Classic Hits

Original Beach Boys member Brian Wilson and his solo band kick off a summer co-headlining tour with Chicago tonight in Phoenix. The 25-date U.S. trek is mapped out through a July 26 concert in the Detroit suburb of Clarkston, Michigan.

As has been the case for the last several years, Wilson’s band will include two other Beach Boys alums, co-founding singer/guitarist Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin, who sang and played guitar with the band in 1972 and ’73.

“It’s gonna be a big, big tour, and it’ll be a lot of fun,” Jardine tells ABC Audio. “I encourage people to come out and see it. It’s gonna be a great show.”

Al, who’s best known for singing lead vocals on The Beach Boys’ 1965 chart-topper “Help Me, Rhonda,” says that with Wilson sharing headlining duties with Chicago, Brian’s set will focus mainly on their old group’s best-known tunes.

“Yeah, it’s gonna more of a hits-driven performance,” Jardine notes, adding with a laugh, “And that’s…for the new generation. They want to hear the hits…and the old farts, too.”

After the tour with Chicago, Wilson — with Jardine and Chaplin — will play three headlining shows in Tennessee this September.

Prior to Wilson’s trek with Chicago, Al toured with his “Al Jardine’s Family & Friends” show, which featured Jardine performing with his son, Matt, and Wilson’s two daughters — Carnie and Wendy Wilson of Wilson Phillips fame. There are two more “Family & Friends” currently scheduled for 2022 — on July 29 in Paso Robles, California, and October 21 in Cerritos, California.

Visit AlJardine.com to see a full list of concerts that Al will be playing this year.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Journey has just released a fourth advance track from their upcoming studio album, Freedom, a soaring and soulful rock tune called “Don’t Give Up on Us.”

The track is available now via digital formats, and you also can check out a visualizer video for the song at Journey’s official YouTube channel.

“It is a very melodic song,” founding Journey guitarist Neal Schon says of “Don’t Give Up on Us.” “It’s soulful, coming more from that R&B place and a little more Motown sounding but it definitely rocks. I feel like it’s got Journey all over it.”

Freedom will be released on July 8 and can be preordered now.

The three other advance songs released from the 15-track collection are “The Way We Used to Be,” “You Got the Best of Me,” and “Let It Rain,” which debuted in June 2021, April 2022 and last month, respectively.

As previously reported, following Freedom‘s release, Journey will play four special symphonic concerts in Las Vegas — on July 15, 16, 22 and 23. The band also has several other concerts lined up around the U.S. this summer. Visit JourneyMusic.com for their full confirmed schedule.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jim Seals, one half of the popular 1970s soft-rock duo Seals and Crofts, has died at age 80, Variety reports.

Along with his musical partner, Darrell “Dash” Crofts, Seals scored a series of hits during the 1970s, including three top-10 singles: 1972’s “Summer Breeze,” 1973’s “Diamond Girl” and 1976’s “Get Closer,” which all peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other notable songs include “Hummingbird,” “We May Never Pass This Way (Again)” and “You’re the Love.”

Seals and Crofts were longtime adherents of the Baháʼí faith, which influenced the theme of many of their songs.

A native of Sydney, Texas, Seals first began playing with fellow Texan Crofts during the 1950s. Around 1959, the duo joined the Los Angeles rock band The Champs shortly after that group scored a chart-topping hit with “Tequila.” During the early ’60s, Seals and Crofts played in Glen Campbell‘s backing band, The GCs, before going their separate ways for a few years.

After playing together again in the late ’60s in a band called The Dawnbreakers, Seals and Crofts decided to form a duo. They released a self-titled debut album in 1969. Their first hit came with “Summer Breeze,” the title track off their fourth studio album. Their final top-40 single, “You’re the Love,” reached #18 in 1978.

The duo went on an extended hiatus after they were dropped by their record label in 1980. Seals and Crofts occasionally reunited during the ensuing years and released a final album, Traces, in 2004.

During the 2000s, Jim teamed up with his brother Dan Seals — a member of popular 1970s duo England Dan and John Ford Coley —  to play shows as Seals and Seals. Dan died of cancer in 2009. 

On Facebook, John Ford Coley wrote of Jim’s death, “I spent a large portion of my musical life with this man. We toured together, he and Dash invited us to sing on Seals and Crofts records, and we played with him for years … I am very sad over this but I have some of the best memories of all of us together. Rest In Peace Jimmy. You and Dan finally get reunited again. Tell him and your sweet momma hi for me.“

Jim had lived in Costa Rica since 1980. He is survived by his wife of over 50 years, Ruby, and several children.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

As Chicago prepares to launch a new headlining tour Tuesday night with Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson, the band has announced plans to release its 38th studio album, Born for This Moment, on July 15.

