Classic Hits

Legendary drummer Carmine Appice, best known for his work with Vanilla Fudge, Cactus and Rod Stewart, is releasing a box set gathering together many recordings by his star-studded Guitar Zeus project, including several previously unheard bonus tracks.

The Guitar Zeus 25th Anniversary box set, due out December 17, is a limited-edition 39-track collection that includes all of the songs from 1995’s Camine Appice’s Guitar Zeus and 1997’s Guitar Zeus 2: Channel Mind Radio. It also features two versions of an unreleased song called “Mystified” that showcase respective solos by KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer and ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian.

An impressive list of famous musicians contributed their talents to the Guitar Zeus tracks, including Brian May, Slash, Neal Schon, Elliot Easton, Richie Sambora, Vivian Campbell, Mick Mars, Edgar Winter, Leslie West, Denny Laine, Zakk Wylde, Ted Nugent, Pat Travers, Dweezil Zappa, Bruce Kulick, Steve Morse, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and Yngwie Malmsteen.

The collection also features rough mixes of four Guitar Zeus tracks created so that guitarists can play along at home.

“I consider Guitar Zeus one of the best projects, if not the BEST project I’ve done,” Appice says. “I hope you enjoy this 25th year celebration of some of the greatest rock [guitarists] ever put together.”

Two versions of the box set can be pre-ordered now at DekoEntertainement.com and MerchBucket.com, both featuring four vinyl LPs, three CDs and a booklet containing new interviews and rare photos.

The pricier “Mega-Bundle” version of the set also comes packaged with a Guitar Zeus t-Shirt, an autographed photo of Appice, and a limited-edition Guitar Zeus necklace.

You can check out a video for the version of “Mystified” featuring Thayer at Deko Entertainment’s YouTube channel.

Here’s the box set’s full track list:

“Mothers Space” — featuring Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal
“Gonna Rain” — featuring Richie Sambora
“Mystify” — featuring Derek Sherinian*
“Nobody Knew” — featuring Brian May
“Where You Belong” — featuring Slash
“Out of Mind” — featuring Neal Schon
“This Time Around” — featuring Yngwie Malmsteen and Dug Pinnick
“Nothing” — featuring John Norum
“Doin’ Fine” — featuring Vivian Campbell
“Under the Moon and Sun” — featuring Mick Mars and Edgar Winter
“Code 19” — featuring Zakk Wylde
“Angels” — featuring Char
“Guitar Zeus, Pt. 1” — featuring Jennifer Batten
“Days Are Nights” — featuring Ted Nugent
“Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” — sung by Carmine, featuring Pat Travers
“Safe” — featuring Neal Schon
“Dead Wrong” — featuring Dweezil Zappa
“Trippin’ Again” — featuring Ty Tabor
“Even Up the Score” — featuring Ted Nugent
“Dislocated” — featuring Paul Gilbert
“Stash” — featuring Stevie Salas and John McEnroe
“Perfect Day” — featuring Warren DeMartini
“Killing Time” — featuring Ty Tabor
“So Long” — featuring Doug Aldrich
“My Own Advice” — featuring Kenji Kitajima
“Guitar Zeus, Pt. 2” — featuring Leslie West and Jennifer Batten
“Mystify” — featuring Tommy Thayer*
“Time to Set Alarms” — featuring Elliot Easton and Bob Daisley
“Where You Belong” — featuring Paul Gilbert
“Cruzin” — featuring Denny Laine
“Couldn’t Be Better” — featuring RaiZi
“Snake” — featuring Bruce Kulick
“4 Miles High” — featuring Steve Morse
“Surrender” — featuring Chris Biggiani*
“GZ Blues” — featuring Seymour Duncan and Steven Seagal
“This Time Around” (music rough track – guitar play along)**
“Days Are Nights” (music rough track – guitar play along)**
“Where You Belong” (music rough track l – guitar play along)**
“Guitar Zeus” (music rough track – guitar play along)**

* = previously unreleased
** = CD only.

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Chaka Khan and Stephanie Mills faced off Thursday in the Verzuz “Night for the Queens” event, and for the two veteran R&B stars, it was an evening of mutual affection.

