Classic Rock 93.9

Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott is revealing some of the records that helped shape him into the rock star he is today. In an interview with Classic Rock, the singer reveals “the 10 records that changed my life,” with a list that includes Mott The Hoople, Queen, David Bowie and Rod Stewart. 

Elliott, a former frontman of a Mott The Hoople cover band, includes two of their albums on the list: 1971’s Wildlife and 1973’s Mott. He notes the latter “showed Ian Hunter’s amazing songwriting process: he was always a great songwriter, but it really came to the fore on that record.”

Also on the list is Bowie’s 1972 classic, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which he calls “a brilliant, stunning record.” Stewart’s 1971 album, Every Picture Tells A Story, also made the list. Elliott says it was the first record he ever purchased, noting it was “a 40-minute journey of all sorts of emotions.”

Queen’s 1974 album, Sheer Heart Attack, also makes the list. He says that from that album, “you could tell they were rock band, but you could also tell they were much more than a rock band.”

The other albums on Elliott’s list: Jethro Tull’s 1971 release, Aqualung; Montrose’s 1973 self-titled release; Ian Hunter’s 1975 self-titled album; Mick Ronson’s 1975 album, Play Don’t Worry; and UFO’s Obsession, released in 1978.

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Van Morrison has started his own label in order to put out material from his archives. The singer announced the launch of Orangefield Records, which will be dedicated to releasing his music from ’70s through the 2000s.

The first release will be Beyond Words: Instrumental, dropping August 18, a compilation of 17 previously unreleased instrumental tracks. According to a post on Van’s website, the album will take “listeners on a mesmerizing journey into one of the world’s most admired archives.”

But this doesn’t mean Morrison won’t be releasing new music somewhere down the road. The announcement points out that any new material from Morrison will be released through major labels.

Beyond Words: Instrumental is available for preorder now. 

Here is the track list for Beyond Words: Instrumental:

“Beyond Words”
“Jammin’ With Eddie”
“Driving On A Country Road”
“Breadwinner”
“Cool For Cats”
“Parisian Walkabout”
“So Complicated”
“Kerry Dancing”
“All Saints Beneficial”
“Celtic Voices”
“Mountains, Fields, Rivers & Streams”
“The Street”
“Far North”
“Time To Get Ready”
“Song Of Home”
“12 Bar Celtic”
“Greenwood Tree”

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Paul McCartney has confirmed the rumors — he’s going on tour again.

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just announced dates for a new leg of his Got Back tour, which will hit Australia, the first time he’s toured there since 2017.

The new dates kick off October 18 in Adelaide, with shows in Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney and Brisbane before wrapping November 4 in Gold Coast.

Presale tickets go on sale Wednesday, August 9, with the general sale set for Friday, August 11. A complete list of dates can be found at paulmccartney.com.

McCartney’s Got Back tour launched in April 2022. It consisted of stadium shows in North America, as well as a headlining spot at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival.

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Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon is chiming in on the recent trend of concertgoers throwing things at musicians onstage, and he says he’s definitely been on the receiving end over the years. 

“I’ve been hit with a billiard ball,” he tells Metro UK. “That wasn’t very pleasant – for the ball.”

Lydon says there will “always be that jealous little fart” in the audience who feels the need to chuck something at the stage, and he believes social media and “incredible stupidity” have made it worse in recent years.

He warns fans to “be sensible,” noting, “You can seriously hurt someone here. And the cowardice of hiding in a crowd if there are ill-intentions on your mind makes you the lowest form of life.”

Lydon has been hit with more than just a billiard ball. He says he was once hit in the face with a stiletto, which caused him “blinding pain.” But he actually didn’t feel any ill will toward the girl who threw it, because she instantly started crying out that she didn’t mean it. 

He notes, “The poor thing, I felt immediately sorry for her because her look of shock, and the worst thing is she was meaning all the best.” He added, “God bless her! If she’s sat there and reads this I hope she’s able to giggle at it.”

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August 3 marks 36 years since Def Leppard released their fourth studio album, Hysteria, which went on to become their first Billboard 200 #1. Ahead of the anniversary, guitarist Phil Collen is breaking down the album for fans in a new video posted to social media.

