Classic Hits

America‘s Gerry Beckley has released the title track of his upcoming album Aurora as the latest advance single from the record, which is due out on July 1.

“Aurora,” which kicks off the album, is a love song that, according to Beckley, uses the phenomenon of the colorful lights seen in the sky at daybreak as a metaphor for the significant life event of meeting his wife and relocating to Australia.

The track is available now via digital formats, and you also can check out an official lyric video for the song at the Blue Élan Records label’s YouTube channel.

Aurora is an 11-song collection that Gerry recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic at his two home studios — in Sydney, Australia, and Venice, California.

The album’s tracks include tunes that began as unfinished demos and scratch recordings that date back as far as the early 1970s, as well as brand-new songs written during the past two years.

Prior to “Aurora,” Beckley released two other advance tracks from the album — “Friends Are Hard to Find” and “Tickets to the Past.” Gerry co-wrote the latter tune with his co-founding America band mate Dewey Bunnell, who also sings on the track. “Tickets from the Past” is the first song that Beckley and Bunnell wrote together that isn’t making its debut appearance on an America album.

America is about to launch a new series of U.S. tour dates that run from a June 3 concert in Albany, New York, through an August 27 show in St. Charles, Illinois. Check out the band’s full schedule at VenturaHighway.com.

You can pre-order Aurora now. Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Aurora”
“I Fall Down”
“Never Know Why”
“Tickets to the Past”
“Way to Go”
“Friends Are Hard to Find”
“Peace of Mind”
“Indy’s Gatho”
“Aerial”
“Superscope”
“Tears”

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This Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of the release of The Clash‘s fifth and most commercially successful studio album, Combat Rock.

Released on May 14, 1982, the album was the final Clash studio effort recorded by the lauded British punk band’s classic lineup of singer/guitarists Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon and drummer Topper Headon.

Combat Rock peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and featured the singles “Rock the Casbah” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” as well as such gems as “Know Your Rights” and “Straight to Hell.” “Rock the Casbah” became the group’s only top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #8, while “Should I Stay or Should I Go” peaked at #45 on the chart.

The music for “Rock the Casbah” was notably written by Headon on piano. The song’s popularity was bolstered by a music video that went into heavy rotation on MTV.

The album also found the band experimenting with a number of musical styles. “Ghetto Defendant” features spoken-word vocals by famed beat poet Allen Ginsberg, while “Overpowered by Funk” includes rapping by New York City-based graffiti artist Futura 2000.

Combat Rock was co-produced by The Clash and famed rock producer Glyn Johns, and was certified double Platinum by the RIAA.

As previously reported, a special expanded Combat Rock reissue, titled Combat Rock/The People’s Hall, will be released on May 20 in honor of the album’s 40th anniversary.

The People’s Hall is a 12-track collection compiled by The Clash that includes unheard, rare and early versions of songs recorded at the same time as the Combat Rock sessions. You can pre-order Combat Rock/The People’s Hall now.

Here’s Combat Rock‘s full track list:

“Know Your Rights”
“Car Jamming”
“Should I Stay or Should I Go”
“Rock the Casbah”
“Red Angel Dragnet”
“Straight to Hell”
“Overpowered by Funk”
“Atom Tan”
“Sean Flynn”
“Ghetto Defendant”
“Inoculated City”
“Death Is a Star”

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Founding Talking Heads singer/guitarist David Byrne has led a wild, wild life, and this Saturday, May 14, the talented, quirky and prolific musician celebrates his 70th birthday.

Byrne was born in Scotland, and his family moved to Canada when he was two, then subsequently relocated to the Baltimore area when he was eight or nine.

Byrne briefly attended the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island, where he met drummer Chris Frantz, with whom he formed a band called The Artistics in 1973. After that group broke up, Byrne, Frantz and Chris’ then-girlfriend and future wife Tina Weymouth, relocated to New York City, and the trio formed Talking Heads there.

The band soon became part of the New York punk scene, playing regularly at the famed club CBGB. The group’s classic lineup was solidified when Jerry Harrison, formerly of The Modern Lovers, joined as the keyboardist and second guitarist.

