Classic Hits

Thursday marks a huge day in Bruce Springsteen history: the 50th anniversary of the release of his debut studio album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.

Named one of the greatest debut albums of all time by Rolling Stone, the album’s two best-known tracks, “Blinded By The Light” and “Spirit in the Night,” were written after The Boss’ record label complained about a lack of singles. The album also features such Springsteen classics as “Growin’ Up,” “It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City” and “For You.”

Although the album only peaked at 60 on the charts and didn’t produce any hits, it’s considered a classic by Springsteen fans and went on to be certified double Platinum. Bruce played the album in its entirety for the first time in 2009 at a Working on a Dream concert in Buffalo, New York.

And to mark the momentous occasion, a daylong symposium on the album will be held by the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University in New Jersey. The event takes place Saturday and features E Street Band bass player Garry Tallent, original E Street keyboardist David Sancious and original E Street drummer Vini Lopez, who all played on the album, as well as Bruce’s former manager Mike Appel.

The event, which is open to the public, will feature panel discussions, interviews, a book signing, a mini documentary on the making of the album with an exclusive interview from Bruce, and performances of the songs by local New Jersey musicians.

In addition, other New Jersey musicians will play the album in its entirety on Thursday at the Langosta Lounge on the boardwalk in Asbury Park.

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Dee Snider has angered some folks on Twitter with his opinions on what makes a great frontman.

The debate started after the Twisted Sister frontman shared his admiration for drummer Cozy Powell, who was bandmates with Ronnie James Dio in Rainbow and also played on Robert Plant’s debut solo album, Pictures at Eleven. Snider’s post prompted a fan to praise Dio as the “2nd best frontman in the history of rock, just barely behind Freddie (Mercury),” an opinion Snider did not agree with.

“You are confusing singing with performing. There is a huge difference between a great frontman & a great singer,” Snider replied. “Ronnie was one of the greatest singers of all time, but as a frontman, he pretty much just stood on stage & sang. Freddie was an amazing singer AND frontman.”

When another chimed in that Plant was the “quintessential rock frontman,” Snider also had thoughts, noting, “I’m a HUGE Plant fan vocally…but he showed me nothing as a performer. Looked amazing, great hair…stood on stage with one hand raised and sang his a** off. Not a frontman in my opinion.”

As for who Snider thinks are great frontmen, he wrote, “My frontmen are all over the stage and interact with the crowd. Showmen. Think David Lee Roth, Paul Stanley, Mick Jagger, Freddy Mercury, Axl Rose…the list goes on.”

Finally he explained, “I knew this would upset people. I am NOT saying that Dio, Plant etc, don’t have stage presence. They have it in SPADES! But they are not performers.”

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Steven Tyler has pulled out of yet another event. The Aerosmith frontman was set to appear and be honored at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Power of Love Gala in Las Vegas next month, but his manager tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal he will no longer take part due to ongoing health issues.

“Steven’s doctors have instructed him to take care of himself, but he will be back this year,” manager Larry Rudolph tells the paper, which says he won’t be making any public appearances until at least the spring. 

Last month, Tyler’s undisclosed health issues forced Aerosmith to cancel the final five shows of their Las Vegas residency. The announcement of his Power of Love Gala departure comes just a week after a woman named Julia Holcomb came forward with a decades-old sexual assault claim. Holcomb, who Tyler allegedly had a relationship with in the ’70s when she was 16, sued him for sexual assault, assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 

The Power of Love Gala, taking place February 18 at the MGM Grand, raises money for Alzheimer’s research. So far there’s no word on who’ll replace Tyler.

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Music producer Steve Lillywhite, known for working with such artists as U2 and The Rolling Stones, has sold his royalty income stream to Round Hill Music Royalty Partners, according to Billboard.

According to the announcement, over the course of Lillywhite’s more than 40-year career, he has put his touch on more than 500 records, including classic albums like U2’s October and War, The Rolling Stones’ Dirty Work, and Dave Matthews Band’s Under the Table and Dreaming and Crash, all of which are part of the royalty deal. 

“Steve’s catalog includes royalties to some of the most sought-after songs and albums of all time,” Round Hill CEO Josh Gruss says in a statement. “We are thrilled to have reached this milestone transaction.” Lillywhite adds that Gruss and Round Hill are “the ideal partner for me and my family as I look to my next steps.” 

Exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Thanks to Netflix’s Stranger Things, music fans couldn’t get enough of Kate Bush’s 1985 tune “Running Up That Hill” in 2022, and that was enough to make it one of the top songs in the United Kingdom last year.

The U.K.’s Official Charts is out with its list of the Top 40 Biggest Songs of 2022, with Kate’s hit landing at six. It also lands at seven on the list of the U.K.’s Most Streamed Songs of 2022.

Elton John’s collaboration with Dua Lipa, “Cold Heart (PNAU remix),” was also a big hit in the U.K. last year, landing at 13 on the Biggest Songs chart and 14 on the Most Streamed Songs list.

Overall, the biggest song of 2022 in the U.K. was Harry Styles’ “As It Was.” The entire Top 10 was made up of British artists, the first time that has happened in 50 years. 

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For years Beatles fans have blamed John Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono for breaking up the band, but a source close to the couple believes she was a scapegoat and Lennon is to blame for it.

