Classic Rock 93.9

On This Day, June 29, 1984…

Bruce Springsteen kicked off the Born in the U.S. A. tour in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The tour featured the E Street Band debuts of guitarist Nils Lofgren, who replaced Stevie Van Zandt who left to record a solo album, and Springsteen’s future wife Patti Scialfa.

During opening night, director Brian De Palma shot the video for the Born in the U.S.A. single “Dancing in the Dark.” The performance clip ends with Springsteen pulling a fan onstage to dance with him. In reality, the woman, a then unknown actress named Courteney Cox, was placed in the front row so Bruce could pull her onstage to dance.

The video became a huge MTV hit and the song became Bruce’s biggest-ever single, spending four weeks at #1 and selling over a million copies.

Cox went on to become a huge star, thanks to the successful NBC series Friends, the Scream movie franchise and more.

The tour wrapped in October 1985, after hitting North America twice, Asia, Australia and Europe.

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Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and Steve Rothery, the original guitarist for progressive rock band Marillion, have shared the first single off their upcoming instrumental album, The Roaring Waves.

The track, ”The Black Sea,” is described by Rothery as “the perfect introduction to the sonic world we’ve created between us,” adding, “We have a very special chemistry.”

“For ‘The Black Sea,’ our joint guitar sounds with the keys created a strong vibe of intrigue along with a sense of a musical dark sea adventure,” Hackett adds.

The Roaring Waves, dropping Aug. 28, is made up of seven songs that are described as ranging “from the dexterously ridiculous to the brilliantly sublime, though with one common theme: the profundity of the sea.”

The album is available for preorder now.

In other Steve Hackett-related news, Genesis has announced they’re releasing their 1974 album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, in Dolby Atmos as a standalone Blu-ray audio disc for the first time. The Blu-ray was previously only available as part of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition box set, which was released in September.

The standalone Blu-ray will be released Aug. 28 and is available for preorder now.

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The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder are set to headline the Best of Blues and Rock Festival, happening Nov. 20-22 at Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo, Brazil.

Daltrey is set to headline the festival on Nov. 21, with a lineup that also includes Chris Isaak and blues guitarist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, while Vedder is booked for Nov. 20 and 22, alongside Glen Hansard and others.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday at 11 a.m. local time. More info can be found at bestofbluesandrock.com.

Vedder, a well known Who fan, has played with the band on several occasions. Back in October, he joined The Who on stage at the private Backyard Concert supporting Teen Cancer America and the UCLA Health Center. His most recent public show with the band was at The Who’s March 2024 Teenage Cancer Trust charity concert at Royal Albert Hall in London.

Next up, Daltrey is set to kick off a U.S. tour on Aug. 23 in Mesa, Arizona, with dates confirmed through Oct. 3 in Selbyville, Delaware. A complete list of dates can be found at TheWho.com.

Vedder’s next live dates are at his Ohana Festival in Dana Point, California, happening Sept. 25-26. Vedder is headlining Sept. 25, with Pearl Jam headlining Sept 27.

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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fans are getting a chance to hear new versions of two of his classic songs.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Petty’s iconic tracks “American Girl” and “Breakdown,” the Tom Petty estate has just released extended, newly mixed versions of the songs, both remixed from the original multitrack tapes in Hi-Res and Dolby Atmos.

Both songs are available now via digital outlets.

“American Girl” and “Breakdown” both appeared on Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ self-titled debut album, which was released in November 1976. “Breakdown” became Petty’s first top-40 hit, peaking at #40 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Although “American Girl” failed to chart in the U.S. when it was initially released, it went on to become one of Petty’s most popular songs and is often ranked as one of the best rock songs of all time. It’s also the last song Petty ever played live, during his September 2017 show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Petty died just over a week later on Oct. 2, 2017.

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Billy Joel is celebrating another song joining the Spotify Billions Club.

A post on the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s Instagram account reveals that “Vienna” is now his third song to reach the milestone.

Already in the Billions Club are “Piano Man,” which joined in April and has currently been streamed over 1.3 billion times, and “Uptown Girl,” which joined in September 2024 and been streamed over 1.4 billion times.

The increase in Spotify streams is likely due in part to a popular TikTok trend that started in 2024 where women in their 20s and 30s expressed their emotional feelings about their life, pressure and more. The posts particularly identified with the song’s lyric, “slow down, you’re doing fine.”