The 14-track collection includes “If This Is Goodbye,” which Chicago released last month as a digital single. Fans who preorder Born for This Moment now will also receive access to a second track from the album, the funky, soulful “Firecracker,” which was made available to digital platforms Tuesday.

In addition, a visualizer video for “Firecracker” has debuted at Chicago’s official YouTube channel.

“I hope that, 55 years from now, listeners will actually feel something about our music and our lyrics,” says founding Chicago singer/keyboardist Robert Lamm. “I mean, we’re all human. We all go through some variation of the same pain and joy at some point in our lives, and there’s a commonality to that. I hope listeners in the future will actually get all those feelings while listening to our music.”

Adds Chicago trumpet player Lee Loughnane, “One of the big reasons this album works so well is that when you put it on and play it, you hear something you’re not quite expecting to hear, and it immediately pulls you in musically and emotionally.”

Chicago trombone player James Pankow notes, “The very nature of these new tracks makes them very performable, and I’m looking forward to playing some fresh material onstage.”

Chicago’s tour with Wilson runs from Tuesday night’s performance in Phoenix through a July 26 concert in the Detroit suburb of Clarkston, Michigan. The band also has a series of North American headlining shows scheduled for late August and September. Visit ChicagoTheBand.com to check out all the dates.

Here’s the full Born for This Moment track list:

“Born for This Moment”
“If This Is Goodbye”
“Firecracker”
“Someone Needed Me the Most”
“Our New York Time”
“Safer Harbours”
“Crazy Idea”
“Make a Man Outta Me”
“She’s Right”
“‘The Mermaid’ Sereia Do Mar”
“You’ve Got to Believe”
“For the Love”
“If This Isn’t Love”
“House on the Hill”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the Stray Cats‘ debut U.S. album, Built for Speed.

The 12-track collection, which remains the rockabilly trio’s most successful album to date, actually is a compilation featuring highlights from the Long Island, New York, group’s first two U.K. studio efforts — 1981’s Stray Cats and Gonna Ball — along with one previously unreleased tune, “Built for Speed.”

The Built for Speed album peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 and was kept out of the top spot by Michael Jackon‘s Thriller. The record yielded two of the Stray Cats’ signature tunes, “Stray Cat Strut” and “Rock This Town,” which reached #3 and #9, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Stray Cats — singer/guitarist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker and drummer Slim Jim Phantom — formed in Massapequa, New York, in 1979. After the band relocated to the U.K. in 1980, their authentic retro-rockabilly sound and style quickly gained them a following there.

Rocker tells ABC Audio that The Rolling Stones were “really integral” to getting his band media attention “before we even had a record deal.”

As Lee recalls, “They were showing up at these little gigs we were doing in London, and, as you can imagine …right behind them was a cadre of photographers and press people. So they helped shine a light.”

The Stones even invited The Stray Cats to open for them during their 1981 tour. The trio soon headed back to the U.S. and, after Built for Speed‘s release, the band’s popularity soared, thanks in part to MTV putting videos for “Stray Cat Strut” and “Rock This Town” into heavy rotation.

Built for Speed went on to sell over 1 million copies in the U.S. Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Rock This Town”
“Built for Speed”
“Rev It Up & Go”
“Stray Cat Strut”
“Little Miss Prissy”
“Rumble in Brighton”
“Runaway Boys”    
“Lonely Summer Nights”
“Double Talkin’ Baby”
“You Don’t Believe Me”
“Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie”
“Baby Blue Eyes”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Def Leppard‘s latest studio album, Diamond Star Halos, has debuted at #10 on the Billboard 200 and also bowed at #1 on Billboard‘s Hard Rock chart.

The album earned 34,000 equivalent album units during its first week of release — 32,000 of that figure were from album sales, while the remainder were from downloads and streaming.

Diamond Star Halos is Def Leppard’s 12th studio album and their sixth to reach the top 10 of the Billboard 200. The others were 1983’s Pyromania, which peaked at #2; 1988’s Hysteria and 1992’s Adrenalize, which both topped the chart for multiple weeks; 2008’s Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, which ascended to #5; and the band’s 2015 self-titled effort, which reached #10.

As previously reported, Def Leppard will soon be teaming with Mötley Crüe, Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts for the expansive 36-city Stadium Tour of North America. The trek gets underway June 16 in Atlanta and is mapped out through a September 9 concert in Las Vegas.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Todd Rundgren is among the well-known music artists who will take part in a new, 2022 edition of the Celebrating David Bowie tribute tour, which is scheduled to visit venues across North America this fall.

