Classic Rock News

Ex-Journey frontman Steve Perry has launched legal action against his former bandmates Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain seeking to block their claimed ownership of trademarks involving 20 of the band’s popular songs.

Billboard reports that Perry filed a petition at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on September 11, asking that 20 trademark registrations secured by the Freedom JN LLC company, which the singer says is controlled by Cain and Schon, be invalidated.

The trademarks, which include the rights to the names of such tunes as “Open Arms,” “Anyway You Want It,” “Wheel in the Sky” and others, cover the use of those titles on T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts and other merch items.

Perry claims that Cain and Schon didn’t have the right to register trademarks for the song titles without his approval because the three musicians had signed a partnership agreement requiring all of them to consent unanimously to the use of the tunes for products or other purposes.

Perry charges that Cain and Schon committed “fraud on the trademark office” by applying to register the song names without informing the agency of the true status of the ownership of the songs.

The petition also maintains that using the song titles in products would falsely suggest that he endorsed or had a connection to those items.

In addition, the petition notes that Perry, who split with Journey in 1998, was lead singer on all 20 songs in question when they were originally released and became popular, adding, “Their respective titles have become uniquely and unmistakably associated with and point to petitioner Perry.”

Billboard reports that, as of Tuesday, a lawyer for the Freedom JN company had not returned the magazine’s request for a comment about the matter.

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A dozen new episodes of AXS TV’s popular music-themed countdown series Top Ten Revealed will premiere on the channel this fall, starting with a show dubbed “Bands on the Map” that will debut on Tuesday, October 4 at 8 p.m. ET.

The episode will profile 10 bands who named themselves after a geographical location, among them Chicago, Boston, Asia, Berlin, Miami Sound Machine, Nazareth, Europe and LA Guns.

The show will feature a variety of celebrities offering up humorous commentary about the groups, including Carnie Wilson, longtime John Fogerty drummer Kenny Aronoff, current Warrant singer Robert Mason, former Tina Turner sax player Tim Cappello and ex-MTV host Matt Pinfield.

ABC Audio is debuting an exclusive preview segment of the show focusing on Asia, which is #7 on the list.

In the clip, Pinfield declares, “Asia had a huge debut album, one of the biggest,” referring to the prog-rock supergroup’s 1982 self-titled record, which spent nine weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200.

Cappello, meanwhile, explains that the prog-rock supergroup featured members of Yes, King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and adds, “They had a bunch of hits. You gotta give props to ‘Only Time Will Tell.'”

The segment also quips that the band’s name didn’t necessarily make sense since the four members were all from the U.K.

The 12 new episodes of Top Ten Revealed will all be part of the second half of the series’ fifth season.

Here’s a partial list of the show’s other upcoming episodes along with their premiere dates:

10/18 — “’80s Hair Bands”
10/25 — “Songs of the Occult”
11/15 — “Fallin’ Jams”
11/22 — “Songs with Fire”
12/6 — “Christmas Crooners”
12/13 — “Hip Hop Trios”

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If These Walls Could Sing, the new documentary about London’s Abbey Road Studios that was directed by Paul McCartney‘s daughter Mary, which got its world premiere at Colorado’ Telluride Film Festival in September 3, will soon make its TV debut on Disney+.

The news was revealed at Abbey Road’s official website and a preview clip from the doc was posted along with the announcement featuring Paul sharing recollections about working at the studio.

In the clip, McCartney recalls a time during the late 1970s when his late wife and Mary’s mom, Linda, walked a black pony they owned named Jet into Abbey Road from their nearby London residence. Paul’s memories are accompanied by photos of Linda walking with the pony across the famous zebra crossing outside of the studio.

The preview also features Paul explaining why he continued to work at Abbey Road with his solo band Wings after the breakup of The Beatles, who did most of their recording at the studio.

In London, we had used other studios, but we always liked this [Abbey Road] the best,” he notes. “So that when I was looking to record with Wings, I thought, ‘Well, this is the best studio. I know it. I know a lot of the people here … It’s just a great studio. You know, all of the microphones work … So it was great. It was great to come back home.”