“When we went in to record Hysteria (producer) Mutt (Lange) said let’s do a rock version of Thriller where you have like seven singles,” Collen says in the clip, referring to Michael Jackson’s classic album. “Create a genre of our own.”

Collen then goes to discuss several of the songs on the album, including hits like “Armageddon It,” their only #1 song “Love Bites” and “Animal,” which Collen says took “three years to write, or to get right.”

He also talks about “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” which became their signature tune. Collen says the song almost didn’t make the album as it was recorded after they already finished the record. They were also late handing it in and were “four and a half million dollars in debt.”

Frontman Joe Elliott was playing something on guitar in the studio, which caught Lange’s ear, and he pushed them to record it despite the album being late. He insisted, “this song is going to be really important.”

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James Taylor made a surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, which took place July 28-30 in Newport, Rhode Island.

According to Jambase, Taylor was a last minute replacement on Friday, July 28, for singer Noah Kahan, who had to cancel his set due to vocal issues. Taylor was apparently vacationing nearby and arrived for his performance by boat less than an hour before going on.

He delivered a stellar set which featured such iconic Taylor songs as “Sweet Baby James,” “Fire and Rain,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Something In The Way She Moves” and more.

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Paul McCartney appears to be teasing some big news on his social media accounts. 

The Beatle shared a tease on social media suggesting fans sign up for his mailing list “for news coming soon.” He captioned the post, “Got to get you into my life” along with a guitar emoji.

Although there’s no clear message as to what he’s teasing, Billboard suggests it’s likely a new world tour, noting that Australian concert promoter Frontier Touring, which produced McCartney’s 2017 tour of Australia and New Zealand, reposted the tease.

McCartney last hit the road in 2022 on the Got Back tour, which included shows in North America and a headlining spot at U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival.

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The Boomtown Rats rocker Bob Geldof is giving folks a little insight into singer Sinéad O’Connor’s state of mind at the time of her death.

During the band’s set at the Cavan Calling festival in Cavan, Ireland, Geldof revealed to the audience that he had been texting the singer in the weeks before her death at the age of 56.

“She was a very good friend of mine,” Geldof said, according to the Irish Independent. “We were talking right up to a couple of weeks ago.” He added, “Some of the texts were laden with desperation and despair and sorrow and some were ecstatically happy,” noting, “She was like that.”

Earlier in the day, Geldof talked to Irish Web TV and revealed that Sinéad actually “lived down the road” from him and the band’s late guitar player Garry Roberts. He said the group was “all very sad” about her death.

“So we’ve known that girl most of her life, really. She was a big Rats fan,” he said. “So, to be honest with you, that’s why we’re doing very early stuff and we dedicate this gig to her, it’s the only thing we can do as musicians.”

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The ashes of late Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister will be enshrined at Germany’s upcoming Wacken Open Air festival.

The ceremony, taking place August 2, will be led by surviving Motörhead members Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee.

“Wacken was one of Lemmy’s dearest homes and we’re delighted he has a place here forever,” says Motörhead manager Todd Singerman. “He was a man of the people, and as such, he ‘lived’ in many places worldwide.”

Singerman adds, “It’s our aim to allow him to rest permanently in all his ‘homes’ globally, and allow his fans worldwide to have a place close to them where they can both pay respects and celebrate his enormous continuing legacy and influence.”

In 2022, France’s Hellfest unveiled a giant statue of Lemmy, which also had a portion of his ashes enshrined in it.

Lemmy died in 2015 at age 70. While Motörhead effectively ended upon Lemmy’s passing, a number of archival pieces have been released over the past few years, the most recent being Live at Montreux Jazz Festival ’07, which dropped in June.

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Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is writing an introduction to a new edition of Screwjack, a collection of short stories written by the late Hunter S. Thompson.

In an Instagram post, Ulrich shares that he’s “beyond psyched” to be a part of the project.

“Reading these stories remind me what a treasure — and mindf*** — Hunter S. Thompson’s immortal words continue to be,” Ulrich says. “Thanx to [publisher Simon & Schuster] for encouraging me to put pen to paper for this. Check it out if you like things wild, salacious and unsettling.”

Thompson was known as a pioneer of gonzo journalism and for his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which, among many other things, inspired Avenged Sevenfold‘s song “Bat Country.” Screwjack was originally published in 1991 and then again in 2000.

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