Classic Rock 93.9

Michael Lang, co-organizer of the 1969 Woodstock festival and its subsequent anniversary events Woodstock ’94 and Woodstock ’99, died on Saturday, January 8, at age 77, Variety reports.

Family spokesperson Michael Pagnotta revealed to the publication that Lang passed away at a New York City hospital from a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In 1969, Lang teamed up with songwriter and music producer Artie Kornfeld and financial investors Joel Rosenman and John Roberts to co-create the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, held August 15-18 in Bethel, New York.

Billed as “3 Days of Peace, Love and Music,” the festival became one of the iconic events of the “Flower Power” era, featuring performances by many of the biggest rock acts of the day, including Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, The Who, Janis Joplin, Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker and many others.

For many years, Michael served as Joe Cocker’s manager, and he also managed several other acts.

Lang also helped organize the 25th anniversary Woodstock festival, Woodstock ’94, which was held August 12-14 on a farm near of Saugerties, New York. That event featured a mix of artists who’d played the 1969 fest and contemporary acts from various genres.

Five years later, Lang co-produced the ill-fated Woodstock ’99 festival, which was held July 22-25 on a former Air Force base in Rome, New York. The event has been portrayed as the antithesis of the 1969 Woodstock, and has become known for the many reported incidences of violence, alleged sexual assaults, fires and other vandalism by some of the attendees.

Lang also attempted to organize a 50th anniversary Woodstock festival that initially was scheduled to take place in August 2019 in Watkins Glen, New York. A huge, star-studded lineup with major artists from various genres was confirmed, but the festival, called Woodstock 50, was thrown into limbo when the company providing financial backing pulled out. Michael and his fellow organizers tried to find a new financial backer and a new site for the fest, but the event eventually was canceled.

Lang is survived by his wife, Tamara, and five children.

A message paying homage to Michael has been posted on the official Woodstock social media pages that notes, “He was a producer, father, environmentalist, friend, husband and most of all, one-of-a-kind dreamer whose mark on the world is undeniable.”

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Last April, KISS launched a new series of official live bootlegs dubbed KISS — Off the Soundboard, and now the Rock & Roll (All Nite) Hall of Famers have announced plans for the second installment of the series.

The new album, titled Off the Soundboard: Live in Virginia Beach, is due out on March 11 and will feature a recording from a concert that took place on July 25, 2004, at the Virginia Beach Amphitheatre.

The show featured KISS’ current lineup — singer/guitarist Paul Stanley, singer/bassist Gene Simmons, drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer — playing career-spanning 20-song set that included such classics as “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” “Detroit Rock City,” “Lick It Up,” “Christine Sixteen” and “Shout It Out Loud.”

Off the Soundboard: Live in Virginia Beach will be available on digital as a two-CD set, and as a three-LP collection pressed on standard black vinyl or limited-edition 180-gram opaque-green vinyl. You can pre-order the album now exclusively at KISS’ official online store. Special bundles also are available featuring the colored-vinyl set, along with a t-shirt, trading cards and guitar picks.

The first KISS — Off the Soundboard release featured a March 2001 concert that the band played in Japan at the Tokyo Dome.

Here’s the Off the Soundboard: Live in Virginia Beach CD track list:

Disc 1
“Love Gun”
“Deuce”
“Makin’ Love”
“Lick It Up”
“Christine Sixteen”
“Tears Are Falling”
“She”
“Got to Choose”
“I Love It Loud”
“I Want You”

Disc 2
“Psycho Circus”
“King of the Night Time World”
“War Machine”
“100,000 Years”
“Unholy”
“Shout It Out Loud”
“I Was Made for Lovin’ You”
“Detroit Rock City”
“God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll to You II”
“Rock and Roll All Nite”

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Toy (Toy: Box), the new box set focusing on David Bowie‘s previously unreleased 2000 album Toy, hit stores today, one day before what would’ve been the late rock legend’s 75th birthday.

As previously reported, Toy features versions of various songs that Bowie first recorded from 1964 to 1971, redone at 2000 sessions with members of his touring band at the time.

Toy (Toy: Box) is available now as a three-CD set, a six-disc 10-inch vinyl collection, and digitally. The package will include the originally planned album — which first got its release in November 2021 as part of David’s Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) box set — alternative mixes of the Toy tracks and tunes intended as B-sides, and stripped-down, mostly acoustic mixes of the songs.

