Classic Rock 93.9

The Zombies continue to expand their North American Different Game tour.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just added two new shows to their schedule: April 11 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and April 12 in Clearwater, Florida.

The latest additions follow recently announced shows in Annapolis, Maryland, on March 26, and Alexandria, Virginia, on March 27. They will also set sail on the On The Blue Cruise from April 5 to April 10, departing from Miami. 

A fan club presale starts Wednesday, January 17, at 10 a.m. ET, with the public onsale kicking off Friday, January 19, at 10 a.m. ET. A complete list of dates can be found at thezombies.com.

The Zombies previously toured the U.S. in 2023. Unfortunately, in October they were forced to cut their Different Game tour short after founding member Rod Argent was hospitalized after suffering migraines, fatigue and exhaustion.

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Ace Frehley is about to release his new solo album, 10,000 Volts, on February 23, but his fans overseas may have to wait a bit before they get to see him play any of the songs live.

In an interview with chaoszine, the former KISS guitarist reveals that he hopes to tour Europe this summer, although he has some problems to fix first. 

“Well, there’s a good chance I can make it to Europe in late summer if I get my passport renewed,” he said. “I’ve been having issues with renewing my passport because I have some problems with the IRS, and it’s not really the passport bureau but the IRS.” 

Frehley says he owes the IRS more than $50,000 and until he pays he won’t be able to renew his passport. He has attorneys working on the issue, but if they can’t fix things he’s hoping to head overseas next summer. He adds, “But I’d love it to be this summer because it’s been too long since I did all the festivals there.”

But while European fans will have to wait, folks in the U.S. will have several chances to see Frehley live. He’ll be hitting the road starting January 25 in Frankfort, Kentucky. A complete list of dates can be found at acefrehley.com. 

Meanwhile, Ace continues to take shots at his former band KISS. In the interview he notes that while he still has a decent relationship with Gene Simmons, the same can’t be said for Paul Stanley, noting he doesn’t think much about Stanley’s abilities.

“You know, I can play rings around Paul Stanley on guitar,” he shared. “I can even sing better than him and don’t have to use backing tracks.”

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James Taylor is spending yet another July 4 holiday in the Berkshire area of Massachusetts.

Taylor and his All-Star Band just announced they’ll play the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts, on July 3 and 4; the Fourth of July show will end with a fireworks display for the holiday.

This certainly isn’t the first time Taylor has played Tanglewood. He’s taken the stage several times over the years, many during the July 4 holiday, and this will be his 51st performance at the venue. It will also mark 50 years since Taylor’s very first Tanglewood performance on July 30, 1974.

Proceeds from the July 4 show will be donated to support Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937.

Taylor will be holding an artist presale that kicks off Wednesday, January 17, at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the public onsale on Friday, January 26, at 3 p.m. ET.

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Another Guns N’ Roses tune has reached a billion streams on Spotify. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s top five hit “Paradise City” is the band’s latest track to join Spotify’s Billions Club, one of three GNR tunes to reach the milestone.

All three of the band’s Billions Club entries come from their 1987 debut album, Appetite for Destruction. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was the first to join the club in June; “Welcome to the Jungle” joined in August.

Released in January 1989, “Paradise City” peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band’s third top 10 hit from Appetite for Destruction, following “Sweet Child O’ Mine” — the band’s only #1 — and “Welcome to the Jungle,” which went to #7.

And it looks like GNR is close to having one more Billions entry. Their Use Your Illusion I track “November Rain,” currently has over 875 million streams. 

Another new addition to the Billions Club is blink-182’s “All The Small Things” from their third album, Enema of the State, which was released in 1999. The tune, a top 10 hit for the rockers, is their first song to reach the prestigious milestone.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers are headlining the 2024 Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival, taking place July 25-28 in Milwaukee.

The bill also includes country-rock crossover artists Jelly Roll and HARDY, as well as The Offspring.

