Classic Rock News

In 1973, Neil Young and the Santa Monica Flyers, made up of Nils Lofgren, Ben Keith, Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina, hit the stage at the Rainbow Theatre in London for a show that went on to become a classic for fans. Although it’s finally getting an official release on April 14, if you believe Lofgren, at the time of the show the audience didn’t really love what they were experiencing. 

The tour was in support of Neil’s album Tonight’s the Night, and Lofgren tells ABC Audio the record was “this otherworldly adventure in darkness and redemption.” He noted, “It was born of having to wrestle with a lot of our friends and heroes starting to die on us.” 

The band would play the album in its entirety, and since fans didn’t know it yet, Lofgren says they weren’t happy. “Everyone was wondering when we were going to play ‘Cinnamon Girl’ or ‘Heart of Gold,'” he says. “And people got pissed off. They’d yell, they’d boo, they’d throw bottles.”

It took some time but folks eventually came to realize the special night they witnessed. Lofgren says as he’s played in England over the past 30 years there’s always at least one person who’ll apologize for “booing and yelling for hits” during that Rainbow concert, telling him, “’and now I realize I witnessed one of the greatest artistic nights of my life.’” 

Somewhere Under the Rainbow will be available Friday on vinyl and CD at the Greedy Hand Store at Neil Young Archives, as well as at most music retailers.

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There has been a lot of bad Mötley Crüe news out there lately thanks to Mick Mars‘ recent lawsuit, but this may make some fans happy. Bassist Nikki Sixx confirmed on Twitter that the rockers are actually working on some new music.

Sixx posted a photo of him, Tommy Lee and guitarist John 5 in the studio with the message, “another killer songwriting day.” He clarified the music they were working on was indeed for the Crüe.

“We are writing. The creative process of songwriting has always been the heartbeat of our band,” he tweeted. “We’re gonna go in the big studio next week and record a few off the floor and see where it goes. We don’t have a definitive plan at this point. Just letting the songs guide us.”

The news is interesting, considering in response to Mars’ recent lawsuit Mötley’s manager, Allen Kovac, seemed to suggest that the only thing left for the band was touring. Mars has always insisted he didn’t quit Mötley Crüe, he just retired from the road.

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Earlier this year, Def Leppard appeared in the feel-good movie Bank of Dave, which only aired on Netflix in the U.K. Well, it looks like U.S. fans are finally going to get to see what all the fuss was about.

Deadline reports that Samuel Goldwyn Films has landed the North American rights to the British comedy, and will release it in theaters and digitally later this year.

Bank of Dave tells the real-life story of a working-class, self-made millionaire named Dave Fishwick, who tries to set up a community bank to help his town’s local businesses survive. It stars actor Rory Kinnear, who’s been in Penny Dreadful, Black Mirror and James Bond films, including Quantum of Solace and Skyfall.

Def Leppard appear in a cameo in the film, performing at a charity fundraiser for the bank, and were so excited about their appearance they shared behind-the-scenes footage of the filming with fans back in January.

“What a special day,” drummer Rick Allen shared in the clip. “I’m really excited about how this turns out and I think it’s just really an honor to be involved with something like this, with such a fantastic story.”

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John Fogerty was honored Thursday with the National Association of Music Merchants’ Music for Life Award, which is the organization’s highest honor. Fogerty was celebrated for his contributions to music and for inspiring artists everywhere.

“To get a lifetime achievement-type award is always very satisfying,” Fogerty tells ABC Audio. “It’s nice to be recognized for things that you’ve accomplished in your career.” A fire alarm interrupted his celebration, prompting Fogerty to joke about his award, “I hardly got a chance to hold it.” 

Fogerty joins a prestigious list of past Music for Life winners, including Graham Nash, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Bob Weir, Melissa Etheridge and Kenny Loggins.

Next up for Fogerty, he’s set to hit the road for his Celebration Tour, which kicks off April 27 in Uncasville, Connecticut. A complete list of dates can be found at JohnForgerty.com.

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When Billy Joel first released his #1 hit “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” he could’ve created a video that included an image of every single event and person he mentioned, from Marilyn Monroe to Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan. He didn’t, but now we’ve got one, thanks to the magic of AI, aka artificial intelligence.

