Classic Hits

Kinks guitarist Dave Davies has written a new autobiography titled Living on a Thin Line that’s scheduled to be released on July 7, 2022, in hardcover and e-book editions.

According to TheBookseller.com, the memoir will feature Dave’s recollections and anecdotes about The Kinks’ heyday, his turbulent relationship with his brother Ray — the band’s lead singer and main songwriter — the group’s legacy and much more.

The book also will include stories about Dave crossing paths with various other music legends, among them John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix.

“I’ve had a laugh, and shed quite a few tears, thinking back over the last six decades since The Kinks had our first hit in 1964 with ‘You Really Got Me,'” says Dave in a statement. “Here are the ups and downs of my life in The Kinks and what happened afterwards. Prepare to be amazed and, I hope, surprised.”

Editor Richard Roper, who acquired the rights to Davies’ book for the Headline Publishing Group, states, “Dave is hands-down one of the greatest musicians to pick up a guitar. His fans will absolutely adore it.”

Dave previously published a memoir titled Kink in 1996, but a post on his Instagram page reports that Living on a Thin Line “is ALL NEW WRITING never before seen in his previous autobiography — a completely new book to enjoy.”

You can pre-order the upcoming book now.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons says a museum celebrating his famous band currently is being built in Las Vegas at the Rio hotel and casino, which already houses the KISS by Monster Mini Golf attraction.

In a recent phone interview, Simmons told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he expects the museum to open by March 2022.

“[It] is really just my collection, because I’ve got a half-century of KISS stuff,” Simmons he revealed to the newspaper. “I want the fans to see it.”

According to the paper, the museum will be connected to a planned 15,000-square-foot KISS-themed space that includes the mini golf course.

“It’s going to be breathtaking,” Simmons declared. “We have three tractor-trailers full of stuff, and it’s going to be spectacular. The fans are going to dig it. You can play golf, you can have your photo taken, you can take videos of yourself onstage with KISS, and then go visit my private collection.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer said that “hundreds and hundreds” of items will be on display, including costumes, stage props, gold and platinum albums and much more.

Meanwhile, Simmons also said he’s hoping to reschedule KISS’ recently canceled Las Vegas residency at Zappos Theater, which was to have run from late December of this year through early February 2022.

Gene explained that he wanted to reschedule the shows in six months or a year, when there aren’t as many artists performing in Vegas.

“With all due respect to other all the other artists who are terrific, and who are great and iconic, we’d rather wait for the traffic to die down and bring the best show on Earth, period,” Simmons told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Rolling Stones‘ No Filter Tour of the U.S. was by far the highest-grossing trek in the world this year, according to new data released by Pollstar, which tracks the live entertainment business.

The Stones, who hit the road just a month after the death of their founding drummer, Charlie Watts, brought in a total of $115.5 million in just 12 concerts that were eligible for consideration.

Pop star Harry Styles is second on the list, grossing $86.7 million over 39 events.

Other veteran artists whose tours landed in the top 10 of the list include Green Day, the Eagles, Dead & Company, Guns N’ Roses, Dave Matthews Band and Phish.

The Hella Mega Tour, featuring Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy, is #3 on the tally, grossing $67.3 million in 20 shows.

The Eagles’ Hotel California 2021 Tour is in fourth place, after bringing in $59.2 million over 23 concerts.

Dead & Company are at #5, grossing $50.2 million, GN’R are at #7 after bringing in $47.3 million, Dave Matthews Band are in eighth place after grossing $46 million, and Phish are #9, with $44.4 million in gross earnings.

Impressively, The Rolling Stones had six of the 10 highest-grossing concert engagements of 2021, with their October 14 and October 17 shows at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles, topping the tally with $18.9 million.

Here’s the full list of Pollstar‘s Top 10 2019 North American Tours:

1. The Rolling Stones — $115.5 million, 516,624 tickets sold
2. Harry Styles — $86.7 million, 669,051 tickets sold
3. “The Hella Mega Tour” — $67.3 million, 659,062 tickets sold
4. Eagles — $59.2 million, 257,584 tickets sold
5. Dead & Company — $50.2 million, 588,658 tickets sold
6. Los Bukis — $49.7 million, 357,343 tickets sold
7. Guns N’ Roses — $47.3 million, 351,339 tickets sold
8. Dave Matthews Band — $46.0 million, 583,399 tickets sold
9. Phish — $44.4 million, 572,626 tickets sold
10. Jonas Brothers — $42.5 million, 528,630 tickets sold

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Duran Duran is about to release their first NFTs, a series of 100 unique digital collectibles created by the Artificial Intelligence program Huxley, which also collaborated with the band on the music video for their recent single, “Invisible.”