Tickets will go on presale Thursday, January 18, at 10 a.m. CT. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit HDHomecoming.com.

Along with Harley-Davidson Homecoming, Red Hot Chili Peppers are playing the 2024 Bonnaroo and Innings festivals. You can also catch their U.S. headlining tour, kicking off in May.

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President Joe Biden is sending along his congratulations to Sir Elton John, who on Monday, January 15, became the 19th entertainer to earn a competitive EGOT, when his Disney+ special, Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium, won an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). 

“Sir Elton John has been a tidal wave throughout his career to help people rise up and make hope and history rhyme,” Biden shared on social media. “Six Grammy Awards. Two Oscars. One Tony. And now, one Emmy. Congratulations Elton — a singer and songwriter of our time, for all time.”

Biden previously revealed a special connection he and his family have to Elton’s music in his book Promise Me Dad, sharing that as a young, single dad, he and his two sons, Hunter and Beau, would sing “Crocodile Rock” on their way to school each day. In 2015, when Beau was dying of brain cancer, Biden sat at his bedside and sang “Crocodile Rock” to him. 

In 2022, Biden honored Elton with the National Humanities Medal, telling the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, “On behalf of the American people, thank you — and I sincerely mean this — for moving the soul of the nation.”

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Bush has announced a U.S. tour celebrating the band’s greatest hits.

The summer outing launches July 26 in Bend, Oregon, and wraps up September 15 in Los Angeles. Alice in Chains‘ Jerry Cantrell will provide support, as will Candlebox, who launched a farewell tour in 2023.

Tickets will be available on presale beginning Tuesday, January 16, at noon ET, followed by the general onsale on Friday, January 19, at 10 a.m. local time. A select amount of tickets will be sold for just $19.94 in honor of the release year of Bush’s 1994 debut album, Sixteen Stone, which turns 30 in December.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit BushOfficial.com.

Bush just put out a greatest hits compilation, Loaded, in November. Along with singles including “Glycerine,” “Everything Zen,” “Machinehead” and “Swallowed,” the set includes the new song “Nowhere to Go but Everywhere.”

For a preview of the tour, you can catch Bush perform “Glycerine” Tuesday on NBC’s The Tonight Show.

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On This Day, January 16, 1992…

Eric Clapton recorded an episode of MTV Unplugged in front of a small audience at Bray Film Studios in Windsor England.

The taping featured performances of such songs as “Tears in Heaven,” about the death of his four-year-old son, Conor, and an acoustic version of “Layla.”

Clapton released a live album of the show in August 1992 to critical acclaim. The album went to #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and won three Grammy Awards, including Record and Song of the Year for “Tears In Heaven.”

The album sold 26 million copies worldwide to become the bestselling live album of all time.

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The Doors’ Robby Krieger is still on a search to find one of his Doors-era guitars, which was stolen almost 60 years ago.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer initially put out a plea to find the missing early ’60s red Gibson SG Special back in 2021, revealing that it was the guitar he used to audition for The Doors and the one he wrote their classic tune “Light My Fire” on. It was stolen from the band’s rehearsal space in 1967.

While it’s been awhile since his initial plea, in a new interview with Guitar World Krieger says he’s still searching for it and is asking anyone who owns a 1963/1964 model of the guitar to check and see if the serial number matches the one from his missing axe, 88779, and contact him at FindRobbysGuitar@gmail.com.

Krieger tells the mag he was initially inspired to buy the guitar after catching Chuck Berry play a Gibson at a show in Santa Monica, California.

“He played this beautiful cherry red Gibson ES-335,” he explains. “Next day I decided to trade in one of my flamenco guitars for an ES-335. But as it turned out, the ES-335 was too expensive, and the only guitar I could afford was a Gibson SG.”

As for what he liked about it, Krieger mentions its “smoother sound compared to the Fender guitars of the day.”

“The Fender stuff was twangier, and I never was a fan of that,” he says. “I always have gone for smoother sounds, which I could get with the Gibson.”

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