Classic Rock 93.9

A trailer for the upcoming Ronnie James Dio documentary Dio: Dreamers Never Die has been released.

The 30-second clip, streaming now on YouTube, showcases some of those interviewed for the film, including Jack Black and Lita Ford.

“When you’re a kid, you’re looking for a voice that says, ‘This is my generation,'” the Tenacious D frontman says. “Then all of a sudden, here comes Ronnie James Dio.”

Dreamers Never Die is described as the “first-ever, career-spanning documentary” on Dio, who passed away from stomach cancer in 2010. The film will follow Ronnie’s life from his days with the bands Elf and Rainbow, to joining Black Sabbath in place of the fired Ozzy Osbourne and forming his own namesake band, Dio.

Other rockers interviewed for the doc include Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, ex-Deep Purple bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, Dio drummer Vinny Appice, Rob Halford and Sebastian Bach.

Dreamers Never Die will screen in theaters on September 28 and October 2. Tickets are available now via DioDreamersNeverDie.com.

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Nita Strauss has clarified her status with Alice Cooper‘s band following the announcement that she wouldn’t be joining the shock-rocker on his upcoming fall tour.

“It’s an interesting thing that everyone’s picked up saying it’s a ‘departure,’ but I don’t feel, necessarily, that I left,” Strauss tells Louder. “I took a step back and I’m stepping back from this upcoming tour but I don’t think anyone has ever used the word quitting or leaving outside of other people.”

Strauss first shared the news in a July Instagram post, writing, “it is bittersweet for me to let you guys know that I will not be joining the Alice Cooper band for the upcoming fall tour.” And while she did not explicitly say she’s leaving the group permanently, Strauss did write, “The past eight years together has been the experience of a lifetime,” which could be read as a reflection on the end of her time with Cooper.

As Strauss now tells Louder, not only is she leaving the door open for a possible return, but so is Cooper.

“When I had my last few shows with Alice, we had what Alice called a ‘Hiatus Dinner’ where he said, ‘We wish you the best, we love you, you’re welcome back,'” Strauss shares. “There’s no shutting of a door and changing of the guard, it’s just I’m taking a step back a little bit.”

“Depending on what the schedule looks like next year, I may have the chance to come back, I may not,” she adds. “But it definitely doesn’t feel as final to me and to the people in Alice’s band and the inner circle as it has been portrayed out in the world.”

Strauss is currently the guitarist in pop star Demi Lovato‘s live band.

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Founding INXS member Andrew Farriss has been busy promoting his 2021 debut solo album, a self-titled effort that sees the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter putting aside his famous band’s funky modern-rock sound in favor of tunes with strong country and Americana influences.

Farriss, who lives on a cattle farm in his native Australia, says his lifestyle has helped him relate to people who reside in the rural Southern and Southwestern U.S., and to embrace the music that’s popular in those regions.

“These experiences for me drew me more and more into where I’m now in, which is sort of country rock, Americana, folk music,” he explains to ABC Audio, “because I feel I’ve connected with communities that aren’t city or suburban people. I understand now. I get it, now [that] I’ve lived out there and I’ve done it.”

Andrew also notes that additional inspiration for the songs on his solo album from a horseback riding trip came from he took with his wife a few years ago along the Mexican border in Arizona and New Mexico. Farriss says he became fascinated with the history of the Western U.S. and began writing tunes that drew parallels between the area and his own country.

“I started thinking more and more and more lyrically about how to draw in both from Australiana and Americana, and join them together,” he explains. “I could sing songs about bushrangers, as we call ’em, or outlaws, in Australia, I could sing about outlaws in America. But it was the cultural fusion…that was a powerful thing.”

Farriss tells ABC Audio that when he plays live, he does include some INXS songs alongside his solo material, noting that when he performs tunes by his old band, “I like to rearrange them.”

Andrew Farriss is available now.

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Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of the death of longtime Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, who passed away from an undisclosed illness at age 80 on August 24, 2021.

The Rolling Stones have posted a tribute video on their social media sites, along with a note that reads, “One year on without our beloved Charlie. Remembering him and all the incredible things he achieved in his life.”

The video, which is set to the 1994 Stones song “You Got Me Rocking,” features a montage of photos and film clips of Charlie.

In addition, Stones singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Ronnie Wood have posted separate homages to Watts on their own social media pages.

Jagger’s tribute features a video including a series of photos of him and Watts together over the years, soundtracked by the melancholy 1974 Stones tune “Till the Next Goodbye.”

