Music – Page 1723 – 105.7 WDNY

Happy 80th birthday, Joni Mitchell

November 7, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Celebrations are in order as legendary singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell turns 80 on November 7.

Born Roberta Joan “Joni” Anderson in Alberta, Canada, Mitchell’s rise to fame began in the ’60s and ’70s with such classic songs as “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Chelsea Morning,” “River” and “Both Sides Now.” She also wrote “Woodstock,” which later became a huge hit for her friends Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Mitchell has released 19 studio albums over the course of her career, but it’s her fourth album, 1971’s Blue, that is considered by many to be one of the best pop and rock albums in history.

Her biggest commercial success came with the 1974 release Court and Spark, which features the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Help Me.”

Turning 80 is a pretty big deal considering in 2015 Mitchell suffered a brain aneurysm. She once revealed that she had to learn to walk again following the medical emergency. She made few public appearances after that but hadn’t performed live in 20 years when, in 2022, she surprised audiences at the Newport Folk Festival, joining Brandi Carlile for a guest-filled “Joni Jam.”

Mitchell again returned to the stage in June 2023, headlining a night at Carlile’s Echoes Through the Canyon festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington. The set again featured a “Joni Jam” with guests like Annie Lennox and Sarah McLachlan.

Joni has received several accolades over the course of her career. She was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. She received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2021 and was awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2023.

Kendrick Lamar to headline inaugural Move Afrika: Rwanda event

November 7, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Kendrick Lamar is set to headline Move Afrika: Rwanda, a groundbreaking touring project by Global Citizen and Lamar’s creative entity, pgLang.

The inaugural Move Afrika event will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, on December 6 at the BK Arena and marks the first step in the organization’s ambitious plan to expand its festivals throughout the African continent.

In addition to Kendrick Lamar’s performance, the lineup for the December 6 event will feature more regional artists yet to be announced. Tickets are available through the Global Citizen website.

Move Afrika: A Global Citizen Experience is designed to create job opportunities in Africa through a live music touring circuit. Beyond invigorating the local economy by providing opportunities for regional artists and crews, these shows will underscore Global Citizen’s mission to combat poverty and raise awareness about critical issues such as women and girls’ health, the climate crisis, and food security.

Rwanda will be the host country for these shows for the next five years, with plans to include more countries in the tour schedule annually. By 2025, the organization aims to expand to five countries.

Pop Evil finds common ground in figurative & literal “Skeletons” with latest #1 single

November 7, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Pop Evil‘s “Skeletons,” the title track and current single off the band’s new album, has hit #1 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. While the country-tinged tune brings a different kind of sound to Pop Evil’s discography, the song itself is about all of our similarities.

“‘Skeletons,’ it’s very simple, we all got ’em,” frontman Leigh Kakaty tells ABC Audio. “Whether it’s in our closet or we’re hiding them deep, deep down as secrets, or whether it’s just the bones in our body, we all got ’em, and that’s what makes us all similar, even though we’re all so different.”

He adds, “It’s up to us to find those similarities to make us love rather than hate.”

With both the song and the album Skeletons, Kakaty hopes to “send some kind of positivity out in the world.”

“Hopefully it comes back to help somebody, and they can relate to understand that, you know, you’re not alone, man,” he says. “That person, you may not get along with them, but they got that same kind of skeleton right in their body, as well. They still bleed red.”

The idea of “Skeletons” is present throughout the album — Pop Evil knew they wanted to call the record Skeletons even before coming up with the song — and the word also pops up in the cut “Worth It.”

“When you’ve got an album and you can really embrace the concept, it comes out in the other songs,” Kakaty says.

Skeletons the album was released in March. Pop Evil’s current Flesh & Bone tour in support of the record concludes November 22 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Måneskin previews video for deluxe ‘RUSH!’ bonus track, “VALENTINE”

November 6, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Måneskin will release a deluxe version of their RUSH! album on Friday, November 10, and it appears that the record will be accompanied by a new video.

In a Facebook post, the Italian rockers have shared a clip of the bonus track “VALENTINE,” accompanied by black-and-white footage of an impassioned performance.

“VALENTINE” is one of five extra songs included on the deluxe RUSH!, along with “OFF MY FACE,” “THE DRIVER,” “TRASTEVERE” and the single “”HONEY (ARE U COMING?),” which dropped in September.

The original RUSH! debuted in January, and includes the singles “SUPERMODEL” and “THE LONELIEST.”

Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Darkness on The Edge of Town’ era captured in new book

November 6, 2023 by WDNY Radio

The perfect holiday gift for the Bruce Springsteen fan in your life may end up costing you more than a ticket to see one of his shows in 2024.

Photographer Lynn Goldsmith, who dated Bruce in the ’70s, has documented his Darkness on The Edge of Town era in a new book, which is being published this month. Because Goldsmith had inside access to Bruce and the E Street Band, she was able to capture him and the band in intimate moments, as well as moments when they, as Goldsmith writes, “left everything on the stage to create a musical performance that suggested the failures and glories of being human.”

Springsteen writes in the book’s foreword, “These photos remain a record of a time when I truly played for my life, night after night.”

The lavish, 364-page hardcover book is a limited edition of only 1,978 copies, each numbered and signed by Goldsmith. You can order it now, but the bad news is that it costs $750.

Elton John, The Who win Scottish Music Awards

November 6, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Neither of them are Scottish, but Elton John and The Who were among the winners at the Scottish Music Awards, held November 4 in Glasgow.