The trek kicks off October 6 in San Diego and is currently slated to run through a November 13 performance in Phoenix, with more shows expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

The tour was created by veteran guitarist and record producer Angelo Bundini, a.k.a. Scrote, who will also perform on the trek, as will ex-King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew, Spacehog‘s Royston Langdon, Fishbone frontman Angelo Moore and singer/songwriter Jeffrey Gaines, along with other musicians.

Tickets for most of the shows will go on sale to the general public this Friday, June 10; visit CelebratingDavidBowie.com for more information.

The 2022 edition of the tour will present an evening of David Bowie music while venturing to answer the question, “What makes Bowie different?”

“This is Major Todd to ground control. I’m stepping through the door,” Rundgren says about taking part in the tour. “In 1973, I met David Bowie and one of us ended up crying. I met David several times after that. Some of our phases, like glam, coincided. David had more of that Andy Warhol kind of sensibility, a pop sensibility.”

Adds Belew, “With such a large catalog to choose from, different songs affect us and the audience in varying measure … It’s always amazing to feel the excitement of a Bowie audience beaming directly at you. Pure adrenaline! So much love for David.”

Scrote, meanwhile, offers, “Fronting the show with revered innovators Todd & Adrian is an incredible honor. We’re looking forward to unleashing a three-guitar attack for an epic ride fueled with songs for every Bowie fan.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

New Jersey’s favorite son joined Coldplay during the British band’s concert at East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday night.

The one and only Bruce Springsteen took the stage alongside Chris Martin and company for performances of the Boss’s 2009 song “Working on a Dream” and his 1984 smash “Dancing in the Dark.”

“Working on a Dream” is a particularly meaningful song for Martin, who has the song’s title tattooed on his arm.

“Like Chris said, he’s had this song tattooed on his arm for a while, so I guess I’ve got to sing it,” Springsteen told the cheering crowd before launching into the tune.

You can watch fan-shot footage of the collaboration streaming now on YouTube.

Coldplay is currently on tour supporting its latest album Music of the Spheres, which was released in October. The trek continues Wednesday in Philadelphia. As for Springsteen, he kicks off a recently announced 2023 European tour with his E Street Band on April 28 in Barcelona, Spain.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Doobie Brothers recently postponed five U.S. concerts that were part of their ongoing 50th anniversary tour because several members of the band’s touring party tested positive for COVID-19.

The affected dates, which have already been rescheduled, were originally scheduled for June 2 in West Palm Beach, Florida; June 3 in Tampa, Florida; June 5 in Jacksonville, Florida; June 7 in Alpharetta, Georgia; and June 8 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Those shows now are scheduled for the tail end of the band’s current summer U.S. leg. The new dates are as follows: Alpharetta on July 17, Jacksonville on July 18, Tampa on July 20, West Palm Beach on July 21 and Charlotte on July 25.

The Doobies are scheduled to return to the road for a June 10 concert in Bristow, Virginia. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers also have another U.S. leg lined up for later this year that’s plotted out from a September 2 show in Pelham, Alabama, through an October 12 performance in Nashville.

Check out the band’s full schedule at TheDoobieBrothers.com.

Last September, The Doobie Brothers also postponed a series of concerts after a member of the group’s touring personnel came down with COVID.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

In 2019, Sting won a Grammy for 44/876, an album he made with reggae/pop star Shaggy. Now the two have re-teamed for Come Fly wid Mi, a recently released album Sting produced of Shaggy doing reggae versions of Frank Sinatra tunes like “That’s Life.”

Sting first came up with the idea when he overheard Shaggy singing during a boat trip in Norway, but admits that the concept is definitely “insane.”

“He was singing along with the Frank Sinatra CD. I just heard something in it that appealed to me, because it doesn’t sound like Frank. He sounded like Shaggy, because he’s got an equally iconic voice. But there was some authenticity there,” Sting tells ABC Audio.

“And so the idea just kept coming back to me. And a year later I said, ‘We should do that crazy idea,'” Sting laughs. “It’s insane! But I’m so glad that it’s actually seen the light of day now and people are responding in the way I thought they would.”

The album includes well-known songs like “Fly Me to the Moon,” but Sting had Shaggy sing some lesser-known tunes, too. He claims he was “very strict” when it came to Shaggy “singing the correct melody,” but, Sting adds, “He’s a good pupil.”

Sting predicted that Come Fly wid Mi would bring people joy, and he was right. At the album launch in New York City, Sting says, “As soon as [Shaggy] started to sing…everyone in the club…had this wide grin…it just makes people smile. And what does the world need more than a smile at the moment? I don’t know! We need a smile!”

It’s unlikely Sting and Shaggy will be performing together in the near future, though, since Sting is currently doing his Las Vegas residency My Songs, followed by a European tour.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.