Classic Rock News

The first-ever Nirvana record played on radio is going up for auction.

Produced by the label Sub Pop, the 7-inch vinyl 1988 test pressing contains Nirvana’s cover of the Shocking Blue song “Love Buzz,” which was released as the future “Smells Like Teen Spirit” band’s debut single. It made its way into the hands of Sub Pop employee Scott Vanderpool, who played it on a local college station.

“While I was working at Sub Pop, any test pressing that came in I immediately took to the radio station to play on that show,” Vanderpool writes in an accompanying certificate of authenticity. “So your Nirvana test pressing … has the distinction of being the first Nirvana studio recording played on the radio anywhere.”

The “Love Buzz” test pressing is part of auction house Goldin’s 2025 Fall Music Auction catalog. For more info, visit Goldin.co.

Nirvana’s “Love Buzz” cover was later included on their 1989 debut album, Bleach. The band released two more albums, 1991’s Nevermind and 1993’s In Utero, before frontman Kurt Cobain‘s death in 1994.

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The Stray Cats have canceled their latest tour.

The band was supposed to kick off their a new tour on Oct. 25 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, but canceled the first two dates due to frontman Brian Setzer suffering a “serious illness.” Now, they’ve scrapped the whole thing.

“I’m heartbroken to share, due to serious illness, I am unable to perform and very regrettably have to cancel our Stray Cats tour,” Setzer shared in a statement. “I know this affects so many people and I am devastated to have to deliver this news.”

He added, “I’ve been trying everything I can to go on and do these shows, but it is just not possible. I’ve been looking forward so much to being on stage with my band mates again and playing for all of our amazing fans, and I’m gutted.”

The tour was to feature original band members Setzer, Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom, and would have been their first trek since February 2024. It was also supposed to be their first tour since Setzer’s announcement in February that he’d been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and that one of the side effects was that he was no longer able to play guitar, although in September he shared video of him playing guitar again.

Ticketholders will get refunds at the point of purchase.

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Blondie‘s reissuing their 1999 comeback album, No Exit, on Friday, and Debbie Harry and Chris Stein are giving fans some insight into the record.

The band just released a new video, the No Exit Interrogation Tapes, in which Harry and Stein are questioned about the record. They reveal things like who came up with the title, their favorite songs, how it felt to reunite and more.

Both Harry and Stein say their late drummer Clem Burke came up with the title, suggesting he was insistent on it. Notes Stein, “It was kinda like, yeah, we’ll call it that, shut up already.”

Both artists also shared their favorite memories of Burke, who passed away in April.

“Clem was, you know, a singular character, but he was great with our kids when they would come on tour, and they remembered him very fondly and he was just really generous with them,” Stein said. Harry recounted a time when Burke came to her rescue.

“I was standing in the front of the bus where there were benches, you know, along the wall and something happened and the driver slammed on the brakes, but I mean slammed on the brakes,” she said. “And I was airborne and Clem caught me. And I was headed right for the windshield. I was going to hit that windshield.”

Harry ends the video by teasing the next Blondie record.

“I can reveal the name of the next Blondie album but … what’s it worth?” she says, with the camera cutting off, followed by “High Noon, 2026” quickly appearing on the screen.

Harry previously revealed the album’s title in a Los Angeles Times interview. Blondie also slipped the news into an announcement for a special edition of the 2023 Z2 Comics graphic novel Blondie: Against the Odds.

(Video includes uncensored profanity.)

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KISS drummer and founding member Peter Criss appears to be teasing some news.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who left KISS in 1980, posted a new black-and-white teaser on YouTube that opens with images of a skyline on a rainy night, and then moves to what appears to be a rundown building with cobwebs on the walls, with crates on the ground that read “Criss.”

As a flash of lightning strikes across the sky, the image of a building that reads “Criss Incorporated” comes into view, with the images of cat eyes in the background, an obvious reference to his KISS Catman persona.

The clip ends with the date “October 31, 2025” on the screen, followed by the logos for two record labels, Flatiron Recordings and Silvercraft Records, Inc.

While Criss didn’t give any other clues as to what he’s teasing, the label logos suggests new music may be on the way. In April he revealed that he was working on a solo album.

If he is indeed teasing a new album, it will be Criss’ first solo album since 2007’s One For All.

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Judas Priest brought their North American tour to Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Oct. 23 and received a huge honor from the city.

On Sunday the band shared photos and video on Instagram of them receiving the key to the city, which was given to them by “the Metal Mayor, Tim Keller.”

The caption of the post reads, “Thank you to the mayor, his team, and all the Metal Maniacs of Albuquerque!”

The Albuquerque show was part of the Judas Priest Shield of Pain tour, which wrapped Sunday in Woodlands, Texas.

“That’s a wrap on the SHIELD OF PAIN TOUR!” the band wrote on Instagram. “What an epic ride it’s been — massive thanks to every single Metal Maniac who came out and brought the power every night!  Your energy keeps the Priest machine rolling strong.”

