Classic Rock News

Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh is remembering the late Pee-wee Herman creator Paul Reubens, who passed away July 30 after a secret battle with cancer. He was 70.

Mothersbaugh wrote the theme song and music for Reuben’s hit show Pee-wee’s Playhouse, which had a huge effect on Mothersbaugh’s career.  

“I’d never done a TV show before,” he tells Yahoo Music. “That took me into the world of film and television and video games. It totally changed the trajectory of my career.” 

Mothersbaugh, who did not know about Reubens’ battle with cancer, described him as someone who “always had a good personality and a good heart.” 

“It’s just shocking and sad that he’s gone,” he says. “I really didn’t expect it. We’d even been talking about working on an animated version of Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”

Mothersbaugh met Reubens at the Groundlings when the rocker was dating former Saturday Night Live star Lorraine Newman. They first collaborated on the 1980 cult film Pray TV, which starred Ruebens and featured Devo. Mothersbaugh was originally approached to do the music for the 1985 movie Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, although a Devo tour kept him from doing it. He got a second chance with the Pee-wee CBS TV show, and it was an experience that was perfect for him. 

He notes, “Maybe with a different television show, I might have said, ‘I never want to do this again!’ But it was such an ideal, perfect situation.”

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Picking the greatest anything is certainly open for debate, and that is likely to be the case with the results of Total Guitar’s recent poll, which aimed to pick the greatest acoustic song of all time.

Topping the list is Led Zeppelin’s 1971 classic “Stairway to Haven,” which some may argue isn’t completely acoustic. Only the four-minute intro features an acoustic guitar, with the remaining half electric.

Coming in behind “Stairway to Heaven” is Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” followed by the Eagles’ “Hotel California,” neither of which are completely acoustic either.

The two songs rounding out the top five are more traditional acoustic numbers: Eric Clapton’s 1992 release “Tears In Heaven” at four, followed by The Beatles’ 1968 song “Blackbird.”

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Mötley Crüe‘s Nikki Sixx just gave a fans a new reason to get excited about the rest of the year. Not only is the band about to kick off the new North American leg of their tour with Def Leppard, but the bassist is hinting at more things to come.

“Packing for the road……..Few more days of this Paradise before we leave for the shows,” Sixx shared on Instagram. “Gonna be a killer summer and then right back home for fall.”

He then added the tease about what’s to come, noting, “Every change of season gives me a creative push towards something brand new… I feel a lot of new stuff will be surfacing over the next year.”

While he doesn’t go into any more detail about the “new stuff,” he could be referring to new music, as earlier this year, the band revealed they were back in the studio with their Dr. Feelgood producer Bob Rock. 

It sounds like Motley Crue has even more plans to continue their wild ways well into the future. During a recent interview with Australia’s 60 Minutes, Sixx noted, “I feel like our [middle] finger is about to go higher,” adding, “I think we’re kind of in the ‘we-don’t-give-a-f***’ phase of our career.”

The new North American leg of the Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard stadium tour kicks off Saturday, August 5, in Syracuse, New York. A complete list of dates can be found at motley.com.

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Queen + Adam Lambert has added new dates to their Rhapsody Tour, which will keep them on the road through 2024. 

The new dates will bring them to Japan next February, kicking things off in Nagoya on February 4, Osaka on February 7 and Sapporo on February 10; the trek wraps with two shows in Tokyo on February 13 and 14. The concert in Sapporo is the band’s first time in the city since Queen’s Hot Space Tour in October 1982.

“We are so excited to be returning to Japan, the country that has always held a special and most honored place in our hearts,” Roger Taylor shares. “This may be the last time…who knows? We promise to bring a very real spectacular for you to enjoy!”

There will be a presale lottery from August 10 to October 6 for Japanese residents only, with presale for overseas fans running from October 7 to October 25. The general onsale starts October 28.

Queen + Adam Lambert will bring the Rhapsody Tour to North America starting October 5 in Baltimore, Maryland. A complete list of tour dates can be found at queenonline.com.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and they are marking the milestone with a brand new box set. 

The Southern rockers will drop FYFTY on October 13, a four-CD/digital set featuring 50 tracks spanning all eras of the band. It will include such classics songs as “Simple Man,” “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Gimme Three Steps,” as well as more current tracks like “Last Of A Dyin’ Breed” and “Last Of The Street Survivors.”

The set also features several live tracks taken from the band’s 1987 tribute tour. One of those songs is a previously unreleased live recording of the classic “Free Bird.” There’s also a previously unreleased live recording of “Gimme Three Steps” from the band’s November 2022 concert, which was the last with their late guitarist Gary Rossington, who passed away in March. 

Along with all the music, FYFTY will feature a 40-page booklet with opening notes written by director Cameron Crowe and liner notes from Detroit rock journalist Gary Graff. 

