Classic Rock 93.9

Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page is paying tribute to Chris Dreja, his former bandmate in the Yardbirds, who has passed away at age 79.

“I heard today of the passing of musician Chris Dreja, who passionately played with the iconic Yardbirds, on rhythm guitar and then the bass,” Page wrote on Instagram. “I hadn’t seen him in a while, and I wish I had. RIP Chris.”

Dreja was a co-founder of the Yardbirds, which formed in London in 1963. In addition to Page, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were early members of the group, although they both eventually left. Other members included vocalist/harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty and bassist Paul Samwell-Smith.

For Your Love, the band’s debut album in the U.S., was released in 1965. The title track became a top-10 hit. Other hit songs by the band include “Heart Full of Soul,” “Shapes of Things” and “Over Under Sideways Down.”

Dreja, who co-authored several of the band’s songs, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Yardbirds in 1992. He was part of the reformation of the group in 1992 and continued to perform with them until 2012, when he suffered a series of strokes that left him unable to perform.

Outside of music, Dreja had a career as a photographer. He is responsible for the photo on the back cover of Led Zeppelin’s debut album. He also worked with Andy Warhol, and photographed such artists as Bob Dylan, the Righteous Brothers, and Ike and Tina Turner.

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A new photo book dedicated to David Bowie is coming out in November.

Collaboration: Frank Ockenfels 3 x David Bowie is due out Nov. 4, featuring never-before-published photos by famed photographer Frank Ockenfels 3, who met Bowie in 1991.

“This project was his idea,” Ockenfels tells The Hollywood Reporter in an interview about the book. “He brought it up to me during one of our final shoots, saying he thought by that point we had enough for a book.”

The book features photos of Bowie from 1991 to 2006, with the description noting they “reflect the many facets of Bowie’s career” and that it “serves as both a visual tribute to a legendary figure and a documentation of a profound artistic connection.”

Talking about his work with Bowie, Ockenfels tells The Hollywood Reporter, “He didn’t come with a look book. He just supported my eye and allowed me to fail, which is what a lot of great art comes out of.”

Ockenfels says he regrets not getting to shoot Bowie for his 2016 album, Blackstar, sharing that he was unaware the singer was sick. Bowie died two days after the album’s release.

“David really allowed me to grow,” Ockenfels says. “An artist like that constantly pushes you: How much further can we go? How much weirder? That’s a unique relationship.”

Collaboration: Frank Ockenfels 3 x David Bowie is available for preorder now.

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Record Store Day has announced the list of releases for its 2025 Black Friday event, taking place in independent record stores on Nov. 28. This year there will be over 170 releases, and here’s a selection of some of the titles:

Bob Dylan will be represented with two new releases, including The Original Free Wheelin’ Bob Dylan, which features four songs that Columbia Records execs pulled from the original 1963 album. There will also be a 7-inch single of “Masters of War,” recorded in Alan Lomax’s apartment in 1962, that includes a conversation between Dylan and Lomax on the B-side. 

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ live collection, The Live Anthology – From The Vaults Vol. 1, will be released on turquoise blue vinyl, marking its first-ever vinyl release

Grateful Dead has three releases, including a recording of their Oct. 4 & 6, 1980, concerts at The Warfield in San Francisco, which will be released on both limited-edition vinyl and CD. They will also release the live album On A Back Porch Vol. 2, a collaboration between The Dead and Dogfish Head Brewery.

RSD Black Friday 2025 will also feature releases from Billy Joel, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Van Halen,  Alice Cooper, Mötley Crüe, Motörhead, Ramones, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Elton John and Brandi Carlile, the late Scott Weiland and more.

For the full list of releases and participating stores, visit RecordStoreDay.com.

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An upcoming yacht rock festival in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, appears to be in danger of cancellation.

Sunset Fest Cabo, scheduled for Oct. 24 through Oct. 26, was initially announced back in August, featuring a lineup that included Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins, Rick Springfield, Alan Parsons, Ambrosia and Pablo Cruise.

But now, less than three weeks before the festival is supposed to kick off, several artists on the bill have pulled out. Cross, Loggins, Parsons and Ambrosia all recently announced on Instagram that they wouldn’t be playing the festival, citing “unforeseen circumstances” beyond their control.

Rolling Stone reports that other acts originally on the bill, including Cruise, Al Stewart and Peter Beckett, have also pulled out of the festival. So far there’s been no word from Springfield about his participation.

Sunset Fest Cabo has yet to comment on the cancellations or the status of the festival. 

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Blondie has shared another track from the upcoming reissue of their 1999 comeback album, No Exit.

The latest is a never-before-released extended club mix of their hit single “Maria,” which is available now via digital outlets.

The original “Maria” went to #1 in the U.K. and was a top-10 hit on the U.S. dance charts.

No Exit Deluxe Edition, coming out Oct. 31, will include a remastered version of the original album, with remixes, new liner notes and the bonus track “Hot Shot,” which was previously only available in Japan. It will be released digitally and in two-CD, two-LP black vinyl and two-LP crystal glass clear configurations. This will mark the first time the album’s available on vinyl. All formats are available for preorder now.

Released in February 1999, No Exit was Blondie’s first album after a 17-year hiatus, reuniting band members Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Clem Burke and Jimmy Destri. The album was a top-20 hit in the U.S. and peaked at #3 in the U.K.

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The Smashing Pumpkins have announced a deluxe reissue of their 1995 album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness in honor of its 30th anniversary.

