Classic Hits

If you’re a director looking to make a new Popeye movie, look no further than Flea.

In a recent tweet, the Red Hot Chili Peppers suggested he’d be a good choice to play pipe-chewing, spinach-eating Sailor Man, should the opportunity ever arise.

“If a good director decides to make a Popeye movie, I’m your man,” Flea declared.

Should Flea be able to manifest a starring role in a new Popeye film — which, judging by other franchise reboots/sequels, would probably be called Dawn of Popeye or Popeye Returns or simply The Popeye — he’d be following in the footsteps of the late Robin Williams, who played the character in the 1980 live-action movie Popeye. The Robert Altman-directed feature received poor reviews, but has developed more of a following in recent years.

In the meantime, Flea is currently on tour with the Peppers in support of their new album, Unlimited Love. The global trek will come to the U.S. in July.

You can also catch Flea in the new Disney+ miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Kenny Loggins‘ new memoir, Still Alright, is out now, and in it he details his decades-long career, including his time in Loggins & Messina, his solo career, his hit movie songs, his drug use and his many famous collaborators, one of whom he identifies as his “musical soulmate.”

Loggins tells USA Today about the book, “I was very careful to tell the truth, but in a way that people wouldn’t be mad at me. I didn’t want Jimmy [Messina] going, ‘[F***] you,’ and my ex-wives, I let them both read their chapters before submitting [it].”

One of Loggins’ collaborators who gets a lot of space in the book is Michael McDonald, with whom he wrote the Doobie Brothers mega hit “What a Fool Believes” and his own solo smash “This Is It.” When asked by USA Today if he’d call McDonald his “musical soulmate,” Loggins says, “I think in some ways, yeah, I would give you that one … Every time we get together, we write something musically neither would have done alone.”

He adds, “I can’t explain it, but I think we didn’t really exploit our opportunities in the ’80s. I wish we would have written 100 songs and let 80 of them suck. When there’s chemistry there, don’t waste it.” 

Loggins adds that he and McDonald are “still great friends and appreciate the history we created.”

The singer is also having a pop culture moment: His song “Footloose” has gone viral on TikTok, and his song “Danger Zone” was the only song from the original Top Gun that was retained for the soundtrack of the hit sequel Top Gun: Maverick. Loggins says he’s “dumbfounded” by the movie’s success.

“We knew something big was going to happen, but it’s just way huger than any of us imagined,” he adds.

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Brett Tuggle, a veteran keyboardist who toured with the David Lee Roth Band, Fleetwood Mac, Rick Springfield and many other artists, died on Sunday, June 19, “from complications related to cancer,” Rolling Stone reports. He was 70.

“Our sweet Brett Tuggle made it home tonight,” tweeted Springfield, with whom Tuggle toured and recorded during the mid-1980s. “God bless his beautiful spirit.”

Brett is survived by his two children — son Matt and daughter Michelle.

“He was loved by his family so much,” Matt told Rolling Stone. “His family was with him throughout the entire time of his illness. He was a lovely father. He gave me music in my life.”

Tuggle was a founding member of Roth’s first solo band after Diamond Dave split with Van Halen. He was a member of Roth’s backing group from 1986 to 1994. He co-wrote several songs with the singer, including “Just Like Paradise,” which reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988.

In 1992, he began playing with the Mick Fleetwood side project The Zoo, and he later served as Fleetwood Mac’s touring keyboardist from 1997 to 2017. He also played keyboards on Mac members Lindsey Buckingham‘s and Stevie Nicks‘ solo tours, as well as on Buckingham and Christine McVie‘s trek in support of the duo’s 2017 collaborative album.

In a 2020 Rolling Stone interview, Tuggle explained that he lost his gig with Fleetwood Mac after Buckingham was fired from the group in 2018, claiming that he was perceived as “Lindsey’s guy.”

Most recently, Tuggle had been touring with Buckingham during Lindsey’s 2021 solo tour, but he did not appear at any of the singer/guitarist’s 2022 concerts.

Over the years, Tuggle also played with Jimmy Page & David Coverdale, John Kay and Steppenwolf, Styx‘s Tommy Shaw and many others.

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After postponing two concerts because frontman Mick Jagger recently tested positive for COVID-19, The Rolling Stones are ready to relaunch their SIXTY tour on Tuesday in Milan, Italy.

Jagger has posted a video message on his Twitter feed in which he tells fans, “Thanks so much for all your lovely messages. I really appreciate them. And I’m sorry for the inconvenience about the shows, but we’ll be on stage at Milan on Tuesday, so see you there.”

In addition, The Rolling Stones posted a Twitter message Monday featuring a series of photos of their crew setting up the stage at Milan’s San Siro Stadium for Tuesday’s concert.

