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Give me ‘Liberté’! Doobie Brothers releasing new studio album in October, preceded by self-titled digital EP

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The Doobie Brothers have unveiled plans to release a brand-new studio album called Liberté on October 1, and in advance of the record, the band has issued a self-titled digital EP featuring four of the new songs.

Liberté, which you can pre-order now on CD and digital formats, features 12 new original tunes by the group’s core members — Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons and John McFee — produced and co-written with John Shanks, who’s previously collaborated with Bon Jovi, Stevie Nicks and many others.

Liberté is The Doobie Brothers’ 15th full-length studio effort and their first album of new original tunes since 2010’s World Gone Crazy.

The EP, which features songs titled “Oh Mexico,” “Cannonball,” “Don’t Ya Mess with Me” and “Better Days,” is available now as a digital download and via streaming services.

Meanwhile, The Doobie Brothers, who were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year, are finally preparing to launch their 50th anniversary tour, which was postponed from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As previously reported, the trek, which sees former singer/keyboardist Michael McDonald rejoining the group, kicks off August 22 in Des Moines, Iowa. The 2021 portion of the two-leg outing is mapped out through an October 29 concert in Allentown, Pennsylvania, while a second leg runs from a June 2, 2020, show in West Palm Beach, Florida, through a June 30 performance in London, Ontario, Canada.

Fans who purchased a ticket-album bundle for shows to the tour between December 2019 and November 2020 will receive a copy of the Liberté CD starting on September 17 of this year.

Here’s Liberté‘s full track list:

“Oh Mexico”*
“Better Days”*
“Don’t Ya Mess with Me”*
“Cannonball”*
“Wherever We Go”
“The American Dream”
“Shine”
“We Are More Than Love”
“Easy”
“Just Can’t Do This Alone”
“Good Thang”
“Amen Old Friend”

* = also appears on The Doobie Brothers EP.

Idris Elba and Daniela Melchior discuss the “creative freedom” they had while making ‘The Suicide Squad’

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Idris Elba and Daniela Melchior say they got a rare opportunity to cultivate the characters they portray in the new DC Comics superhero film The Suicide Squad.

Elba, who plays mercenary Robert DuBois, aka Bloodsport, tells ABC Audio that he and his other cast members learned “very late in the process” that although the script was written, the character with the “central storyline” had yet to be defined.

“We didn’t know. [It could] be any one of a number of characters from the DC Universe,” he says. “So, eventually we found that it was Bloodsport.”

From there, Elba says his “first stop” was to “understand” his character’s background and motivation.

“Where he’d come from, why he’s in jail in beginning of the movie, and such,” he explains. “And then…you pull apart this story [and see] he’s the guy that put Superman in intensive care and that becomes like, ‘Kaaah! What is that about?'”

Elba says learning about who DuBois was helped him to authentically embody him.

“It was a really good place to come from,” Elba says.

His co-star Melchior, who plays Cleo Cazo, aka Ratcatcher 2, agrees, noting that it was a relief that she could have “creative freedom” and not just “go after” her father, Ratcatcher, the man who taught her how to control rats.

“And I love the fact my approach and [director] James [Gunn‘s] approach for this character — it’s really different,” she says. “And I’m really excited to know…if the fans like it, because… not all supervillains have to be born being supervillains.”

The Suicide Squad, also starring Viola Davis and John Cena, is in theaters nationwide and streaming on HBO Max.

Guns N’ Roses officially release “new” song, “Absurd”

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Forget the jungle: Guns N’ Roses are back in the studio.

The reunited rockers have released an official version of the song “Absurd,” which they previously debuted live earlier this week during a concert in Boston. While nominally a “new” song, “Absurd” is actually a reworked version of the GN’R rarity “Silkworms,” a track written during the infamously long sessions for Chinese Democracy but that was never released.

According to the song’s credits, “Absurd” was produced by Axl Rose and Chinese Democracy producer Caram Costanzo, and features drums by Bryan “Brain” Mantia, who played in Guns from 2000 to 2006. The credits also list “Absurd” as being performed and written by Guns N’ Roses — neither Slash nor Duff McKagan, who rejoined Rose in 2016 after a 20-year absence from the group, are explicitly mentioned.

“Absurd” is now available via digital outlets. It follows the 2018 release of the unearthed Appetite for Destruction B-side “Shadow of Your Love.”

Guns’ most recent album, of course, is 2008’s Chinese Democracy, which featured Rose as the only original member.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

Ryan Reynolds reveals Disney turned down his hilarious ‘Deadpool x Bambi’ crossover pitch

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Can you imagine what a Deadpool x Bambi crossover might look like? Ryan Reynolds did, only Disney didn’t bite.

Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox gave them the rights to the Deadpool franchise, and gave Reynolds — who plays the titular character — an idea for a short film that would have the wisecracking mercenary crossing over with the classic animated Disney movie.

“I wanted to do a short film of Deadpool interrogating the hunter who killed Bambi’s mom. But the whole gist of it is that Deadpool is actually just a huge fan,” Ryan explained in an interview with IGN. “He’s not interrogating — he just wants to know how he could be the most loathed Disney character in the history of Disney.”

Disney’s response, according to Reynolds was, “Well, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.”

However, the studio did accept Reynolds’ next pitch for the crossover piece featuring Deadpool and Korg — the CG-body that Taika Waititi voiced and motion-performed in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame — which served as marketing for Reynolds’ upcoming film, Free Guy.

“We wrote the Deadpool-Korg piece…and we sent it to them, and they said, ‘yes!’,” Reynolds recalled. “So, my next call was to Taika and Taika was in. He’s also in Free Guy, so it wasn’t that hard…Taika’s an actual genius, so I was thrilled to collaborate with him as this kind of character.”

Reynolds says putting Deadpool and Korg in the same room was “amazing.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Britney Spears addresses conservatorship drama: “Things are better than ever”

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Britney Spears is giving fans an update — and it seems things are looking up for her.

In a short video posted Thursday, the 39-year-old pop star took to Instagram to address fans who may have been concerned about her amid her battle to end the 13-year-old conservatorship run by her father, Jamie Spears.

“I’m sure a lot of you are wondering how I’m doing and because the cat is out of the bag — literally, out of the bag — and you guys know my situation,” Britney begins, as she lounges in a red bikini top and white sunglasses.

“I do want to let you guys know that things are way better than ever anticipated,” Spears reveals, before going to answer a few non-conservatorship-related questions, like what’s her favorite clothing store, favorite Miley Cyrus song, and favorite lotion scent. The answers are J. Crew, “We Can’t Stop,” and vanilla, respectively.

The “Baby One More Time” singer cheerfully captioned the snippet, “Since this beautiful world makes it so easy to share with you guys … I’m here today trying to matter like all of us do on any given Thursday … have a good day beautiful people !!!!”

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Allyson Felix makes history with 10th career medal at the Tokyo Olympics

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(TOKYO) — American sprinter Allyson Felix has made history in her last individual Olympic race. Felix took the bronze in the women’s 400-meter on Friday, her 10th career medal.

If she wins another, she’ll smash another record.

The 35-year-old U.S. track star had won nine medals across four Olympics — the most out of any female athlete in U.S. track and field history — heading into the games.

On Friday, she won her 10th medal in Tokyo, her first bronze, to become the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history, besting the record held by Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey.

Felix finished with a time of 49.46 seconds. Bahamian runner Shaunae Miller-Uibo, the Rio gold medalist, dominated the race with a personal best to defend gold.

If Felix wins two medals at the games, Felix would have the most medals out of anyone in U.S. Olympic track and field history, surpassing legend Carl Lewis’ record of 10.

She also is a member of the relay pool, meaning she could run on the 4-x-400 meter relay Saturday.

The Los Angeles resident competed in the 400-meter after finishing second at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for track and field in June with a season-best time of 50.02 seconds.

Felix qualified for Friday’s 400-meter final after placing second in her semifinal heat this week with a time of 49.89 seconds.

The U.S. women’s 400-meter relay team also advanced to the medal round after winning their heat on Thursday. She did not run in the heats, but Felix could run in Saturday’s final.

The U.S. team also competed in the 4-x-400 mixed relay final on July 31 — minus Felix — winning bronze. She had been considered a possibility for that race.

The legendary athlete is one of the most decorated in her sport. She has won six golds and three silvers in sprinting events at the games, starting with silver in the 200-meter in her Olympic debut as a teenager at the 2004 Athens Games.

Even if she wins medals in the 400 and 4-x-400, totaling 11, she’ll come up one shy of Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, who holds the all-time record for track and field medals with 12.

In 2019, just 10 months after giving birth to her daughter, Felix broke the record for most gold medals of any athlete at the track and field world championship, when she clinched her 12th and 13th world titles.

The mom has been a prominent voice against gender inequality in sports. Writing in The New York Times in 2019, Felix detailed her lack of maternity protections with her then-sponsor Nike after giving birth to her daughter, Camryn. Following the publication of the opinion piece, Nike announced a new maternity policy for all sponsored athletes.