The clip also features audio of Mick talking about his relationship with Charlie.

“I miss Charlie because he had a great sense of humor,” Jagger says. “And…outside of the band, we used to hang out quite a lot and have interesting times. We liked sports — we’d go to football, we’d go to cricket games, and we would have other interests apart from music. But, you know, of course, I really miss Charlie so much.”

The video was accompanied by a message that reads, “Thinking of Charlie today,” along with a blue heart emoji.

Wood’s homage features four photos of Watts and a message that reads, “Charlie, missing you every single day. [Wife] Shirley, [daughter] Seraphina and [granddaughter] Charlotte, we hold you close in our hearts xxx.”

Watts played drums with The Stones from January 1963 until his death and appeared on all of the band’s albums.

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Today, August 24, marks the 40th anniversary of the release of R.E.M.‘s debut EP, Chronic Town.

Arriving about a year after R.E.M.’s first single, “Radio Free Europe,” the five-track collection preceded the band’s classic 1983 debut studio album, Murmur.

The EP includes early fan favorites “Wolves, Lower,” “Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)” and “1,000,000,” as well as the gems “Gardening at Night” and “Stumble.” All songs were co-written by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry; they showcase the quartet’s jangly and hugely influential “College Rock” sound.

Chronic Town was co-produced by R.E.M. and singer/songwriter/producer Mitch Easter. It was recorded at Easter’s Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The EP was originally issued on cassette and vinyl, and it made its CD debut as part of R.E.M.’s 1987 rarities compilation Dead Letter Office.

To celebrate the milestone anniversary, R.E.M. released Chronic Town as a standalone CD for the first time Friday, while the EP was reissued on cassette and as a vinyl picture disc. Easter has written new liner notes for the reissue.

In conjunction with the EP’s rerelease, Chronic Town-themed merch items have been made available at REMHQ.com, includingT-shirts, a hoodie and a collectible skateboard deck.

In other news, Buck and Mills recently contributed to a new song called “The Voice of Baseball” by their side group The Baseball Project. The tune, which is available as a digital download at the group’s official Bandcamp page, is a tribute to longtime LA Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully, who died August 2 at age 94.

Buck co-wrote the song with his Baseball Project bandmate Scott McCaughey, who was a longtime member of R.E.M.’s touring group.

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Some rock and pop tunes can make you dance, scream, shout and bang your head, but a new U.K. survey has ranked the songs that can best help you fall sleep.

Mornings.co.uk, a website that serves as a guide to mattresses, pillows and beds, devised a study to determine the most sleep-inducing pop songs by analyzing the characteristics of 100 lullabies and comparing them to a curated list of 1,700 popular tunes in various genres.

Topping the list of the most sleep-inducing rock songs is Elton John with “Your Song,” and the British pop-rock legend also landed at #3 on the tally with “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters.”

The other rock songs ranked in the top 10 of the list are Led Zeppelin‘s “Going to California” at #2, The Beatles‘ “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight” medley at #4, Pink Floyd‘s “Wish You Were Here” at #5, Jackson Browne‘s “The Load-Out” at #6, Lou Reed‘s “Walk on the Wild Side” at #7, The Police‘s “Every Breath You Take” at #8, the Eagles‘ “Desperado” at #9 and John Lennon‘s “Imagine” at #10.

Mornings.co.uk came up with a zero-to-100 ranking system, dubbed the “Sleep Song Scale,” by utilizing Spotify’s audio features, analyzing such qualities as loudness, danceability, tempo, energy and time signature.

The survey also looked at songs in such genres as pop, hip-hop, country and classical.

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Even Elton John cannot wait to unleash his collab with Britney Spears, so he performed it for patrons at a familiar French restaurant.

Sir Elton hit up La Guérite in Cannes, France, the very same spot where he previewed his “Cold Heart” collab with Dua Lipa back in August 2021, to perform the entirety of his upcoming song.

“Sneak peak of ‘Hold Me Closer’ — out this Friday,” he teased in the caption of the cheeky Instagram video, posted Tuesday, which sees him crashing the DJ booth to perform his new song. “Hey! Britney Spears. Elton John. Here we go,” he screams at the electrified crowd, who sing along to the dance track.

Much like how “Cold Heart” mashes up the lyrics of several Elton songs, “Hold Me Closer” features lyrics and melodies from his 1971 hit “Tiny Dancer” and his 1992 tune “The One.”