“It’s not many sisters in this business that can get together without stupid-a** competition,” Chaka said to Stephanie, who added, “‘Cause this is not a competition, this is sisterly love right here.” 

Mills kicked off the 90-minute show with an a cappella riff of “Ease On Down the Road,” from The Wiz. Khan began her set with her Rufus hits “Once You Get Started” and “Everlasting Love,” although her vocals were not up to her usual high standards.

Both singers are mothers, and each performed with their children during the show. Mills teamed with her 20-year-old son Farad, who has Down syndrome, to sing part of “Never Knew Love Like This Before.”

“This is my baby,” said the proud mom. Later, Khan welcomed daughter Indira to join her on the Rufus classic “Sweet Thing.”

Mills’ song list also included “What Cha Gonna Do with My Lovin’,” “I Feel Good All Over,” “(You’re Puttin’) A Rush on Me” and “Sweet Sensation.”

Chaka’s repertoire featured “I Feel for You,” “Papillon,” “A Night in Tunisia,” “Tell Me Something Good,” “Angel,” “Stay,” “Ain’t Nobody” and her closer, “I’m Every Woman,” which had Mills, Indira and the audience singing along.

The audience at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles also sang with Stephanie as she belted out her signature song, “Home,” from The Wiz. The most poignant moment occurred when she sang the verse, “And the love that we share can never/ Never, ever be taken away,” while pointing directly at Chaka.

The next Verzuz battle will match Bone Thugs-N-Harmony against Three 6 Mafia on Thursday, December 2.

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A previously unheard 2000 version of the 1966 David Bowie song “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” that Bowie recorded for his unreleased album TOY, was made available today as a digital single along with an unreleased live version of the same tune.

The studio version of “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” also will appear on the recently announced Bowie box sets Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) and TOY (TOY:BOX), which will be released on November 26, 2021, and January 7, 2022, respectively.

The live rendition of “Can’t Help Thinking About Me,” which is exclusive to the digital single, was recorded at London’s Maida Vale Studios on October 25, 1999, for a BBC Radio show hosted by presenter Mark Radcliffe.

The original recording of “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” was the first song David released under the name David Bowie.

In conjunction with the single’s release, a video of Bowie performing “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” at the Elysée Montmartre in Paris in October 1999 has been posted on David’s official YouTube channel.

As previously reported, TOY was a planned album that Bowie recorded in 2000 that featured updated versions of songs that date from 1964 through 1971.

The full TOY album will get its first official release as part of Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001), an expansive collection that also includes remastered editions of five 1990s Bowie studio albums, a previously unreleased live album and a compilation of rarities.

The TOY (TOY:BOX) set also will include the originally planned TOY album, as well as alternative mixes of the TOY tracks and tunes intended as B-sides, and stripped-down, mostly acoustic mixes of the songs.

You can pre-order Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) and TOY (TOY:BOX) now. Visit DavidBowie.com for more information.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

It’s only a matter of days until Christmas songs are back on the radio — but which one is the greatest of all time?  According to Billboard, that honor goes to Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

On Friday, the service unveiled its Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart, and spoke to the Grammy winner, who reminisced about creating the 1994 smash-hit.

“When I wrote [it], I had absolutely no idea the impact the song would eventually have worldwide,” she said.  “How could I? It was so early on in my career and most young artists, at that time, weren’t really making Christmas music at the onset of their careers.”

That gamble paid off.  The Economist said that, as of 2017, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” had amassed over $60 million in royalties and was now considered the best-selling holiday single by a female artist. 

When looking back at what makes the song so special, Mariah hints that her mood at the time may have something to do with it. 

“When writing [it], I was tapping into a bittersweet mixture of longing and festiveness,” she recalled. “I had grown up wishing I could have a functional family Christmas like the ones I saw on TV or in the movies, but truth is…that never happened! So, I wrote the song for the little girl in me filled with holiday spirit.”

The singer shared the big announcement to Instagram, and called the honor “truly humbling.”

Rounding out the top five of Billboard‘s newest list of all-time greatest holiday songs chart are Brenda Lee‘s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Bobby Helms‘ “Jingle Bell Rock,” Nat King Cole‘s “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)” and Burl Ives‘ “A Holly Jolly Christmas.”

