Classic Hits

Devo is among the nominees for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, marking the third time that the quirky and influential New Wave band has been in the running for the honor.

Founding Devo member Gerald Casale tells ABC Audio that “it’d be nice” if the band is chosen for induction, and “a feather in [our] cap,” while admitting, “I won’t cry if it doesn’t happen.”

The 73-year-old musician says if Devo is selected to inducted, the band will be up for performing at the ceremony. He notes that if he had to choose the songs that the group would play, “they would have to be the tent poles of Devo, [and]…would certainly have to…include ‘Whip It!,’ ‘Uncontrollable Urge’ and ‘Beautiful World.'”

Gerald also has ideas about who he’d like to see induct Devo into the Rock Hall, pointing out that since David Bowie is no longer with us, “Neil Young would be the first logical choice.”

Young was not only an early Devo devotee, he featured the band in his apocalyptic 1982 cult comedy film Human Highway, and collaborated on some recordings with the group around that time.

“We loved working with him. We actually loved him,” Casale tells ABC Audio. “We had no idea that the…grandfather of granola rock would take to Devo so well and he’d be such an interesting, iconoclastic person, and easy to talk to and [with a] full sense of humor and still [with] boy-like enthusiasm and energy for new music.”

The Rock Hall’s 2022 inductees will be announced in early May. Voting for the online fan poll, which only has minor influence on who gets inducted, ends this Friday, April 29. Devo currently is ranked ninth out of the 17 nominees.

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KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons has extended an invitation to the band’s founding lead guitarist, Ace Frehley, to join the group during encores at some of the upcoming shows on KISS’ End of the Road farewell tour.

Simmons’ invite was part of a birthday message he sent via Twitter to Frehley, who turned 71 today.

“Happy Birthday Ace…And many more,” Gene wrote. “The invitations still stand. Jump up on stage with us for encores. The fans would love it.”

Frehley last performed with KISS in 2018, when he joined the band’s current lineup to play a few songs during the group’s annual KISS Kruise. That same year, Ace released the solo studio album Spaceman, which included two tracks on which he collaborated with Simmons.

In interviews around that time, Frehley said he wasn’t opposed to rejoining KISS to tour, but insisted the money had to be right.

Meanwhile, as reported last month, Frehley is slated to reunite with original KISS drummer Peter Criss to perform a few songs during the first day of Nashville’s Creatures Fest event, which runs from May 27 to May 29.

KISS’ next show on its End of the Road tour takes place on Thursday, April 28, in Curitiba, Brazil. The band begins a new U.S. leg of the trek on May 11 in Milwaukee.

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Foreigner‘s recent eight-show Las Vegas residency at The Venetian Theatre raised more than $100,000 for the American Red Cross’ Ukrainian relief efforts as part a partnership with the charitable organization.

The veteran rockers donated $5,000 from each Las Vegas concert to the American Red Cross’ Ukrainian relief initiative, and also gifted hand-signed guitars to the more than 70 fans at the shows who donated at least $1,000 to on-site American Red Cross reps.

The Red Cross is providing potentially lifesaving humanitarian aid to Ukrainians in need both in their own country and to those who have fled to neighboring countries during the current Russian military invasion. International crisis responders have been deployed by the organization to Poland, Moldova, Hungary and Romania to provide relief.

To date, more than three million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, and its estimated that 18 million will need humanitarian aid. Visit RedCross.org for more info.

Next up for Foreigner will be a tour of Ireland, the U.K. and mainland Europe that runs from a May 10 show in Dublin through a June 18 performance in Dessel, Belgium. The band will then launch a new series of U.S. concerts that begins in late June and is plotted out until late September. Those shows include headlining gigs and concerts supporting Kid Rock on his Bad Reputation tour. Visit ForeignerOnline.com for a full list of the band’s tour dates.

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Veteran New Zealand/Australian pop-rock band Crowded House has lined up a 2022 North American tour in support of their latest studio album, 2021’s Dreamers Are Waiting.

The trek is scheduled to get underway September 2 in Philadelphia and is mapped out through an October 3 show in Vancouver, Canada.

Tickets for the trek go on sale to the general public this Friday, April 29, at 10 a.m. local time.  American Express card members in select areas will be able to buy pre-sale tickets starting today, April 27.

