Classic Rock 93.9

Rod Stewart has won a Grammy, been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and been knighted at Buckingham Palace. But his latest honor isn’t for his music — it’s for his whisky.

Rod launched his own brand of whisky, Wolfie‘s, a little over a year ago, and on Oct. 7 he was honored by the Keepers of the Quaich, a society that recognizes people who’ve played a role in promoting Scotch whisky. At the society’s fall banquet at a castle in Scotland, Rod was named an Honorary Keeper of the Quaich in recognition of Wolfie’s award-winning success. 

A “quaich” is a traditional Scottish drinking vessel, which Rod evidently had to drink out of to make his honor official. Rod did a Q&A during the ceremony and also performed “Maggie May” with the house band.

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The Guess Who founding singer Burton Cummings released A Few Good Moments, his first solo album in over a decade, to digital services back in September, and now physical copies are on the way.

The record will be released on CD and two-LP orange vinyl on Nov. 15.

“The songs on this album took a while to become the proper collection. I believe in these songs because they are the result of having lived more years,” Cummings says. “At this point I have no interest in writing teenage love songs. Aging has changed the writing and that’s natural. I believe in these songs and I hope that the people who have followed my material enjoy them.”

He adds, “I want this album to stand up when it’s listened to years from now.”

Cummings is currently on a Canadian leg of his 60th Anniversary Hits tour and will bring it to the States starting Jan. 11 in Chandler, Arizona. He just announced a new set of March dates for the tour, which will now run through March 29 in Columbus, Ohio. A complete schedule can be found at burtoncummings.com.

In September, Cummings and his Guess Who bandmate Randy Bachman reached a settlement in their battle against fellow original members Jim Kale and Garry Peterson over the band’s name. Cummings and Bachman sued the pair in October 2023, accusing them of tricking fans into thinking Cummings and Bachman were still performing with the group, when they were actually getting a “cover band.”

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Rush has shared two classic live videos to their official YouTube channel, taken from the 1982 concert film Exit…Stage Left.

The clips are performances of “Closer To The Heart” and “Freewill,” both shot at the Montreal Forum on March 27, 1981.

Exit…Stage Left was a concert film that originally aired on MTV and was later released in various home video formats, including VHS and DVD. It followed the band on their Moving Pictures tour.

Rush also released a live album of the same name in October 1981, featuring recordings made over two years, during both the Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves tours. The album peaked at #10 in the U.S.

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Wednesday would have been John Lennon’s 84th birthday and Paul McCartney took to social media to pay tribute to his friend and former Beatles bandmate.

Sharing a photo on Instagram of him performing with video of Lennon in the background, McCartney wrote, “Happy Birthday John. Thanks for being there.” 

Meanwhile, Yoko Ono’s X account shared a picture of John and a young Sean Lennon blowing out candles on a birthday cake, wishing them both a happy birthday. Sean was also born Oct. 9, but in 1975.

And official Beatles social media accounts shared some drawings of Lennon, writing, “This year, we’re celebrating with some beautiful images fans from around the world have created of John. Thank you to all the contributors who kindly allowed us to share their art.”

Meanwhile, the Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik, Iceland, will mark the late rocker’s birthday by lighting the tower for the 18th time. The lighting will begin at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, with the song “Imagine” playing as soon as the tower is lit.

In addition, nine reimagined Meditation Mixes of Lennon’s classic track “Mind Games” have been released to digital outlets in honor of Lennon’s birthday. They will also be available as a limited-edition three-LP crystal clear vinyl set on Friday.

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Gene Simmons was the guest judge for Dancing with the Stars’ hair metal night Tuesday, and it apparently didn’t go over so well with the public.

Several folks took to social media to complain that Simmons scored dancers too low, and that his critiques were “creepy” and focused too much on how the dancers looked, not on their actual dancing. 

“Shame on Gene Simmons for treating this like a beauty pageant,” one person commented on social media. “Never have him on the show again. EVER. He ruined it. #gross #DWTS.”

Another added, “it’s only the first dance and i’m already over gene simmons being a creep.”

“What was up with Gene Simmons scoring being all over the place?” another noted. “Stick with guest judges that understand the dancing process and the scoring process.”

The episode kicked off with the dancers performing to KISS’ hit tune “Rock and Roll All Nite,” with the show featuring dances to such hair metal tunes as Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” and “You Give Love A Bad Name,” Warrant’s “Cherry Pie,” Europe’s “The Final Countdown” and Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

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After sharing a mysterious teaser video featuring an answering machine and floppy disk, Green Day has announced Dookie Demastered, a collection of reworked versions of songs off the band’s hit 1994 album recorded on “obscure, obsolete, and otherwise inconvenient limited-edition formats.”