 

 

 

 

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Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant‘s new collaborative album with acclaimed country-bluegrass artist Alison Krauss, Raise the Roof, got its release today. Coinciding with its arrival, the duo has announced plans for a 2022 tour, their first outing together in 12 years.

Plant and Krauss have confirmed 10 U.S. dates, kicking off June 1 in Canandaigua, New York and running through a June 16 concert in Atlanta. Those shows will be followed by a European trek that’s mapped out from a June 26 performance in London’s Hyde Park through a July 21 date in Berlin.

Tickets for the U.S. concerts go on sale to the general public on Friday, December 3, while a series of pre-sale offers will be available starting Monday, November 29.

Check out the duo’s tour schedule and buy tickets at PlantKrauss.com.

As previously reported, Plant and Krauss will celebrate Raise the Roof‘s release today with a special livestream performance that’s set to premiere at both Robert’s and Alison’s YouTube channels starting at 1 p.m. ET. It will feature the debut performances of several of the album’s songs from Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville.

The duo also is scheduled to appear tonight on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Saturday on CBS Saturday Morning.

Raise the Roof is Plant and Krauss’ second joint album, following 2007’s Grammy-sweeping Raising Sand. The record is primarily a covers collection paying tribute to “legends and unsung heroes of folk, blues, country and soul music,” although it does include one original called “High and Lonesome” that Plant co-wrote with producer T Bone Burnett.

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Mick Rock, the celebrated rock photographer whose famous images grace the covers of albums by David Bowie, Lou Reed, Queen and many others, died Thursday at age 72.

Rock’s passing was announced in a statement posted on his social media pages.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share our beloved psychedelic renegade Mick Rock has made the Jungian journey to the other side,” the message begins. “Those who had the pleasure of existing in his orbit, know that Mick was always so much more than ‘The Man Who Shot The 70s.’ He was a photographic poet — a true force of nature who spent his days doing exactly what he loved, always in his own delightfully outrageous way.”

Early in his career, Rock shot the cover photo for ex-Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett‘s solo album The Madcap Laughs, and soon after he became Bowie’s official photographer. Among the his famous images of Bowie include the cover for his 1973 album Pin-Ups. Mick also directed some of David’s early music videos, for such songs as “Life on Mars,” “Jean Genie” and “John I’m Only Dancing.”

One of Rock’s most iconic pics is the photo of Reed featured on the cover Lou’s 1972 album Transformer. Mick’s photos also appear on such well-known albums as Queen’s Queen II, Iggy and the Stooges‘ Raw Power, The Ramones‘ End of the Century and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts‘ I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.

A documentary about Mick’s life and work, Shot! The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock, was released in 2016.

The message announcing Rock passing also described him as a “man fascinated with image, [who] absorbed visual beings through his lens and immersed himself in their art, thus creating some of the most magnificent photographs rock music has ever seen.”

Photo: Nathalie Rock pic.twitter.com/I50ofDuO0r

— Mick Rock (@TheRealMickRock) November 19, 2021

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A top-secret David Bowie film project being put together by director Brett Morgen from thousands of hours of rare performance footage of the late rock legend is nearing completion, sources have confirmed to Variety.

Morgen, whose previous films include the 2012 Rolling Stones documentary Crossfire Hurricane and 2015’s Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, has been working on the as-yet-untitled Bowie movie for four years.

Variety reports that a source close to the production describes the flick as “neither documentary nor biography, but an immersive cinematic experience built, in part, upon thousands of hours of never before seen material.”

According to sources, in addition to directing, Morgen is involved in the writing, editing and production of the movie, which will focus on live performance footage. The filmmaker also is said to be considering releasing the film in IMAX theaters.

Bowie’s longtime producer Tony Visconti is serving as the movie’s music producer, while the Oscar-winning sound team that worked on the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody is mixing and designing the film.

Morgen personally acquired the rights to use the Bowie footage, and the project is being made with the full cooperation of David’s estate.

Variety notes that the film could possibly get its premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which is scheduled kick off January 20, less than two weeks after the fifth anniversary of Bowie’s death and what would’ve been his 75th birthday.