They added, “From start to finish, this tour was pure metal mayhem… and we couldn’t have done it without YOU.
THE PRIEST WILL BE BACK.”

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A teaser has been released for the upcoming Paul McCartney documentary, Man on the Run.

The film, directed by Morgan Neville, looks at McCartney’s life following the breakup of The Beatles, including the formation of his band Wings.

“The Beatles had broken up and I was thinking, what do I do now?” McCartney says at the opening of the clip. “How can I ever do anything that’s anywhere near as good as The Beatles?”

Set to the Wings tune “Band on the Run,” the rest of the teaser features archival photos and video, including clips of The Beatles, the rocker with his wife and Wings bandmate Linda McCartney, and more.

“I was on my own for the first time. I had to look inside myself, so I put a new band together,” McCartney says in the voice-over. “I thought, we should start from square one. It was a puzzle I had to unravel.”

Man on the Run is set to premiere globally on Prime Video on Feb. 25, 2026.

McCartney is also releasing a new book about his post-Beatles career. Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run will be released Nov. 4.

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Peter Frampton is set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his iconic live album Frampton Comes Alive! with a special performance. 

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will be featured in a special episode of the Recorded Live at Analog series, dubbed Frampton Comes Alive 50th, Hits and More, which will be recorded on Nov. 8 at the Analog Hotel in Nashville.

Tickets for the event are on sale now.

Released in January 1976, Frampton Comes Alive! helped launch Frampton to stardom, with the album becoming one of the bestselling live albums of all time. It features live performances of now-iconic Frampton tunes like “Show Me the Way,” “Baby, I Love Your Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do,” which all became top-15 hits.

The album would go on to become Frampton’s only #1 record, spending 10 nonconsecutive weeks in the top spot. In 2020 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

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On This Day, Oct. 27, 1975…

New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen appeared on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines, becoming the first artist to ever appear simultaneously on the magazines’ covers.

Time’s article featured the headline “Rock’s New Sensation,” while Newsweek went with “Making of a Rock Star.”

The simultaneous covers were engineered by Bruce’s then-manager Mike Appel, and followed the August release of his third studio album, Born to Run, which was a breakthrough hit for the rocker.

The surrounding publicity behind the covers resulted in some backlash against Springsteen, who reportedly did not like the attention.

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After spending months promoting his biopic, Bruce Springsteen returned to the stage Sunday night to join his E Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt for a bash at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

The Boss made a surprise appearance at Stevie’s Party and the Pony, a benefit for Van Zandt’s TeachRock, a free educational initiative, which brings “sound, stories, and science of music” to kindergarten through 12th grade classrooms.

According to setlist.fm, Bruce joined Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul for three songs: a cover of the Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes track “I Don’t Wanna Go Home,” a cover of Eddie Floyd’s “Raise Your Hand” and Bruce’s classic “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.”

The performance also featured other members of the E Street Band, including saxophonist Jake Clemons, Curtis King Jr. and more.

The Stone Pony shared video on Instagram of Bruce onstage with Stevie, captioning the clip, “Happy birthday Stevie & Maureen,” the latter being Stevie’s wife. “Thanks for the visit, @springsteen — and for helping the Van Zandts create @teachrockorg, keeping music and arts in schools nationwide.”

In other Bruce news, the rocker’s biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, starring Jeremy Allen White as The Boss, opened in theaters this weekend. It debuted in fourth place at the box office, bringing in $9.1 million.

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Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Joe Walsh is giving fans a chance to own some items from his personal archives.

Julien’s Auctions has announced details for the Life’s Been Good: Joe Walsh auction, happening Dec. 16-17 in Los Angeles and online. The auction will include a treasure trove of the Eagles guitarist’s personal items, including over 400 guitars, plus cars, gear, stage wardrobe and more.

Ahead of the auction, Julien’s is offering two exclusive limited-edition box sets, highlighting Walsh’s career, as well as the items on the auction block. The Limited Number Edition box set, limited to 200 copies, includes a two-volume photography book featuring the items offered in the auction, hand-signed by Walsh, with a numbered metal card on the cover, and a surprise gift from the rocker. The Limited Edition Print set comes with the signed book. Both include a collectible card that plays Walsh’s Eagles hit “Life’s Been Good” when opened.

A portion of the proceeds from the auction and the box set will go toward Walsh’s VetsAid, which raises money for veterans services charities.

“Wow! Look at all this cool stuff I’ve collected over the years, and it seems to me like it was about time to share it!” Walsh said in a statement. “Some of these items really meant a lot to me, and this is a great way to raise money for VetsAid and to give back to my fans.”

This year’s VetsAid concert is taking place Nov. 15 in Walsh’s hometown of Wichita, Kansas. It will feature full sets from Eagles touring member Vince Gill and Ryan Bingham and The Texas Gentlemen, as well as a “super-set” from Walsh, joined by Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Nathaniel Rateliff and other special guests.

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