FYFTY is available for preorder now.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is currently on their Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour with ZZ Top. The tour hits Greenwood Village, Colorado, on Monday, August 7. A complete list of tour dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com.

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On This Day, August 1, 1942…

Jerome John “Jerry” Garcia was born in San Francisco, California.

Co-founder of the legendary rock band the Grateful Dead, Garcia was the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist for the group, and for many he was their de facto leader.

The Grateful Dead came to prominence during the counterculture of the 1960s, and went on to be one of the most beloved rock bands, especially among fans who would follow them across the country.

The Dead only had one Top 40 single throughout their career, 1987’s “Touch of Grey,” but their touring success was immeasurable, and they were one of the highest-grossing touring acts for decades. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Garcia struggled with diabetes later in life, and also struggled with addiction. He passed away from a heart attack on August 9, 1955, at the age of 53.

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August 1 brings us another full moon, which brings us another Peter Gabriel single. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just dropped the new track “Olive Tree” from his upcoming album i/o, which so far does not have a release date.

“In some ways I do think we are part of everything and we probably have means to connect and communicate with everything that we often shut off,” Gabriel says of the song’s themes of connection. “We only want to see and listen to the things that seem important and relevant to us and shut out the noise of everything else when, probably, hidden in that noise there are all sorts of things that can help us realize our place in this future world.” 

As he’s done with all the other songs he’s released from i/o, Gabriel plans to release several different remixes of the song. The first one released is Mark ‘Spike’ Stent‘s Bright-Side Mix, which will be followed later this month by the Tchad Blake (Dark-Side Mix) and Hans-Martin Buff’s Atmos mix (In-Side Mix).

Next up, Gabriel will be bringing his i/o tour to North America starting September 8 in Quebec City, Canada. It hits the U.S. on September 14 in Boston. A complete list of dates can be found at petergabriel.com.

 

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Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott is revealing some of the records that helped shape him into the rock star he is today. In an interview with Classic Rock, the singer reveals “the 10 records that changed my life,” with a list that includes Mott The Hoople, Queen, David Bowie and Rod Stewart. 

Elliott, a former frontman of a Mott The Hoople cover band, includes two of their albums on the list: 1971’s Wildlife and 1973’s Mott. He notes the latter “showed Ian Hunter’s amazing songwriting process: he was always a great songwriter, but it really came to the fore on that record.”

Also on the list is Bowie’s 1972 classic, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which he calls “a brilliant, stunning record.” Stewart’s 1971 album, Every Picture Tells A Story, also made the list. Elliott says it was the first record he ever purchased, noting it was “a 40-minute journey of all sorts of emotions.”

Queen’s 1974 album, Sheer Heart Attack, also makes the list. He says that from that album, “you could tell they were rock band, but you could also tell they were much more than a rock band.”

The other albums on Elliott’s list: Jethro Tull’s 1971 release, Aqualung; Montrose’s 1973 self-titled release; Ian Hunter’s 1975 self-titled album; Mick Ronson’s 1975 album, Play Don’t Worry; and UFO’s Obsession, released in 1978.

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Van Morrison has started his own label in order to put out material from his archives. The singer announced the launch of Orangefield Records, which will be dedicated to releasing his music from ’70s through the 2000s.

The first release will be Beyond Words: Instrumental, dropping August 18, a compilation of 17 previously unreleased instrumental tracks. According to a post on Van’s website, the album will take “listeners on a mesmerizing journey into one of the world’s most admired archives.”

But this doesn’t mean Morrison won’t be releasing new music somewhere down the road. The announcement points out that any new material from Morrison will be released through major labels.

Beyond Words: Instrumental is available for preorder now. 

Here is the track list for Beyond Words: Instrumental:

“Beyond Words”
“Jammin’ With Eddie”
“Driving On A Country Road”
“Breadwinner”
“Cool For Cats”
“Parisian Walkabout”
“So Complicated”
“Kerry Dancing”
“All Saints Beneficial”
“Celtic Voices”
“Mountains, Fields, Rivers & Streams”
“The Street”
“Far North”
“Time To Get Ready”
“Song Of Home”
“12 Bar Celtic”
“Greenwood Tree”

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Paul McCartney has confirmed the rumors — he’s going on tour again.

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just announced dates for a new leg of his Got Back tour, which will hit Australia, the first time he’s toured there since 2017.

The new dates kick off October 18 in Adelaide, with shows in Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney and Brisbane before wrapping November 4 in Gold Coast.

Presale tickets go on sale Wednesday, August 9, with the general sale set for Friday, August 11. A complete list of dates can be found at paulmccartney.com.

McCartney’s Got Back tour launched in April 2022. It consisted of stadium shows in North America, as well as a headlining spot at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival.

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