Classic Rock News

Last year’s 40th anniversary of The Cars’ Heartbeat City is being marked with a new expanded reissue of the album.

Dropping Oct. 31, Heartbeat City (Deluxe Edition) is a four-CD/one-LP set that comes with the original album on both LP and CD, along with two CDs of bonus material made up of unreleased studio recordings, B-sides, early mixes, alternative takes and demos, including a demo for the band’s top-10 hit “Drive.”

There’s also a CD with a live concert recorded at The Summit in Houston on Sept. 11, 1984. The concert was originally released on VHS and Laserdisc, and this marks its first-ever CD release. The package also comes with a color booklet with photos, liner notes by keyboardist Greg Hawkes and an essay by drummer David Robinson.

Heartbeat City (Deluxe Edition) is available for preorder now.

Heartbeat City was produced by Mutt Lange and released in March 1984. It became a huge hit for The Cars, peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart and hitting #1 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart. It went on to be certified four-times Platinum by the RIAA.

Much of the album’s popularity was due to singles like “You Might Think” and “Drive,” both of which reached the Billboard Hot 100 top 10. They both benefited from videos that received huge airplay on MTV, especially “You Might Think,” which went on to win the first-ever video of the year award at the MTV Video Music Awards.

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A previously unreleased performance by Nirvana is up for auction. The video and audio footage captures the band’s Feb. 17, 1990, live show at Iguanas in Tijuana, Mexico.

According to the description, the footage shows Nirvana “in their formative early days promoting their debut studio album Bleach.” The Seattle rockers play 13 songs during the concert, and during the show frontman Kurt Cobain “dives onto the floor seven times, and smashes two guitars and (playfully) into Camera 1.”

The auction includes two original master tapes featuring raw footage of the concert, with each tape a recording from a separate camera. In total there’s 45 minutes of footage, and the package comes with the U.S. Copyright Office Certificate of Registration for the content, a poster for a show two nights earlier at the Los Angeles nightclub Raji’s, an original Sub Pop pressing of Bleach on white vinyl and more.

The auction, hosted by Bonhams, is open until Thursday at 12 p.m. PT. The footage is estimated to sell for between $100,000 and $150,000.

More info can be found at Bonhams.com.

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Tears for Fears is celebrating the 40th anniversary of their multi-Platinum album Songs From the Big Chair with a variety of special-edition reissues.

The album, featuring hits singles “Shout,” “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” “Head Over Heels” and more, will be released Nov. 14 in a variety of formats, including a limited-edition two-LP set on transparent red vinyl, which will feature unused artwork and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl.

In addition, the album will be reissued as a three-CD deluxe set, which includes B-sides, single versions and remixed tracks; a limited-edition LP on Coke bottle clear vinyl; and a single vinyl picture disc.

Released in February 1985, Songs From the Big Chair was a breakthrough album for the duo, made up of Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal. The album hit #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the U.K.; the singles “Shout” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” hit #1 in the U.S. “Head Over Heels” was also a top-five hit, peaking at #3.

The album went on to be Tears for Fears’ most successful album to date and has been certified five-times Platinum in the U.S.

All formats are available for preorder now. 

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On This Day, Sept. 23, 2019 …

Lyricist Robert Hunter, best known for his work with the Grateful Dead, died at his home in San Rafael, California, at the age of 78.

Hunter began working with the Grateful Dead early in their career and contributed songs to several of their albums, starting with 1969’s Aoxomoxoa. Many of the band’s signature tunes were either written or co-written by Hunter, including “Ripple,” “Terrapin Station,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “Box of Rain,” “Dark Star” and “Truckin’.”

Following the death of The Dead co-founder Jerry Garcia and the disbanding of the band, Hunter continued his songwriting, working with artists like Bruce Hornsby, Elvis Costello and others.

Hunter was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 with the Grateful Dead, and he and Garcia were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.

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Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham recently reissued their debut album, Buckingham Nicks, and it’s got Stevie in a nostalgic mood.

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer shared on Instagram a handwritten letter she wrote to her family while working on the album, revealing in the caption, “My mom saved it and it’s been in a drawer for over 50 years.”

“I am getting very tired of sitting around listening to 12 hours of music per day,” she writes in the note. “Oh well, I know it will pay off in the end, and when I am sitting in my small but luxurious Beverly Hills home overlooking my small but tasteful pool that is totally secluded, where I can sun in the nude and tan my entire fat body while waiting for my plastic surgery leg lift — it will all be worth it.”

She then reflects on her upcoming 25th birthday.

“I have decided that we should set aside the entire month of May to celebrate the fact that I am now 1 quarter of a century old,” she writes. “A new landmark like this should not simply be passed over as yet another birthday, but should include a gala celebration.”

