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Eric Idle explains comment about Paul McCartney wanting to “avoid” his ‘Masked Singer’ appearance

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The current season of Fox’s The Masked Singer marks the first time any contestant performed a song by The Beatles: It was “Love Me Do,” sung by The Hedgehog, later unmasked as Monty Python legend Eric Idle. Idle personally asked Paul McCartney for permission to sing the song, but he claims he wasn’t sure Paul would give it to him — because of something Idle did more than 40 years ago.

After his unmasking, Idle told viewers that while Paul had given him permission, he’d added, “Please tell me what show it is, so I can make sure to avoid it.” Idle tells Yahoo that Paul’s joke, and his trepidation about asking him for permission, stem from Idle’s 1978 film spoof of The Beatles — The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash.

“I have a friend who worked at Apple in London, and he said, ‘I think Paul will have forgiven you by now,'” Idle tells Yahoo. “Because, you know, I played [Paul] in The Rutles.” The portrayal wasn’t particularly flattering.

Idle says, “My wife and I bumped into him … shortly after [the movie came out], and he said, ‘Oh, I’m not sure we’re talking to you!’ Obviously, he wasn’t quite so comfortable in those days.”

But eventually, Paul came around. He even sent out a tweet promoting The Masked Singer, writing, “I have heard whispers that a pal of mine is on America’s #TheMaskedSinger…Best of luck friend! Sing with all your heart!“

The Beatles were actually big Monty Python fans, and Idle and George Harrison were extremely close; Harrison even mortgaged his house to finance the comedy troupe’s classic film Life of Brian.

“He was a remarkable man. He really changed my life,” Idle says of Harrison, who died in 2001. “I’d never had a friend like that.”

Artemis I launch attempt set for Tuesday, but possible hurricane could delay plans

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(CAPE CANAVERAL, FL) — NASA said Friday it is planning its third launch attempt of Artemis I on Sept. 27 after scrubbing the initial endeavor earlier this month.

During a press conference, officials said the launch window will open at 11:37 a.m. ET, but Tropical Depression Nine could delay plans.

Currently, there is only a 20% chance of favorable weather on Tuesday as Tropical Depression Nine heads towards Florida and may make landfall as a major hurricane next week.

However, Tom Whitmeyer, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, said the team is not assuming the launch will be canceled just yet.

“It’s still a tropical depression number nine, it’s not a named storm,” Whitmeyer told reporters. “We really want to continue to try to get as much information as we can so we can make the best possible decision for the hardware.”

The team said it will continue to monitor the weather and will decide on Saturday whether to continue with the Tuesday launch.

NASA had to scrub the first launch attempt on Aug. 29 because of a faulty temperature sensor and the second attempt on Sept. 3 due to a liquid hydrogen leak.

Since then, engineers and mission managers have been running tests to make sure the rocket is ready during its next attempt.

In a press release, NASA said the Artemis team encountered a hydrogen leak during a test run on Wednesday, but the issue was addressed and resolved.

The process of tanking, which includes filling the rocket’s core stage with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, was also successful.

“We had a very successful tanking test all of the tanks,” John Blevins, NASA’s Space Launch System chief engineer, said during the press conference. “We were able to do some things that we won’t have to do again, some things that we intended to do even on launch day that were left over from previous dress rehearsals. So, it was a very successful.”

If the launch is scrubbed on Sept. 27, the next launch attempt will occur on Sunday, Oct. 2.

If that Oct. 2 is also a no-go, the rocket will be taken back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center until the team decides on the next date.

Over the course of the Artemis missions, NASA plans to eventually send the first female astronaut and the first astronaut of color to the moon.

The federal space agency also plans to establish a moon base as a steppingstone to send astronauts to Mars by 2024 or 2025.

Jordan Davis taps Danielle Bradbery for a sultry new heartache tune, “Midnight Crisis”

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

To ease the sting of a midlife crisis, a guy might dye his hair, buy a convertible or blow too much money on a pair of flashy shoes — but a “Midnight Crisis” isn’t quite as easy to remedy.

That’s the premise of Jordan Davis’ new release, “Midnight Crisis,” a play on words that dials into the loneliness of being all by yourself in the middle of the night and starting to miss your ex. “I’m wide awake, I’m playing back our history / All that I’m wantin’ is you right now / It hit me right out of the blue,” the singer croons in the chorus.