Such formats include the aforementioned answering machine and floppy disk, as well as an original Nintendo Game Boy, a 8-track, a toothbrush and a Teddy Ruxpin. If you ever wanted to hear “Basket Case” through a Big Mouth Billy Bass, now’s your chance.

“The listening experience is unparalleled, sacrificing not only sonic quality, but also convenience, and occasionally entire verses,” a press release reads. “It’s Dookie, the way it was never meant to be heard.”

You can hear each track now via DookieDemastered.com. You can also enter into a drawing to purchase one of the actual physical formats, which are available in limited quantities.

Dookie Demastered was created in collaboration with the company Brain, which previously released the Fall Out Boy Crynyl — a vinyl edition of their So Much (for) Stardust album pressed with real tears cried by the band members.

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Mötley Crüe kicked off their Hollywood takeover Monday night, and they certainly made quite an entrance.

The rockers shared video of highlights from night one at The Troubadour on the Sunset Strip, which shows them getting dumped out of the back of a green garbage truck, much to the delight of their gathered fans. 

According to setlist.fm, the band treated the crowd to a set filled with hits, including “Shout at the Devil,” “Home Sweet Home,” “Dr. Feelgood” and “Kickstart My Heart,” as well as their latest single, “Dogs of War,” and a cover of Bestie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right.”

Mötley’s Hollywood takeover continues Wednesday with a show at The Roxy, followed by a gig at the Whisky a Go Go on Friday.

They also just announced a new Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM. The residency consists of 11 shows, running from March 28 to April 19. A complete list of dates can be found at motley.com.

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Van Halen fans are getting their first preview of Alex Van Halen’s upcoming memoir, Brothers, with a 4 1/2-minute audio sample shared on Spotify.

In a clip titled “Overture,” Alex talks to and about his late brother and Van Halen bandmate, Eddie Van Halen, sharing, “Without my brother I would not be … there is a bond and unconditional love very few people ever experience in their lifetime.”

“Music was our heart and soul. That’s what we did, that’s what we loved, that’s what we enjoyed and that’s what we were good at,” he says. “It’s also the thing that made us as close as two brothers can be. We were connected in every way – genetically, artistically, financially, emotionally and though neither of us stuck with Catholicism, I’m going to go ahead and say spiritually.” 

Alex shares that Eddie was “more introverted, more impressionable and more sensitive” than him, noting that sensitivity made Eddie a “brilliant musician … there is only one Edward Van Halen.”

“Since you’ve been gone, I catch myself talking to you. Yelling at you, in my head or sometimes out loud. I still have trouble believing you’re gone and probably for me, you never will be,” he says.

“Outliving my little brother? This just wasn’t the plan,” he concludes. “As the older brother, I was supposed to die first. Same as always, Ed … butting in line.”

Brothers is due out Oct. 22. The audiobook features the song “Unfinished,” written by Alex and Eddie and described as “the last piece of music they wrote together.” 

Alex will promote the book with a three-city book tour kicking off Oct. 21 in New York, followed by Oct. 22 in New Jersey and Oct. 24 in Los Angeles.

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On This Day, Oct. 9, 1985 …

John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, joined The Beatles fans for the opening of Strawberry Fields in New York’s Central Park, a memorial to the late Beatle named after the Lennon-penned track “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

Located on Central Park West at 72nd Street, the 5-acre plot of land features a circular memorial with a mosaic of stones with the word “Imagine,” the title of Lennon’s iconic tune. It is located not far from Lennon and Ono’s New York apartment, The Dakota, where Lennon was killed on Dec. 8, 1980.

Oct. 9 was also Lennon’s birthday, and the opening ceremony coincided with what would have been his 45th birthday.

To coincide with what would have been Lennon’s 84th birthday this year, the documentary Daytime Revolution, about the week in 1972 when John and Yoko took over The Mike Douglas Show, is opening in theaters.

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R.E.M. has contributed a song to a new compilation album aimed at helping those devastated by Hurricane Helene.

Cardinals at the Window: A Benefit for Flood Relief in Western North Carolina is out now on Bandcamp, with R.E.M. contributing a live performance of the Document track “King of Birds,” recorded in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1989.

The album features 136 songs and was put together by three North Carolina natives: musician and community organizer Libby Rodenbough, New Commute founder David Walker and music journalist Grayson Haver Currin.

Other artists contributing to the album include Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, The War on Drugs, Wilco‘s Jeff Tweedy, Feist, Phish, The Decemberists, Tyler Childers and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.

The album is available for purchase now at bandcamp.com.

All proceeds will be split between three organizations: Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, BeLoved Asheville, and Rural Organizing and Resilience.

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