She ends by telling her family that she wishes they could hear the music she and Lindsey are working on. Referencing the song “Don’t Let Me Down Again,” she writes that Lindsey “may go down in history as one of the ‘greats’ in guitar playing. It really is quite amazing.”

Finally Stevie asks them to “hold good thoughts about this thing.”

Released in 1973, Buckingham Nicks was the only album the artists released a duo. It eventually led to them being invited to join Fleetwood Mac.

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Rod Stewart is the father six children, two with current wife Penny Lancaster, and in a new interview Lancaster reveals that kids were a bit of deal-breaker in their relationship.

She tells the British magazine Saga that early in their relationship Stewart indicated that he didn’t want more children, which is something she wasn’t OK with. In fact, she says she would have left the rocker if he hadn’t changed his mind.

“And that would have been very hard,” she says. “But we just went with the flow.”

Stewart did eventually agree to having more kids and they welcomed two sons, Allastair Stewart in 2005, and Aiden Stewart in 2011.

“Now Rod always says, ‘I wish I’d said yes [to babies] earlier, because then we could have had more children,'” she shares. “Even five years ago we were talking about adopting, but it ended up not happening. We thought there might be too much of an age gap.”

Plus, it sounds like Lancaster already has enough to deal with, joking that her husband is like a kid himself.

“Actually, I have three because there’s another big baby who needs my attention in a different way,” she says. “I think all women would say that about their husbands.”

Penny is out promoting her new memoir, Someone Like Me, which drops Thursday. Stewart shared his ringing endorsement of the book in an Instagram video: “Wow, this is incredible, Penny, absolutely blood curdling information here,” he says, before pointing to a specific page. “You shouldn’t have put that in the book, Penny.”

He ends the video by getting serious, saying, “It’s just the best. I’m so proud of her.”

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Metallica is once again off to Funko Pop! land.

The metal legends have announced another collaboration with the toy company to produce a new line of ‘Tallica-inspired editions of its popular big-headed vinyl figures.

The latest Metallica Funkos are specifically themed around the band’s latest album, 2023’s 72 Seasons, and include recreations of all four members: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo.

You can preorder your set now via Metallica’s web store.

Metallica has collaborated with Funko four times previously.

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Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman is being honored with a new stamp collection.

Isle of Man Stamps and Coins has announced that the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s work is being celebrated in a new set of six stamps. The collection features illustrations by artist Roger Dean, best known for his work designing album covers for musicians in the ’60s and ’70s. His first album cover for Yes was 1971’s Fragile, which was the first to feature Wakeman.

Dean says he’s “always enjoyed working” with Wakeman, who he met when he was working on Fragile. He notes, “Designing this new set of Isle of Man stamps has been a joy and a tribute to that long collaboration.”

According to the description, the stamp collection highlights “key moments from Wakeman’s remarkable career,” including his solo albums Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

“I am honored to have my career featured on these stamps having spent many years as a resident of the Isle of Man,” says Wakeman, who moved to the island in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland, in 1987. “Roger Dean’s artwork has always felt like a natural extension of the music I’ve created, and to see our worlds brought together on stamps is both surreal and wonderful.”

The stamps are available to order now at iomstamps.com.

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The Foo Fighters pop-up tour continues.

After playing last-minute shows in Washington, D.C., and San Luis Obispo and Santa Ana, California, Dave Grohl and company have announced another surprise concert, this time in New Haven, Connecticut.

The show will take place Monday at the club Toad’s Place, which holds about 1,000 people. Tickets will only be sold in person at the venue’s box office starting at 4 p.m. ET.

Check out the Foo Fighters Facebook for more info.

The Foo Fighters pop-up gigs have marked their first shows with new drummer Ilan Rubin, formerly of Nine Inch Nails. Rubin replaces Josh Freese, who joined the Foos in 2023 following the death of Taylor Hawkins in 2022. Freese was let go from the band in May.

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Are you ready for Hagar-Back?

Nickelback‘s Chad Kroeger has apparently teamed up with former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar for a collaborative song. That’s according to Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, who says he played on the track.

Benante has shared an Instagram photo of him standing alongside Kroeger and Hagar in a recording studio, writing in the caption, “When you get a call to come over and play drums on a song that these 2 are doing… you drop whatever it is and go.”

“What a spontaneous thing and so much fun,” Benante adds.

Meanwhile, Hagar’s posted a video on his own Instagram of him, Kroeger and another drummer, Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe.

“You say, ‘What are those three guys doing?'” Hagar teases in the clip. “Well, it’s hard to say.”

Hagar’s most recent song is April’s “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight,” which he wrote after having a dream about the late Eddie Van Halen. He recently announced 2026 dates for his Best of All Worlds Las Vegas residency.

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