Jordan’s had good luck with duet partners lately — his smash No. 1 hit “Buy Dirt” was a collaboration with Luke Bryan — and this time around, he taps singer-songwriter and former The Voice champ Danielle Bradbery to join him.

Not only does Danielle lend her vocals to the song, but the two artists appear together in the music video, playing the roles of two heartbroken, lonely people drinking their sorrows away at a bar.

“Midnight Crisis” came out on Friday. You can listen to the song, and watch the music video, now.

New music Friday: 5 Seconds of Summer, Khalid, Mike Posner and Ashe

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

It’s Friday! Let’s see who’s out with new tunes …

5 Seconds of Summer is back with “Bad Omens,” another track off the forthcoming album 5SOS5. Calum Hood teased the upcoming album, saying in a statement, “It’s a living, breathing thing made up of most beautifully light and dark parts of ourselves. 5SOS5 is the truest representation of 5 Seconds of Summer.”

Khalid released “Satellite,” which he said in a statement “is a visual portrait of my growth as a human being & the self-love journey I have experienced in my life.” He also released the melancholy music video for his new track, which sees him surrounded by technology but craving to experience human contact.

Mike Posner says “I’m Not Dead Yet” and proves it in his fiery new single that offers soaring violins, a foot-tapping drum beat and acoustic guitar. He said in a statement of his new song, “There is a sadness in beauty and a beauty in sadness.”

Ashe has teamed up with the legendary Diane Keaton for the new song “Love Is Letting Go.” In this song, Ashe and Diane bid farewell to their brothers, both of whom lost their battles with addiction. The singer is thrilled Keaton agreed to join her on the song.

NYPD removes three drill rappers from Rolling Loud New York festival

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The New York City Police Department has removed three drill rappers from this weekend’s Rolling Loud Festival at Citi Field.

Sha Ek, Ron Suno and 22Gz were banned from the event for “public safety concerns,” The New York Times reports.

The NYPD removed five artists, including 22Gz, from the 2019 Rolling Loud New York for the same reason.

Suno’s manager, Diamond “Bo” Brown, told Rolling Stone that she received a text on Thursday saying Suno was removed from the lineup.

“I was informed by Rolling Loud that NYPD is pulling us off the show. With no explanation,” she said. “How does a person who [has] no criminal record and no gang activities be denied to perform in his hometown after all his hard work? It’s crazy because he never even made a diss record.”

The festival promoters told Brown that Suno would still be paid for the booking “and will hopefully be able to perform at later events.”

Suno was involved in a fight backstage at the 2021 Rolling Loud New York with rapper Kay Flock.

The three-day festival kicked off Friday, September 23, with Nicki Minaj as the day one headliner. A$AP Rocky headlines Saturday, and Future is the main attraction on Sunday. All the performances can be streamed live on the Rolling Loud YouTube channel.

Listen to new Avatar single, “Valley of Disease”

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Black Waltz AB/Thirty Tigers

Avatar has premiered a new single called “Valley of Disease.”

“There is a sickness, a stranger, and a harmful way,” vocalist Johannes Eckerström says of the track. “A twisted landscape untouched by the sun. I leave the rest up to either you or me, but never both at the same time. You can only enter this place alone, and my path isn’t yours. Your secret is safe with me, but so is mine.”

You can listen to “Valley of Disease” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.

“Valley of Disease” follows Avatar’s 2021 batch of one-off singles, which include “Going Hunting,” “Barren Cloth Mother,” “So Sang the Hollow,” “Construction of Souls” and “Cruel and Unusual.”

Avatar has also been working on a new album to follow 2020’s Hunter Gatherer.

A half-century of “Changes”: Black Sabbath’s ‘Vol. 4’ turns 50

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Black Sabbath‘s been going through “Changes” for a half-century.

The metal pioneers’ fourth album, Vol. 4, was released September 25, 1972, 50 years ago this Sunday.

Following in the footsteps of 1970’s one-two punch of Black Sabbath and Paranoid and 1971’s foundational sludge metal opus Master of Reality, Vol. 4 continued to bring the heavy with songs including “Snowblind,” a not-so-subtle reference to the band members’ drug habit.

