Classic Rock 93.9

Alice Cooper reunited with his original bandmates for his upcoming album, The Revenge of Alice Cooper, and now they are teaming up for a one-off event in London.

Cooper announced on Instagram that he and the group — guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neil Smith — are coming together for a July 24 event at London’s Union Chapel.

The evening, hosted by Sir Tim Rice, will be open to just 900 “lucky souls,” with attendees getting to hear the album for the very first time. Cooper and the band will also answer questions from fans and share “some twisted tales from the road.” 

Tickets for the event go on sale Wednesday via the Rough Trade website. And for those who don’t get in, the evening will be streamed live.

The Revenge of Alice Cooper will be released on July 25. It marks the first album to feature Cooper playing with his original band since 1973’s Muscle of Love.

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Billy Idol has shared a funny anecdote about a Saturday Night Live sketch in which Sting did an impersonation of him.

In an interview with The Ankler, Idol was asked about the 1991 sketch “The Sinatra Group,” where Phil Hartman as Frank Sinatra hosted a talk show where he interviewed a variety of guests, including Sting as Idol. 

Idol says he thought the sketch was “very funny” and shares that he was told that Sting’s wife, Trudie Styler, was a big fan of her husband’s impersonation.

“Sting’s wife, Trudie, told me that when he went into the dressing room after playing me, she got him to have sex with [her] as me,” Idol shares. “So that was a great caveat to the sketch. She said, ‘F*** me as Billy Idol.’ And he did.”

Idol is the subject of a new documentary, Billy Idol Should Be Dead, which will have its premiere at the Tribeca Festival on Tuesday, where he’ll also perform.

“I think the documentary has got a depth to it, as we really worked on it over quite a long period of time,” he tells the outlet. “I think it’s a really great documentary that shows a lot of aspects of my life.”

As for not holding anything back in the film, he shares, “You just have to own it and you realize what happened, whatever it was, the drug addiction or whatever else and own the different periods of my life. It all led to something: The bad stuff and the good stuff somehow ended up fusing [into] the music I’ve made.”

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Deep Purple’s 18th studio album, Rapture of the Deep, will be reissued for its 20th anniversary.

A remixed and remastered version of the album will be released Aug. 29, with new artwork and bonus material made up of never-before-heard instrumental takes and studio rehearsal recordings. Among those tracks is a tune called “Closing Time,” written by the band’s then-guitarist Steve Morse, which is getting its first-ever release.

The new mix of the album was handled by Deep Purple’s bassist Roger Glover, who notes of the release, “It’s a new album now to me.”

As a preview of what to expect, the band has shared the new remix of the track “Junkyard Blues” to digital services.

Released in the U.S. on Nov. 1, 2005, Rapture of the Deep was the band’s fourth studio album with Morse and the second with keyboardist Don Airey. Glover notes in a press release the band was “going through a bit of a hard time when we started the songwriting and production of Rapture of the Deep.”

“Strangely enough, we didn’t have a record company at that point,” he says. “Let’s face it, we were a bit lost.”

Rapture of the Deep 20th Anniversary Remix will be available on CD, as a three-LP black vinyl and as a limited-edition three-LP transparent sky blue vinyl. It is available for preorder now.

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On This Day, June 9, 1972 …

Bruce Springsteen signed a record deal with Columbia Records. He had auditioned for the label’s A&R exec John Hammond in New York City the month earlier, where he performed “It’s Hard to Be A Saint In The City.”

On the same night, he performed for Columbia execs at the Gaslight Club in New York and later recorded a demo for the label.

Springsteen would go on to release his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., in January 1973. He has spent over 50 years with the label, releasing his last album, Only the Strong Survive, in 2022. His new box set, Tracks II: The Lost Albums, comes out June 27.

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A new book about Pink Floyd is set to hit bookshelves this fall.

Pink Floyd Shine On: The Definitive Oral History was written by author Mark Blake, who’s worked with the band for the past 35 years. The book is described as a “forensic retelling of one of the most turbulent and enduring groups in rock music history.”

According to the description, the book is “the most comprehensive history of the band ever compiled” and includes new, archival and unpublished interviews with Pink Floyd members David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and the late Richard Wright. Their story is also told through the words of friends, family members, contemporaries and more.

Shine On also features a rare and previously unpublished interview with Rosemary Breen, the sister of Pink Floyd’s original frontman, Syd Barrett, who was kicked out of the band in 1968 and died in 2006.

Pink Floyd Shine On: The Definitive Oral History is due out Oct. 9 and is available for preorder now.

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Bruce Springsteen brought his Land of Hope and Dreams tour to Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium Saturday and surprised the crowd with a very special guest: local hero Paul McCartney.