In conjunction with the arrival of Toy (Toy: Box), a lyric video for an alternate version of “Shadow Man,” a rarity that Bowie first recorded in late 1970, has debuted at Bowie’s YouTube channel. The newly released version is referred as an “Unplugged & Somewhat Slightly Electric Mix,” and is one of a series of 13 Toy tracks appearing on the box set that were given that treatment.

The unplugged 2000 “Shadow Man” mix also has been paired with a 1970 demo of the song as a two-track digital single release.

Meanwhile, as previously announced, former Bowie touring band member Mark Plati, who produced Toy and played on the original recordings, will take part in an interview about the project at the Bowie 75 pop-up store in New York City this Saturday. Visit Bowie75.com for more details about the various events taking place to commemorate David’s milestone birthday.

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Billie Joe Armstrong thinks the Grammys should say “Good Riddance” to its current trophy.

In an Instagram Story, the Green Day frontman shared a photo of him holding his Best Alternative Music Performance award the band won in 1994 for Dookie, alongside the caption “Grammys need to come up with a new trophy.”

He then added, “No one knows what the f*** a ‘gramophone’ is.”

Indeed, the music playing device that gave the Grammys its name, which was first invented in the late 1800s, certainly isn’t as popular nowadays. Armstrong did not suggest a replacement design, though.

Should the Recording Academy decide to tinker with the Grammy trophy design, they do have some extra time to do it. Earlier this week, it was announced that the 2022 Grammys would be postponed from its originally announced January 31 date due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. A new date has yet to be announced.

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Hollywood is mourning the passing of the legendary Sidney Poitier, who died Friday. He was 94.

Poitier became the first Black man to win an Academy Award for best actor, in 1964 for his role in Lilies of the Field. He is also remembered for starring in A Raisin in the Sun, To Sir, with Love, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and many more classic films.

Tyler Perry, Whoopi Goldberg, Viola Davis and Debbie Allen are among the stars paying tribute to a true icon.

Tyler Perry: “The grace and class that this man has shown throughout his entire life, the example he set for me, not only as a Black man but as a human being will never be forgotten. There is no man in this business who has been more of a North Star for me than Sidney Poitier.”

“I’ll never forget inviting him and Cicely [Tyson] to fly to South Africa with me. Selfishly, I wanted to hold them both captive for the hours-long trip as I literally sat at their feet and listened to their wisdom and experiences. It was life changing…Thank you for being willing to share YOU to make us all better.”

Whoopi Goldberg: “To Sir… with Love Sir Sidney Poitier R.I.P. He showed us how to reach for the stars.”

Viola Davis: “This is a big one. No words can describe how your work radically shifted my life. The dignity, normalcy, strength, excellence and sheer electricity you brought to your roles showed us that we, as Black folks, mattered!!!”

Debbie Allen: “Your last sunset with us is the dawn of many generations rising in the path of light you blazed. We will always hold you in our hearts and forever speak your name.”

 

 

 

 

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Edgar Winter has organized a star-studded tribute album to his late older brother, blues-rock guitar great Johnny Winter, that features contributions from an impressive list of musicians who knew or were inspired by Johnny.

Titled Brother Johnny: An All-Star Tribute to Johnny Winter, the album will be released on April 15, and includes the talents of Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons, The Doobie Brothers‘ Michael McDonald and John McFee, ex-Allman Brothers Band members Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, Foo Fighters‘ Taylor Hawkins, Toto‘s Steve Lukather, and many others.

Brother Johnny is a 17-track collection curated by Edgar and producer Ross Hogarth. In addition to featuring various covers and renditions of songs by Johnny, it also includes two new originals by Edgar.  The first single, a cover of the Chuck Berry classic “Johnny B.Goode,” has been released as an advanced digital track, while a visualizer video has premiered at Edgar’s YouTube channel. The tune features Edgar and Walsh sharing lead vocals, Edgar on piano and sax, and David Grissom — a fellow Texan like the Winter brothers — on guitar.

Walsh also plays guitar on version of Johnny’s “Stranger” that features McDonald and Starr as well.

Edgar says “Johnny B. Goode” is a significant song in his and Johnny’s life because it helped give them their first big break as musicians when their early band Johnny and the Jammers played it at a Texas talent contest and they won the chance to make their first record.

On paying tribute to Johnny with the album, Edgar notes, “[O]ne thing will always remain the same…that bond, of brotherhood, of family, of music, and of love. So in his name, I dedicate this album. Brother Johnny.”

Johnny Winter died in July 2014 at age 70.

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Bon Jovi will be there for its fans later this year.  The rockers unveiled plans for a 15-stop tour that will span across the U.S. starting in the spring.

