Classic Hits

Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of the death of longtime Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, who passed away from an undisclosed illness at age 80 on August 24, 2021.

The Rolling Stones have posted a tribute video on their social media sites, along with a note that reads, “One year on without our beloved Charlie. Remembering him and all the incredible things he achieved in his life.”

The video, which is set to the 1994 Stones song “You Got Me Rocking,” features a montage of photos and film clips of Charlie.

In addition, Stones singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Ronnie Wood have posted separate homages to Watts on their own social media pages.

Jagger’s tribute features a video including a series of photos of him and Watts together over the years, soundtracked by the melancholy 1974 Stones tune “Till the Next Goodbye.”

The clip also features audio of Mick talking about his relationship with Charlie.

“I miss Charlie because he had a great sense of humor,” Jagger says. “And…outside of the band, we used to hang out quite a lot and have interesting times. We liked sports — we’d go to football, we’d go to cricket games, and we would have other interests apart from music. But, you know, of course, I really miss Charlie so much.”

The video was accompanied by a message that reads, “Thinking of Charlie today,” along with a blue heart emoji.

Wood’s homage features four photos of Watts and a message that reads, “Charlie, missing you every single day. [Wife] Shirley, [daughter] Seraphina and [granddaughter] Charlotte, we hold you close in our hearts xxx.”

Watts played drums with The Stones from January 1963 until his death and appeared on all of the band’s albums.

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Today, August 24, marks the 40th anniversary of the release of R.E.M.‘s debut EP, Chronic Town.

Arriving about a year after R.E.M.’s first single, “Radio Free Europe,” the five-track collection preceded the band’s classic 1983 debut studio album, Murmur.

The EP includes early fan favorites “Wolves, Lower,” “Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)” and “1,000,000,” as well as the gems “Gardening at Night” and “Stumble.” All songs were co-written by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry; they showcase the quartet’s jangly and hugely influential “College Rock” sound.

Chronic Town was co-produced by R.E.M. and singer/songwriter/producer Mitch Easter. It was recorded at Easter’s Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The EP was originally issued on cassette and vinyl, and it made its CD debut as part of R.E.M.’s 1987 rarities compilation Dead Letter Office.

To celebrate the milestone anniversary, R.E.M. released Chronic Town as a standalone CD for the first time Friday, while the EP was reissued on cassette and as a vinyl picture disc. Easter has written new liner notes for the reissue.

In conjunction with the EP’s rerelease, Chronic Town-themed merch items have been made available at REMHQ.com, includingT-shirts, a hoodie and a collectible skateboard deck.

In other news, Buck and Mills recently contributed to a new song called “The Voice of Baseball” by their side group The Baseball Project. The tune, which is available as a digital download at the group’s official Bandcamp page, is a tribute to longtime LA Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully, who died August 2 at age 94.

Buck co-wrote the song with his Baseball Project bandmate Scott McCaughey, who was a longtime member of R.E.M.’s touring group.

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Even Elton John cannot wait to unleash his collab with Britney Spears, so he performed it for patrons at a familiar French restaurant.

Sir Elton hit up La Guérite in Cannes, France, the very same spot where he previewed his “Cold Heart” collab with Dua Lipa back in August 2021, to perform the entirety of his upcoming song.

“Sneak peak of ‘Hold Me Closer’ — out this Friday,” he teased in the caption of the cheeky Instagram video, posted Tuesday, which sees him crashing the DJ booth to perform his new song. “Hey! Britney Spears. Elton John. Here we go,” he screams at the electrified crowd, who sing along to the dance track.

Much like how “Cold Heart” mashes up the lyrics of several Elton songs, “Hold Me Closer” features lyrics and melodies from his 1971 hit “Tiny Dancer” and his 1992 tune “The One.”

“Hold Me Closer” arrives this Friday. The song will be the first new single from Elton since 2021.

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Some rock and pop tunes can make you dance, scream, shout and bang your head, but a new U.K. survey has ranked the songs that can best help you fall sleep.

Mornings.co.uk, a website that serves as a guide to mattresses, pillows and beds, has devised a study to determine the most sleep-inducing pop songs by analyzing the characteristics of 100 lullabies and comparing them to a curated list of 1,700 popular tunes in various genres.