Elton received the Global Artist Award, which was accepted by his bandmate, Scot Davey Johnstone. But when Johnstone was given the Outstanding Achievement Award, Elton appeared via video to congratulate him.

According to the Scottish Sun, Elton said to Johnstone, “You’re certainly the best guitarist, I think, to ever come out of Scotland, and that’s saying a lot. I’ve had the best time playing alongside you … you’re an incredible musician and have been with me so long.”

“You’ve always inspired me with your brilliance. I can’t think of anyone who deserves this award more than you and I love you dearly,” he added.

The Who won the Icon Award, and Roger Daltrey accepted remotely. The Scottish Music Awards ceremony raises money for Nordoff & Robbins, the U.K.’s largest music therapy charity, which The Who has supported for decades.

Kevin Hart, Vincent D’Onofrio plot a heist at 40,000 feet in the trailer to Netflix’s action-comedy ‘Lift’

November 6, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Kevin Hart leads an all-star cast in the upcoming Netflix action-comedy Lift.

The movie from Friday and Fate and the Furious director F. Gary Gray has the funnyman playing Cyrus Whitaker, a crack thief who is tasked by a law enforcement agent played by Loki‘s Gugu Mbatha-Raw to pull off one big score — or land in the big house.

So Cyrus gets the band back together, including Vincent D’Onofrio, Billy Magnussen, Yun Jee Kim and Úrsula Corberó, to steal $500 million worth of gold from a plane midflight before the money can get into the hands of international terrorists.

If they refuse, or fail, they go to jail.

“Plus, it’s about saving lives,” Gugu’s character tells the team.

“I don’t appreciate the emotional blackmail,” Corberó’s character says. Kev responds, “This isn’t emotional blackmail: This is blackmail blackmail.”

Avatar‘s Sam Worthington, Spider-Man‘s Jacob Batalon and The Professional‘s Jean Reno also star in the movie, which flies onto Netflix January 12.

Peter Jackson says it’s “conceivable” more Beatles music could be created from old recordings

November 6, 2023 by WDNY Radio

While “Now and Then” is billed as the last song from The Beatles, director Peter Jackson, who helmed the Get Back documentary and directed the “Now and Then” video, says it might not be quite as final as that.

While speaking to the U.K.’s Sunday Times about “Now and Then,” Jackson was asked if there’s any footage from the Get Back sessions of the band — for example, jamming on a random song or piece of music — that could be turned into another “new” track.

“It did cross my mind!” Jackson tells the Sunday Times. “We can take a performance from Get Back, separate John [Lennon] and George [Harrison], and then have Paul [McCartney] and Ringo [Starr] add a chorus or harmonies.”

“You might end up with a decent song but I haven’t had conversations with Paul about that,” he added. “It’s fanboy stuff, but certainly conceivable.”

Jackson also says he agreed to work on the project — which was created using technology he developed to isolate the audio tracks for Get Back — because of what he believes John Lennon was trying to say when he wrote “Now and Then.”

“It sounds like John is writing a message [to the rest of the Beatles] as an apology for however he may have behaved,” Jackson says. “I found that incredibly moving, that the final Beatles song is the Beatles singing to each other.”

In the same interview, McCartney says he wants to hang on to The Beatles just as much as the fans do.

“I like the idea of not letting go of each other,” he says, noting that when you love someone you don’t want to let go. “They’re in your memory, always in your heart. And, yes, that’s certainly true of me and the boys.”

Boy George to return to Broadway in ‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’

November 6, 2023 by WDNY Radio

After a 20-year hiatus, Boy George is returning to Broadway — in the Tony Award-winning show Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

George was last on Broadway in 2003, when he starred in Taboo, a musical for which he wrote the music and lyrics. The show featured George playing the late Australian performance artist and club promoter Leigh Bowery, who was a friend, as well as an influence.

George will take over the role of Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge! starting February 6; he’ll be in the show through May 12. In the show, Zidler is the owner of the Moulin Rouge nightclub and serves as an MC. The role is currently being played by Tituss Burgess.

You can buy tickets via MoulinRougeMusical.com.

Meanwhile, George’s autobiography, Karma, will be out on November 9. In a statement, he says, “I went to a lot of trouble to create Boy George and then I went through a whole battle for years about not wanting to be him. But now I enjoy and embrace it in a way that I wasn’t able to as a young person … I’m finally learning to be George Alan O’Dowd from Eltham.”

Michael McDonald and more to salute Alan Parsons at 75th birthday charity concert

November 6, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Alan Parsons, the recording engineer-turned-Alan Parsons Project leader, will turn 75 on December 20, so some of his famous pals are gathering in Santa Barbara, California, next month to mark the occasion at a charity concert. And you can attend.

Michael McDonald, Al Stewart, Terry Sylvester of The Hollies and David Pack of Ambrosia are among the stars taking part in the Alan Parsons and Friends 75th Birthday Tribute Concert, scheduled for December 20 at the historic Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara. Tickets go on sale November 9 at 10 a.m. PT.

This isn’t just a random collection of artists, though: Parsons has worked with all of them. While he’s famous for engineering albums like Abbey Road, Let It Be and Dark Side of the Moon, Parsons also either mixed or produced the first two albums by Ambrosia, five albums by The Hollies and Al Stewart’s 1976 album, Year of the Cat, including its hit title track. McDonald has also performed with Parson numerous times.

Proceeds from the show will go to the charity One805, which supports the first responders of Santa Barbara County.

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