Called the Bon Jovi 2022 Tour, the band will hit up arenas in the country’s biggest cities, starting April 1 in Omaha, Nebraska, at the CHI Health Center.  The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ tour wraps April 30 in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Bridgestone Arena.

The tour will support Bon Jovi’s 2020 album, and frontman Jon Bon Jovi cannot wait to hit the road again to see his fans.  “We have all missed touring and we know that nothing can replace the energy of a live show for the fans or the band,” he said in a statement.

Tickets for the 15-stop tour go on sale starting Friday, January 14, at 10 a.m. ET on Bon Jovi’s official webpage. Fans will be able to cut the line if they are a member of the JBJ Experience, and can access the pre-sale a few days earlier, on Tuesday, January 11, at 10 a.m. ET.

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Just a reminder that the star-studded A Bowie Celebration virtual concert event commemorating what would’ve been David Bowie‘s 75th birthday takes place this Saturday, January 8, starting at 9 p.m. ET.

As previously reported, the presentation was organized by longtime Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson, and will feature performances by Def Leppard, Duran Duran‘s Simon Le Bon and John Taylor, Noel Gallagher, Living Colour, Rob Thomas, WALK THE MOON, and actors Gary Oldman and Evan Rachel Wood, among others.

In addition, Ricky Gervais will make a special appearance during the show, part of the proceeds from which will benefit the Save the Children charity.

Garson will lead a house band featuring various musicians who toured and/or recorded with Bowie.

The event will be dedicated to legendary late photographer Mick Rock, and also will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Jim Henson fantasy film, Labyrinth, which starred Bowie as the Goblin King and featured five songs he wrote.

Tickets and ticket bundles for the event are available now at RollingLiveStudios.com/Bowie.

Meanwhile, a contest has been launched in conjunction of the livestream offering a variety of special prizes.

The grand prize features Bowie’s new 18-LP Brilliant Adventure box set, a one-on-one Zoom with Garson, a ticket to the streaming event, access to a virtual Q&A with some of the show’s musicians, a signed copy of Garson’s book Bowie’s Piano Man, t-shirts and other goodies.

To enter, fans must follow @bowietour, @licoricepizzarecords or @rollinglivestudios on Instagram, leave comment under the post about the contest, tag at least five friends and ask them to follow. The person who generates the most follows wins the contest. The winner will be announced at 3 p.m. ET on Friday.

Seven additional randomly chose winners each will receive a different Bowie album.

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The Cars‘ Elliot Easton and The Scorpions‘ Matthias Jabs are among a variety of artists who will take part in the NAMM organization’s Believe in Music online event, which is scheduled for January 20 and 21.

Taking place instead of the annual in-person NAMM Show music-equipment trade conference — which has been moved to the summer — Believe in Music is a global online gathering that will help unify and provide support for the people and organizations that bring music to the world.

Believe in Music will offer a variety of free music-business-related presentations, including artist interviews, performances, round-table discussions, forums, tutorials, gear unveilings and more.

Easton and Jabs both will be participating in interviews on January 20, scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET and 5:30 p.m. ET, respectively.

Other artists also taking part in interview events include rock-guitar virtuoso Steve Vai, Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd and Struts members Luke Spiller and Adam Slack.

For full details about the online event, visit BelieveinMusic.tv.

The 2022 NAMM Show has been combined with the Summer NAMM conference, and is scheduled to take place July 3-5 at California’s Anaheim Convention Center.

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David Bowie‘s estate has announced new special releases in conjunction with the ongoing Bowie 75 campaign commemorating what would’ve been the late rock legend’s 75th birthday this Saturday, January 8.

Five Bowie albums from the latter part of his career — 2002’s Heathen, 2003’s Reality, the 2010 A Reality Tour live album, 2013’s The Next Day and 2016’s ★ (a.k.a. Blackstar) — have been remixed for Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format and will be released via select streaming services on January 21.

The mixes were created by longtime Bowie studio collaborator and frequent co-producer Tony Visconti.

As previously reported, the 360 Reality Audio of Blackstar is getting its premiere today at the Bowie 75 pop-up stores in New York City and London. Also, 360 Reality Audio mixes of four tracks from the A Reality Tour album, which documents David’s final concert tour, will be streamed live tonight beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Bowie’s YouTube channel and at square.sony.com.

Listeners should wear headphones to enjoy the full 360-audio experience.

After the online livestream ends, viewers will be able to stream the performance on a smartphone using with the Artist Connection app, which can be downloaded at ArtistConnection.net.

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