She recently launched a lifestyle brand, Saysh, that she says was inspired by her experience with “gender injustice” during her journey to motherhood.

She also has teamed up with apparel company Athleta and the Women’s Sports Foundation to launch The Power of She Fund: Child Care Grants, which help cover child care costs for professional mom-athletes traveling to competitions.

For more Olympics coverage, click here.

Fans decode Taylor Swift’s riddle, revealing ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ bonus tracks

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Taylor Swift fans know all too well that she loves a good riddle. So it was no surprise that the singer chose a word scramble to clue her fans into what to expect from Red (Taylor’s Version), the re-recording of her 2012 album, Red. It’s also no surprise that Swifties cracked the code in no time.

On Thursday, Swift shared a short video teaser that showed several jumbled words emerging from a burgundy vault.

“*presses post* *cackles maniacally*,” the 31-year-old “willow” singer captioned the post. “Level: casually cruel in the name of being honest.”

What the scrambled letters revealed were 10 track titles and the names of the three artists — Ed Sheeran, Phoebe Bridgers and Chris Stapleton — who will be featured on the album.

Here are the bonus track titles that fans decoded:

“Ronan”
“Better Man”
“Nothing New,” featuring Phoebe Bridgers
“Babe”
“Message in a Bottle”
“I Bet You Think About Me,” featuring Chris Stapleton
“Forever Winter”
“Run,” featuring Ed Sheeran
“The Very First Night”
“All Too Well” 10-minute version

Red (Taylor’s Version) is out November 19.

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No unvaccinated ‘Friends’: Jennifer Aniston defends herself for cutting off people who don’t get COVID-19 shot

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Jennifer Aniston took to Instagram Stories to defend herself against fans who took issue with her recent interview comments that she cut off “a few people” in her life who “refused or did not disclose” that they’d gotten the COVID-19 vaccine.

One fan opined of Aniston, “But if [she’s] vaccinated she’s protected correct? Why be worried about [having unvaccinated people] around her?”

Showing a picture of herself wearing a mask apparently in her home, Aniston replied Thursday, “Because if you have the [Delta] variant, you are still able to give it to me I may get slightly sick but I will not be admitted to a hospital and or die. BUT I CAN give it to someone who does not have the vaccine and whose health is compromised (or has a previous existing condition) — and therefore I would put their lives at risk.”

She added, “THAT is why I worry. We have to care about more than just ourselves.”

The 52-year-old former Friends star then displayed a picture of a cross stitch embroidery that read, “What doesn’t kill you mutates and tries again.”

Nathan Fillion says writer-director James Gunn told him ‘The Suicide Squad’ is the best movie he’s ever made

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

TM © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved

Before 2014, only hard-core comic fans ever heard of an obscure, late ’60s comic book team called Guardians of the Galaxy. Fast-forward to today, and Star-Lord, Groot, Gamora, and a talking Raccoon named Rocket are household names, thanks to James Gunn‘s blockbuster Marvel Studios adaptations.

Nathan Fillion, who can be seen this weekend in theaters and on HBO Max in his longtime friend Gunn’s new Warner Bros. movie The Suicide Squad, said audiences have learned by now to trust the writer/director.

“When he told me…’Hey guys, I got Guardians of the Galaxy!’ I said, ‘I hated that comic. That was a dumb comic — that’s like the worst.’ He goes, ‘I know. I know just what to do with it. It’s going to be amazing.'”

“‘All right. Good luck,'” Fillion said, recalling his disbelief with a laugh.

He adds of frequent collaborator Gunn, “We know what he can do with a property. We know how he can see the possibilities and the potential. So we’re giving him this incredible Suicide Squad property. We know what’s going to happen.”

The actor, who plays the DC Comics character The Detachable Kid, adds, “From the horse’s mouth, James told me, ‘This is the best movie I’ve ever made.'”

The Suicide Squad also stars Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, John Cena, Jai Courtney, Pete Davidson, Daniela Melchior, Peter Capaldi, and Guardians series veterans Sean Gunn, Michael Rooker, and Sylvester Stallone.

Employers added 943,000 jobs last month, unemployment rate falls to 5.4% as recovery gains steam

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — U.S. employers added a higher-than-expected 943,000 jobs last month, the Department of Labor said Friday, and the unemployment rate declined by a fraction of a percentage point to 5.4%.

A recent surge in virus cases in the U.S., propelled largely by the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, casts a shadow over the data collected in the earlier part of the month.

While the latest figures indicate the economic recovery is gaining steam, the unemployment rate still remains well above the pre-pandemic figure of 3.5% seen in February 2020.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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