

The Human League: The Virgin Years is a five disc collection that features 1981’s Dare pressed on blue vinyl, the 1983 Fascination EP on green vinyl, 1984’s Hysteria on yellow vinyl, 1986’s Crash on red vinyl and 1990’s Romantic? on clear vinyl.

The box set can be preordered now at Amazon and uDiscoverMusic.

Dare was The Human League’s third studio album and marked the start of the group’s second, more pop-oriented incarnation, which was led by singer/keyboardist Philip Oakey and showcased female vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley.

The record, which peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200, featured the chart-topping “Don’t You Want Me Baby” as well as the top-10 U.K. hits “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” and “Open Your Heart.”

The Fascination EP included the hit singles “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” and “Mirror Man.”

Hysteria featured three tunes that reached the top-20 of the U.K. singles tally: “The Lebanon,” “Life on Your Own” and “Louise.”

Crash, a collaboration with the hit-making production duo of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, featured the group’s second Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper, “Human.”

Finally, Romantic? — which brought the band’s stint on Virgin to a close — featured the top-40 single “Heart Like a Wheel.”

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Deep Purple has welcomed guitarist Simon McBride as an official member of the band.

McBride began serving as Deep Purple’s touring guitarist earlier this year after longtime guitarist Steve Morse announced in March that he was taking a hiatus from the group to care for and spend time with his wife, Janine, as she battles cancer. In July, Morse, who joined Deep Purple in 1994, announced that he was officially leaving the group.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers said in a joint statement, “We are thrilled that Simon has agreed to join. Simon’s playing is up there with the greats. Of course, Steve can’t be replaced, the same as Ritchie [Blackmore], and Steve has a long legacy with Deep Purple. In Simon we have not found a replacement, but an extraordinarily talented and exciting guitarist in his own right.”

The group adds, “The reception from audiences over the Summer has already been great and we are looking forward to the forthcoming dates in the UK and Europe across the rest of the year. It is clear that Simon also holds great respect for those before him.  We are all excited for what the years to come hold for the band.”

McBride, meanwhile, says in his own statement, “I’m very happy to be asked to join the band, at the start of the pandemic if someone would have said to me that I was going to be the new guitarist in Deep Purple I would have just laughed, but here we are and it’s happening. Deep Purple has a history of great guitarists so I’m very honoured to be asked to be part of that.”

McBride previously toured with Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan and keyboardist Don Airey, among many others.

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The Kinks‘ Dave Davies recently released a solo compilation called Living on a Thin Line, a musical companion to his new memoir of the same name.

The 13-track collection features previously released solo studio recordings and live performances, as well as new mixes of two of Dave’s songs created by his son Simon.

One of the new mixes is of a 1999 live version of the classic Dave-penned 1971 Kinks song “Strangers,” recorded at a concert at Wisconsin’s Marian College.

“I have always thought [that rendition] was my favorite … recorded version of [‘Strangers.’]” Davies tells ABC Audio. “So we messed around with that [recording] a bit. Simon Davies added some bits of keyboards. He added some little audio improvements … And I’m very happy with it.”

The other new mix is of “This Is the Time,” a tune that appeared on Davies’ 2007 album Fractured Mindz, the first record Dave released after suffering a debilitating stroke in 2004.

Dave explains that the song is about embracing a youthful attitude about looking toward the future.

“‘This Is the Time’ is my heartfelt optimism about what we’re capable of, and maybe where we’re going,” he says. “[M]aybe this is the time to really make things happen. You know, like they thought in the [days] … before the Vietnam War … All the youth were in uproar, and the ‘Flower Power’ thing.”

The compilation also features select songs from 1998’s Kinked; 2002’s Bug; the 2000 concert album Rock Bottom: Live from The Bottom Line; and 2018’s Decade, a collection of unreleased tracks Dave recorded during the 1970s.

The Living on a Thin Line compilation can be purchased now on CD now via Amazon. A two-LP version of the album will be released on January 13, 2023.

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UB40 has announced a surprise free livestream show that will air Wednesday, September 21, at 11 p.m. ET on their official YouTube channel.

The two-hour concert will be streamed live from the intimate Uptown Theater in Napa, California. The show is part of UB40’s current U.S. tour leg in support of the English pop-reggae band’s 2021 album, Bigga Baggariddim.

UB40 has just released its latest single, a new version of “Red Red Wine,” the Neil Diamond-penned song the band had a chart-topping hit with back in 1983. The tune, which is available now via digital formats, is the second single UB40 has debuted from its forthcoming studio effort, UB45.

UB45 is due out in early 2023 and will feature new original songs, as well as updated versions of some of the group’s classic hits and fan favorites.

The first advance track from the record was “Champion,” which was released in July and served as the official anthem for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. UB40 collaborated with rappers Dapz on the Map and Gilly G on the song, which marked the debut of the group’s new frontman, Matt Doyle. Gilly G also recently joined the band’s lineup.

“We’ve been looking to do this [livestream] for some time and now is the perfect opportunity to introduce our new members, lead singer Matt Doyle and rapper Gilly G, to our fans worldwide on YouTube — and it’s free!” says founding UB40 member Robin Campbell.

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Last November, ZZ Top debuted its own unique brand of whisky called Tres Hombres, named after the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame trio’s 1973 studio album. Now the Texas blues-rockers are introducing a second entry into the liquor line — Tres Hombres Bourbon.

The whisky will be available starting this week at select retailers in three Texas cities — Austin, Dallas and Houston.

Tres Hombres Bourbon is made from three grains, with three distinct mash bills — that is, grain mixes — that have been “baked in the Southern heat” for three years.

“The launch of our 2021 Texas Whisky was an overwhelming success,” says ZZ Top manager Carl Stubner. “We look forward to sharing this new sweeter expression with our fans and friends to enjoy raising a glass to followers of good whisky across the country.”

The arrival of Tres Hombres Bourbon coincides with ZZ Top’s trio of Texas shows this week featuring special guests Jeff Beck and Heart‘s Ann Wilson. The concerts are scheduled for this Friday in Del Valle, Saturday in Dallas and Sunday in The Woodlands. Visit ZZTop.com for the band’s full upcoming itinerary.

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