Classic Rock 93.9

On This Day, June 5, 1983…

During a stop on their War tour, U2 headlined Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and recorded the performance for what became their first video release, Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky. The concert was nearly canceled due to inclement weather, but the band went on and played in the rain.

The video featured a classic performance of “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” which Rolling Stone called one of the “50 Moments that Changed the History of Rock and Roll.”  

The concert film went on to become a best-seller, and was crucial in cementing U2’s reputation as a stellar live act and helped make them stars.  The band later released a live album, Under a Blood Red Sky, which featured eight tracks performed live during the War tour, with two songs from the same concert.

A remastered version of Live at Red Rocks was released on DVD in 2008, featuring previously unreleased tracks.

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In the 31 years since Elton John established his AIDS Foundation, he’s raised millions of dollars for the cause, but their work is far from over. As part of a new initiative called The Rocket Fund, he’s now calling on people to “let their inner Elton out.”

Appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday, Elton announced that he wants fans to take to social media and dress like him to show their support for The Rocket Fund — and he’s asked famous pals like Neil Patrick Harris and JoJo Siwa to join in. 

The fund aims to “turbo charge” the foundation’s fundraising efforts and take in $125 million for the fight against AIDS, with an eye toward ending the disease by 2030.

Elton also talked about the impending end of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which wraps up next month in Sweden. “It’s gonna be emotional but I’m not thinking about it,” he told GMA‘s Lara Spencer. “I’m just concentrating on doing the next best show I can.”

Noting that his two sons are going to attend the final show in Sweden, Elton added, “It’s gonna be a tremendous occasion … who knows what it’s gonna feel like?”

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June 4 marked the latest full moon, which means Peter Gabriel fans got a brand new song. The latest release is the tune “Road to Joy,” the sixth single he’s shared from his new album, i/o, which is due out sometime this year.

Gabriel says the song “connects” to another project he’s working on about “the brain and how we perceive things.”

“It deals with near-death experience and locked-in syndrome situations where people are unable to communicate or to move. It’s an amazingly frustrating condition,” he explains. “There have been some great books and films about this subject, but at this point in our story the people looking after our hero manage to find a way to wake him up. So, it’s a lyric about coming back into your senses, back to life, back into the world.”

As he’s done with previous i/o singles, Gabriel plans to release several mixes of the tune. The first is the Mark ‘Spike’ Stent (Bright-Side Mix), which will be followed later this month by mixes from Tchad Blake (Dark-Side Mix) and Hans-Martin Buff’s Atmos mix (In-Side Mix).

So far Gabriel hasn’t announced a release date for i/o. In the meantime, fans can catch him live on i/o The Tour, playing Amsterdam on Monday, June 5. The tour comes to North America on September 8 in Quebec City, Canada. A complete list of dates can be found at petergabriel.com.

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The Beach Boys‘ iconic 1966 album, Pet Sounds, has just been released with a new mix in Dolby Atmos, so fans can now enjoy an immersive experience while listening to the record. Giles Martin, son of late Beatles producer George Martin, is responsible for the new mix, and he certainly has great respect for the original.

“I think that’s what made this album exceptional is the fact that it sounded otherworldly because it used a combination of instruments that had never been heard before. Anywhere!” Martin tells ABC Audio.

It’s commonly noted that in making Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson was inspired by The Beatles’ Rubber Soul; The Beatles then took inspiration from Pet Sounds for Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Martin believes it’s because there was a bit of “competitiveness” that went on between the bands, allowing both to break the rules. 

He explains, “[The Beatles] were like, ‘Oh, you know, if the Beach Boys can do that, we’re The Beatles, we can certainly do that!” He said Wilson felt the same way about his band.

For Martin, one of his main goals for the Dolby Atmos mix is to get younger music fans to listen to the classic album. He believes The Beach Boys “aren’t listened to enough” and the record “has now been lost on a generation.” 

Martin hopes at the very least the new mix will start a “conversation” about the album, whether people like what he’s done with it or not, which will lead to new generations discovering it.

He shares, “The Beach Boys is one of those bands that … it sounds overbearing for me to say they need to be discovered, but they certainly need attention. And so if I can do that, then great.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)

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Led Zeppelin fans now have a chance to get their hands on a guitar that was once owned by none other than Jimmy Page.

ATB Guitars is selling the 1969 Gibson Firebird III, which was purchased by Page from Mike Ladd’s Guitar City in Memphis. The listing claims Page lost it to drummer John Bonham in a game of spoof; in 1978 Bonham gave it to his business partner, who kept it for 45 years and is now selling it.

It’s unknown whether Page used the guitar for any recordings. ATB does note that it has been refinished in black, and while they don’t see that any repairs have been made to it, the paint job “could be hiding something.”

As for the price tag, ATB is currently asking for over $78,000 for the axe.

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David Lee Roth has once again shared a new take on a classic Van Halen track. The latest song he’s decided to tackle is “Atomic Punk,” which originally appeared on the band’s 1978 self-titled debut album. 