Last month, Bowie’s estate launched a planned yearlong celebration commemorating the 75th anniversary of his birth. David was born on January 8, 1947, and died on January 10, 2016, at age 69.

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2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place on October 30 in at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and a TV special featuring highlights of the event premieres this Saturday, November 20, on HBO and HBO Max.

Among this year’s honorees were The Go-Go’s, the first all-female band to play their own instruments ever to be inducted. Go-Go’s drummer Gina Schock tells ABC Audio that getting to take part in the ceremony and the associated induction events was “just magnificent.”

Schock says it was exciting enough just finding out her band was going to be nominated, but “when you get there, your mind is blown by the enormity of it all.”

As she explains, “You’re there in front of all your peers, and it’s the industry recognizing you, basically, in a way that they haven’t [before].”

Schock says that the real focus of the event for her band was playing for their fans.

The Go-Go’s performed three of their biggest hits at the ceremony — “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat” — and Gina recalls, “[I]t was cool, because when we played, everybody stood up, everybody was dancing and everybody was singing. And it really was just an incredible feeling.”

Actress Drew Barrymore gave the induction speech welcoming The Go-Go’s into the Rock Hall. Schock says some questioned her why Barrymore was picked to honor the band, but Gina notes, “[T]here couldn’t be a better person inducting us, ’cause Drew’s like a real fan. She’s been a fan since she’s been a kid.”

Schock says another highlight for her was getting to meet Paul McCartney, who was on hand to induct the Foo Fighters.

Among this year’s other inductees were Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner, Carole King and Jay-Z.

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To help get fans into the holiday spirit, the self-professed Queen of Christmas, aka Mariah Carey, has revealed the movies that make her feel extra festive.

Speaking to USA Today, the “Fantasy” singer revealed that she’s a fan of the stop-motion animated Rankin/Bass classics Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.

“There’s something nostalgic about it. I watch those every year with the kids,” Mariah said. And while she does love the oldies, there is one more recent holiday movie that is also near and dear to her heart. “You gotta love Elf,” she decreed.

Mariah is now furiously preparing for the holidays because, as she tells USA Today, “I go all=out every year, darling.”

The Grammy winner recently released the ballad “Fall in Love at Christmas” — a collaboration with Khalid and Kirk Franklin — and is weeks away from releasing her Apple TV+ special Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues, the sequel to last year’s Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special.

In addition, she’s stocked up her online store and teamed with major retailers to help release her Mariah Carey Holiday Collection, which is packed with cozy essentials that will make it easier to wait up for Ol’ Saint Nick.

As for why Mariah aims to be practically synonymous with Christmas, she explains, “I love the holidays. It’s just my thing. I just have a special connection with Christmas.”

In fact, she admits the celebration doesn’t stop after December 25, and will shamelessly blast Christmas tunes until people start begging, “Can we put (any other music) back on?”

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Congratulations to Paul McCartney, whose new book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, was chosen Barnes & Noble’s 2021 Book of the Year by the franchise’s booksellers.

After Barnes & Noble booksellers from around the U.S. nominated their top books of 2021, eight titles — among them The Lyrics — were picked for consideration by a selection committee that included the company’s CEO, James Daunt. The booksellers then voted and chose The Lyrics as Book of the Year.

“The Lyrics is an extraordinary book. It is stunningly beautiful and a masterpiece of book design,” says Daunt in a statement. “Paul McCartney has fashioned, through the explorations of his songs with the poet Paul Muldoon, a fascinating insight into his life and creative genius.”

In response to the prize, McCartney writes, “I’m beyond honored to receive this recognition. My team and I are extremely proud of The Lyrics and it means so much to us that you all like it as much as we do. Thank you to all the amazing team at Barnes & Noble in helping to launch the book.”

McCartney will be taking part in a conversation with Daunt about The Lyrics that will be streamed on Barnes & Noble’s official YouTube channel tonight at 7 p.m. ET.

As previously reported, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present profiles 154 songs that McCartney wrote throughout his career, along with featuring his commentary about each tune. The two-volume work also features handwritten lyric sheets, rare personal photos, drawings and rough drafts of songs.

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