Billy Idol releasing new EP next month; debuts lead single, “Cage”

August 18, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Billy Idol will release a new four-song EP titled The Cage EP on September 23. He’s given fans a taste of the record by making its lead track, the rocking and melodic “Cage,” available as a digital single.

The Cage EP follows another four-track collection from Idol, 2021’s The Roadside EP. Like last year’s EP, Idol’s main collaborator on the new project is his longtime guitarist Steve Stevens.

The veteran pop-punk rocker also debuted a music video for “Cage” on his official YouTube channel. The black-and-white clip features footage of Billy singing while alternately trying to free himself from a straitjacket and trapped in a small cage. Stevens also makes an appearance in the video, rocking out on lead guitar.

The Cage EP can be preordered now and will be available on CD, digitally, and as a standard black-vinyl disc and a limited-edition red-vinyl disc. A limited number signed copies of the EP are available at Idol’s official store.

Meanwhile, Variety reports that a new documentary about Idol is in the works from Grammy-winning filmmaker and videographer Jonas Akerlund, whose many credits include Madonna‘s “Ray of Light” video and Paul McCartney‘s Live Kisses concert film.

According to Variety, Akerlund was inspired to make a film about Idol after listening to Billy’s audiobook for his 2015 memoir Dancing with Myself.

“I told Billy, ‘This is a film … We need to tell this story,'” notes Akerlund. “He was there when punk-rock happened in London, then moved to New York just as MTV was exploding, and now he’s in Los Angeles. I personally love his story, the incredible events in his life. And the music has touched so many people.”

Here The Cage EP‘s full track list:

“Cage”
“Running from the Ghost”
“Rebel Like You”
“Miss Nobody”

Iggy Pop headlining inaugural Destination Chaos destination punk festival

August 18, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Iggy Pop is set to headline the inaugural Destination Chaos, a punk-themed destination festival taking place in the Dominican Republic from January 28 to February 4, 2023.

The bill also includes Descendents, Gogol Bordello, Amyl and the Sniffers, The Chats and ex-Joy Division bassist Peter Hook, who will be performing the band’s iconic 1979 debut album Unknown Pleasures in full.

For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit DestinationChaos.com.

You can also catch Iggy perform at the 2022 Desert Daze festival, taking place in October in Lake Perris, California. That lineup also features Tame Impala performing their 2012 album Lonerism in its entirety.

Ozzy Osbourne wanted Jimmy Page for ’Patient Number 9′ album: “Maybe he’d lost his phone”

August 18, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

If you’re feeling bad about that text message you sent that got left on read, it might be comforting to know that even Ozzy Osbourne doesn’t always get an answer back.

In an interview with Metal Hammer, the Prince of Darkness shares that he reached out to Jimmy Page to appear on his upcoming new solo album, Patient Number 9, only to get crickets from the Led Zeppelin legend.

“I don’t even know if he plays anymore, but I thought getting Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page meant having the greatest guitarists on the planet,” Ozzy shares. “But I never heard from him. Maybe he’d lost his phone or something!”

Osbourne’s comments follow an interview Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, who plays on Patient Number 9, gave to the Talk Is Jericho podcast earlier this year, during which he said that there was an attempt to recruit Page for the album.

While the potential Page collaboration didn’t come to be, Patient Number 9 features a ton of other guests, including Clapton, 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.

Patient Number 9 will be released September 9.

Collection of late Who bassist John Entwistle’s rare recordings to be released soon

August 18, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

The first of two new compilations featuring rare and unreleased recordings by late Who bassist John Entwistle will be issued soon by the Deko Entertainment label.

Titled Rarities Oxhumed – Volume One, the album will feature previously unheard studio tracks, demos, remastered live performances and other unreleased gems. Among the live recordings is a performance of the 1978 Who tune “Trick of the Light,” penned and sung by Entwistle.

The albums have been put together by the Deko label in collaboration with longtime Entwistle solo band member Steve Lungo and John’s son, Chris Entwistle.

Deko Entertainment has launched a webpage promoting the new project, which features a countdown clock that’s scheduled to hit zero on Friday, September 9, at about 4 p.m. ET. There’s also a link to a YouTube video featuring an archival interview clip with Entwistle, who says, “I guess I’d like to be remembered as someone who helped change the face of bass guitar, and being probably the only bass guitarist that hasn’t been copyable.”