Duran Duran’s INVISIBLE Collection of NFTs will be available this Thursday, December 16, at 1 pm ET at the OpenSea platform. The NFTs will be released by the CUB3 compnay in conjunction with Los Angeles-based Gabba Gallery, and are priced at .2 of the Ethereum cryptocurrency.

On Wednesday, December 15, Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes will take to Twitter Spaces at 1 p.m. to discuss the NFTs.

“Invisible” was released in May as the first advanced single from Duran Duran’s latest studio album, Future Past, and the video premiered at the same time. According to a press statement, to create the “Invisible” video, Huxley “took the concepts that are rooted in human language and iconic symbolism and translated them into provocative and daring imagery.” The images created by Huxley were influenced by the song’s lyrics and emotional tone.

The NFT collection has been curated from images that appear in the video. You can watch the clip on Duran Duran’s official YouTube channel.

Future Past, Duran Duran’s first studio album since 2015’s Paper Gods, was released in October and peaked at #28 on the Billboard 200.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Led Zeppelin‘s Robert Plant and acclaimed country/bluegrass artist Alison Krauss will be the musical guest this Friday, December 17, on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which airs at 11:35 p.m. ET/10:35 p.m. CT on NBC.

Plant and Krauss will be promoting their new collaborative album Raise the Roof, which debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 and at #1 on Billboard‘s Top Rock Albums chart earlier this month.

The duo also are featured in a new installment of NPR Music’s signature music-performance series, Tiny Desk Concert, which you can watch now on YouTube. The session was shot at a Nashville studio, and captures Robert, Alison and five musicians playing three songs from Raise the Roof — “Can’t Let Go,” “Searching for My Love” and “Trouble with My Lover.”

“Can’t Let Go” was written by Randy Weeks and originally recorded in 1998 by acclaimed alt-country artist Lucinda Williams; “Searching for My Love” is a 1966 R&B tune by Bobby Moore & the Rhythm Aces; and “Trouble with My Lover” was written by New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint and recorded in 1968 by soul singer Betty Harris.

Four of the musicians backing Plant and Krauss are featured on Raising the Roof, while the duo also is joined by Oklahoma-based singer/guitarist and roots rocker JD McPherson.

As previously reported, Plant and Krauss will be launching a short U.S. tour next year that kicks off June 1 in Canandaigua, New York, and runs through a June 16 in Atlanta.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The landmark 1984 Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense is among the 25 films just added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry.

Each year the Library of Congress selects a number of films for preservation that are considered to have “cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation’s film heritage.”

Directed by the late Jonathan Demme, who went on to win a Best Director Oscar in 1992 for Silence of the Lambs, Stop Making Sense captures the influential New York-based band performing in December ’83 at a series of shows at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater, during the height of their popularity.

The 88-minute movie features the David Byrne-led group on a sparsely decorated stage performing many of their best-known songs, including  “Once in a Lifetime,” “Burning Down the House,” “Psycho Killer” and “Life During Wartime.” The film also includes a rendition of “Genius of Love,” a hit by Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth‘s side project, Tom Tom Club.

A synopsis of Stop Making Sense from the National Film Registry describes it as “infectious and the quintessential get-up-and-dance experience.”

Turner Classic Movies will screen a selection of this year’s entries as part of a television special on Friday, December 17, starting at 8 p.m. ET. 

As previously reported, Talking Heads will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Recording Academy’s upcoming Special Merit Awards ceremony, which will take place at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, January 30, 2022, a day before the 2022 Grammy Awards.

Here’s the National Film Registry’s complete 2021 class, in chronological order:

Ringling Brothers Parade Film (1902)
Jubilo (1919)
The Flying Ace (1926)
Hellbound Train (1930)
Flowers and Trees (1932)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Evergreen (1965)
Requiem-29 (1970)
The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971)
Pink Flamingos (1972)
Sounder (1972)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Cooley High (1975)
Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979)
Chicana (1979)
The Wobblies (1979)
Star Wars Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1987)
The Watermelon Woman (1996)
Selena (1997)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
WALL•E (2008)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Earlier this year, Rick Wakeman had to postpone a portion of the 2021 U.S. leg of his Even Grumpier Old Rock Star Tour until next year because of issues regarding COVID-19 restrictions.  Now the former Yes keyboardist has announced some added changes to his stateside itinerary.

