Classic Rock 93.9

Former Journey frontman Steve Perry is featured on a new single, “The Streets of Kinsale,” by the Irish folk group The High Kings.

Perry first heard the song through his friendship with The Script drummer Glen Power, who wrote the tune.

“I thought the song was beautiful and the more I listened to it the more fascinated I became, so I went to my home studio and started stacking some vocal harmonies against what was already there,” Perry tells Classic Rock. “The band really loved the results, so I ended up singing on the master-track.”

The High Kings’ Darren Holden adds, “When we heard what Steve had done to our song, I had to sit down. … It was so astonishing my jaw hit the floor; there were tears in my eyes. It’s something that only Steve can do with that tone that the world loves and knows.” 

In the same interview, Perry confirms that he has collaborated with Dolly Parton for a cover of Journey’s “Open Arms,” which will appear on her upcoming album, Rock Star. He tells Classic Rock the song “sounds great,” adding, “she killed it. Dolly is singing her tush off.”

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On This Day, April 28, 1979…

Blondie landed their first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “Heart of Glass,” which was also their first Hot 100 entry. 

The song, written by Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, was featured on the band’s third album, Parallel Lines.

Blondie went on to have three more number one singles, the 1980 tracks “Call Me” and “The Tide Is High” and 1981’s “Rapture.”

They’ve gone on to sell over 40 million records worldwide and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. 

And they haven’t stopped. Blondie released their most recent album Pollinator in 2017, and have a U.K. tour scheduled for June.

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Bruce Springsteen‘s 1982 solo album, Nebraska, is the subject of a new book, Deliver Me From Nowhere, by author Warren Zanes. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, The Boss reveals just how important that album is to him.

“If I had to pick out one album and say, ‘This is going to represent you 50 years from now,’ I’d pick Nebraska,’” Springsteen shares.

In a teaser clip of the interview, Springsteen says at the time he made the album he was struggling with where he was in his life.  

“I think in your 20s, a lot of things work for you,” he says. “But in your 30s, your 30s is … where you start to become an adult. And suddenly I looked around and said, ‘Where is everything? Where is my home? Where is my partner? Where are the sons and daughters that I thought I might have someday?’ … I realized none of those things are there, none of them.”

He adds, “So I said, ‘OK, the first thing I’ve gotta do as soon as I get home is remind myself of who I am and where I came from … and what I want to do … and where I’m going.’”

CBS Sunday Morning airs at 9 a.m. ET on CBS.  

As for Springsteen, he and the E Street Band kick off the European leg of their tour in Barcelona, Spain, on Friday, April 28. A complete list of dates can be found at BruceSpringsteen.net.

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Queen continues their in depth look at their iconic stage wear in episode 15 of their weekly YouTube series, Queen The Greatest Live.

This week the band focuses on three classic performances of the Roger Taylor-penned track “Sheer Heart Attack,” showing the evolution of frontman Freddie Mercury’s style in the ’70s and ’80s.

The first clip was shot in December, 1977 at Houston’s The Summit, with Mercury rocking a silver sequin catsuit with an opening down to the navel. That’s followed by a December, 1979 performance at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, with Freddie in red leather pants. It ends at the Montreal Forum in November, 1981, with Freddie donning tiny white shorts and a red neckerchief.

Coming up next week – “Under Pressure.”

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Def Leppard fans recently got a peak behind the scenes at the making of Def’s new album, Drastic Symphonies, which reworks 15 of their songs with the Royal Philharmonic. The band shared a trailer for the album, which drops May 19, featuring footage of them with the Philharmonic at Abbey Road Studios.

And while some bands may have just given the Philharmonic free range with their music, guitarist Phil Collen says that simply wasn’t the case with their band.

“We didn’t want to do it like everyone else,” he tells ABC Audio. “We wanted to be involved in it. We thought what a great opportunity, you know, the Royal Philharmonic, and it’s like a massive thing, and we have songs that we’re so proud of, so we didn’t want to mess it up.”

