Classic Rock News

Rock artists are marking Earth Day by speaking up about climate change.

Eddie Vedder has partnered with NASA to interview the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. In their conversation, which you can watch now on YouTube, the Pearl Jam frontman asks the crew about their insights into climate change looking down on Earth from outer space, and the lessons learned living aboard the ISS that might help those of us on the ground live more peacefully.

Vedder previously teamed up with NASA to release a video for his song “Invincible,” which appears on his new solo album, Earthling. The clip features footage from various pre-launch tests and animation related to NASA’s upcoming Artemis I lunar mission.

Meanwhile, Annie Lennox, Pretenders, Brian Eno, Bruce Cockburn, Tom Morello and funk legend Bootsy Collins are among 6,000 music industry figures who’ve signed on to support an environmental initiative called Music Declares Emergency US.

“We call on all those within the US music industry to join us in declaring a climate emergency and to work towards making the cultural and operational changes necessary to contribute towards a sustainable future,” the campaign says.

In a statement, Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde says, “This declaration needs to be the moment where music steps up and really pushes the truth to our audiences and confronts governments so that things happen much more quickly.”

For more info, visit musicdeclares.net/us.

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Sting‘s partnership with reggae star Shaggy is continuing with a very unexpected project.

The former Police frontman and the chart-topping “It Wasn’t Me” singer won the Best Reggae Album Grammy in 2019 for their joint album, 44/876.  Now they’ve teamed up for a new album, due out May 25, called Com Fly Wid Me.

Conceived and produced by Sting, the album features Shaggy singing reggae versions of Frank Sinatra classics like “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Luck Be a Lady,” “Under My Skin” and more.  Turns out Sting came up with this unconventional idea three years ago, when he and Shaggy were on a boat in Norway and Sting heard Shaggy singing along with a Sinatra tune that was playing on the boat’s sound system.

In a statement, Sting says, “This idea of getting my friend to sing ten iconic songs from the Frank Sinatra songbook in a reggae style had been brewing for a while…I know, it sounds crazy! But every time the idea crossed my mind, it made me smile. And what does the world need now, more than anything else…something to smile about!”

“He’s not trying to be Frank, he’s Shaggy,” Sting adds. “So, relax and let that smile soothe the cares of the world away,” Sting adds.

A one-night-only performance celebrating the album’s release will take place May 26 at New York City’s Blue Note Jazz Club. Details of the gig will be announced soon.

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Friday, April 22 is Earth Day, so here’s a reminder that you can score some unique and rare tracks today — and fight the global climate crisis at the same time.

As previously reported, Michael Stipe has teamed with legendary producer Brian Eno for a new single called “Future if Future,” which is one of about 100 songs that are available today with sales benefiting groups focused on raising awareness and fighting climate change.

In addition to the Stipe track, you’ll also find a never-before-released version of Peter Gabriel‘s classic 1982 track “Shock the Monkey,” as well as a version of Coldplay’s “Humankind” recorded live in Mexico City. There are also songs by ex-Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, Nile Rodgers and Eno himself.

Sales of the tracks benefit an organization that Eno founded, EarthPercent. Proceeds will go to organizations developing promising solutions to the climate crisis. All of the songs are now available for streaming and download at Earthpercent/bandcamp.com.

Part of EarthPercent’s mission is dedicated to addressing the environmental impact of the music industry, such as lowering the carbon footprint of touring artists. EarthPercent is asking the music community and related businesses to pledge a small percentage of what they make to the cause, with a goal of raise about $100 million by 2030.

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Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has premiered the video for his solo song, “High Plains Drifter.”

The animated clip begins with a car driving through a tunnel before crashing into another vehicle. The painterly images interact the dynamics of the music as they reflect the driver’s life flashing before their eyes.

You can watch the “High Plains Drifter” video streaming now on YouTube.

“High Plains Drifter” appears on Hammett’s upcoming debut solo EP, Portals. The four-track, instrumental collection will be released Saturday, April 23, as part of Record Store Day.

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Just a reminder that titles from The Rolling Stones, The Doors, U2 and Stevie Nicks are among the hundreds of limited-edition vinyl discs available at independent record shops this Saturday, April 23 for the 2022 edition of Record Store Day.

The Rolling Stones’ Record Store Day offering is a 50th anniversary reissue of their classic 1972 two-LP compilation More Hot Rocks, pressed on 180-gram glow-in-the-dark vinyl.