Entwistle died in June 2002 of a heart attack one day before The Who was scheduled to launch a U.S. tour. He was 57.

Paul McCartney to be featured in episode of ‘Cosmic Kids’ children’s yoga series

August 17, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Paul McCartney will be featured in a new episode of the Cosmic Kids children’s yoga series that premieres on Thursday, August 18, at 9 a.m. ET on YouTube and is inspired by the rock legend’s 2021 children’s book, Grandude’s Green Submarine.

Cosmic Kids is a story-based series that Jaime Amor and her husband, Martin, began in 2012 to teach children yoga and mindfulness. Episodes are available on YouTube and via an app that can be accessed through various streaming devices.

The new episode will offer a kids yoga adventure based on Grandude’s Green Submarine, which tells the story of a grandfather who sets sail with his grandkids, whom he calls his chillers, in his magical submarine on a journey to find his wife, Nandude.

According to a statement promoting the show, the story is a “wonderful celebration of the relationship between kids and their grandparents.”

You can check out a preview of the episode at Macca’s Facebook page.

Grandude’s Green Submarine is a sequel 2019’s Hey Grandude! Both books were written by McCartney and illustrated by Kathryn Durst.

Jane’s Addiction posts video featuring original bassist Eric Avery

August 17, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Is Jane’s Addiction hinting at a reunion with Eric Avery?

In a tweet Wednesday, the “Been Caught Stealing” rockers posted a video featuring Avery jamming on a bass alongside frontman Perry Farrell. Sadly, the video doesn’t feature the audio from the session, just the hiss of static feedback.

Avery is an original member of Jane’s Addiction and played with the group through their 1991 breakup. He eventually rejoined Jane’s from 2008 to 2010, but he didn’t play on either of the band’s reunion records, 2003’s Strays and 2011’s The Great Escape Artist.

If Avery is indeed back in Jane’s, that raises the question of what becomes of Chris Chaney, who’s played bass in the band since 2011. There’s also uncertainly surrounding guitarist Dave Navarro, whose “long bout” with COVID-19 forced Jane’s to scrap their set at this year’s Welcome to Rockville festival. Jane’s was also set to play Lollapalooza last month, but was quietly removed from the lineup. In both cases, Jane’s was replaced by the reunited Porno for Pyros, which is also fronted by Farrell.

Meanwhile, Farrell recently told Spin that new Jane’s material is in the works, and the band is set to embark on a U.S. tour with The Smashing Pumpkins in October.

Stay tuned.

Rod Stewart vacations with 7 of his 8 kids for first time since 2015

August 17, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

When it comes to blended families, Rod Stewart‘s an expert: He’s got eight children by five different women, so you can imagine how hard it must be to get them all together for anything, let alone a vacation. But he and his wife, Penny Lancaster, managed to pull it off for the first time in seven years.

The luxurious Italian vacation brought together seven of Sir Rod’s kids: Ruby, Renee, Liam, Kimberly, Sean, Alastair and Aidan. The only one missing was Sarah, who was raised by adoptive parents and didn’t meet Rod, 77, until later in life. They do have a relationship, but it’s not as close as the others.

Rod’s daughter Ruby, whose mother is model Kelly Emberg, has posted numerous photos of herself and her half siblings with Rod and Penny on Instagram. She wrote, “Our last family vacation was in 2015, so this one was well overdue. We all live in different places now and sometimes we miss some pretty important milestones in one another’s life. It can be difficult getting us all together, but the incredible @penny.lancaster managed to do it this time.”

She added, “I am beyond grateful for this mixed batch of personalities that is the Stewart Clan. I don’t know where I’d be with out you lot…Thank you dad for reminding us of the importance of family and Thank you Penny for always bringing us together again.”

Penny and the various siblings also posted their own snaps of the trip to the Amalfi coast, the island of Elba and other locations.

Todd Rundgren’s star-studded new album, ‘Space Force,’ due out in October

August 17, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Todd Rundgren‘s long-delayed studio album Space Force, which features collaborations with an eclectic variety of artists, will finally be released October 14.

Space Force is a 12-track collection that, as previously reported, includes contributions from Cheap Trick‘s Rick Nielsen, Steve Vai, Thomas Dolby, Crowded House frontman Neil Finn, former King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew, Weezer‘s Rivers Cuomo, Sparks and The Roots.