The expanded set features the original track list accompanied by over 80 minutes of previously unreleased live recordings from the Pumpkins’ 1996 tour. It’s due out Nov. 21 on CD, digital and as a six-LP vinyl box set accompanied by a hardcover book of new liner notes written by frontman Billy Corgan.

You can listen to the included live version of the song “Geek USA” now.

“Unearthing these live recordings from the original lineup’s true, last large-scale tour was a labor of love, and for me certainly a bittersweet as once we blew apart in 1996, we were never quite the same: be it emotionally, or spiritually,” Corgan says. “Thankfully, I can say this as the band is now enjoying our greatest public success since that time, and one can hear in these tapes the raw power that such nascent faith afforded us, then, and the will and wisdom to persevere that followed.”

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was originally released Oct. 23, 1995. The double, 28-track album spawned a number of the Pumpkins’ biggest hits, including “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” “1979,” “Tonight, Tonight” and “Zero.”

Corgan is also celebrating the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness anniversary with a series of performances at the Lyric Opera of Chicago beginning in November, featuring “newly commissioned arrangements and orchestrations” of the album’s songs.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 



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After postponing her summer tour dates, Stevie Nicks was back on stage in Portland, Oregon, Thursday night, where she treated the crowd to a song she hasn’t performed in over four decades.

According to setlist.fm, Stevie’s show at the Moda Center included a performance of the track “Angel,” from Fleetwood Mac’s 1979 album Tusk. The site notes that it was Stevie’s first performance of the song since 1983.

As for the rest of the show, Stevie performed a set filled with hits including Fleetwood Mac tracks like “Dreams,” “Gypsy,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Rhiannon” and “Landslide,” as well as solo tunes “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” “Stand Back” and “Edge of Seventeen.” She also performed her 2024 track “The Lighthouse,” and covered Tom Petty‘s “Free Fallin’.”

Nicks announced in August that she was postponing her August and September tour dates after fracturing her shoulder.

Stevie’s next show is happening Saturday in Sacramento, California, with the tour running through Dec. 10 in Hollywood, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at StevieNicksofficial.com.

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The Who wrapped their The Song Is Over – The North American Farewell Tour at the Acrisure Arena near Palm Springs, California, Wednesday night, treating the crowd to a set filled with hits.

For their last tour stop ever in the U.S., setlist.fm reports that Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend played songs like “Who Are You,” “The Seeker,” “I Can See for Miles,” “Pinball Wizard,” “My Generation,” “The Real Me,” “Baba O’Riley” and more.

The duo ended the night with just the two of them on stage for an acoustic performance of “Tea and Theatre,” and fan shot footage shared on YouTube shows Roger putting his arm around Pete at the end of the song and pulling him in for a side hug, with Pete grabbing Roger’s hand.

“I suppose, you know, it’s goodbye,” Pete said during their final bows. “That’s what it is. To what we know as the Who, it’s goodbye.”

As for the future, he added, “What Roger and I will get up to next, who knows? If we last any longer, I’m sure we’ll get up to all kinds of mischief. We’ll do stuff together, I’m sure, sharing some stuff, all kinds bits and pieces. But for this kind of thing, it’s goodbye. And you were last!”

Roger went on to thank fans “for all the years showing up for us,” adding “it was every band’s dream in the ’60s to make it in America and thanks to you guys, you made it happen for us.”

So far there’s no word on whether The Who will bring their farewell tour to other parts of the world.

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It’s been 50 years since The Rocky Horror Picture Show hit the big screen, attracting fans across the globe.

The film, starring Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon and Tim Curry, gained a cult following thanks to its rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack and midnight screenings, where fans dressed up as characters, acted out the film and talked back to the screen.

Before rock stardom, Meat Loaf appeared in the film as motorcyclist Eddie. His co-star Nell Campbell, who played groupie Columbia in the film, tells ABC Audio that he was an “absolute darling.”

“He was a big Texan baby with a voice of an angel with a jet engine behind it,” Campbell says of the musician, who died in 2022. “We all adored him.”

And one member of the cast got to do more than just act opposite him.

Patricia Quinn, who played Magenta in the film, says she made Meat Loaf prove a boast he made about being the best kisser at his Texas high school.

“I said, ‘Well, one would have to sample that.’ So I proffered my mouth towards him and we began to kiss,” she shares. “And I said, ‘They were right. You are the best kisser — in your high school in Texas.’” 

The 50th anniversary of Rocky Horror is being celebrated with The Rocky Horror Picture Show Spectacular tour, with appearances by Bostwick, Quinn and Campbell. It will hit 55 cities in the U.S. and Canada, including Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

Plus, throughout October fans can catch a newly restored 4K version of the film in theaters; the 4K version will arrive on Blu-ray and on digital platforms on Oct. 7.

The soundtrack is also getting a 50th anniversary deluxe edition on red-in-gold vinyl on Oct. 10.

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Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, are giving fans a chance to share a special evening with them at their home in England.

The pair just launched a new Charity Buzz sweepstakes, A Good Evening with Trudie and Sting. The winner will get a unique experience with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and his wife at their home in Wiltshire, England, on Dec. 11.

According to the description, the winner and a guest will enjoy “a special, intimate night filled with delicious food, a live performance, and meaningful connection.” The package includes round-trip airfare to England and a two-night hotel accommodation.

Those interested can donate $10 or more through Prizeo to be entered into the sweepstakes. Money raised will be donated to Narrative 4, a global nonprofit that “equips young people with the ability to harness the power of storytelling to drive change in their communities.”

Sting is set to kick off a European leg of his Sting 3.0 tour on Oct. 8 in Cologne, Germany. A complete list of dates can be found at Sting.com.

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