Talking Heads went on to become among the most popular and influential punk and New Wave bands. Byrne became known for his eccentric stage persona and, eventually, his inventive dance moves. He wrote or co-wrote all of the Talking Heads’ original songs, including “Psycho Killer,” “Life During Wartime,” “Once in a Lifetime,” “Burning Down the House,” “Road to Nowhere” and “Wild Wild Life.”

In 1986, Byrne co-wrote, directed and acted in the film True Stories, which featured a soundtrack by Talking Heads. In 1981, David released My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, a collaborative album with Brian Eno, and his debut solo album, Rei Momo, followed in 1989.

He won a 1988 Oscar for Best Film Score for his work on The Last Emperor.

Talking Heads split in 1991, and since then, Byrne has forged a wide-ranging solo career that’s included various film, stage, recording and multimedia projects. Talking Heads were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

In 2019, Byrne premiered his popular Broadway stage production David Byrne’s American Utopia, which was honored with a Special Tony Award in 2021.

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The new archival Rolling Stones concert album Live at the El Mocambo, featuring performances from two shows that the British rock legends played at the famed Toronto club on March 4 and 5, 1977, was released today.

The album, which is available as a two-CD set, a four-LP collection on either black or neon vinyl, and digitally, features The Stones’ full March 5 concert plus three bonus performances from the previous night. The tracks are newly mixed by renowned studio engineer Bob Clearmountain.

The performances at the 300-capacity El Mocambo club were booked as secret gigs, attended by fans who’d won tickets to see what they thought were shows headlined by Canadian rockers April Wine. Billed as the support act for the two nights was an unknown band called The Cockroaches, who turned out to be the real headliners — the one and only Rolling Stones.

The Stones’ Mocambo set list included such covers as Muddy Waters‘ “Mannish Boy,” Bo Diddley‘s “Crackin’ Up,” Big Maceo‘s “Worried Life Blues” and Willie Dixon‘s “Little Red Rooster,” as well as classic originals like “Honky Tonk Women,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Tumbling Dice.” The band also presented live of “Worried About You,” which later would be released on 1981’s Tattoo You.

Only four songs from the El Mocambo concerts had been officially released previously, appearing on 1977’s Love You Live album.

Live at the El Mocambo is available now.  Here’s the full track list for the two-CD version:

CD 1
“Honky Tonk Women”
“All Down the Line”
“Hand of Fate”
“Route 66”
“Fool to Cry”
“Crazy Mama”
“Mannish Boy”
“Crackin’ Up”
“Dance Little Sister”
“Around and Around”
“Tumbling Dice”

CD2
“Hot Stuff”
“Star Star”
“Let’s Spend the Night Together”
“Worried Life Blues”
“Little Red Rooster”
“It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)”
“Rip This Joint”
“Brown Sugar”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“Melody”
“Luxury”
“Worried About You”

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This Sunday, The Who will play their first concert in Cincinnati since the band’s infamous December 1979 show at the Riverfront Coliseum, where 11 young people lost their lives as fans rushed the doors of the venue before the event.

Sunday’s Who performance will be the first concert ever at Cincinnati’s new TQL Stadium, and the British rock legends have chosen a very special opening act for the show: a local band named Safe Passage, with a personal connection to the tragic 1979 event. Two of Safe Passage’s members, Walt Medlock and Mike Simkin, were friends with three of the victims of the tragedy — Stephan Preston, Jackie Eckerle and Karen Morrison — and attended the same high school, Finneytown.

Safe Passage performs at an annual benefit for the P.E.M. Memorial — named after Preston, Eckerle and Morrison — which helps fund three scholarships each year for graduating seniors at Finneytown High School.

In an interview with local ABC-TV affiliate WCPO, Medlock notes, “We will be the first band to perform ever at TQL Stadium,” while Simkin adds, laughing, “And we happen to be opening with a little band called The Who.”

Regarding his band being asked to perform with one of the world’s most famous groups, Simkin says, “It was an almost like Godzilla walking down your street, something that’s so unreal, it’s just hard to believe.”

Adds Melock, “This is an amazing chance to live that for 25-30 minutes, I’ve got to thank The Who management.”

