Classic Hits

Founding Romantics guitarist Mike Skill has just released his debut solo album, Skill…Mike Skill, which is available now via digital formats, with a vinyl version due out later in 2021.

The 12-track collection features Mike’s recently issued version of The Romantics’ 1980 power-pop classic “What I Like About You,” as well as several other songs he released as digital singles over the last few years and some new tunes recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Skill, who has co-written all of his band’s best-known songs, tells ABC Audio that one of the reasons he decided to put together the solo album was that The Romantics weren’t enthusiastic about working on new music during the pandemic.

“So I’m just kind of living in Mike Skill world, and…showing [what] my sound…is, and my voice and my name,” he explains.

One of the album’s tracks, “’67 Riot,” which was first released as a single, features contributions by one of Mike’s guitar heroes, The MC5‘s Wayne Kramer.

Skill says he was initially hesitant to ask Kramer to play on the song, but after Wayne heard it, “he loved it, loved the lyrics, he loved the whole attitude,” noting that the tune “had that throwback sound to late-’60s, ’70s kind of Detroit sound, that…high-energy rock.”

Skill worked on a number of the tracks with longtime Romantics drummer Brad Elvis, while Brad’s wife, singer/musician Chloe F. Orwell, also contributed her talents to some tunes.

Mike says Chloe wrote the lyrics for “Carrie Got Married,” a power-pop anthem that was penned as a sequel to the 1980 Romantics song “Tell It to Carrie.”  Chloe also sang and played sax on the soul-flavored track “So Soul Alone.”

For more about the album, visit MikeSkill.com.

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On the eve of what would’ve been the late John Lennon‘s 81st birthday comes word that “Imagine,” the classic peace anthem Lennon co-wrote with wife Yoko Ono, has been certified triple Platinum by the RIAA for sales of three million units in the U.S.

“We are thrilled to present this award to Yoko for John & Yoko Ono Lennon’s ‘Imagine,'” says Universal Music Enterprises president Bruce Resnikoff. “‘Imagine’ remains a timeless global anthem, and John & Yoko’s message of peace is just as relevant today as when it was first written.”

Ono recently said of the inspiration for “Imagine,” “John and I were both artists and we were living together, so we inspired each other. The song ‘Imagine’ embodied what we believed together at the time. John and I met — he comes from the West and I come from the East — and still we are together. We have this oneness and ‘the whole world would eventually become one’ is the sense that we will all be very happy together.”

“Imagine” and the album of the same name on which it appears were released 50 years ago this past September 9.

As has become an annual tradition to mark Lennon’s birthday on Saturday, the Imagine Peace Tower, the memorial art piece Ono conceived as a tribute to her late husband in Reykjavík, Iceland, will be illuminated at 4 p.m. ET, and will remain lit until December 8, the anniversary of John’s death. You can check out a livestream of the tower at ImaginePeaceTower.com.

Coinciding with the lighting of the tower, a special edition of Tim’s Twitter Listening Party, hosted by U.K. radio host and musician Tim Burgess, will be held at 4 p.m. ET. The show will present the recent “Ultimate Mixes” version of the Imagine album.

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Sammy Hagar‘s 2021 edition of his annual Birthday Bash is taking place this week, featuring three special performances by the Red Rocker and his band The Circle at the Catalina Casino on California’s Catalina Island.

The festivities began Thursday with a sold-out a VIP event that featured a hybrid acoustic/electric performance, as well as a segment where Sammy and the band — bassist Michael Anthony, drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Vic Johnson — shared stories and took questions from the audience.

The show featured a 10-song set that included covers of Led Zeppelin‘s “When the Levee Breaks” and Depeche Mode‘s “Personal Jesus,” as well as versions of Montrose‘s “Bad Motor Scooter,” Chickenfoot‘s “Sexy Little Thing” and Van Halen‘s “Right Now,” “Humans Being,” “Mine All Mine” and “Finish What Ya Started.”

The bash continues tonight and Saturday with full-length rock shows. For those who can’t make it out to the concerts, Saturday’s event will be available for streaming via nugs.net. Visit nugs.net/SammyHagar for more details.

Fans attending the Catalina Island shows will be required to show proof that they’re fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

During the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Hagar was unable to hold his birthday bash at its usual location — his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Instead, Sammy and The Circle played a socially distanced concert on October 8 on Catalina Island. With the pandemic still an issue in Cabo San Lucas, Hagar decided to bring the bash back to Catalina this year.

Hagar’s actual birthday is October 13. He’ll be 74.