The run of 2022 shows, which kicks off February 22 in Seattle, originally had been confirmed through a March 11 concert in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but a previously postponed concert in Kent, Ohio, has now been rescheduled for March 13 and a new performance in Toronto has been added on March 14.

In addition, postponed shows in Chicago and Buffalo, New York, have been canceled, a March 5 concert in Des Plaines, Illinois, has been added in place of the Chicago gig, an a new performance in Tucson, Arizona, also is now part of Wakeman’s 2022 outing.

As previously reported, Wakeman’s Even Grumpier Old Rock Star Tour shows feature him playing solo piano and keyboard versions of Yes classics, material from his solo albums, and well-known songs by other artists to which he contributed. Rick also presents his arrangements of a few Beatles tunes at the concerts, as well as telling bawdy jokes and humorous anecdotes.

Wakeman currently is in the middle of a U.K. holiday trek dubbed The Not Quite as Grumpy as Last Xmas Tour, which is scheduled to wind down on December 21 in Hull, England.

Check out his full tour schedule at RWCC.com.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Last month, Paul McCartney‘s The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present was named 2021 Book of the Year by Barnes & Noble’s booksellers.  Now the tome is getting end-of-the-year love from People magazine, which has chosen The Lyrics as one of its “Top 10 Books of 2021.”

In picking the book for its list, the magazine staff writes, “The rock legend pulls back the curtain on his creative process in this two-volume set, including rare photos and personal anecdotes behind his hits. It’s just the thing to crack open after you’ve watched the Beatles documentary Get Back.”

As previously reported, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present profiles 154 songs that McCartney wrote throughout his career, accompanied by his commentary about each tune. The book also features handwritten lyric sheets, rare personal photos, drawings and rough drafts of songs.

In other news, The Sunday Times of London reports that McCartney has made a major investment in the Audoo company, a London-based music technology company that’s developing an audio meter device that monitors what music is being played in public places such as stores, gyms and bars. The goal of the device is to gather more accurate information so that music artists can be fairly paid royalties for their work.

According to The Times, McCartney’s investment will help fund Audoo’s plans to expand into markets in North America and Europe. Among the previous investors is ABBA‘s Björn Ulvaeus.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Doobie Brothers had been scheduled to launch the 2022 leg of their 50th anniversary tour on June 2 in West Palm Beach, Florida, but now the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have announced plans to kick the trek of with a Las Vegas residency in May.

The eight-show engagement will take place at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino and the dates are scheduled for May 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 25, 27 and 28. As with the band’s other 50th anniversary gigs, one-time Doobies singer/keyboardist Michael McDonald will join longtime core members Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons and John McFee and the rest of the group’s current lineup at the Vegas concerts.

Tickets for the Las Vegas shows go on sale to the general public this Friday, December 17 at 10 a.m. PT. Members of Caesars Entertainment’s loyalty program, and Live Nation and Ticketmaster customers, will be able to buy pre-sale tickets starting Wednesday, December 15, at 10 a.m. PT.

The first leg of The Doobie Brothers’ 50th anniversary tour wrapped up in late October. Earlier that month, the band released Liberté, their first studio album of new original material in 11 years.

The 2022 tour leg is scheduled through a July 14 show in Noblesville, Indiana.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Van Morrison and Carole King are among the artists in the running for the Best Original Song — Motion Picture honor for the 2022 Golden Globe Awards, nominees for which were announced this morning.

Morrison received his nod for “Down to Joy,” which he wrote for the movie Belfast. King is nominated for co-writing “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home),” from the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect. Jennifer Hudson, the star of Respect, and British songwriter and producer Jamie Hartman are nominated alongside Carole for co-writing “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home).”

Other Best Original Song nominees include Beyoncé for “Be Alive,” a song she co-wrote for the movie King Richard; Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas for “No Time to Die,” from the James Bond movie of the same name; and Lin-Manuel Miranda for “Dos Oruguitas,” a song he wrote for the animated film Encanto.

You can check out a full list of nominees at GoldenGlobes.com.

The Golden Globes will be handed out January 9, 2022.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.