“We’re lucky tonight, we have a young man, a local young man, from Liverpool, who’s gonna dance with us tonight,” Springsteen told the crowd, as seen in fan-shot video posted to YouTube. “I think he’s got a lot of talent and I believe he’s gonna be going places So let’s bring out Sir Paul McCartney.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers then teamed up for two songs: The Beatles‘ classic “Can’t Buy Me Love” and a cover of the Leiber & Stoller tune “Kansas City,” which The Beatles recorded in 1964 after being inspired by Little Richard‘s version of the song.

The Liverpool show was far from the first time Springsteen and McCartney have performed together. In 2022, Springsteen made a surprise appearance during McCartney’s Glastonbury Festival set, performing “Glory Days” and “I Wanna to Be Your Man” with McCartney. The Beatle also joined Springsteen for his 2017 show at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where they performed “I Saw Her Standing There.”

Bruce and Sir Paul joined forces ahead of the Liverpool show for a non-musical appearance. According to the BBC, on Friday, the two rockers visited the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), which was co-founded by McCartney.

Springsteen and The E Street Band next hit Berlin on June 11. A complete list of dates can be found at BruceSpringsteen.net.

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Talking Heads frontman David Byrne made a surprise appearance at New York’s Governor’s Ball on Saturday.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer came out during pop star Olivia Rodrigo’s headlining set, joining her for Talking Heads’ 1983 hit “Burning Down the House,” with Olivia in red and Byrne in red-and-white. The two even performed some choreography to the song. You can see fan-shot video of the performance on social media.

Considering the fact that a downpour delayed the start of Olivia’s set by an hour, it’s fitting that the song includes the line, “Hold tight, we’re in for nasty weather.”

This has been a busy week for Talking Heads: On Thursday, they released the first-ever video for their iconic tune “Psycho Killer.” The release marked the 50th anniversary of their live debut at CBGB in New York, during which they opened for the Ramones.

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Rod Stewart continues to battle health issues.

After coming down with the flu, Stewart had to scrap two shows of his Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace: One was rescheduled and the other was canceled. Now, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just announced that his illness has further impacted his tour schedule.

“I have to cancel and reschedule my next six concerts in June as I continue to recover from the flu,” Stewart shared on Instagram. “So sorry my friends. I am devastated and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to my fans.”

He added, “I’ll be back on stage and will see you soon.”

Canceled shows include his next three concerts at The Colosseum — June 7, 9, and 10 — as well as his June 14 show in Stateline, Nevada. He also moving his June 12 show in Rancho Mirage, California to Sept. 20, and his June 15 Paso Robles, California show to Sept. 21.

Stewart is set to return to the stage to play the Legends slot June 29 at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival. His tour returns to the U.S. on July 5 in Pittsburgh. A complete list of dates can be found at RodStewart.com.

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Talking Heads just released the first-ever music video for “Psycho Killer.” Its director, Mike Mills, who helmed the Ewan McGregor/Christopher Plumber film Beginners, is revealing his thought process behind the concept.

“The last thing you want to do is pin down or reduce what the song is about. The song is so much more than being psychotic or killing,” Mills tells Vulture. “At first, I was totally daunted. I was like, How the f*** do you make a video for ‘Psycho Killer’ for my art heroes? It’s impossible. I can’t think of that idea, it’s too hard.”

“Then walking down my hallway, the idea came to me in a flash,” he adds, sharing that the video’s star, Saoirse Ronan, “isn’t at all a psycho killer or anything. It’s the environment and that life and false normality.”

The video follows Ronan through her daily routine; while the routine doesn’t change, she does, slowly unraveling as each day passes.

Mills explains, “There’s something violent in the banality of it all. It’s psychic violence, but it’s still hostile to me. I don’t think normality actually exists. It’s a construct.”

Mills says the band was totally on board with his concept, noting, “They really liked that it wasn’t reducing the meaning of the song. That’s essential to the way they work.”

Mills says both he and Ronan were nervous about the band’s reaction to the final product, but David Byrne soon sent him an email with “Brilliant” in the subject line.

“I didn’t even open the email for five hours because I was like, That’s enough. That’s a beautiful gift. I’ll just keep it at that, who knows what’s inside,” he says. “My response was, Okay, great, I don’t have to do therapy for at least a year.”

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Former Deep Purple singer/bassist Glenn Hughes is set to release his first new solo album in almost a decade.

The rocker has announced he’ll drop his 15th studio album, Chosen, on Sept. 5. He’s previewing the record with the release of the title track to digital services, along with an accompanying music video.

“Songwriting is deeply personal to me, and l generally write and record when I have something to say,” he shares. “When writing Chosen, I went back to my life drawing board, writing about the human condition, love, hope, faith, and acceptance. I write about how I feel on the inside and not externally.”

He adds, “My life is lived from within, in the present moment. It’s an album of soul food, and I’ve never been so grateful, right here, on planet earth. Music is the healer!”

Chosen, Hughes’ first solo album since 2016’s Resonate, is available for preorder now.

Hughes is set to hit the road in support of the album this fall with a European tour that kicks off Sept. 2 in the Netherlands. A complete list of dates can be found at GlennHughes.com.

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