The list of the most sleep-inducing rock songs was dominated by veteran artists, with Elton John topping the tally with “Your Song.” The British pop-rock legend also landed at #3 on the list with “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters.”

The other songs ranked in the top 10 of the rock tally were Led Zeppelin‘s “Going to California” at #2, The Beatles‘ “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight” medley at #4, Pink Floyd‘s “Wish You Were Here” at #5, Jackson Browne‘s “The Load-Out” at #6, Lou Reed‘s “Walk on the Wild Side” at #7, The Police‘s “Every Breath You Take” at #8, the Eagles‘ “Desperado” at #9 and John Lennon‘s “Imagine” at #10.

Mornings.co.uk came up with a zero-to-100 ranking system, dubbed the “Sleep Song Scale,” by utilizing Spotify’s audio features, analyzing such qualities as loudness, danceability, tempo, energy and time signature.

The survey also looked at songs in such genres as pop, hip-hop, country and classical.

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Police say the suspects accused of robbing Mariah Carey‘s Atlanta home while she vacationed in New York and Italy have been apprehended.

TMZ reports police have arrested three men. Jeremy Caldwell, Terryion Anderson and Jalen Huff — all 24 years old — were located and taken into custody in Miami.

Mariah, whose home was broken into on July 27, is reportedly relieved the culprits have been apprehended. A source tells the outlet she is “so grateful for the detectives who arrived on the scene immediately.”

It should be noted the Grammy winner had posted to Instagram that she was on vacation and, shortly after, her home was burglarized. Authorities believe the criminals saw the post and knew her home was empty.

It has not been made clear what was taken, if anything, from the multimillion-dollar home.

Mariah is reportedly rattled by the incident and is now said to be working with authorities to ensure such an incident never happens to her again.

The Sandy Springs Police Department says the three suspects are believed to have been operating a crime ring that targeted celebrity homes. They are also accused of multiple armed robberies, burglaries and home invasions. A man was shot during an incident linked to the three suspects.

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Netflix announced that the sequel to the Oscar-nominated 2019 hit whodunnit Knives Out will premiere on December 23.

The streaming service made the announcement Monday about the upcoming film, titled Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and debuted a new teaser interview with writer-director Rian Johnson, who reveals that the movie’s title was inspired by a 1968 Beatles song.

Johnson explains that he came up with the title “Glass Onion” while searching for a phrase that the film’s main character, the flamboyant detective Benoit Blanc, might use to describe the murder he’s investigating.

“I’m always fishing for something fun that Blanc can grab onto as an overwrought metaphor that he can beat to death,” Rian maintians. “This is all in plain sight from the very start. So, the idea of glass came to me, something that’s clear.”

He continues, “I’ll be very honest. I literally got out my iPhone and searched my music library with the word glass. ‘There’s got to be some good glass songs.’ I was like, ‘Oh, is it a glass fortress? Is it a glass castle? Is it a glass man?’ The first thing that came up, because I’m a huge Beatles fan, is ‘Glass Onion.'”

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will feature Daniel Craig reprising his role as Blanc, who travels to Greece to solve a case with a whole new set of colorful suspects.

While the original Knives Out also starred Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana de Armas, Don Johnson and Christopher Plummer, the follow-up features another impressive cast, including Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista.

Norton plays a tech billionaire who invites a group of friends to his island getaway — where one of them ends up murdered.

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“Hold Me Closer,” Elton John‘s new collaboration with pop superstar Britney Spears, won’t be released until this Friday, but we now have our first taste of the track.

On TikTok, Elton posted a 14-second snippet of the song, which features Britney’s voice singing the chorus of Elton’s 1972 hit “Tiny Dancer” — “Hold me closer tiny dancer/ Count the headlines on the highway” — paired with Elton’s original vocal over a dance beat, with some “woo-hoos” in the middle.

The song has a vibe similar to Elton’s 2021 hit “Cold Heart,” which featured his original vocals from his 1989 song “Sacrifice,” paired with Dua Lipa singing the chorus of his 1972 hit “Rocket Man” and part of his 1983 single “Kiss the Bride.”