Dan Richter, an 83-year-old artist and mime who lived with John and Yoko, working as their personal assistant from 1969 to 1973, reveals in a new interview with The Telegraph that he thinks John “used Yoko to help him break up The Beatles.”  

“At that point John wanted The Beatles over with … It was a big problem for him: how do you break up The Beatles?” he shares. “They were worth millions of dollars [and] Paul was going to go on forever.”

Richter first shared his thoughts on the subject in the new podcast British Scandal – The Ballad of Yoko and John, but elaborates on it in The Telegraph interview, giving a prime example of how Lennon allegedly used his wife. He says that during the recording of Abbey Road, while Yoko was recovering from a car crash, John placed her “in this gigantic brass bed, all covered in white in a white night dress, right in the middle of the studio” in order to anger his bandmates.

“So sitting at the [mixing] board all you’re looking at is Yoko in a bed. The rest of the band were just appalled,” Richter shares. “John had decided he wasn’t going anywhere or doing anything without Yoko. So there she was, in bed in the studio.”

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Bruce Springsteen fans can now relive his 1999 reunion with the E Street Band. The Boss just released a Reunion Tour performance from July 18, 1999, to nugs.net.

Bruce writes that the concert is “the earliest Reunion tour performance yet to appear in the Live Archive series,” noting it “captures Bruce and the E Street Band recommitting to their mission at the second show of a 15-night homecoming run.”

The night’s set opens with the outtake “I Wanna Be With You” and features such songs as “Sherry Darling,” “Jungleland,” “Trapped,” “Murder Incorporated” and “The River,” as well as hits like “Born To Run,” “Thunder Road” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.” It also features “Loose End” and “Stand On It,” from Tracks, as well the song “Freehold,” described as Bruce’s “hilariously candid confessional about growing up in New Jersey.”

The Reunion Tour was the first set of regular dates by Bruce and the E Street Band in 11 years. After launching it in Europe in April 1999, he brought it to the U.S. that July, opening with the 15-night stand at New Jersey’s Continental Airlines Arena.

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Sunday, January 8, would have been Elvis Presley’s 88th birthday, and it’s being celebrated with special events this week.

The celebration kicks off Thursday at Elvis’ Graceland in Memphis with a movie marathon and Club Elvis Hawaiian-style dinner, plus many more events. There will also be an Elvis Birthday proclamation ceremony on Sunday that fans can watch on Graceland’s livestream page, which will feature Lisa Marie Presley and actor Alton Mason, who played Little Richard in Baz Luhrmann’s film Elvis.

And speaking of the film, on Sunday, Elvis Presley’s Memphis will unveil a new “The Making of Elvis” exhibition, with Graceland also offering the new, limited-time Elvis Movie Ultimate VIP Tour, which includes a special tour of Elvis Presley’s Memphis and Graceland mansion with a private tour guide. The tour runs from Monday, January 9, through the end of February.

In addition, on Sunday select theaters in 10 cities across the U.S. and Canada will be showing Luhrmann’s Elvis for free, including an introduction from the director and star Austin Butler. Fans can pick up their free tickets here. There will also be a special screening at Graceland’s Guest House Theater.

And fans can also join in on the celebration on social media with the #ElvisBirthdayChallenge, which asks fans to recreate some of Elvis’ most iconic dance moves and post them on TikTok and Instagram, with the best entries to be highlighted on Sunday.

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The late Nat King Cole has set a new chart record. The legendary crooner’s classic holiday tune “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)” lands at nine on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week, giving him the record for the longest break between Top 10 hits.

The new Top 10 single comes 59 years, six months and one week after his last Top 10 hit, 1963’s “Those Lazy Days of Summer.” That breaks The Ronettes’ record for the longest time between Top 10 hits, which they set last year with “Sleigh Ride,” which hit the Top 10 after a break of 58 years and two months.

Not only that, “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)” first debuted on the Hot 100 on December 12, 1960, making this week’s feat the longest journey to the Top 10, at 62 years and 26 days. Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” previously held that record with 62 years and 18 days, having debuted on the chart in 1958 and reaching the Top 10 in 2020.

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Rod Stewart played a key role in his daughter’s gender reveal party by announcing he’ll be welcoming a grandson. 

Ruby Stewart, Rod’s daughter with model Kelly Emberg, took to her Instagram Story to share a video of her family gathering around her father. She cheekily captioned it, “Hire @sirrodstewart for your gender reveal!”

Rod was handed some papers and was tasked with announcing what they said. “It’s a boy,” the hitmaker declared and pumped a fist in the air as Ruby embraced her partner, Jake Kalick.

A second video of the special moment contained the caption, “[Rod] will even write a custom jingle for your unborn child!” During the clip, the singer holds up the paper announcement and begins singing.

Ruby later shared an ultrasound of her soon-to-be child, captioning it, “Out of all of the things that happened in 2022 you were by far the most beautiful…We can’t wait to meet you…Baby boy Kalick coming in April.” She declined to reveal potential names or a due date.

“So happy for the two of you,” the proud granddad wrote in the comments.

Rod isn’t the only one excited to welcome another grandchild — his wife, Penny Lancaster, also took to the comments, writing, “Can’t wait to meet him.”

The little boy will be Rod’s second grandchild. He welcomed his first granddaughter, Delilah, in 2011, who was born to his daughter Kimberly Stewart and Benicio del Toro. Kimberly is from Rod’s marriage to Alana Stewart.

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