Classic Hits

A new compilation from the NOW That’s What I Call Music folks — which focuses specifically on popular alternative-rock songs from the 1990s — will be released on August 5.

NOW That’s What I Call ’90s Alternative Rock! is an 18-track collection that will be available on CD and digital formats.

The album consists of memorable tunes from many rock acts that emerged in the 1990s, including Spin Doctors‘ “Two Princes,” Lenny Kravitz‘s “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” Blues Traveler‘s “Run Around,” Gin Blossoms‘ “Hey Jealousy” and Blind Melon‘s “No Rain.”

The compilation also features hits from Toad the Wet Sprocket, Third Eye Blind, Sublime, Cake, Len, Tonic, Vertical Horizon, 311 and more.

NOW That’s What I Call ’90s Alternative Rock! can be pre-ordered now.

Here’s the complete track list:

“Are You Gonna Go My Way” — Lenny Kravitz
“My Own Worst Enemy (No S*** Mix)” — Lit
“Inside Out” — Eve 6
“Everything You Want – Vertical Horizon
“If You Could Only See” — Tonic
“Lightning Crashes” — Live
“Interstate Love Song” — Stone Temple Pilots
“No Rain” — Blind Melon
“All I Want” — Toad the Wet Sprocket
“Hey Jealousy” — Gin Blossoms
“Run Around” — Blues Traveler
“The Way” — Fastball
“The Distance” — Cake
“Semi-Charmed Live” (Radio Edit) — Third Eye Blind
“Down” — 311
“Steal My Sunshine” (Single Version) — Len
“Two Princes” — Spin Doctors
“What I Got” — Sublime

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Veteran Scottish rockers Simple Minds have sold much of their key music interests to BMG.

The agreement, which was struck by the band’s core co-founding members — singer Jim Kerr and guitarist/keyboardist Charlie Burchill — encompasses the publishing rights to over 240 songs, as well as the neighboring rights and royalties to the group’s entire catalog of recorded music.

Simple Minds already had a long relationship with BMG, which previously served as administrator of the band’s music publishing and released the group’s latest studio album, 2018’s Walk Between Worlds. Simple Minds’ recently announced next album, Direction of the Heart, also will be issued by the label on October 21.

Among the noteworthy songs that are part of the publishing deal are “Love Song,” “Promised You a Miracle,” “Glittering Prize,” “Waterfront,” “Someone Somewhere in Summertime” and “Alive and Kicking.” The group’s biggest U.S. hit, the chart-topping “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” was written by an outside songwriter, Keith Forsey, and therefore doesn’t fall under the publishing agreement, although recorded and neighboring rights royalties generated by the track will be collected by BMG.

“There are few bands who can claim to have changed music, but over a period of 45 years Simple Minds have done precisely that,” says BMG executive Alistair Norbury. “We are thrilled that BMG is now the musical home of Simple Minds, past, present and future.”

Adds Kerr, “We are very pleased to have struck this deal. It feels like the right time for us and our families. We look forward to working with everyone at BMG.”

Simple Minds recently returned to the road for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The band is currently in the middle of a lengthy European tour.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Queen‘s 1981 Greatest Hits compilation has long been the best-selling album in U.K. history, and now, the collection has reached a new milestone in the band’s home country.

According to the Official Charts Company, Greatest Hits has become the first album ever to reach the seven-million mark in sales in the U.K. The record-breaking sales figure includes physical sales, downloads and streams.

The album has amassed a whopping 1.26 billion total streams in the U.K. with “Bohemian Rhapsody” being the most-streamed track, notching over 240 million. Greatest Hits also has spent more than 1,000 weeks on the Official Albums Chart, making Queen the first British artists ever to achieve this feat.

In celebration of the sales milestone, Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor recorded a video thanking fans.

“We’re here to bring you the joyous news that Queen’s Greatest Hits album has sold 7 million copies, which nobody has ever done before,” says May in the clip that’s been posted on OfficialCharts.com. “No album has done this before in history. Thank you, we appreciate it.”

Adds Taylor, “The British public in their infinitely great taste have made this the biggest-selling album in history. Thank you very much; we’re humbled and honored. We salute you!”

In other Queen news, today is May’s 75th birthday. He has continued to lead the band alongside Taylor since the 1991 death of frontman Freddie Mercury and is responsible for many of the group’s major hits. May wrote six songs on Greatest Hits, including “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “Save Me,” “Now I’m Here,” “Flash” and “We Will Rock You.”