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A rare duet between Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, featuring the famed singer/songwriters performing Taylor’s song “You Can Close Your Eyes” in October 1970 at a concert at London’s Paris Theatre, was released digitally for the first time today.

The entire London Theatre performance, which featured Taylor joining Mitchell for the second half of the show, is one of a few full-length concerts that will be included on Joni’s forthcoming archival box set Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971), due out on November 12.

Taylor, who was dating Mitchell at the time of the London concert, had recently written “You Can Close Your Eyes” for Joni. He wound up recording his own version of the tune, which appeared on his classic 1971 album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon.

Mitchell’s Paris Theatre show originally was broadcast in December 1970 on the BBC Radio program In Concert, which was hosted by famed British DJ John Peel.

In an interview with Cameron Crowe that appears in the Archives Vol. 2 liner notes. Joni reflected on performing with James in London.  “That’s when we were dating,” she recalled. “He really locked up to my dulcimer, playing great with his guitar. Those two instruments together sound great. It sounded like one instrument. Musically, we were a great couple.”

As previously reported, Joni Mitchell: Archives Vol. 2, which you can pre-order now, is available as a five-CD set and a limited-edition 10-LP vinyl collection that features previously unreleased live, studio and demo recordings from Mitchell’s early career, leading up to the release of 1971’s Blue.

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Moody Blues singer/bassist John Lodge revealed earlier this year that he planned to release a live album featuring performances from his stint as an opening act on the Yes-headlined 2019 Royal Affair Tour.  Now official details about the record have been announced.

Titled The Royal Affair and After, the album will be released on December 3 on CD and digital formats, with a limited-edition blue-vinyl LP version due out January 28, 2022.

The 10-track collection, which you can pre-order now, features performances by John and his 10,000 Light Years Band from a Las Vegas stop on the tour, as well as select songs recorded during Lodge’s subsequent U.S. solo trek.

The Royal Affair and After includes renditions of several well-known Moody Blues songs written by Lodge, including “Steppin’ in a Slide Zone,” “Isn’t Life Strange,” “I’m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)” and “Rise My See-Saw,” the latter of which features a guest appearance by current Yes frontman Jon Davison.

Also on the album, John pays tribute to his Moody Blues band mates Justin Hayward, Graeme Edge, Mike Pinder and the late Ray Thomas. Davison lends guest lead vocals to a version of the Hayward-penned classic “Nights in White Satin,” while Lodge and his group also perform The Moodies’ “Sunset” and “Legend of a Mind,” written by Pinder and Thomas, respectively.

In addition, The Royal Affair and After boasts a version of the Edge-penned Days of Future Passed interlude “Late Lament,” featuring a recording of Graeme reciting the spoken-word piece made especially for Lodge’s tour.

In other news, Lodge has announced initial dates for a 2022 solo tour that’s currently scheduled to kick off March 16 in Annapolis, Maryland.

Here’s the The Royal Affair and After live album’s full track list:

“Steppin’ in a Slide Zone”
“Saved by the Music”
“Legend of a Mind”
“Sunset”
“Late Lament” (with Graeme Edge)
“Nights in White Satin” (with Jon Davison)
“Gemini Dream”
“Isn’t Life Strange”
“I’m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)”
“Ride My See-Saw” (with Jon Davison)

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This Saturday, October 9, marks what would’ve been John Lennon‘s 81st birthday, and to commemorate the special day, the third annual “Dear John” charity tribute concert will be held virtually at Veeps.com starting at 3 p.m. ET.

The star-studded event, which is organized by U.K. rock band Blurred Vision, will feature performances or appearances by Peter Frampton, ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum, Lennon’s pre-Beatles group The Quarrymen, former David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick, actors Martin Freeman and Matt Lucas, and many others.

In addition to paying homage to Lennon, the show raises funds for the War Child UK charity, which seeks to help children affected by war around the world.

Tickets for the virtual concert can be purchased at BlurredVision.Veeps.com.  The event will be available to watch on demand until October 17.

To raise additional money for War Child, a new song called “Dear John” that Blurred Vision recorded with Frampton and Mollie Marriott — the daughter of late Small Faces/Humble Pie frontman Steve Marriott — has been released and is available now digitally and via streaming at OpenEyesRecords.com.

You also can check out a music video for the tune at Blurred Vision’s official YouTube channel.

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Madonna‘s new documentary that captures her Madame X tour is now streaming on Paramount+.  But if you don’t have Paramount+, you can still experience it with your ears.