Unfortunately, the band has announced the second show that was postponed because of Jagger’s illness, a June 17 performance in Bern, Switzerland, can’t be rescheduled and has been canceled.

The announcement explains, “The Stones concert promoters have worked extremely hard all week and tried everything they possibly could to find an alternative date or venue for the concert in Switzerland but sadly this was not possible. The band wish to send a huge apology to all the fans in Switzerland who bought tickets and are deeply saddened they cannot perform in Bern on this tour.”

The message explains that fans who bought tickets can get refunds from their point of purchase until July 17.

As previously reported, the first postponed date, a June 14 show in Amsterdam, has been moved to July 7.

Check out all of the band’s tour dates at RollingStones.com.

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Brian Wilson was born 80 years ago today, and in celebration of the milestone birthday, special messages from some of the Beach Boys legend’s famous musical friends, fans and associates have been compiled in a video’s that been posted on Wilson’s official YouTube channel.

Among the many stars featured in the video are Bob Dylan, Elton John, Joe Walsh, The Bee Gees‘ Barry Gibb, John Fogerty and Wilson’s fellow Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine.

Elton, who’s the first artist featured in the tribute, tells Brian, “Have a wonderful 80th birthday with [your wife] Melinda and your family…You’ve inspired me all my life. To me, you’re the only real pop genius in the world, and I love you very much.”

Gibb says, “I’m honored to be able to say congratulations to you. I’ve followed you all of my life…Your inspiration, your insights into chord changes, and your insights into harmony has [always] been overwhelming to me…I love you very much.”

Walsh is shown playing the intro to The Beach Boys’ classic “California Girls” on an electric guitar, and then singing a fun rendition of “Happy Birthday to You.”

Fogerty declares, “Happy 80th birthday, and thank you for all the great music!”

Jardine, who tours with Wilson as part of his solo band, says, “Hi Brian, I’m the guy who sings on your left…Always remember, we’ll always be younger than your cousin Mike [Love].”

Dylan brings the presentation to a close with an acoustic rendition of “Happy Birthday to You.”

Among the other stars who are featured in the video are Graham Nash, David Crosby, Smokey Robinson, Carole King, The Monkees‘ Micky Dolenz, Three Dog Night‘s Danny Hutton, Stephen Bishop, producer Don Was, actors Jeff Bridges and John Cusack, and filmmaker Cameron Crowe.

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Elton John is the latest legend to get in on the NFT craze for charity.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique pieces of digital artwork that many artists have been either creating themselves, or commissioning, and then selling to fans. Elton has teamed with LGBTQ+ artist Voxel Bunny to create an NFT that’s a digital animation.

Set to Elton’s hit “Rocket Man,” it features a robot-like figure sailing through the galaxy on a hoverboard, which is designed to look like the pinball machine Elton played in the “Pinball Wizard” sequence in the 1975 movie Tommy. 

The starting bid on the NFT is $5,000 with all proceeds going to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and you have until June 22 at 6 p.m. ET to bid.

“Whilst I’m no metaverse expert, I wanted to make sure that my first NFT was something true to me, and collaborating with LGBTQ+ artist Voxel Bunny…on something so unique which benefits the Elton John AIDS Foundation for Pride month, was the perfect opportunity,” Elton said in a statement.

If $5,000 is too steep for you, you can also get a different NFT for just $30, which is available to anyone. It’s a spinning, gold-and-black “Rocket Collectible,” which gets you access to Elton’s new Rocket NFT Club. You can get the latest news, enter special contests, get discounts and have access to ticket pre-sales.

Get all the details at NFT.EltonJohn.com.

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The Zombies have revealed that their two main members — co-founding singer Colin Blunstone and keyboardist Rod Argent — both contracted the COVID-19 virus about three weeks ago. The band has since decided to cancel the first two dates of its new North American summer tour.

The shows had been scheduled for June 21 in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, and June 22 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

A note posted on The Zombies’ Facebook page explains, “[Blunstone’s and Argent’s] cases were relatively mild, and they were determined to recover in time for the tour. Frustratingly, although both felt well enough to go forward, Rod was still showing a faint positive the day before their flight from London to Toronto. Out of concern for everyone’s health and safety, we decided it was best to give them a few extra days recuperation at home, and delay the start of the tour.”

The new leg of the band’s 2022 Life Is a Merry-Go-Round Tour is now scheduled to begin with their concert this Friday, June 24 in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.

The message adds, “We are making every effort to reschedule the Ontario shows, and will announce more information soon. Refund requests can also be made at your point of purchase. Our thanks to all the fans in Ontario for your understanding.”