Crowded House is led by founding singer/guitarist Neil Finn, who also joined the touring lineup of Fleetwood Mac for that band’s most recent outing. The “Don’t Dream It’s Over” group now also features original bassist Nick Seymour, acclaimed producer Mitchell Froom on keyboards, and Neil’s sons Liam and Elroy, respectively, on guitar and drums.

“Crowded House are delighted at long last to be able to play shows in North America,” Neil says in a statement. “We have been picking up the pace recently as the world opens up and can’t wait [to] present the show with this band lineup in absolute top form to the good folk of North America, from sea to shining sea.”

Prior to the North American trek, Crowded House will be touring the U.K., Ireland and mainland Europe in June and early July. Check out the band’s full schedule at CrowdedHouse.com.

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A new book celebrating the life and music of late Emerson, Lake & Palmer keyboardist Keith Emerson can be pre-ordered now.

The official book, titled simply Keith Emerson, features a bevy of rare photos, as well as recollections, tributes and anecdotes from Emerson’s musical collaborators, fans, friends and family members.

Among the notable artists interviewed for the book are ELP/Asia drummer Carl Palmer, ex-Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, Yes drummer Alan White, Yes/Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes, ex-Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and many others.

The book focuses an all aspects of Keith’s musical career, including his work with ELP, The Nice, 3 and his solo band, and also looks at his personal relationships and how his legacy has inspired other musicians.

The Keith Emerson book is available in two versions — a Classic Edition and the pricier Signature edition. The limited-edition latter version is signed by author Chris Welch and Keith’s son Aaron. It comes packaged in a clamshell box and includes an high-quality art print of a portrait of Keith, a CD featuring an unheard interview with Emerson, and specially created sheet music to his first-ever original composition, “Quatermass Boogie Woogie,” which he wrote at age 12.

To pre-order the book, visit KeithEmersonbook.com and Rocket88Books.

Emerson died by suicide in March 2016. He was 71.

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Envy of None, the new band featuring Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, released its self-titled debut album earlier this month.

The band, which also features bassist Andy Curran of the veteran Canadian rock group Coney Hatch, guitarist/keyboardist Alfio Annibalini and singer-songwriter Maiah Wynne, mostly recorded the album remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has yet to play any concerts.

Curran tells ABC Audio that while he and Lifeson are “not in any rush to get out and start touring in a huge way,” they’re not ruling out doing some performances.

“I think we’re…excited to see where this thing might end up,” Andy says about the Envy of None album, “and if people are excited and if it’s like lightning in a bottle, I think we’d be open to doing…a handful of special shows.”

Curran also notes with a laugh that during a recent interview, Wynne, who at age 25 is far younger than her Envy of None band mates, revealed that her mother “was really hoping that we could play on Jimmy Kimmel [Live!]”

Adds Andy, “So if Jimmy Kimmel reaches out, maybe you’ll see Envy of None on [his show]. But I think it’s kind of like a ‘we’ll see.’ We’re certainly just being open-minded about it at this point.”

Up to now, the members of Envy of None have been promoting the album with select interviews and a few music videos.

On Monday, the band premiered its latest video, for the song “Never Said I Love You.” The clip, which you can watch now at the Kscope label’s official YouTube channel, features footage of a professional dancer named Sapphire Sumpter dancing expressively down the hallway and around a room of a high-rise hotel.

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The “Love Train” is preparing for its final journey: Legendary R&B/soul group The O’Jays have announced that they will be mounting a farewell tour.

The group, which has been together for over 60 years, continues to be led by founding members Eddie Levert and Walter Williams Sr., who began singing together more than 70 years ago.

“The reason that this is our last tour is because, between Eddie and I, our ages will be over 160 years old by the end of the tour. I will be 60, and Eddie… you can do the rest of the math,” jokes Williams. “But really, we wanted one last tour to say goodbye to our friends, family and fans, and ride The Love Train together, one last time.”

Adds Levert, “I was thinking that I would quietly retire, but our fans and my body weren’t having it…The love and physical benefits of performing keeps us on the younger side of our age. This tour is a celebration of all of our lives and the struggles and joys that got us to today. It is time for us to say goodbye and we would like to do it in person. Please come join us as we play the music we have shared together over the past 60 years, one last time.”

The O’Jays are best known for their run of 1970s hits co-written by the Philadelphia-based songwriting and production duo of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, including “Back Stabbers,” “For the Love of Money,” “I Love Music,” “Use ta Be My Girl,” and the chart-topping “Love Train.” In 2019, the group released a comeback album titled The Last Word. So far, no dates have been announced for the tour, but visit MightyOJays.com for the latest updates.

