Classic Rock 93.9

Queen is back with the latest installment of their weekly YouTube series Queen The Greatest Live. In this week’s episode, “Opening Magic,” they revisit their legendary July 1986 concert in Budapest, which came as part of their Magic Tour.

Specifically, the Budapest show is held up as an example of how Queen were masters at staging an exciting, energy-filled opening to their concerts. At this one, they started with “One Vision,” then went right into “Tie Your Mother Down.” You can see performances of both those songs in this new episode.

The Magic Tour was notable for the fact that Queen completely revamped their set list and added the most elaborate lighting setup they’d ever used; the entire tour was their most expensive production overall.

At the time of the tour, drummer Roger Taylor said, “I think we’re probably the best live band in the world at the moment, and we’re going to prove it. No one who comes to see us will be disappointed.”

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You’ve heard of limited-edition vinyl and premium vinyl — now get ready for limited-edition premium vinyl with super high fidelity and exclusive new content.

The vinyl series, Rhino High Fidelity, launches Friday with The Cars‘ 1978 self-titled debut, which is available for $39.98 at Rhino.com. The pressing, featuring a high quality glossy cover, is limited to 5,000 individually numbered copies.

With the album, you’ll get a new interview with Cars guitarist Elliott Easton and producer Roy Thomas Baker‘s notes on one of the album’s hits, “Good Times Roll.”

In a statement, Easton says when he heard the new pressing of the album, “It just blew mind … it’s like listening to a studio playback.”

The Cars’ debut was chock-full of songs that are now classics, including “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Just What I Needed,” “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” and “Bye Bye Love,” as well as the beloved deep cut “Moving in Stereo.”

Easton says, “We felt like we were doing something that hadn’t been done before. We felt like we were breaking some ground and making some sounds that hadn’t been recorded before.”

“That was very exciting. It was just completely the chemistry of the five of us,” he adds. “It’s nothing you can calculate or plan. It just either happens or doesn’t. It’s magic.”

The Rhino High Fidelity series will release two albums quarterly. In addition to The Cars, jazz legend John Coltrane‘s 1964 album Coltrane’s Sound is also available. The next round of releases will be announced soon.

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The only performing artists to make the U.K.’s Sunday Times’ Rich List 2023 this year are pretty much the ones you’d expect: Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John.

On the list of the 350 richest people in the U.K., McCartney ranks #175, but that’s including the fortune of his wife, Nancy Shevell, whose family owns a freight transportation business. The Times estimates the couple’s net worth at a bit over $1.18 billion, up from $1.075 billion last year. 

The Times notes that last year, McCartney’s Got Back tour grossed over $130 million from just 16 shows — and that was on top of his regular income from The Beatles songs, solo songs and the songwriting copyrights of other songs he owns.

As for Elton, he’s got a ways to go before he gets near McCartney’s billions — he’s “only” worth about $560 million. However, that’s enough to make him a new entry on the list: He ranks #309. He didn’t even make the list last year.

The thing that put Elton over the top was, of course, his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which has become the highest-grossing tour ever, earning $800 million as of January.

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On This Day, May 19, 1945 …

Future Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Pete Townshend was born in Chiswick, West London.

Co-founder, guitarist, main songwriter and co-vocalist of legendary British rockers The Who, Townshend is responsible for writing over 100 songs from the band’s catalog, including songs like “My Generation,” “I Can’t Explain” and “Substitute,” as well as the band’s rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia. 

Townshend has also had a successful solo career, releasing seven solo albums, with songs like the top 10 hit “Let My Love Open the Door,” as well as “A Little Is Enough” and “Rough Boys.”

Townshend was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with The Who in 1990; they also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. The band received a Kennedy Center Honors in 2008, and in 2016, Townshend and The Who’s frontman, Roger Daltrey, were awarded the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement at UCLA.

Townshend also won a Tony for the Broadway adaption of The Who’s Tommy.

Earlier this year, Townshend released the tune “Can’t Outrun The Truth,” which was his first solo single in 29 years. The Who kick off a European tour June 14 in Barcelona, Spain.

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A three-song EP honoring the late Jeff Beck is out digitally today.

Jeff Beck Tribute features two live tracks, plus a song that combines one of Beck’s 2022 instrumentals — “Midnight Walker,” from his 2022 album 18 — with a spoken-word poem by his frequent collaborator Imelda May. May first recited the poem live at Beck’s memorial service on February 3.

“Is it really you?/like a ghost, calling my name/Each time I lean closer/and from the shadows, I hear your voice,” says May on the track, which is titled “Midnight Walker Lament.”

The second track is a live version of “Elegy for Dunkirk,” which Beck recorded on his album Emotion & Commotion. The EP version features vocals from opera singer Olivia Safe. At Beck’s memorial service, she performed a classical piece in his honor.

Rounding out the collection is a live version of the Freddie King blues song “Going Down,” recorded in Paris.

“Imelda’s poem on ‘Midnight Walker Lament’ on top of Jeff’s beautiful guitar work brings tears to my eyes,” Beck’s widow Sandra says in a statement. “‘Elegy for Dunkirk’ featuring Olivia Safe is a reminder of how Jeff’s playing, and opera interact.” 