The Doors are putting out a four-LP collection culled from last year’s deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of L.A. Woman that features of over two-and-a-half hours of outtakes that appeared as bonus content on the 2021 release.

U2’s offering is a vinyl single that features two versions each of the rarities “A Celebration” and “Trash, Trampoline and The Party Girl,” including a previously unreleased studio outtake of “A Celebration.”

Nicks’ release is a double-LP version of her 1981 solo debut Bella Donna, featuring an LP of outtakes, B-sides and demos.

This year’s Record Store Day also includes releases from Alice in Chains, Allman Brothers Band, Asia, Bad Company, Blondie, David Bowie, Chicago, Alice Cooper, The Kinks‘ Dave Davies, Def Leppard, Foo Fighters, The Grateful Dead, Kirk Hammett, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Elton John, Judas Priest, Jorma Kaukonen, Joni Mitchell, Motorhead, Night Ranger, Iggy Pop, Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lou Reed, Santana, Patti Smith, and Pete Townshend.

Meanwhile, Record Store Day organizers have set aside June 18 as a “safety net” drop date for planned releases that couldn’t make it to stores by April 23 due to issues including manufacturing or shipping delays.

For the full list of releases and participating stores, visit RecordStoreDay.com.

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Cynthia Albritton, who as Cynthia Plaster Caster became famous for immortalizing the genitalia of male musicians in plaster, has died, Variety reports. She was 74.

Albritton started her career in Chicago in 1968, thanks to a plaster casting assignment from her college art teacher. She came up with the idea of casting the male member, and her first celebrity “subject” was Jimi Hendrix.  After meeting Frank Zappa, he became her patron and moved her to LA, where she found plenty of other willing subjects.

Among her dozens of subjects: Jimi Hendrix Experience bass player Noel Redding, MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, The Rascals’ Eddie Brigati, The Lovin’ Spoonful‘s Zal Yanovsky, Beach Boys drummer and Rutles member Ricky Fataar, Foghat‘s Tony Stevens, Jello Biafra of The Dead Kennedys, Pete Shelley of The Buzzcocks, and Television guitarist Richard Lloyd.

In 2000, Albritton expanded her repertoire by casting the breasts of female musicians, including Suzi Gardner of L7 and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

As Variety reports, Zappa and Albritton decided in 1971 that the casts should be kept somewhere safe for a future exhibition, and gave them to Zappa’s business partner, Herb Cohen. In 1993, Albritton had to initiate legal proceedings to get back the casts she’d given Cohen for safekeeping. All but three of the 25 were returned.

Albritton has either inspired or been mentioned in several songs, including KISS’ “Plaster Caster” and Jim Croce‘s “Five Short Minutes.” A recording of a telephone conversation between her and famed groupie Pamela Des Barres appears on Permanent Damage, the first and only album by the all-girl group The GTOs, which was produced by Zappa.  She was also the subject of the documentary titled Plaster Caster.

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Ozzy Osbourne says he spoke with Lemmy on the day of the iconic Motörhead frontman’s death.

“I was talking to Lemmy on the morning that he died, but I couldn’t understand what he was talking about,” Ozzy tells Classic Rock magazine. “I wanted to talk to someone else who was there, but they kept giving the phone to Lemmy.”

In addition to being longtime friends, Ozzy and Lemmy collaborated on several occasions, including for Osbourne’s 1991 album, No More Tears, which features several songs co-written by the “Ace of Spades” rocker.

“He was a good man, Lemmy was,” Ozzy says. “All the guys from Motörhead have gone now, from the original band. It’s hard to lose anyone you love.”

Lemmy died December 2015 at age 70. Last year, Ozzy released a new version of the song “Hellraiser,” featuring vocals from both him and Lemmy.

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The Who launches its The Who Hits Back! tour tonight in Hollywood, Florida, which sees the British rock legends returning to the road for the first time since wrapping up their Moving On! trek in October 2019.

As previously announced, the band’s 2022 North American tour features two legs, with the first wrapping up May 28 in Bethel, New York, and the second running from an October 2 concert in Toronto through a November 4-5 engagement in Las Vegas.

Notable stops on the outing’s first leg include an April 30 headlining performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and a May 15 show at Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium. The latter gig will mark the first time in 43 years that the band will play Cincinnati, the site of the tragic 1979 incident in which 11 people were killed at Riverfront Coliseum when fans rushed the doors of the venue ahead of a Who show there.

