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Ex-GN’R drummer Matt Sorum explains how The Rollling Stones’ Charlie Watts influenced him

September 1, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Mark Maryanovich; Chris McKay/Getty Images

Former Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum counts himself among the many musicians who were influenced and inspired by late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, who died a week ago today at age 80.

Sorum is known for his powerful, hard-hitting style, while Watts’ drumming had more of a jazz swing to it, but Matt tells ABC Audio that he aspired to the way Charlie and The Beatles‘ Ringo Starr played so well with their respective band mates.

“I looked up to Charlie and Ringo as band guys, song drummers, and I always wanted to place myself in there,” Sorum explains. “I just want to play what’s right for the song. You know, I got some chops and stuff, and I could do stuff, but the most important thing is figuring out what’s gonna make the song sound great. So, Charlie was a really huge influence in that.”

Reflecting on what Watts brought to The Stones, Matt notes, “[He was] such a pivotal guy, like a guy that’s so important in the foundation and the heartbeat.”

Sorum says fans can get an idea of what Watts contributed to The Stones by watching the 1968 film Sympathy for the Devil, which documents how the band’s famous song of the same name came together in the studio.

“[I]t takes him nine days to find the groove,” Matt points out. “And you watch that and you understand why The Stones’ groove and sound is so great.”

As previously reported, Sorum is preparing to release a candid memoir titled Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘n’ Roll Stories in the coming weeks. You can pre-order the book now at RareBirdLit.com.

“Stayin’ Alive”: The Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb turns 75 today

September 1, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Here’s wishing a Happy 75th Birthday to Barry Gibb, the last surviving member of The Bee Gees.

Barry formed The Bee Gees with younger brothers Robin and Maurice, and the group’s first success came in Australia in the early 1960s after the Gibb family moved there from the U.K.

The Bee Gees’ career took off internationally after the Gibbs moved back to the U.K. in 1967.

The group’s first U.S. hit was “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” which peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in ’67. Over the next several years, the group scored such other hits as “To Love Somebody,” “Massachusetts,” “Words,” “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You,” “Lonely Days” and the chart-topping “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.”

In the mid-’70s, The Bee Gees began exploring a more danceable, R&B-influenced sound that featured Barry’s signature falsetto vocals, leading to hits like “Jive Talkin’,” “Nights on Broadway,” and “You Should Be Dancing.”

In 1977, The Bee Gees were catapulted to super-stardom with the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, which helped launch the disco craze. The album ultimately went 16-times platinum on the strength of the #1 hits “Night Fever,” “How Deep Is Your Love” and “Stayin’ Alive.”

The Bee Gees’ popularity began waning by 1980 thanks partly to a backlash against disco, but Barry and his brothers continued to have success writing songs for other artists, including their youngest brother, Andy, Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton, Dionne Warwick and Diana Ross.

The Bee Gees were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Sadly, Maurice and Robin died in 2003 and 2012, respectively.

In recent years, Barry has focused on a solo career. His latest album, a star-studded duets collection Greenfields, was released in January.

Johnny Marr announces new solo album, ‘Fever Dreams Pts 1-4’

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Johnny Marr has announced a new solo album.

The fourth studio effort from the Smiths guitarist is titled Fever Dreams Pts 1-4. As its title suggest, the record is made up of four different EPs, the first of which arrives October 15.

You can listen to lead single “Spirit Power and Soul” now via digital outlets.

“‘Spirit, Power and Soul’ is a kind of mission statement,” Marr says. “I had an idea about an electro sound with gospel feeling, in my own words…an electro soul anthem.”

You can catch Marr live next summer opening for The Killers‘ North American arena tour.

Play Pop Evil’s ‘Versatile’-themed computer game

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Pop Evil has launched a new online computer game themed after the band’s new album, Versatile.

The game is essentially a digital Rubik’s Cube with sides inspired by Pop Evil and the Versatile videos and artwork. If nothing else, it helped keep frontman Leigh Kakaty busy as he recovered from contracting COVID-19.

“Over the last few weeks, I played the hell out of this game during my COVID isolation,” Kakaty says. “Just warning everyone, it’s not an easy game to nail down. Good luck beating [drummer] Hayley [Cramer‘s] score, she currently has the highest score on the bus.”

You can try it for yourself now via Game.PopEvil-Versatile.com.

Pop Evil is now back on the road after postponing dates due to Kakaty’s diagnosis. The tour continues Tuesday in Savannah, Georgia.

Versatile, Pop Evil’s sixth studio album, was released in May. It includes the singles “Breathe Again,” “Work” and “Survivor.”

Alan Parsons releasing new concert album & video, ‘The NeverEnding Show,’ in November

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

A new concert album and video focusing on a 2019 show by veteran studio whiz, composer and musician Alan Parsons‘ current band, the Alan Parsons Live Project, will be released on November 5 in various formats and configurations.

The NeverEnding Show: Live in the Netherlands captures a May 2019 concert by the group at the Tivoli theater in Utrecht, Netherlands.

The concert featured performances of many of the Alan Parsons Live Project’s best-known songs from the 1970s and ’80s, including “Games People Play,” “Time” and “Don’t Answer Me,” as well as a medley combining the group’s oft-heard 1982 instrumental “Sirius” with its ’82 hit “Eye in the Sky.”

The NeverEnding Show can be pre-ordered now and is available as a two-CD/DVD set, a Blu-ray disc and a three-LP vinyl collection. Two limited-edition colored-vinyl versions of the release — pressed on crystal and on blue vinyl — can be purchased exclusively at the Frontiers Music’s online store.