She also notes that “Going Down” was performed live at Beck’s memorial with vocals by Jimmy Hall.

As previously reported, Beck will be celebrated this weekend at London’s Royal Albert Hall with a two-night tribute concert featuring Eric Clapton, Kirk Hammett, Billy Gibbons, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Gary Clark Jr. and many more.

Beck died January 10 at age 78.

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Def Leppard‘s new album, Drastic Symphonies, is out now, featuring 15 of the band’s songs reworked with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are known for putting on a great live show, so would they ever be interested in teaming up with an orchestra to play these interpretations live? If guitarist Phil Collen had his way, the answer would be yes.

Collen tells ABC Audio he’d love to “go around the world” and play live versions of these songs in great venues like the Sydney Opera House or London’s Royal Albert Hall. He adds, “And obviously the states we could do New York, Carnegie Hall, you know, Hollywood Bowl, Berlin Symphony Orchestra. So yeah, I’d love that.”

Collen realizes the logistics and the cost may make such a tour difficult, but he’s still game, noting, “We’re just waiting for the invite.” 

Up next for Def Leppard, they’ll kick off the U.K./European leg of their Stadium tour with Mötley Crüe on Monday, May 22, in Sheffield, England. A complete list of dates can be found at defleppard.com.

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Ringo Starr has certainly had a memorable life, but music fans will likely never read a first-person account of it, because Starr says he has no desire to pen a memoir. 

He tells USA Today that he’s been offered “lots of money over the last many years” to write a book about his life but he “got fed up” with the idea because folks only want to know about The Beatles. He said “it’d be three volumes before I get to that year,” referring to 1962, when he joined the legendary band.  

“I have just never found interest in it,” he says. “I don’t want to do Ringo the drummer, because we’re all a bit more than that.”

Instead, fans are just going to have to settle for seeing Ringo on the road. He and his All-Starr Band, which includes Steve Lukather, Colin Hay, Edgar Winter, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart and Gregg Bissonette, kick of their 2023 tour Friday, May 19, in Temecula, California, and Ringo seems raring to go. 

“I love playing, it’s just part of me now, and it was then, at 13,” he says. “I had the dream to play drums, and I ended up being that person, and I’m still that person,” noting, “There’s nothing like it. You’re onstage, with the audience, there’s the band, it’s magical nights. You can’t explain it, it’s just wow.” 

A complete list of Ringo dates can be found at ringostarr.com.

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Graham Nash has gone through a lot of loss in the past year, not only with the death of his bandmate David Crosby, but also the death of Crosby-Nash band member David Lindley, and it’s got him thinking about life.

“It really tells me that life is short,” Nash tells Spin magazine. “Your time goes insanely fast, and we must make the correct choices for our lives. … That’s all life is, choices that you make, and you have to make the correct choices to get to be 81 and still rocking.”

Nash, whose new album, Now, comes out Friday, May 19, says he often wonders what he did right when “there are so many people that are much better musicians than I am that are nowhere.” He says when he goes home to Manchester, England, and sees old friends who hate their jobs, it makes him ask himself, “’Why was it me that left and got rewarded by all this, you know, success?’”

He still hasn’t figured out an answer to that question, noting, “I keep asking myself, but I haven’t come up with the answer yet.”

Regardless of why he made it, Nash is thrilled to still be making music and has no plans to slow down. He notes, “I’m very delighted to be 81 years old and still rocking like this. And I hope it goes on for another 20 years. Why not?”

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The 2023 Ivors took place in London Thursday night, and it was a big night for Sting, who received the Fellowship of the Ivors Academy, which is the group’s highest honor. It was previously given to such artists as Sir Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. 

According to the BBC, Sting admitted during his acceptance speech that he isn’t always so confident when it comes to songwriting. “Every time I look at a blank page, I’m filled with a mortal terror,” he said. “I don’t quite know how I write songs, but I do. It’s a mystery.” 

Sting also performed at the event, treating the crowd to The Police classic “Message in a Bottle.”

Also honored at the ceremony were Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, who were recognized with the organization’s Special International Award.

The Ivors, which have been handed out since 1956, are the most prestigious music honor in the United Kingdom, celebrating excellence in British and Irish songwriting. This year’s winners included Harry Styles, RAYE, and Florence Welch and Jack Antonoff.

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A recent English political ceremony took an unexpectedly metal turn thanks to the music of Metallica.

Tom Coles, the new lord mayor of the city of Portsmouth, attended his inauguration — which is referred to as a “mayor making ceremony” across the pond — to the …And Justice for All cut “Eye of the Beholder.”

Speaking with the BBC, which also shared footage of the event, Coles shares that he’s a “big heavy metal fan.”

“It’s a good song to walk in to,” Coles says. “It’s got a little build-up and then it’s got a good beat, it’s a great song.”

In addition to being a metalhead, Coles is also apparently a big Trekkie and even spoke in Klingon during the ceremony.

Metallica released a new album, 72 Seasons, in April. They’re currently supporting the record on their world M72 tour, which will stop in Coles’ home country in June for the Download Festival.

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