Safe Passage, whose set list usually includes some Who songs, will be playing a mix of originals and covers on Sunday.

Meanwhile, The Who will donate some proceeds from the Cincinnati the concert to the P.E.M. Memorial.

First up for The Who will be a show on Friday, May 13, in Memphis, Tennessee.

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Music festivals are coming to Hulu in a big way.

The Disney-partnered platform announced Thursday that it’ll be livestreaming the Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits festivals this year and in 2023. According to a press release, the news “marks the first time that a platform has had streaming rights to all three of these iconic live events.”

Hulu subscribers will be able to watch select sets from all three festivals live at no additional cost, as well as additional behind-the-scenes footage.

“Hulu and Live Nation are both committed to delivering exceptional entertainment to fans, so we are thrilled to be collaborating with them, again, as we expand our offering to include these three legendary festivals,” says Hulu president Joe Earley. “Each event is unique, but all three bring people together for incredible music, artistry, and experiences, which we are fortunate to be able to share with Hulu subscribers.”

The specific artists and livestream schedules will be announced in the weeks leading up to the festivals.

Bonnaroo takes place June 16-19 in Manchester, Tennessee, and its lineup includes Stevie Nicks among its headliners. Lollapalooza, which will be held July 28-31 in Chicago, will feature headlining sets from Green Day, Metallica and more. Red Hot Chili Peppers are among the headliners for Austin City Limits, which takes place October 7-9 and 14-16 in Austin, Texas.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Fanny: The Right to Rock, a 2021 documentary about the pioneering all-female band Fanny that includes appearances by Def Leppard‘s Joe Elliott, Go-Go’s bassist Kathy Valentine and other rock stars, will be shown in select U.S. theaters in the coming weeks, starting on May 27 in New York City.

The film tells the story of Fanny, a group formed in the late 1960s in Sacramento, California, by two Filipina-American sisters, Jean and June Millington — who played bass and guitar, respectively — along with keyboardist Nickey Barclay and drummer Alice de Buhr. The documentary looks at the various obstacles that the band dealt with — including issues of race, gender and sexuality — as they worked to achieve success in the music business during the 1970s.

The movie includes interviews with the Millington sisters, de Buhr, and with later members Patti Quatro and Brie Darling, as well as with Elliott, Valentine, The B-52s‘ Kate Pierson, Todd Rundgren, The Lovin’ Spoonful‘s John Sebastian, Bonnie Raitt, ex-Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Runaways singer Cherie Currie and David Bowie touring guitarist Earl Slick and bassist Gail Ann Dorsey.

Fanny released five studio albums between 1970 and 1975, including 1973’s Mothers Pride, which was produced by Rundgren. The band scored its biggest hit in 1975 with the single “Butter Boy,” written about Bowie, who was a big fan of the group. The song reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1975, although Fanny had broken up by that time.

A few years ago, the Millington sisters and Darling reunited to form a group called Fanny Walked the Earth, which released a self-titled album in 2018.

To check out a list of confirmed screenings of Fanny: The Right to Rock, visit FilmMovement.com.

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Limited-edition black vinyl versions of The Who‘s first third and fourth studio albums, 1967’s The Who Sell Out and the band’s landmark 1969 rock opera, Tommy, will be released on July 6 as the second installment of a recently launched series of half-speed-mastered vinyl editions of the band’s records.

Both albums were mastered at London’s Abbey Road Studios by longtime Who engineer Jon Astley and cut for vinyl by acclaimed engineer by Miles Showell. The discs will be packaged in sleeves replicating the albums’ original designs, and will come with certificates of authenticity.

The Who Sell Out is noteworthy for being one of the first rock concept albums. It featured the band parodying the British pirate radio stations that were popular at the time, and included fake commercials written and recorded by the group that connected some of the songs. The album only reached #48 on the Billboard 200, but it included The Who’s first U.S. top-10 hit, “I Can See for Miles.”

Tommy is widely regarded as one of the most important albums in rock history, a double-disc collection that tells the story of a “deaf, dumb and blind kid” who becomes a pinball champion and then a spiritual leader. Tommy peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 and features many enduring Who songs, among them “Pinball Wizard,” “I’m Free” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” which includes the famed “See Me, Feel Me” segment.