Queen and singer Adam Lambert currently are on tour in Europe. The band’s next show takes place Wednesday, July 20 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The new documentary The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s “American Pie” gets its television premiere today on the Paramount+ streaming service.

The film, which focuses on Don McLean‘s enduring 1971 anthem “American Pie” and its legacy, features new interviews with the singer/songwriter, as well as with country star Garth Brooks, Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson, actor Peter Gallagher, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and others.

The film also tells the story of the 1959 plane crash that killed rock ‘n’ roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper — the incident that serves as a launching point for the tune — and features McLean, for the first time ever, sharing details about the tune’s creation and the meaning behind its lyrics.

McLean had previously been reluctant to discuss the song’s enigmatic lyrics, but he tells ABC Audio that he recently had a change of heart, noting, “I’m at the last portion of my life, and I feel if people want to know, I’ll tell them everything I can tell them.”

Don recalls that as he was shooting his last interview for the film, “I said, ‘You know what? We’re missing the most important thing. I’ve got to talk about the lyrics of this song and how I did this, and what I was thinking.'”

Among the revelations McLean offers up are whether some of the enigmatic characters he mentions in “American Pie” actually were intended to represent such legendary music figures as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles and The Byrds.

The documentary also includes segments about the recording of “American Pie,” and about McLean’s performance this year at the Surf Ballroom — the Iowa venue where Holly, Valens and The Big Bopper played the night they were killed — on the 63rd anniversary of the tragedy.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Peter Frampton and Toto‘s Steve Lukather are among the talented guitarists who will participate in a new edition of Joe Satriani‘s G4 Experience guitar camp and concert series, taking place January 3-7, 2023, at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa in Henderson, Nevada.

Other musicians who will be jamming and sharing their musical expertise at the four-day event include Deep Purple‘s Steve Morse, Testament‘s Alex Skolnick, longtime Rob Zombie guitarist John 5, Five Finger Death Punch‘s Andy James and blues rocker Eric Gales.

The G4 Experience, which is returning for the first time since 2019, offers guitar workshops, jam sessions, nightly concerts, meet-and-greets, photo opportunities, autograph-signing sessions, recreational activities and more.

The nightly concerts will feature Satriani performing with his longtime backing band — drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Bryan Beller and keyboardist Rai Thistlethwayte. It also will include appearances by special guests and faculty members.

In a message about the event, Satriani says about the diverse list of guest instructors, “We bring together this eclectic mix to show all the different sides of playing guitar. They’re all brilliant musicians with styles that are all over the map.”

He adds, “They all have such different jobs, they’ve made millions of people happy with their playing, and yet they do it so differently. Every one of these players comes with fantastic new insights and innovations on playing guitar.”

Visit G4Experience.com for more information and to reserve your place at the camp. Those who register now will receive a 10% discount.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Police drummer Stewart Copeland has collaborated on a new rock opera with The Pretenders‘ Chrissie Hynde and others called The Witches Seed that will get its world premiere on July 22 at the Tones Teatro Natura venue near Oira, Italy.

Copeland composed the music for the production, which was inspired by the history of the witch hunts in Europe during the bloodiest years of the Inquisition.

The Witches Seed includes some songs written by Hynde and features a libretto by award-winning British playwright Jonathan Moore, who has worked with Copeland on several previous opera projects.

The production features innovative video sets created by Edvige Faini, an acclaimed concept artist who has a long history working with Hollywood production studios, as well as with noteworthy video game producers.

The opera tells the tale of three women who are falsely accused of being witches during a time when the plague and other crises were causing great upheaval across Europe.

Irene Grandi, an Italian singer/songwriter who has scored many chart hits in her home country, has a starring role in the production.

The premiere of The Witches Seed is part of the 2022 Tones on the Stones Festival.

Meanwhile, Copeland has several of his “Police Deranged for Orchestra” concerts lined up for this year in Europe, the U.S. and Canada. The shows feature performances of reimagined orchestral versions of songs by his old band. Visit StewartCopeland.net for his full schedule.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A new photo exhibition focusing on pictures of The Rolling Stones taken by rock photographer Norman Seeff in 1972 to promote the band’s album Exile on Main St. will open at Modern Rocks Gallery in East Austin, Texas, on August 19.