“Hold Me Closer” arrives this Friday. The song will be the first new single from Elton since 2021.

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Ozzy Osbourne is no stranger to controversy and the metal legend doesn’t think that will change with his upcoming album, Patient Number 9.

Speaking with Classic Rock magazine, the Black Sabbath rocker says that he thinks a particular lyric on the record will “cause s***.”

The lyric, which appears on the song “One of Those Days,” goes, “One of those days that I don’t believe in Jesus.” Though, as Ozzy explains, the song may not be what you expect, especially coming from someone nicknamed the Prince of Darkness.

“It’s not an ‘I am an anti-Christ’ song,” Ozzy says. “It’s about those days where everything goes f***ing wrong, and you’re going nuts trying to fix everything up.”

Still, the lyric was enough to make Eric Clapton, who guests on “One of Those Days,” raise an eyebrow.

“[Clapton] said, ‘Oh, I’m not sure about that lyric,'” Ozzy shares. “So we tried to replace it with some alternatives.”

One of said alternatives was, “One of those days where I don’t believe in Christmas,” but Ozzy felt that it “didn’t sound right.”

“Losing faith in Jesus makes much more sense when the world is turning to s***,” he says.

Patient Number 9 is due out September 9. Along with Clapton, it includes guest spots from Jeff Beck, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready, Black Label Society‘s Zakk Wylde, Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, Metallica‘s Robert Trujillo and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

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Former Blue Öyster Cult drummer Albert Bouchard has premiered a new video for his own version of his old band’s 1983 tune “Shadow of California,” which appears on his 2021 solo album, Imaginos 2 — Bombs over Germany (minus zero and counting).

The clip, which you can watch on YouTube, features footage of Bouchard singing and playing guitar, interspersed with scenes of him driving a car through city streets at night.

Imaginos 2 — Bombs over Germany is the sequel to Bouchard’s 2020 solo effort Re Imaginos, a reworked version of Blue Öyster Cult’s 1988 concept album Imaginos.

Imaginos 2 is the second installment of a planned trilogy of albums from Bouchard featuring songs based on the writings and poems of late Blue Öyster Cult manager, producer and songwriter Sandy Pearlman about an alien conspiracy that comes to fruition during the late 1800s and early 1900s through the actions of an evil character named Imaginos.

The album features guest contributions from longtime Blue Öyster Cult members Eric Bloom and Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, and the group’s former bassist Joe Bouchard — Albert’s brother — as well as current BÖC multi-instrumentalist Richie Castellano and Dictators guitarist Ross the Boss.

Imaginos 2 can be ordered now on CD and vinyl at DekoEntertainment.com, and limited-edition bundles are also available.

In other news, Bouchard will be rejoining Blue Öyster Cult for a trio of special 50th anniversary shows taking place September 21-23 at Sony Hall in New York City. Each night will feature a full performance of a different album.

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Journey‘s first studio album in 11 years, Freedom, was released last month.

The 15-track collection includes songs that sound like they could have come from various periods in Journey’s history, and features a mix of power ballads, hard-rocking tunes, sensitive love songs and even a funk-influenced track.

Guitarist Neal Schon oversaw Freedom‘s recording with drummer Narada Michael Walden, who co-produced the album with Schon and collaborated with Neal in the studio on most of the basic tracks.

Schon tells ABC Audio that some of his favorite songs on Freedom are the ones that rock the hardest, including “Come Away with Me,” “All Day and All Night,” “Holdin On” and the heavy funk-rock tune “Let It Rain.”

“[T]hose four tracks there, I felt they were some of the louder ones that I wrote,” Neal says. “And once I got into that vibe with Narada, when we were recording guitar and drum tracks, I felt like I wanted to come with more of it, because it’s actually what we could use in our live show.”

Journey has incorporated two of those songs into their concert sets this summer, with “Let It Rain” being played at the band’s last eight concerts, while “Come Away with Me” got its live debut at the group’s most recent performance, on August 8 in Canandaigua, New York.

Speaking about “Let It Rain,” Schon says, “[T]hat’s my Cajun soup deluxe of probably [Jimi] Hendrix and Prince and Chaka Khan and a little bit of Sly [Stone influences]…those R&B and funk roots that I don’t get to explore a lot in the Journey realm.”

Journey has four more confirmed shows on its 2022 tour schedule, all taking place in September. Visit JourneyMusic.com to check out the band’s full schedule.

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