Madame X — Music from the Theater Xperience, a companion soundtrack to the film, is now available on all digital download and streaming platforms.  The soundtrack and the film were both recorded in January of 2020 in Lisbon, Portugal. In addition to live performances of songs from Madonna’s Madame X album, the soundtrack features live versions of hits like “Like a Prayer,” “Frozen” and “Vogue.”

Here’s the full track listing:

“Intro”
“God Control”
“Dark Ballet”
“Human Nature”
“Vogue”
“I Don’t Search I Find”
“American Life”
“Batuka”
“Fado Pechincha” (featuring Gaspar Varela)
“Killers Who Are Partying”
“Crazy”
“Welcome To My Fado Club”
“Medellin”
“Extreme Occident”
“Breathwork”
“Frozen”
“Come Alive”
“Future”
“Like A Prayer”
“I Rise”

In other Madonna news, during her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Thursday night, she talked about her upcoming biopic, explaining, “The reason I’m doing it is a bunch of people have tried to write movies about me, but they’re always men…there’s nobody on this planet that can write or direct or make a movie about me better than me and that is just the truth!”

Madonna also revealed that she turned down the chance to play the role of Catwoman in Batman Returns — which she says she regretted — and the lead in Showgirls, which she didn’t regret.  Her biggest regret, however, was turning down a role in The Matrix, which she calls “one of the best movies ever made.”

“I wanted to kill myself!” she told Jimmy of the choice.

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It’s been 17 years since Tears for Fears have released new music but on Thursday, the English rockers confirmed they have a new album on the way. The “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” singers revealed that their seventh studio album, named The Tipping Point, is due out early next year.

“‘The Tipping Point.’ out feb 25, 2022,” the band tweeted, along with a link to a video for the title track, which is about the grief of watching someone you love lose a long battle with disease.

Tears for Fears, comprised of members Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, last released new music in 2004 with their sixth studio album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, which fans waited nine years to hear following their 1995 album Raoul and the Kings of Spain.

Of their reunion, Curt Smith says, “When you’ve known each other as long as we have, and have worked together as long as we have, there’s a bond there that becomes familial…It’s the kind of bond that you can’t really break. It can fall apart at times. You separate for periods, which I also think is healthy, really. But in the end, we always seem to find each other again.”

You can pre-order The Tipping Point on the official Tears for Fears website.

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Neil Young is among the music artists and entertainers who will take part in a virtual charity event called CAMP-A-THON on October 28 that will raise funds for The Painted Turtle, a free camp for chronically ill children and their families.

The event will be hosted by comic and actor George Lopez, a longtime supporter of the camp, and also will feature appearances by Young’s wife, actress Daryl Hannah, Los Lobos, Danny DeVito, Cheech Marin, singer/songwriter Brett Dennen, legendary Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela and others.

The event will feature stories about The Painted Turtle camp that will stream throughout the day, as well as performances from Young, Los Lobos, Marin and Dennen. The fundraiser will conclude with a virtual “Campfire” at 7 p.m. PT.

“This summer kids couldn’t go to the campsite and have a week long experience,” Lopez says, “but what The Painted Turtle did was bring Camp to all the campers wherever they may be, home or the hospital, and they delivered what they always deliver; hope, magic, and a whole lot of fun!”

The Painted Turtle is a nonprofit founded by late actor Paul Newman that’s located in Lake Hughes, California.

The CAMP-A-THON event is free, although viewers can make donations to the charity by visiting ThePaintedTurtle.org.

Young previously helped raise money for The Painted Turtle at his Harvest Moon: A Gathering concert, which took place in September 2019 at the camp.

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They won’t be stopping in Kokomo, but The Beach Boys will be hitting the high seas with some other famous music stars next year on a new musical-themed nautical extravaganza, The Beach Boys Good Vibrations Cruise.

The three-day cruise will set sail from Miami on March 25 and will visit Nassau in the Bahamas on the 27th before returning to port on March 28.

Joining The Beach Boys to perform on the cruise will be The Monkees and The Temptations, as well as comedian Joe Piscopo, popular tribute act The Yacht Rock Revue, Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath and more.

“I can’t wait to celebrate 60 years of The Beach Boys’ music on The Good Vibrations Cruise, setting sail this March,” says founding lead singer Mike Love. “With endless music and activities, it’s going to be an unforgettable vacation and we’re so excited to share it with friends and fans old and new.”

Besides the many performances, the cruise will feature events, attractions and activities including a Q&A session with The Beach Boys, photo opportunities with many of the artists, theme nights, an onboard Beach Boys museum, an on-shore excursion in Nassau and more.

Tickets for the cruise go on sale on Friday, October 8, at 2 p.m. ET. Visit TheBeachBoysCruise.com for all the details.

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