Meanwhile, just in time for the start of the tour, The Who have announced the lineup of artists that will be opening for them at most shows. The support acts for the first leg include singer/songwriter Leslie Mendelson, soul singer Amythyst Kiah, Texas roots rockers Los Lonely Boys, veteran singer/songwriter Willie Nile, and contemporary British rock band The Wild Things.

Opening for The Who during the second leg are ex-Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page, Tom Petty guitarist Mike Campbell and his current band The Dirty Knobs, and, again, The Wild Things, who will perform at the two-show finale in Las Vegas.

Like the Moving On! tour, the new trek will feature The Who accompanied by an orchestra at all shows.

Visit TheWho.com to check out the band’s full tour schedule and which support act will be performing at each concert.

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The first two episodes of the new reality music competition show No Cover have premiered online.

No Cover, which was first announced in 2020, finds a panel of judges — including Alice Cooper, Bush‘s Gavin Rossdale and Halestorm‘s Lzzy Hale — searching to discover the next best unsigned bands.

Each week, the competing artists perform for the judges live at the iconic Troubadour club near Los Angeles. Kellin Quinn of Sleeping with Sirens co-hosts the show. The other judges are alt-pop singer/songwriter Bishop Briggs and prog-metal guitarist Tosin Abasi.

As opposed to shows like American Idol or The Voice, the No Cover contestants only perform original material, hence the show’s title.

The winner of No Cover will earn a recording contract with Sumerian Records, and a slot at a festival produced by Danny Wimmer Presents, the company behind the Aftershock, Welcome to Rockville and Louder than Life festivals. The victorious act also will get signed to a management and booking agency, and will receive a whole lot of gear.

You can watch the first two No Cover episodes streaming now via the Sumerian Records YouTube channel.

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A collection of rare recordings by 10cc co-founders Kevin Godley and Lol Creme from the late 1960s will be released on June 10.

Frabjous Days — The Secret World of Godley & Creme 1967-1969 includes tracks that the duo made under the name Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon for a planned 1969 album for British music impresario Georgio Gomelsky‘s Marmalade label that was never released.

The compilation also features a 1969 solo track that Godley and Creme’s future 10cc band mate Graham Gouldman recorded for Marmalade called “The Late Mr. Late,” and two unreleased songs written by Gouldman that the duo recorded in 1969 — “Hot Sun” and “Virgin Soldiers.”

Other tracks on the album include two songs from a January 1968 single that Godley and Crème released under the moniker The Yellow Bellow Room Boom, and two unreleased tracks from a June 1968 acetate recording.

Frabjous Days comes packaged with a 28-page booklet featuring a new essay, as well as rare photos and memorabilia.

“These songs sound like they were written and recorded before we were born…and in a sense they were,” Godley says. “It’s the sound of two young art students messing around at weekends, stringing chords and words together for the sheer, explosive buzz of hearing what happens. There’s a thrill in not knowing what you’re doing but aiming high anyway and that, I believe, is exactly what’s going on in these recordings.”

You can pre-order Frabjous Days at CherryRed.co.uk.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

The Marmalade Sessions 1969
1. “I’m Beside Myself” (album version)*
2. “Chaplin House”*
3. “Cowboys and Indians”*
4. “It’s the Best Seaside in the World”*
5. “Fly Away” (Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon LP version)*
6. “Take Me Back”*
7. “Today”*
8. “Hot Sun”*
9. “Virgin Soldiers”*
10. “The Late Mr. Late” — Graham Gouldman
11. “To Fly Away” (Marmalade sampler LP version)
12. “I’m Beside Myself” (single version)
13. “Animal Song”

Bonus tracks (recorded 1967-1969)
14. “Seeing Things Green”
15. “Easy Life”
16. “One and One Make Love”*
17. “Over and Above My Head”*
18. “Hello Blinkers”
19. “Goodnight Blinkers”

1-7: Unreleased Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon album, recorded circa September 1969
8-9: Unreleased acetate of Graham Gouldman songs performed by Godley and Creme, recorded circa July 1969
10-11: From label sampler Marmalade – 100% Proof, released June 1969
12-13: Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon single, released September 1969
14-15: The Yellow Bellow Room Boom single, released January 1968
16-17: Unreleased acetate, recorded circa July 1968
18-19: Promo vinyl pressing for Blinkers nightclub, circa late 1969

* = previously unreleased.

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