Classic Rock News

On This Day, June 5, 1975…

Talking Heads — David Byrne, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz — made their live debut at the New York club CBGB, where they opened for the Ramones.

The set consisted of songs like “Psycho Killer,” “The Girls Want to Be With the Girls,” “I Want to Live” and more.

Jerry Harrison joined the group in 1977, the same year they released their debut album, Talking Heads: 77, which included “Psycho Killer,” which went on to be one of their signature tunes. Their commercial breakthrough came in 1983, thanks to the top 10 hit “Burning Down the House,” which appeared on their fifth studio album, Speaking in Tongues.

Talking Heads released eight studio albums over the course of their career, their final being 1988’s Naked. They stopped touring in 1984, with their final show happening in February at Sweetwaters South Festival in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Talking Heads were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

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Early in Part One of the new documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes, which premiered Wednesday night at New York’s Tribeca Festival, Billy sits at the piano in his palatial mansion in Long Island, which is being renovated. “It’s not finished yet,” he says. “And neither am I.”

Despite the brain disorder which kept him from attending the documentary’s premiere, Billy wanted everyone to know that, as the filmmakers told the audience, “He will be back.” They also read a message that he’d asked them to share: “Getting old sucks, but it’s still preferable to getting cremated.” 

Director Susan Lacy admitted that it “wasn’t always easy” to get Billy to open up. But, she noted, “He peeled back the layers of his music and his life with courage, humor and vulnerability.”

The premiere was introduced by Tribeca Festival co-founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. 

“Billy may be considered the poet laureate of New York,” De Niro said. He even sang a little bit of “New York State of Mind,” before noting, “He’s our Piano Man, and a wonderful, integral part of the heartbeat of our city.”

Only part one of the documentary, which will air in July on HBO and HBO Max, was shown. Through archival footage, photos and new interviews, it covers Billy’s childhood in Hicksville, Long Island, his first bands, his early solo career and his relationship with his first wife, Elizabeth Weber, his muse and manager who guided him to superstardom.

Part one, which ends with Billy’s 1982 motorcycle accident and impending divorce from Weber, drew spontaneous applause from the audience numerous times.

Weber is featured in interviews in the documentary, along with Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Pink, Jackson Browne, Garth Brooks, rapper Nas and the surviving members of Billy’s original band. 

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The Who’s March shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall helped raise a record amount of money for Teenage Cancer Trust.

The Teenage Cancer Trust shows, which also included concerts by the Sex Pistols with Frank Carter and The Corrs, raised close to $2.8 million for the organization, which was a new record for the charity concerts, according to Music Week.

This year marked the 25th anniversary of the Teenage Cancer Trust concerts. In total they’ve raised over $48 million for the organization, which is dedicated to providing specialized treatment and support for young people with cancer. The Who’s Roger Daltrey is a patron of the charity.

“For a young person hearing the words ‘you have cancer,’ everything changes,” Jamie Johnson, head of music and entertainment at Teenage Cancer Trust, said. “The money raised through these shows helps make sure they have the right support around them – people who understand what they’re going through and are there every step of the way.”

The Who played two nights for this year’s Teenage Cancer Trust shows. It was during those concerts that Daltrey seemed to have an issue with drummer Zak Starkey’s playing, and they’ve since parted ways with the him.

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The surviving members of The Zombies are set to come together for a special screening of their documentary, Hung Up on a Dream.

Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Chris White and Hugh Grundy, along with the film’s director, Robert Schwartzman, will be on hand for a June 24 screening and Q&A at Finsbury Park Picturehouse in London.

There will also be in-person screenings with Q&As on June 26 in London’s Hackney Picturehouse and on July 5 at The Odyssey Cinemas in St. Albans, England, which is where The Zombies got their start.

In a video posted to Instagram, Argent shared his excitement at the success the film has had in America and praised the film’s director.

“I have to say, Robert Schwartzman has done the most wonderful job on it,” he says of the film. “I think he’s made a great film with what I thought was unpromising material because, first of all, I didn’t think there was very much material still in existence. But he proved me wrong.”

Information about where Hung Up on a Dream is playing can be found at hungup.official.film.

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Barbra Streisand has shared some behind-the-scenes footage of the recording of “My Valentine,” her duet with Paul McCartney, which appears on her upcoming album, The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two.

In the clip, Babs recalls that she and The Beatles started out at the same time, with both of their debut albums coming out in 1963.

“When I first heard Barbra, we just thought, ‘What a great singer,'” McCartney says in a voice-over. “She really had a beautiful voice. We were very impressed.”

Streisand calls McCartney the “perfect partner” for the song, sharing that being in the studio with him was “a delight,” while McCartney calls the experience “great fun.”

“Paul had written it as a solo song, but with a few slight adjustments his lyrics perfectly lent themselves to be sung as a duet,” Streisand adds. She notes how impressed she was with McCartney in the studio.

“The things he does with his voice, he’s such an incredibly gifted songwriter,” she shares. “It was a very memorable session and it turns out you actually can get by with a little help from your friends, especially if one of them happens to be Sir Paul.”