This is the seventh time Roth has shared a solo version of a Van Halen song. He previously released “Unchained,” “You Really Got Me,” “Dance The Night Away,” “Panama,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” and “Everybody Wants Some!!”

All the tunes were recorded at Henson Studios in Los Angeles.

And speaking of Van Halen, the band’s second frontman, Sammy Hagar, recently shared a live recording of their OU812 hit “When It’s Love,” recorded in Oakland in 1985.

“‘When It’s Love’ was the first song we wrote and recorded for OU812,” Sammy shares. “It was the first single and it was a top-five hit. certainly one of my favorite love songs of all time, I can’t tell you how many fans have said they played it at their wedding.”

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June 2 would have been Charlie Watts’ 82nd birthday, and to mark the occasion the estate of the late Rolling Stones drummer is bringing him to social media, launching official Facebook and Instagram accounts.

“Charlie was too modest to embrace social media in his lifetime, so today we invite his fans to celebrate his huge musical contribution to the world of rock ’n’ roll, blues and jazz, and the wonderful man known and loved to the millions of fans around the world,” reads a post shared on the new accounts. “Please follow these accounts, and share your memories of the one and only Charlie Watts, who we miss every day and remember with much love.” 

The post was accompanied by a video clip of Watts performing “Ain’t Nobody Minding Your Store,” recorded live in 1978 at Swindon Arts Centre in Swindon, England. 

Members of The Stones also took to social media to remember Charlie.  

Ronnie Wood posted a series of photos with Watts, sharing, “Remembering dear @thisischarliewatts on his birthday Thinking of you my friend,” while Keith Richards also posted some photos, writing, “For my much missed friend, Charlie Watts! Happy Birthday! Love, Keith.” And Mick Jagger shared his own photo, writing, “Happy birthday dearest Charlie. Love Mick.”

Charlie passed away August 24, 2021, at the age of 80.

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Gov’t Mule’s new album, Peace…Like A River, is due out later this month, and they’ve just shared another track from the record. 

The latest single is “Made My Peace,” which frontman Warren Haynes says “portrays the most Beatles influence we’ve ever utilized on a recording.” 

“It deals with a lot of different aspects of what we’ve all gone through. It touches on the emotions I was having to get past with the loss of my dad, who was an extremely important figure in my life,” Haynes shares of the song. “There are several songs that reflect on loss, but more in a way of making the future count. Taking the rest of your life and looking at it with a fresher, more aggressively positive attitude.”

This is the third song Gov’t Mule has released from Peace…Like A River, following “Same As It Ever Was” and “Dreaming Out Loud.” The album, which drops June 16, is available for preorder now.

Ahead of the release, Gov’t Mule will launch their summer headlining tour on June 9 in Jacksonville, Oregon. A complete list of dates can be found at mule.net.

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June 2 marks the 45th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s fourth studio album, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and The Boss is giving fans a new way to appreciate it.

To celebrate the milestone, Springsteen has released a new 20-song playlist from the 1978 Darkness tour, featuring performances that were previously unavailable to streaming platforms. The playlist includes every song from the classic album, plus other bonus material. 

In addition, fans can celebrate the occasion by watching the 2010 Thom Zimny-directed documentary The Promise, which chronicles the making of the album, with a new trailer for the doc out now.

Released June 2, 1978, Darkness on the Edge of Town features several songs that went on to be Springsteen classics, including the title track, “Badlands,” “The Promised Land,” “Prove It All Night” and “Racing in the Streets.” The album peaked at #5 on the album chart and has been certified three-times Platinum by the RIAA.

Darkness has gone on to appear on several best-of lists, including Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Albums of All Times, landing at 91 in 2020.

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June 1 marked the 50th anniversary of Paul McCartney and Wings‘ James Bond theme “Live And Let Die,” and the music legend is looking back on the track in the latest Q&A posted to his website. 

McCartney says he can’t really believe it’s been 50 years since the song’s release, but admits “it’s always very weird when you get these kind of anniversaries because I don’t keep count.” He added, “It’s shocking really, but in a nice way. I think, ‘Where did the time go?’ It’s nice that the song has lasted though, and people still enjoy it.”

The song has become a staple in McCartney’s live set, complete with “big pyrotechnic explosions.” He says he loves “shocking people with the first bang,” but one time he thought that was going to be a problem.

Asked about his most memorable performance of the song, McCartney recalls an early performance where he saw a very old lady in the front of the audience.

“She was loving the show, and I’d started singing the opening lines of the song, ‘When you were young, and your heart was an open book…’ But then I looked at her and thought, ‘Oh God! We’re going to kill her! What do we do?'” he shares. “I carried on and got to the crucial bit, ‘Say live and let die’ and… BOOM! The explosions went off. I sheepishly looked over, expecting the worst, and she was going, ‘Yeah!’ She was loving it! So, we didn’t kill her; we thrilled her!” 

In honor of the anniversary, a new Dolby Atmos mix of “Live And Let Die” is out now. You can listen to it now via digital outlets.

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