The lead track, a collaboration with Belew titled “Puzzle,” has just been released as the latest advance single from the album.

Four other Space Force tracks were previously released — “Espionage,” featuring Iraqi-Canadian hip-hop artist Narcy; “Down with the Ship” with Cuomo; “Your Fandango” with Sparks; and “Godiva Girl” with The Roots.

Originally due out in early 2021, Space Force is a follow-up to Rundgren’s 2017 album White Knight, another star-studded collection of collaborations.

In a new Variety interview, Rundgren says Space Force differs from White Knight in that the new album’s tracks featured more input from his collaborators.

“One of the reasons why I did White Knight was to force myself into opening up the process to others, but I had only done it halfway because I was still coming up with almost all of the material,” Todd notes. “So I thought, let’s go the next step. Let’s start using other people’s song ideas as the basis of where the music should go.”

Space Force can be preordered now and will be available on CD, in multiple colored-vinyl options and via digital formats.

Meanwhile, Rundgren has one joint concert with Daryl Hall scheduled for October 1 in Brookville, New York. Then, starting October 6, he’ll head out on the Celebrating David Bowie tribute tour, which also features Belew and other musicians.

Here’s the full Space Force track list:

“Puzzle” — with Adrian Belew
“Down with the Ship” — with Rivers Cuomo
“Artist in Residence” — with Neil Finn
“Godiva Girl” — with The Roots
“Your Fandango” — with Sparks
“Someday” — with Davey Lane
“I’m Not Your Dog” — with Thomas Dolby
“Espionage” — with Narcy
“STFU” — with Rick Nielsen
“Head in the Ocean” — with Alfie
“I’m Leaving” — with The Lemon Twigs
“Eco Warrior Goddess” — with Steve Vai

Bruce Springsteen to interview ‘Rolling Stone’ publisher Jann Wenner about new memoir

August 17, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Jann Wenner and Bruce Springsteen in 2010; Theo Wargo/WireImage

Bruce Springsteen will help his longtime friend Jann Wenner celebrate the release of the Rolling Stone magazine co-founder’s new memoir, Like a Rolling Stone, by taking part in a special interview event on September 13 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.

At the event, Springsteen and Wenner will discuss the famous publisher’s deeply personal book, which follows his eventful life while looking at the changing landscape of music, politics and pop culture of his generation, as covered by Rolling Stone since its 1967 inception.

The memoir also features Wenner’s reflections on a wide variety of important music artists, including Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono and Springsteen.

In-person tickets for the Q&A session are already sold out, but the event also will be streamed live online, and tickets to the virtual presentation are available at 92ny.org. Everyone purchasing a ticket will receive a copy of Like a Rolling Stone.

“If you were young, alone and in the far lands of New Jersey, Rolling Stone was a dispatch from the front, carrying news of a bigger world and another life awaiting,” says Springsteen with regard to the book. “Like a Rolling Stone is a touchingly honest memoir from a man who recorded and shaped our times and of a grand life well lived. It is wonderfully deep and rewarding reading. I loved it.”

Like a Rolling Stone will be published on September 13 and can be preordered now.

Dave Grohl joins Beck and Tenacious D for Seals & Crofts cover during charity concert

August 17, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Dave Grohl made a surprise appearance at a Los Angeles charity concert Tuesday put together by director Judd Apatow in support of the Victims First organization.

According to the L.A. club Largo, which hosted the show, the Foo Fighters frontman joined Beck and Tenacious D to make “yacht-rock musical sound effects” during a cover of the Seals & Crofts song “Summer Breeze.” Also onstage were actor John C. Reilly and producer/frequent Grohl collaborator Greg Kurstin.

You can watch footage of the performance via the Largo Instagram.

The show marked one of Grohl’s first public appearances following the unexpected death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins in March. Grohl performed for the first time since Hawkins’ passing in June during Paul McCartney’s headlining Glastonbury set.

Grohl and the rest of Foo Fighters are holding a pair of Hawkins tribute concerts, taking place September 3 in London and September 27 in Los Angeles. As was announced Wednesday, the London concert will stream live via Paramount+ and MTV Brand YouTube channels.

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