The exhibit, titled “Norman Seeff: Fifty Years in Exile,” will feature rare, unseen and vintage photos of The Stones that Seeff took during a late night session in ’72, some of which were used for a set of postcards that were included with the original Exile on Main St. packaging.

In addition, the exhibit will include a collection of prints of other noteworthy photos taken by Seeff, who also created a number of new prints especially for the show.

“I’ve always wanted to use my photography as source material for creating art pieces,” says Seeff. “The photos serve as a jumping off point. I decided to use the exhibition as an opportunity to experiment. People have been very pleased with the results I think.”

Adds Modern Rocks Gallery owner Steven Walker, “We’re absolutely thrilled to be hosting ‘Fifty Years in Exile.’ These original darkroom prints are testament to Norman Seeff’s greatness as both a photographer and an artist.”

An opening reception will take place August 19 starting at 7 p.m. local time. The event will feature a special Rolling Stones-themed cocktail called “Soul Survivor,” while Tumblin’ Dice bourbon also will be poured.

The exhibit will run until September 20.

Exile on Main St. was released in May 1972. The double album spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 and yielded two hit singles, “Tumbling Dice” and the Keith Richards-sung “Happy.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

As ZZ Top prepares to release its latest album, Raw, this Friday, the Texas trio has announced plans for a new Las Vegas residency at The Venetian Theatre.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ latest engagement at the venue inside The Venetian Las Resort is a five-show stand scheduled for December 3, 4, 7, 9 and 10.

Tickets for the new concerts will go on sale to the general public this Friday, July 22 at 10 a.m. PT via Ticketmaster.com, VenetianLasVegas.com, box offices at the resort or by calling 866-641-7469.

Pre-sale tickets will be available to ZZ Top fan club members starting Tuesday, July 19 at 10 a.m. PT; Ticketmaster customers and the resorts’ Grazie loyalty members will have access to the pre-sale beginning Wednesday, July 20 at 10 a.m. PT.

ZZ Top has played several residencies at The Venetian over the years, with the most recent taking place in October 2021.

Leading up to the Vegas performances, the band has over 30 other concerts lined up around the U.S., including a trio of shows in Texas this September that will feature Jeff Beck and Heart‘s Ann Wilson.

Visit ZZTop.com to check out their full itinerary.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Boss is a grandpa.

Bruce Springsteen‘s wife and band mate, Patti Scialfa, took to Instagram over the weekend to announce the arrival of the latest addition to the Springsteen clan: Lily Harper Springsteen, the daughter of their youngest son, Sam.

Scialfa posted a pair of photos: the first, a black-and-white shot of Sam, who’s a New Jersey firefighter, with his fiancée wheeling a baby carriage; the second, a color pic of Lily wearing a pink hat and pink mittens.

The photos, captioned “walking the baby” followed by a yellow flower emoji, drew congratulatory messages from Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Eddie Vedder‘s wife Jill and Sting‘s daughter Mickey Sumner, among others.

The baby is Bruce and Patti’s first grandchild.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Chicago‘s 38th studio album, Born for This Moment, was released on Friday.

The 14-track collection features the lead single “If This Is Goodbye,” which recently broke into the top 20 of Billboard‘s Adult Contemporary chart.

“‘If This Is Goodbye’ was one of the first songs I heard as a possibility to be on the album, and immediately I knew that this definitely should be a contender,” founding Chicago trumpet player Lee Loughnane tells ABC Audio. “And I think 15, 20, maybe even 30 songs came in, [but when I heard that one, I thought,] ‘Yeah, this has got…some legs on it.’ And turns out it does.”

The song is a showcase for Chicago singer Neil Donell, who joined the group in 2018.

“He is the latest tenor voice in the band. And he sings as well or better than [former member Peter] Cetera ever did…and Cetera was at the top of his game when he ended up leaving us,” Loughnane maintains. “So…it’s really good to have him in, and he’s enjoying it, we’re enjoying having him…The band is smokin’ right now.”

Lougnane says recording Born for This Moment was challenging, since most of the project was done remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We couldn’t even get into the same rooms together to speak with each other,” notes Lee. “[W]e missed being able to have that camaraderie, but I think it came out pretty good, despite not seeing each other all that much.”

Loughnane reveals that the entire band did record one song on the album together, a tune he co-wrote called “If This Isn’t Love.”

“We were on tour and I had us set up before the show,” Lee explains, “and we ran the song down…three or four times.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.