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Bob Dylan has recorded updated versions of some of his well-known songs with acclaimed producer T Bone Burnett in conjunction with Burnett’s plans to introduce a new ultra-high-fidelity audio format, Variety reports.

According to Variety, a press release issued Tuesday announced that the Dylan recordings will be part of a series of releases dubbed “Ionic Originals” that will be put out by Burnett’s newly formed company NeoFidelity Inc. on a new medium that resembles a vinyl LP but is made of aluminum.

According to the statement, the “newly developed discs…advance the art of recorded sound and mark the first breakthrough in analog sound reproduction in more than 70 years.”

No details yet about what songs Dylan re-recorded for the new releases, but the statement notes that he “revisited a personally chosen set of his iconic songs for the first time in decades.”

The new discs bring to apparent fruition a plan Burnett has long been working on that he said would improve on the sound of LPs, CDs and digital formats.

“An Ionic Original is the pinnacle of recorded sound. It is archival quality. It is future-proof. It is one of one. Not only is an Ionic Original the equivalent of a painting, it is a painting,” Burnett said in a statement.  “It is lacquer painted onto an aluminum disc, with a spiral etched into it by music. This painting, however, has the additional quality of containing that music, which can be heard by putting a stylus into the spiral and spinning it.”

The release also notes that Burnett formed NeoFidelity with the intention to record artists across a wide range of musical genres and provide a platform of distribution for Ionic Originals, [as well as to] reset the valuation for recorded music.”

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If you were unable to watch Jagged Little Pill on Broadway, the musical based on Alanis Morissette‘s breakthrough album, you can now enjoy the compelling story in book form.  The two-time Tony Award-winning musical is now a young adult novel.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody, who co-wrote the musical with Alanis, told ABC Audio it “was just a pleasure” turning it into a YA novel.  “It’s definitely new territory for me,” she added. Cody, along with Alanis, teamed with author Eric Smith to “expand these characters’ worlds” and flesh them out even more.

Smith says it was “wildly exciting” to work with Alanis and Cody, adding the latter told him to “take more risks” with the story.  “I printed that [email],” he laughed.

The author said Jagged Little Pill, the musical, resonated with him.  One reason is that one of the protagonists is “a transracial adoptee,” just like him, and the other being Alanis’ 1995 album had a strong impact on him.

Alanis’ album featured “this huge emotional swell of wanting to be heard and wanting people to listen to you and pay attention to you,” Smith explained, adding, “The musical brings that to the stage.”

Now that Jagged Little Pill has gone from musical to YA novel, what’s next?

“The book is sort of inspiring me to think about possibilities for the screen… Now I’m thinking, well, what else can we do?” Cody teased. 

As for Smith, he hopes Jagged Little Pill‘s success story inspires more artists to make their own musicals.  “I’d love to see a Ben Folds jukebox musical,” he offered.  “I think Melissa Etheridge could do the same thing because her songs are so full of longing.”  

Jagged Little Pill the novel is available now. 

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Aerosmith has announced a new concert that will be part of the band’s 50th anniversary celebrations this year, a September 4 performance in Bangor, Maine, at Maine Savings Amphitheater.

Tickets for the show go on sale to the general public this Friday, April 29, at 10 a.m. ET, while an Aerosmith fan club pre-sale begins on Wednesday, April 27, at 9 a.m. local time.

Not including Aerosmith’s recently announced 2022 Las Vegas residency dates, the Bangor, Maine, concert is only the second show that the band has scheduled this year. The other is the long-delayed September 8 hometown performance at Boston’s Fenway Park that will feature Extreme as the opening act.

As previously reported, Aerosmith has scheduled a total 24 Las Vegas residency dates at at the Dolby Live at Park MGM. The performances are broken up into three eight-show engagements running from June 17 to July 8, from September 14 to October 5, and from November 19 to December 11.

To buy tickets and for more info about the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers’ tour plans, visit Aerosmith.com and Ticketmaster.com.

In other news, 1971: The Road Starts Here got its official release on CD and digital formats earlier this month.  It’s a collection of seven recently rediscovered rare early live Aerosmith performances that was first issued as a limited-edition vinyl disc and cassette for the 2021 Record Store Day Black Friday event.

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