The trek is mapped out through a July 28-30 engagement in Park City, Utah. You can check out the British Invasion band’s full schedule at TheZombiesMusic.com.

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Here’s sending out good vibrations to founding Beach Boys singer and songwriter Brian Wilson, who celebrates his 80th birthday today (June 20).

Wilson wrote the music to nearly all of his famous band’s best-known songs, from the Southern California group’s early surf-rock classics to their complex, multilayered recordings of the mid-1960s and beyond.

Among The Beach Boys’ classic early hits are “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Surfer Girl,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “I Get Around,” “Help Me, Rhonda” and “California Girls.”

With his impressive gift for vocal harmonies and musical arrangements, Wilson helped craft one of the most celebrated albums of all time, The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, as well as the equally lauded follow-up single “Good Vibrations,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in December ’66.

In 1998, Pet Sounds was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2020, it was ranked at #2 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

Brian’s many career achievements include induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with The Beach Boys in 1988, induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000, being saluted as the MusiCares Person of the Year in 2005, and being recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007.

Wilson’s most recent album with The Beach Boys, That’s Why God Made the Radio, was released in 2012, coinciding with the band’s 50th anniversary. In recent years, he’s focused on his solo career. His latest studio album, At My Piano, was released in November 2021 and features solo piano versions of many classic Beach Boys songs.

Brian also was the subject of the 2021 documentary Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road, which features new interviews with Wilson as well as with Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, co-founding Beach Boys member Al Jardine, pop star Nick Jonas and more.

Wilson continues to tour with his solo band, which features Jardine and one-time Beach Boys singer/guitarist Blondie Chaplin. They recently launched a co-headlining trek with Chicago.

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A new Def Leppard coffee-table book titled Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard is expected to be released in the coming months by Genesis Publications.

According to a synopsis posted at Genesis-Publications.com, the book will offer “the most personal and comprehensive record of Def Leppard’s history to date,” and will feature personal recollections from the band’s members as well as rare photos and memorabilia from Def Leppard’s archives.

Among the interesting ephemera featured in the book will be handwritten letters, rare vinyl discs, tour memorabilia, press clippings, music video storyboards and more.

Definitely will be available as a signed, limited-edition book-and-album set from Genesis Publications. You can register at the publishing company’s website to receive more information.

In other news, Def Leppard has posted a video on its YouTube channel featuring a recap of the band’s first gig on The Stadium Tour with Mötley Crüe, Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, which took place Thursday, June 16, in Atlanta.

The clip featured footage from the rain-drenched show and post-gig comments from singer Joe Elliott and guitarist Phil Collen.

In the video, Elliot described the concert as “the wettest gig” his band has done since 1986.

“It rained all night long, but the crowd stuck with us,” Joe notes. “Nobody left, nobody moaned.

Collen adds, “Amazing! Everything that could have gone wrong did. We had kind of like a hurricane storm…coming through. It was just drenched. The drums went off at one point, we carried on like nothing had happened.”

The tour has since stopped in the Miami area on Saturday and Orlando, Florida, on Sunday. The next show is scheduled for Wednesday, June 22, in Washington, D.C.

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Former Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter released his first solo album, Speed of Heat, Friday.

The 12-track collection features a mix of original tunes and select covers. Among the latter are versions of the Steely Dan classics “My Old School” and “Do It Again,” and of the 1960 instrumental “Apache” that was popularized by The Shadows.

The album features Baxter singing lead on some tracks, as well as some guest vocalists and musicians, including his one-time Doobie Brothers bandmate Michael McDonald, country star Clint Black and blues rocker Jonny Lang.

Baxter’s main collaborator on Speed of Heat was veteran producer, composer and keyboardist CJ Vanston.

Toto‘s David Paich contributes keyboards to Jeff’s cover of “My Old School.” Speed of Heat also includes a song called “My Place in the Sun” that Baxter co-wrote with Vanston and McDonald, and features Michael on vocals. Lang co-write, sings and plays guitar on a tune titled “I Can Do Without,” while Black sings on and co-wrote the song “Bad Move.”

“This is something very new for me, never having focused time and energy on creating a solo project before,” says Baxter about Speed of Heat. “It was a lot of fun and very satisfying to be doing something for myself, as opposed to being a hired gun, (not that I don’t enjoy studio work, producing and playing live with other folks. That will never change!).”

Meanwhile, Baxter is planning to announce a West Coast tour in support of the album soon.

Here’s the full Speed of Heat track list:

“Ladies from Hell”
“My Old School”
“Juliet”
“I Can Do Without”
“Do It Again”
“Apache”
“My Place in the Sun”
“The Rose”
“Bad Move”
“Giselle”
“Insecurity”
“Speed of Heat”

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