Collen says the process of picking the songs for the album was really easy. They were so serious about getting it right that some of their biggest hits, like “Rock of Ages,” “Photograph” and “Let’s Get Rocked,” didn’t make the album because they “didn’t work.” 

One hit that did make it is “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” although Collen says the original sounds “ridiculous” with an orchestra. But instead of leaving it off, they adapted a version they heard years ago by a Canadian singer named Emm Gryner, making it a duet with frontman Joe Elliott. 

And for Collen, one of the highlights of the project was getting to hear the Royal Philharmonic perform their songs at Abbey Road Studios. He notes, “It far exceeded our expectations. It was pretty amazing.” 

Drastic Symphonies is available for preorder now.

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The Eagles are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their album Desperado this month, and they’ve just treated fans to remastered videos featuring performances of the classic title track, as well as “Tequila Sunrise.” 

Both clips are newly remastered in 4K and are performances from Farewell Tour I: Live From Melbourne, a double DVD that was filmed in 2004 and released in 2005. The release was the last live video featuring original member Glenn Frey, who died in 2016.

Desperado, released April 17, 1973, was the second album from the Eagles and went on to be certified double- Platinum by the RIAA. While the album’s title track became an Eagles classic, it was never actually released as a single. Instead the two singles from the album were “Tequila Sunrise” and “Outlaw Man.”

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Metallica launched their M72 world tour Thursday in Amsterdam, during which they played songs off their new album, 72 Seasons, live for the first time.

The set featured the concert debut of the songs “Screaming Suicide” and “Sleepwalk My Life Away.” Metallica also played the lead 72 Seasons single “Lux Æterna,” which they had previously performed live at their Helping Hands benefit concert last year and during their Jimmy Kimmel Live! residency earlier this month.

The show opened with the instrumental “Orion” and also included renditions of “Nothing Else Matters,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “Master of Puppets.”

During the M72 tour, Metallica is playing two shows in each city, with a completely different set list for each night. Seems like a safe bet that night two in Amsterdam will get “Enter Sandman.”

The M72 tour comes to the U.S. in August.

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A new movie about Bob Marley got its first look at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this week. A trailer for the film, Marley, was shown to theater owners, with the reggae legend’s son Ziggy Marley on hand to introduce the clip. 

“It’s great to be here today on behalf of this movie about my father,” Ziggy said, according to Variety. “I’m here as a producer of this film, but also as a steward of my father’s incredible legacy … this message of unity and love is as urgent as ever.” He adds that after seeing the movie, “People will deepen their connection to Bob and honor Bob in the right way.”

The film stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as Marley. The actor, who has appeared in Peaky Blinders and the movie One Night in Miami, landed the role after a global talent search, with Captain Marvel/No Time To Die actress Lashana Lynch starring as Marley’s wife Rita. The trailer features scenes of Marley the performer and the family man, ending with the Marley quote, “One love, one heart, one destiny.”

Marley is set to hit theaters January 12, 2024.

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U2 is once again extending their time in Las Vegas. The band just announced five new dates for U2: UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere.

The additional shows, at the new venue the Sphere at The Venetian, take place October 27 and 28, and November 1, 3 and 4, bringing the residency total now up to 17 shows.

U2: UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere kicks off September 29. Tickets for the new dates are already on sale, with fans who received Ticketmaster Verified Fan codes getting their first crack at them. Should there be any tickets left, a general sale will happen Friday, April 28, at 10 a.m. local time.

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Earlier this year Dolly Parton told USA Today she wanted to get Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger on her upcoming rock album, joking that if it didn’t happen, “I’ll kick his bony a** when I see him!” Well, it seems Jagger better watch out. 

Dolly tells ET Online she wasn’t able to get Mick on the record, but she doesn’t have any hard feelings about it. “But I love Mick Jagger no matter what,” she says. “I’ll still be runnin’ after him all through the years. Because I’ve always had a crush on [him].”

Dolly’s album Rock Star is expected out in November, and while Jagger isn’t on it, it will feature big-name rockers like Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, Steve Perry and more.

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