As previously reported, the documentary looks at highlights of Abbey Road’s 91-year history. To make the movie, film crews were allowed to have intimate access to the studio’s premises for the first time ever.

The doc also features interviews with Elton John, Jimmy Page, members of Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, Oasis‘ Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher, conductor John Williams, producer Giles Martin and more.

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An acoustic guitar played by the late Chris Cornell is being auctioned off in support of Ukraine amid its ongoing fight against Russia’s invasion.

The guitar, made by the Washburn USA custom shop, belongs to musician Pete Thorn, who took the instrument on tour with him in 2009 when he played in Soundgarden frontman’s solo live band. According to Thorn, Cornell liked the guitar so much that he would borrow it to play a few songs each night on the tour.

Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the organization Save Our Allies, which is providing humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine. A press release states that the guitar is being auctioned with the blessing of Cornell’s widow, Vicky.

For more info, visit SOA.RallyUp.com/UKR.

Thorn also performed with Cornell’s daughter, Toni, during her rendition of the Prince-written, Sinéad O’Connor-sung song “Nothing Compares 2 U” on The Tonight Show last December.

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A variety of artists, including Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and members of the Grateful Dead spin-off group Dead & Company, are encouraging fans to check their registration status on Tuesday in conjunction with National Voter Registration Day.

As part of a campaign launched by the nonpartisan voter-registration organization HeadCount, the musicians took to social media to encourage their supporters to participate in the November 8 midterm elections.

Byrne shared a photo of himself holding up a sign that reads “Register to Vote,” while Dead & Company posted a pic of bandmates Bob Weir and Mickey Hart holding signs with the message “Vote” incorporated into the Grateful Dead’s famous skull logo.

Among the many other music artists encouraging voter registration on their social media sites were Bonnie Raitt, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Harry Styles, Death Cab for Cutie and The Lumineers.

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KISS member Gene Simmons may have millions of fans who adore his music, but in a new interview with Goldmine, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer admits that, besides one exception, he has no friends.

“Even today as I sit here, other than Paul [Stanley], and we only get together when we do stuff for the band … How do I say this without sounding inhuman? I don’t have friends,” Simmons tells the magazine.

He adds, “Yeah, if friends means, ‘Gee, I don’t know what I’m going to do this afternoon. Hey, you want to come over and hang out?’ I’m more interested in what I want to do, and I don’t want to pretend that I’m interested in what you want to do because I am not.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the 73-year-old rocker muses on what he might experience after he dies.

“I’m OK if there’s a heaven and a God. I’m OK with it. I’m also OK if there’s nothing,” Simmons maintains. “I lean towards nothing. My question is, if we get an afterlife, do mosquitoes? Maybe my mother’s sort of wise statement about every day above ground is a good day, and that’s it.”

In addition, Simmons reflects on something he wished he knew when he was younger that would have made his life easier.

“That it didn’t matter what I thought I knew, and it didn’t matter what I knew,” he notes. “You still have to wade through the jungle by yourself. All the knowledge in the world, or no knowledge at all, doesn’t prepare you for life because there’s no one journey, there’s no one road.”

The full interview is available in the latest issue of Goldmine.

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It seems safe to call Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard‘s Stadium Tour a success.

The outing, which also featured Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts on the bill, took in a total of $173.5 million from 1.3 million tickets sold, according to Billboard.

Since Billboard began tracking tour data in the late ’80s, neither Mötley Crüe nor Def Leppard had grossed as much money or had sold as many tickets on any other previous tour.

Both bands’ previous peaks as solo headliners averaged between 10,000-11,000 tickets sold and never more than $1 million earned per show. The Stadium Tour, meanwhile, averaged 37,520 tickets sold and $4.96 million earned each night.

For Mötley Crüe, the tour marked their return to the live stage after playing their “final” show on New Year’s Eve 2015. The concert was preceded by a “cessation of touring” contract, which was meant to legally prevent the “Dr. Feelgood” rockers from touring together again. Upon announcing their return, the Crüe declared that they’d voided the contract.