The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two is due out June 27. In addition to McCartney, it has Babs duetting with artists like Bob Dylan, Sting and James Taylor, as well as Seal and Sam Smith. It also features a collaboration between Babs, Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande.

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Talking Heads have been teasing fans on social media with something coming on Thursday. While some fans were speculating they were going to announce a reunion tour, the band has revealed the news — and it’s actually a new video.

In a post on social media, Talking Heads shared that they’ll be releasing the first-ever video for their classic tune “Psycho Killer” on Thursday at 12 p.m. ET. The clip stars Lady Bird actress Saoirse Ronan and was directed by Mike Mills.

“To mark the 50th Anniversary of the band’s first show at CBGB’s, the first official music video for ‘Psycho Killer,’ directed by Mike Mills & starring Saoirse Ronan, will be released,” read the post, which featured a picture of a film slate. “Out June 5th, 2025.” 

They also posted a preview of the clip, with the caption “Ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya,” a refrain sung by frontman David Byrne in the song.

Released in 1977, “Psycho Killer” appeared on Talking Heads’ debut album, Talking Heads 77. The song landed on the Billboard Hot 100 and went on to become one of the band’s signature tunes.

Had the news been a reunion tour, it would have been the first time Talking Heads — Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison — toured together since 1984, although they briefly reunited to perform for their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

While they haven’t performed together since then, all members of Talking Heads got together for several joint interviews in 2023 and 2024 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their iconic concert film, Stop Making Sense.

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Don’t stop believin’ that you can own something from former Journey singer Steve Perry‘s personal archives.

Handwritten lyrics to the Journey classics “Don’t Stop Believin‘” and “Faithfully,” as well as Perry’s solo hit “Foolish Heart,” are among the items up for grabs at an auction that will benefit the victims of the Altadena wildfire. Perry is offering multiple items from his own collection, including Gold and Platinum plaques, vintage tour merchandise, signed instruments, and signed LPs, CDs and cassettes.

“I’m excited to open up my personal archives and give fans who have supported me through the years a chance to own a piece of my musical journey,” Perry says in a statement.

He adds, “These pieces have been carefully stored for many years, and now I feel it’s the right time to pass them on from my hands to yours, to be enjoyed, remembered and treasured in your own personal collections.”

Perry notes, “Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey with me. Let’s help make a difference together.”  The auction ends on June 13 at 12 p.m. PT.

The auction is being hosted on the new Darkives Collectables auction site, a division of Dark Horse Records. The CEO of Dark Horse and Darkives is Dhani Harrison, son of late Beatles member George Harrison. He says in a statement, “[Steve’s] continued generosity makes him the perfect artist to help launch this platform, and we’re honored to support the causes that matter most to him.”

Perry released a duet version of “Faithfully” with Willie Nelson in May, also via Dark Horse Records.

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On This Day, June 4, 1984…

Bruce Springsteen released what would become one of his most successful albums, Born in the U.S.A.

The album, recorded with The E Street Band, spent seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and produced seven top-10 singles: the title track, “Dancing in the Dark,” “Cover Me,” “Glory Days,” “I’m on Fire,” “I’m Goin’ Down” and “My Hometown.”

Springsteen released his first music videos to promote the album, kicking things off with “Dancing in the Dark,” directed by Brian De Palma and featuring a then-unknown Courteney Cox, well before her Friends fame.

With Born in the U.S.A., Bruce became a global superstar, selling over 30 million copies of the album worldwide. The album was certified 17-times Platinum by the RIAA and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015.

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Alice Cooper has released a new song called “Wild Ones,” recorded with his original bandmates for his upcoming album, The Revenge of Alice Cooper.

“Wild Ones” is inspired by the ’50s Marlon Brando film The Wild One. As a press release puts it, “The track channels the same defiant spirit that once rattled middle America and helped define a generation.”

You can listen to “Wild Ones” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming on YouTube.

The Revenge of Alice Cooper is due out July 25. It reunites Cooper with guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith on record for the first time in over 50 years. The album also includes a posthumous appearance from guitarist Glen Buxton, who died in 1997.

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Heart is offering up a reward for the safe return of some instruments that were stolen ahead of the kickoff of their latest tour.

The band shared that before their May 31 show at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, two “irreplaceable” instruments were taken from the venue, one of which was a one-of-a-kind purple sparkle baritone Telecaster with hand-painted headstock, which was custom made for Nancy Wilson. The second instrument, belonging to band member Paul Moak, was a vintage 1966 Gibson EM-50 mandolin.

“These instruments are more than just tools of our trade — they’re extensions of our musical souls,” Nancy shares. “The baritone Tele was made uniquely for me, and Paul’s mandolin has been with him for decades. We’re heartbroken, and we’re asking for their safe return—no questions asked. Their value to us is immeasurable.”

The band is asking anyone with information on the theft or the whereabouts of the instruments to contact their tour manager Tony Moon at tonymoon@me.com. They are also offering a reward for any info that may lead to their return.

In the meantime, Heart’s tour continues; they’ll play Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday. A complete list of dates can be found at heart-music.com.

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