In between Tony Iommi‘s signature chugging riffs and Ozzy Osbourne‘s demonic wail came a surprise in the form of “Changes,” a tender, introspective piano ballad. Speaking previously to ABC Audio, Iommi shared that he and his Sabbath bandmates were unconcerned with how “Changes” might be perceived.

“The first thing that it had to please was us,” Iommi sad. “We’d always done that with Sabbath music.”

“It wasn’t, ‘Is anybody gonna like it?'” he added. “We have to … start off with us first, because we’re presenting ourselves. So if we like it, then we just hope that everybody else liked it.”

Vol. 4 is now certified Platinum by the RIAA. Black Sabbath reissued the album in 2021 with 20 unreleased recordings, including outtakes, live tracks, instrumentals and alternate versions.

Mama Cass Elliott to receive star on Hollywood Walk of Fame on “Monday, Monday,” October 3

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The late Mama Cass Elliott of The Mamas and the Papas will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next month.

The star ceremony will take place October 3 at 11:30 a.m. PT and will be streamed live at walkoffame.com. Among those who’ll speak at the ceremony are Michelle Phillips — the other “Mama” in The Mamas and the Papas — as well as longtime pal John Sebastian. Cass’ daughter Owen Elliott-Kugell and Cass’ sister Leah Kunkel will also speak.

The star — the 2,735th star to be awarded — will be located at 7065 Hollywood Blvd.

As a member of The Mamas and the Papas, Cass scored six top 10 hits, including “Monday Monday,” “California Dreamin'” and “Dedicated to the One I Love.” The group sold over 40 million records and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Cass then went on to a solo career, scoring hits like “Make Your Own Kind of Music” and “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” She died of heart failure in London in 1974.

Timbaland and Swizz Beatz settle $28 million lawsuit with Triller

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Timbaland and Swizz Beatz settle million lawsuit with Triller

After filing a $28 million lawsuit against Triller for allegedly missing payments for their Verzuz series, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have settled with the video service.

“Verzuz has always been a platform that is by the artists, for the artists and with the people,” the Grammy award winning producers said in a statement, according to Rolling Stone. “We’re glad to come to an amicable agreement with Triller and continue giving fans the music and community that they’ve come to know and love from the brand.”

Swizz told Rolling Stone he was ready for a battle with Triller.

“Was I ready to go to war? Yes. Am I used to it? I’m from the South Bronx. But I had to take my emotions out of it,” he says. “There were too many creatives for me to lock this whole thing in the lawyers’ box.”

When asked if Verzuz will return, Swizz added, “Yeah, harder than we ever went.”

Following the settlement, Triller Executive Chairman Bobby Sarnevesht said in a statement, “This is a victorious moment in the Triller and Verzuz relationship as we march together toward the public markets.”

“At the end of the day just like any Thanksgiving or family gathering, there are disagreements, but like any good family we all forgive each other in the end and come back stronger than ever,” he added. “We are glad we put this disagreement behind us and couldn’t be more excited for the next chapter.”

As the pandemic temporarily stopped concerts, Beatz and Timbaland launched Verzuz in 2020 as an online alternative for hip-hop and R&B performances.

Triller bought Verzuz in 2021 for an undisclosed amount. As part of the settlement, Swizz and Timbaland are receiving an unspecified increased ownership stake in the company.

Lainey Wilson shouts out “the things that make my world go ‘round” in her new song, “Live Off”

September 23, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Lainey Wilson is previewing her upcoming album, Bell Bottom Country, with another new song called “Live Off.”

It’s a tune that’s particularly special to her, the singer shared on Twitter. “[‘Live Off’] is all about the things that make my world go ‘round,” Lainey explains. “My hometown, my dog, my family, my friends.”

A twangy, midtempo anthem, the song’s story is structured around all the things Lainey “lives off.” Even more important than food or money, she sings, is the place where she comes from and the people (and pets) she shares her life with.

Bell Bottom Country is due out on October 28 and features other previously released songs like “Heart Like a Truck” and “Watermelon Moonshine.”

It’s also got a song called “Those Boots (Deddy’s Song,)” a track that’s extra meaningful in light of the health problems that Lainey’s father has faced. When her dad was hospitalized recently, the singer canceled a couple of shows and opened up with fans about her close relationship with him as she requested their prayers.

Lainey is also a featured vocalist on the newest single from Hardy, a grisly story song called “Wait in the Truck.”

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