Adding to the buildup was the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed the Stadium Tour from its initially scheduled 2020 launch to 2022.

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Carlos Santana and his famous band have extended their long-running Las Vegas residency well into the spring of 2023.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have announced two new eight-date engagements of their An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live show at the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The first runs from January 25 through February 5 and the second from May 17 through May 28.

Tickets for all of the new performances go on sale to the general public this Saturday, September 24 at 10 a.m. local time via House of Blues.com/Santana, MandalayBay.com and Ticketmaster.com. Fans can also call 800-745-3000 to purchase tickets.

Santana fan club members and Citi card members can buy presale tickets starting Wednesday, October 21 at 10 a.m. PT; visit CitiPrivatePass.com for more information. House of Blues, Live Nation and Ticketmaster presales will begin Thursday, September 22 at 10 a.m. PT.

Part of the money from the tickets sold for Santana’s Las Vegas shows benefits the Milagro Foundation, the charity Carlos co-founded that helps young people in impoverished communities around the world. Some proceeds will also be donated to the House of Blues’ Music Forward Foundation, which uses music to help young people develop life skills.

Meanwhile, Santana has three shows left on his current run of House of Blues residency concerts — Sept. 21, 23, 24 and 25 — and the band also has another previously announced eight-date stand this year that’s scheduled from November 2 to November 13.

Visit Santana.com to check out the group’s full tour schedule.

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Elvis Costello has announced plans for a unique, 10-night stand dubbed 100 Songs and More that will take place from February 9 to February 23 at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre.

Costello will perform a completely different set each night and will play more than 200 of his songs over the course of the engagement. Elvis has confirmed 10 tunes that he’ll perform at each show; he’ll play at least 10 additional songs during every gig.

The first five concerts will feature Costello performing solo; he will be joined by his Attractions and Imposters keyboardist Steve Nieve at the remaining five shows. Elvis penned a clever poem that hints that some surprise guests may also be joining him during the run. For more information, visit ElvisCostello.com.

Tickets for the 100 Songs and More concerts go on sale to the general public this Friday, September 23, while presale tickets are avaiable to Citi card members through the company’s Citi Entertainment program. Visit CitiEntertainment.com for more details.

In other news, Costello has two special charity shows scheduled on September 30 at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. The concerts will feature him playing tunes by late Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia and Garcia’s longtime songwriting partner Robert Hunter. The event will raise money for Prader-Willi Homes of California, a charity dedicated to the creation of a residential center for people with Prader-Willi syndrome and other developmental disabilities.

In addition, Costello will be performing at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on October 1.

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Guns N’ Roses‘ classic 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II will be reissued on November 11 in multiple configurations and formats, including expansive CD and vinyl box sets featuring remastered versions of both records, plus a treasure trove of bonus content.

The super deluxe box sets will feature either seven CDs or 12 LPs. Both versions will include a Blu-ray featuring a previously unreleased video of the band’s May 1991 performance at The Ritz Theatre in New York City, as well as a new live music video for “You Could Be Mine.”

In addition, the box sets will include the full audio of the New York City show and of a complete and previously unreleased concert that Guns N’ Roses played in January 1992 in Las Vegas.

Also included in the the super deluxe box sets are a 100-page hardcover book that boasts rare photos, memorabilia and archival documents; collectible items as a replica fan club materials and backstage pass; uniquely designed lithographs; seven band photo prints; a poster and more.

The reissues will be available together as a four-LP colored-vinyl collection and separately as deluxe two-CD sets, single CDs and two-LP black-vinyl sets. Digital versions of all the version also will be available.

Released simultaneously in September 1991, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II debuted at #2 and #1, respectively, on the Billboard 200 chart. Use Your Illusion I features the top-10 hits “Don’t Cry” and “November Rain,” while Use Your Illusion II includes the top-30 single “You Could Be Mine.”

Both albums have gone on to be certified seven-times Platinum by the RIAA.

You can preorder the reissues now.

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