A TikTok content creator who goes by the handle @digitalresonator has used a popular AI program called Midjourney — which creates images from descriptions you feed into it — to craft an entirely new video for “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” 

“Lots of requests for this one,” the creator wrote. “I hope you guys like this one. It took a long time between the research, the length, and the number of images.”  Responding to comments, they said it took “four or five hours” to do.

All the events and people Billy names in the song are depicted via AI-created images, including more generic ones like “hypodermics on the shore,” “Rock ‘n Roller cola wars” and “British politician sex.”

So far, the video has racked up 91,000 likes, and as one fan put it, “I feel like this is the video Billy Joel wanted to do. This is perfection!!”

“This was just beautiful to experience. Really stunning,” another wrote. “Thank you for putting the effort in.”

“That’s incredible! I wish Billy Joel would write the sequel,” one fan chimed in, with many others agreeing that Billy should do an update that covers the 1990s through today. The original covered the year of his birth, 1949, through 1989, when he turned 40.

Years later, Billy admitted, “The melody is horrendous. It’s like a mosquito droning. It’s one of the worst melodies I’ve ever written. I kind of like the lyric though.”

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Gene Simmons wants his fans to know he’s doing OK. As previously reported, the KISS co-founder fell ill during the band’s show in Manaus, Brazil, Wednesday and had to finish the concert seated. Well, now he’s shared a health update and it appears there’s noting to worry about.

“Ok, kids. Not a big deal. Thanks for your kind wishes,” he tweeted. “Last night we played Amazon jungle Stadium/Brazil. Humidity and temperature were sky high. I was dehydrated and was forced to sit for a song.”

He added, “We got back on stage in 5 minutes & finished the show.”

The Latin American leg of KISS’ End of the Road tour hits Bogotá, Colombia, on April 15. A complete list of dates can be found at kissonline.com.

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Leonard Cohen is going to be the subject of a new series that focuses on his relationship with muse Marianne Ihlen.

Variety reports that actor Alex Wolff, who’ll appear in Christopher Nolan‘s next film, Oppenheimer, has been cast to play Cohen. The series is titled So Long, Marianne, named after the track that appeared on Cohen’s debut album, Songs of Leonard Cohen. The series also stars Norwegian actress Thea Sofie Loch Næss as Ihlen, along with The Last of Us’ Anna Torv and Peaky Blinders’ Noah Taylor, playing Australian novelists Charmian Clift and her husband, George Johnston.

The series, which is filming on the Greek island of Hydra, where the couple first met, is described as an “intimate tale of two, lonely people falling in love, during a period of their life when they are trying to figure out who they are and their place in the world, while one is becoming one of the most famous singers of all time.”

Production is expected to also take place in Norway, where Ihlen is from, and Cohen’s hometown of Montreal.

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The Smashing Pumpkins have reunited with a past collaborator for the video for their song “Empires.”

The new clip, which captures a frenetic live performance augmented by visual effects, is directed by Kevin Kerslake, who also helmed the video for the 1993 Pumpkins single “Cherub Rock.”

Kerslake’s other directing credits include videos for Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden.

You can watch the “Empires” video streaming now on YouTube.

“Empires” appears on the second disc of the Pumpkins’ three-act “rock opera” album, Atum. The first two parts are out now; part three drops May 5.

The Smashing Pumpkins will be supporting Atum on their The World Is a Vampire tour, kicking off in July. The bill will also include STP, Interpol and Rival Sons on select dates.

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Bonnie Raitt and Michael McDonald are among the special guests featured on “Hey All Together,” a new single from artist Ivan Neville.

The tune, which also features Trombone Shorty, Aaron Neville and The Revivalists’ David Shaw, is the latest single off Ivan’s first solo album in nearly two decades, Touch My Soul, which drops April 21.

“I wanted familiar voices to bring back a feeling of community,” Ivan explains of the track. “I figured, if everyone said hello to a stranger, spontaneously but within reason, it might make the world a better place. It certainly can’t hurt.”

Touch My Soul is available for preorder now.

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