The Who launched their half-speed mastered-vinyl series earlier this month with reissues of their first two U.K. studio albums: 1965’s My Generation and 1966’s A Quick One.

You can pre-order the half-speed-mastered The Who Sell Out and Tommy LPs now.

Here’s The Who Sell Out‘s full track list:

Side 1
“Armenia City in the Sky”
“Heinz Baked Beans”
“Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand”
“Odorono”
“Tattoo”
“Our Love Was”
“I Can See for Miles”

Side 2
“Can’t Reach You”
“Medac”
“Relax”
“Silas Stingy”
“Sunrise”
“Rael (1 and 2)”

And here’s the full track list of Tommy:

Side 1
“Overture”
“It’s a Boy”
“1921”
“Amazing Journey”
“Sparks”
“The Hawker”

Side 2
“Christmas”
“Cousin Kevin”
“The Acid Queen”
“Underture”

Side 3
“Do You Think It’s Alright?”
“Fiddle About”
“Pinball Wizard”
“There’s a Doctor”
“Go to the Mirror!”
“Tommy, Can You Hear Me?”
“Smash the Mirror”
“Sensation”

Side 4
“Miracle Cure”
“Sally Simpson”
“I’m Free”
“Welcome”
“Tommy’s Holiday Camp”
“We’re Not Gonna Take It”

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Red Hot Chili Peppers are no longer performing at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards.

The show announced Wednesday that the “Under the Bridge” outfit had to drop off due to “unforeseen circumstances.” The performance was set to be RHCP’s first on the BBMAs in 23 years.

In place of the Peppers, contemporary rocker Machine Gun Kelly has joined the performers lineup, marking his BBMA debut.

Previously announced performers include Florence + the Machine, as well as Silk Sonic, Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Scott, Ed Sheeran, Miranda Lambert and Mary J. Blige, among others.

The 2022 Billboard Music Awards will air this Sunday, May 15, on NBC.

Red Hot Chili Peppers are scheduled to kick off a world tour in support of their new album, Unlimited Love, on June 4 in Seville, Spain. The North American leg of the trek gets underway July 23 in Denver.

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Today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of The Rolling Stones‘ classic 12th U.S. studio album, the double-disc Exile on Main St.

The 18-track collection found the British rock legends diving deep into their American roots-music influences, including the blues, country, gospel and, of course, early rock ‘n’ roll.

Exile on Main St. was the second in a streak of eight consecutive Stones studio albums that reached #1 on the Billboard 200, spending four weeks atop the chart in June and July of ’72. The record yielded two hit singles, “Tumbling Dice” and the Keith Richards-sung “Happy,” which peaked, respectively, at #7 and #22 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Other standout tracks on the album included “Rocks Off,” “Sweet Virginia,” “Loving Cup,” “All Down the Line” and “Shine a Light.”

Many tracks on Exile on Main St. were recorded in the U.K. between 1969 and 1971, at London’s Olympic Studios and Mick Jagger‘s Stargroves country house, but much of the album came together after The Rolling Stones relocated to France in 1971 as British tax exiles. While the band members were in France, the bulk of the recording was done a makeshift studio set up at a villa called Nellcôte that Richards rented near the city of Nice.

While at Nellcôte, Richards reportedly struggled with heroin addiction, causing the sessions to drag on for months. Overdubs, vocals and other additions were recorded later in Los Angeles’ Sunset Sound at sessions overseen by Jagger.

Exile on Main St. was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012, and was ranked at #14 on Rolling Stone‘s 2020 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

Here’s the album’s full track list:

LP 1

Side A
“Rocks Off”
“Rip This Joint”
“Shake Your Hips”
“Casino Boogie”
“Tumbling Dice”

Side B
“Sweet Virginia”
“Torn and Frayed”
“Sweet Black Angel
“Loving Cup”

LP 2

Side A
“Happy”
“Turd on the Run”
“Ventilator Blues”
“I Just Want to See His Face”
“Let It Loose”

Side B
“All Down the Line”
“Stop Breaking Down”
“Shine a Light”
“Soul Survivor”

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