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A new album titled Let’s Live for Today featuring updated versions of well-known songs by the veteran pop-rock group The Grass Roots will be released on September 9.

The 15-track collection features vocals by longtime Grass Roots lead singer and bassist Rob Grill that were recorded in 1997, 14 years before his 2011 death from complications of a stroke at age 67.

The album boasts renditions of such late 1960s and early ’70s hits as “Let’s Live for Today,” “Midnight Confessions,” “Sooner or Later,” “I’d Wait a Million Years” and “Temptation Eyes.”

The record also features contributions from MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, as well as veteran garage rockers The Fuzztones, Texas psychedelic act Night Beats, Canadian alt-country group Dead Ghosts, Danish/Brazilian retro-rock duo The Courettes and British electronic duo The KVB.

Kramer play on one of three versions of “Midnight Confessions” that appear on the album. The Courettes lent their talents to the lead track, “Wait a Million Years,” which has been released as an advance digital single.

Let’s Live for Today can be preordered now and will be available via streaming platforms, on CD and as a limited-edition purple-splatter vinyl LP.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Wait a Million Years” (The Courettes Mix)
“Midnight Confessions” — featuring Wayne Kramer
“Let’s Live for Today” (The Fuzztones Mix)
“Temptation Eyes” (Night Beats Mix)
“Sooner or Later” (Dead Ghosts Mix)
“Bella Linda”
“Heaven Knows”
“Midnight Confessions” (The KVB Mix)
“Things I Should Have Said”
“Sooner or Later”
“Wait a Million Years”
“Temptation Eyes”
“Let’s Live for Today”
“Midnight Confessions”

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Robert Plant has long insisted he has no interest in reuniting with Led Zeppelin. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, he again addressed the issue when it was suggested fans of his old band would love to hear him sing with the group once more.

“Going back to the font to get some kind of massive applause — it doesn’t really satisfy my need to be stimulated,” said Robert, who currently is touring the U.S. as a duo with acclaimed folk/bluegrass artist Alison Krauss in support of their 2021 album Raise the Roof.

When the interviewer asked if his reluctance to revisit his past glories “make you feel like an outlier among your classic-rock peers,” Robert responded, “I know there are people from my generation who don’t want to stay home, and so they go out and play. If they’re enjoying it and doing what they need to do to pass the days, then that’s their business, really.”

Meanwhile, Plant celebrated his 74th birthday on Saturday, August 20. To mark the occasion, he got a surprise visit from his son Logan and Logan’s two children while performing with Krauss in Stateline, Nevada.

As seen in fan-shot video posted on YouTube, Logan and his kids wheeled out a birthday cake and some golden balloons as Robert chatted to the audience between songs during the show.

“This is my family,” Robert told the crowd. “They’ve come all the way from England to give me … a chocolate microphone.” He then blew out the candles, before Logan led the audience in a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

Plant and Krauss’ tour continues Tuesday in Napa, California, and is scheduled to wrap up on September 12 in New York City.

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Former Fleetwood Mac singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham has announced plans for a new fall U.S. solo tour, which features 17 dates at venues throughout the Eastern U.S., as well as some gigs in the Midwest.

The outing kicks off October 26 in Bristol, Tennessee, and runs through a November 19 show in Augusta, Georgia.

Earlier this year, Buckingham canceled a trio of concerts at the end of his spring U.S. tour leg — including an April 30 performance in Louisville, Kentucky — because he and members of his touring party contracted COVID-19. Lindsey now has lined up a new show in Louisville, on October 27, but at a different venue.

The new U.S. tour takes place after Buckingham’s fall European trek, which originally was scheduled for late spring, but was postponed because Lindsey was still recovering from COVID at the time.

The forthcoming European outing is mapped out from a September 19 concert in Paris through an October 6 show in Dublin.

Visit LindseyBuckingham.com to check out Buckingham’s full schedule and for information about how to purchase tickets to the concerts.

Lindsey’s shows are in support of his latest solo studio album, a self-titled effort that was released in September 2021.

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