“Vienna,” which Joel has said is one of his favorites of his songs, is a track off the rocker’s 1977 breakthrough album The Stranger and was originally the B-side of his top-10 single “Just the Way You Are.” He released an official video for the song in 2024.

It has gone on to become a fan favorite, and a song Joel often plays live in concert.

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Looks like Bryan Adams is getting ready to release a very Canada-centric song on Canada Day.

The Canadian rocker revealed on Instagram that he’ll be dropping the tune “The 51st State” on July 1, which marks Canada’s national holiday.

The title appears to be a reference to President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Canada should become part of the United States, but don’t think Adams is suggesting he wants that to happen. In the caption of his announcement, he clearly states it’s something “We’ll never be.”

There’s no word on whether the song is part of a future Bryan Adams album or just a standalone single. He released his last studio album, Roll With The Punches, in August.

Adams is currently on a European tour and plays Herceg Novi, Montenegro, on Friday. His tour returns to the North America on July 24 with a show in St. Louis, Missouri. A complete list of dates can be found at BryanAdams.com.

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Ann Wilson is once again making music with the band Tripsitter.

Wilson and Tripsitter are set to release their second album together, Consecrated Ground, on Aug. 14 and have just released the album’s first single, “I Will Not Be Coming Back,” to digital outlets.

According to a press release, the single “captures themes of liberation, transformation, and unwavering self-determination.”

Wilson and Tripsitter first began working together in 2023. They released their first album, Another Door, in September of that year.

Following the release of Consecrated Ground, Wilson and Tripsitter will be heading out on the road. Their new tour kicks off Sept. 12 in Lady Lake, Florida, and wraps Oct. 9 in Ridgefield, Connecticut. A complete list of dates can be found at AnnWilson.com.

Consecrated Ground is available for preorder now. Check out the track list below:

“I Will Not Be Coming Back”
“Bone Pain”
“Me And Comanche”
“Hard Fought”
“Ruby Rosé (Lady Of The Night)”
“Hot Foot”
“Dissonance”
“Renaissance Kids”
“Reverse Chaos”

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On This Day, June 26, 1965…

The Byrds hit #1 on the Billboard singles chart with their debut single, a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.” It became the first recording of a Dylan song to reach number one on any pop music chart.

The track would be one of two #1 hits for the group. The other, “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season),” would top the chart six months later.

Dylan’s version of the song appeared on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The Byrds’ version was released less than a month after Dylan’s, and became the title track of their debut album.

Both versions of the song have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

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The music of INXS is going to be the subject of a new ballet opening in the band’s native Australia.

The Queensland Ballet has teamed with HOTA, Home of the Arts, Gold Coast, for the new contemporary ballet Elegantly Wasted, featuring dance interpretations of the band’s songs.

“INXS have always embraced exploring new ideas and the different ways our music can connect with people,” INXS founding member and composer Andrew Farriss says in a statement. “This ballet is a fresh artistic interpretation that stands in its own space. It’s not about the band’s story but shows how our music can inspire new forms of expression.”

He adds, “It’s exciting to see the work approached from a completely new perspective. … [W]e’re looking forward to seeing how it comes to life.”

The production is described as a “striking contemporary work that charts a compelling shift from artifice to awareness, from surface to soul. It invites us to question what we perform, what we conceal, and what we might rediscover if we dare to be seen without filters.”

Elegantly Wasted was the band’s 10th studio album and its final album recorded with frontman Michael Hutchence before his 1997 death.

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Songwriter Desmond Child has released a live performance of the KISS classic “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” a song he co-wrote with KISS’ Paul Stanley.

The song is the first track released from Child’s upcoming live album, Desmond Child Rocks The Parthenon – The Live Concert Album, a recording of his June 2022 concert at the historic Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens, Greece.

The album is filled with performances of songs Child wrote for other artists, like KISS, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Ricky Martin and more. The “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” performance features Canadian singer Justin Benlolo, one of several guests who appear on the album. Others include Alice Cooper, Bonnie Tyler, Rita Wilson and Kip Winger.

Desmond Child Rocks The Parthenon – The Live Concert Album, dropping July 24, is available for preorder now.

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