The audio versions of The NeverEnding Show also will include a new studio recording of a song called “The Never Ending Show” as a bonus track.

You can check out a video of the Alan Parsons Live Project performing “Games People Play” from The NeverEnding Show film now at Frontiers Music’s YouTube channel.

The band recently postponed a U.S. tour because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trek had been scheduled to run from an August 27 show in Burbank, California, through a September 22 show in Minneapolis. New dates haven’t been announced.

Here’s the track list of The NeverEnding Show‘s CDs:

CD 1
“One Note Symphony”
“Damned If I Do”
“Don’t Answer Me”
“Time”
“Breakdown”/”The Raven” (Medley)
“I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You”
“Psychobabble”
“Luciferama”

CD 2
“Don’t Let It Show”
“I Robot”
“Limelight”
“Standing on Higher Ground”
“As Lights Fall”
“I Can’t Get There from Here”
“Prime Time”
“Sirius”/”Eye in the Sky” (Medley)
“Old and Wise”
“(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether”
“Games People Play”
“The Never Ending Show” (New Studio Audio Track)

Lil Baby gives back to hometown Atlanta with 200 free bikes and refurbished basketball court

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Lil Baby is bringing end of the summer joy to kids in his hometown of Atlanta.

The “Woah” rapper recently donated 200 bikes to local children, and partnered with Foot Locker to refurbish a local basketball court.

Three weeks ago, the three-time Grammy nominee also hosted a back-to-school drive, providing children with clothes, laptops, and supplies from his Four the People Foundation, according to Revolt. “At This Point It’s About The Kids! #generationalwealth,” he commented on Instagram.

Lil Baby is featured with The Weeknd on “Hurricane” on Kanye West‘s new Donda album. Wednesday, he kicks off his Back Outside tour in Boston featuring Lil Durk and Coi Leray. They will perform 23 dates through October 19 in West Palm Beach, FL.

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2021 Bonnaroo festival canceled due to effects of Hurricane Ida

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Charles Reagan Hackleman/Courtesy of Bonnaroo

Bonnaroo won’t be happening in 2021.

The Tennessee festival, which was canceled in 2020 and postponed from June 2021 to this week because of the COVID-19 pandemic, has now been canceled for this year for an entirely different reason: Hurricane Ida.

After making landfall in Louisiana this past Sunday — leaving millions without power, including all of New Orleans — Ida has continued to move throughout the Southeast, creating dangerous conditions in states including Tennessee.

“We are absolutely heartbroken to announce that we must cancel Bonnaroo,” organizers announced Tuesday. “While this weekend’s weather looks outstanding, currently Centeroo is waterlogged in many areas, the ground is incredibly saturated on our tollbooth paths, and the campgrounds are flooded to the point that we are unable to drive in or park vehicles safely.”

The statement continues, “We have done everything in our power to try to keep the show moving forward, but Mother Nature has dealt us a tremendous amount of rain over the past 24 hours. We have run out of options to try to make the event happen safely and in a way that lives up to the Bonnaroo experience.”

Bonnaroo 2021 was scheduled to begin this Thursday. The lineup included former Talking Heads member Jerry Harrison, Foo Fighters and many others.

2021 Bonnaroo festival canceled due to effects of Hurricane Ida

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Bonnaroo won’t be happening in 2021.

Bonnaroo 2021 was scheduled to begin this Thursday. The lineup included Foo Fighters, former Talking Heads member Jerry Harrison, and many others.

The Isley Brothers, George Clinton, Common and more join D-Nice for Club Quarantine Live at the Hollywood Bowl

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Greg Campbell/Getty Images for Tennessee Tourism

After providing much needed entertainment with his marathon Instagram Live sessions throughout the pandemic, D-Nice brought the star power to the Hollywood Bowl Sunday.

The Isley Brothers, George Clinton, Common, Sheila E., Trey Songz, Common, Tank, and Erica Campbell were among the artists who performed during Club Quarantine Live, according to Billboard.

Ronnie Isley sang, with brother Ernie on guitar, their classics “Footsteps in the Dark” and “Between the Sheets.” Eighty-year-old George Clinton entertained the crowd — which included This Is Us star Sterling K. Brown — with a medley of Parliament-Funkadelic hits, “(Not Just) Knee Deep,” “Flash Light,” and his number one solo single, “Atomic Dog.”

“This is the party of all parties, right?” Common asked before he performed “The Light.” Then Sheila E. joined him on stage for “The Glamorous Life.”

The party took a somber note as D-Nice paid tribute to the late hip-hop pioneer, Biz Markie. He called for a minute of silence, then said, “Without Biz, I wouldn’t be on this stage right now. He inspired me to come back. So shine a light right now for Biz Markie.” As thousands of phone lights illuminated the iconic outdoor venue, the crowd chanted the hook to Markie’s classic, “Just a Friend.”

D-Nice will take Club Quarantine Live to New York City Thursday, Atlanta Friday, and Washington, D.C. on September 18.

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2021 Bonnaroo festival canceled due to effects of Hurricane Ida

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

FilmMagic/FilmMagic for Bonnaroo Arts And Music Festival

Bonnaroo won’t be happening in 2021.

Bonnaroo 2021 was scheduled to begin this Thursday. The lineup included Foo Fighters, Tame Impala, Mastodon, Incubus, Phoebe Bridgers, Run the Jewels, Dashboard Confessional, Young the Giant, Glass Animals and Brittany Howard.

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