Classic Rock News

Steely Dan is reissuing another classic album on vinyl. The latest is their 1973 release, Countdown To Ecstasy, marking the first time it’s been released on vinyl in more than 30 years. 

The reissue, dropping May 26, is remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes. It’s being pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at 33 1/3 RPM, plus there will be a limited edition premium 45 RPM version on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl.

Steely Dan is in the midst of an extensive reissue program, which will see the band’s first seven albums returning to vinyl; for many it will be the first time on vinyl since their original release. The program started in November with the reissue of the band’s debut album, Can’t Buy A Thrill, and over the next year fans can expect reissues of 1974’s Pretzel Logic, 1975’s The Royal Scam, 1977’s Platinum-selling Aja and 1980’s Gaucho.

Released in July 1973, Countdown To Ecstasy was the first Steely Dan album to feature Donald Fagan singing lead on every song. It features such tunes as “Bodhisattva,” “Show Biz Kids” and “My Old School.”

The Countdown to Ecstasy vinyl is available for preorder now.

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Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band have added some new dates to their upcoming Spring tour, which kicks off May 19 in Temecula, California.

They’ve added four new shows to the trek — May 23 in Long Beach, California; May 30 in Prescott Valley, Arizona; June 4 in Woodinville, Washington; and June 10 in Jacksonville, Oregon. The tour is set to run through June 17 in San Jose, California.

“The joy for me about touring is playing live to an audience with the All Starr Band, so I’m always happy when we can add some more dates,” Ringo shares. “See you in May!”

For the new tour, Ringo’s All-Starr Band will be made up of Steve Lukather, Colin Hay, Edgar Winter, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart and Gregg Bissonette.

A complete list of dates can be found at RingoStarr.com.

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Mick Mars has given his first interview since news broke of the legal battle between him and Mötley Crüe.

Speaking with Variety, the guitarist declares that his estranged bandmates — Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil — have been “hammering on me since ’87, trying to replace me.”

“I carried these bastards for years,” he says.

As previously reported, Mars filed a lawsuit against Mötley Crüe on Thursday, alleging that the band reduced his share of profits from 25% to 5% after he announced that he was retiring from touring last October due to his ongoing battle with the inflammatory disease ankylosing spondylitis, or AS. He also accuses Sixx, Lee and Neil of playing to prerecorded tracks during last summer’s Stadium Tour, claiming specifically that Sixx “did not play a single note on bass” during the run.

Mars contends that his retirement from touring did not mean he was leaving the band altogether, something Mötley’s lawyers disagree with in their response to the suit. The Crüe’s team adds that Mars “struggled to remember chords, played the wrong songs and made constant mistakes,” which the guitarist describes as gaslighting.

“I promise that I can go to any place and play any of those songs right now, and I haven’t played them since October,” Mars says.

Mars also contends that any mistakes he did make on the Stadium Tour were only because he was trying to play live alongside the backing tracks.

Beyond that, Mars maintains he is rightfully owed for his contributions to Mötley Crüe, whether or not he’s on tour with them.

“This thing that I helped build for 41 years, I’m sorry, you’re not gonna take that from me,” he says. “I worked very hard for that. It’s mine. I’m keeping it. You can’t have it. Sorry.”

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On This Day, April 7, 2017 … 

Pearl Jam, Yes, Journey, Joan Baez, ELO and the late Tupac Shakur were among the artists inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at a ceremony held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. 

Pearl Jam was inducted by talk show host David Letterman, who was a last-minute replacement for a sick Neil Young. The Seattle rockers performed three songs: “Alive,” “Given to Fly” and a cover of Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

The night also featured a reunion of Journey with their lead singer Steve Perry, but only to accept the award. They went on to perform with their current lead singer, Arnel Pineda.

And the ceremony became a Yes reunion, with their performance bringing together Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman and Alan White.

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Queen is back with episode 12 of their yearlong YouTube series Queen The Greatest Live, and in this week’s episode they are looking at their classic tune “Who Wants To Live Forever.”

The episode focuses on Queen and Adam Lambert’s June 2016 performance at the Isle of White Festival. It showcases the production of the song, which includes a dazzling laser light show that filled the sky with beams of blue and purple. 

“I’ve never heard it sung like that, that’s special,” Roger Taylor has said of Adam’s performance. 

Brian May added, “Adam is astounding, the lengths he can push things to is extraordinary. … Sometimes I’m standing right here playing ‘Who Wants To Live Forever,’ and he’s there doing his thing. And when he goes into this stratospheric thing in the middle, I very often go, ‘Wow.’”

“Who Wants To Live Forever,” which was written by May, is featured on Queen’s 1986 studio album, A Kind of Magic. It also played during a pivotal scene in the 1986 movie Highlander.

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U2 has been around a long time, and while it doesn’t look like they are calling it quits anytime soon, The Edge sounds ready to see some new artists carry the mantle for rock and roll.

“I don’t think rock music has that same power currently but I think things come and go, there’s pendulum swings within the culture,” he writes in an opinion piece for Hot Press. “Music, far from it going away, it’s being democratized to an incredible extent but with regard to rock music’s power to speak to people, we are due another wave of importance and I think it’s going to come… it’s time.” 

He adds, “Music has been a little asinine for the last number of years and now, there’s so much at stake, music is going to end up being a very important vector of change.” 

Finally, he notes, “I’m reminded of The Who song, ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, and I think that’s the case – we hand on the torch to the next generation and just hope that they aren’t fooled again…”

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Metallica is raffling off a VIP concert experience to raise money for the band’s All Within My Hands charity foundation.

The grand prize winner will get to take up to six guests on a private flight to a U.S. city on Metallica’s 2023-2024 M72 tour, which features two unique, no-repeat shows for each stop. You and your party will get to watch both concerts from an “exclusive viewing platform,” as well as complimentary beverages, limited edition merch items and a $5,000 gift card for lodging, transportation and additional expenses.

The contest ends June 23 at 11:59 p.m. PT, ahead of the U.S. tour launch in August. For more info, visit Fandiem.com.

Metallica will be touring in support of their upcoming album 72 Seasons, which drops April 14.

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Mötley Crüe has shared a response to Mick Mars‘ lawsuit against the band, calling the filing “unfortunate and completely off-base” in a statement to Billboard.

As previously reported, Mars’ suit alleges that his share of the Mötley Crüe’s profits were decreased from 25% to 5% after the band announced he was retiring from touring last October. Mars also accuses the other Crüe members — Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil — of playing to pre-recorded tracks during the band’s Stadium Tour last summer.

In their statement to Billboard, Mötley contends that the band “did not owe Mick anything” and has offered Mars “generous compensation.”

“The band did everything to protect him, tried to keep these matters private to honor Mick’s legacy and take the high road,” the statement reads. “Unfortunately, Mick chose to file this lawsuit to badmouth the band.  The band feels empathy for Mick, wishes him well and hopes that he can get better guidance from his advisors who are driven by greed.”

In announcing Mars retirement, Mötley Crüe cited the 71-year-old guitarist’s ongoing battle with the inflammatory disease ankylosing spondylitis, or AS. A rep for Mars told Variety a day before the announcement that he “will continue as a member of the band, but can no longer handle the rigors of the road.”

Mötley Crüe has since returned to the road with Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 in place of Mars.

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David Bowie fans now have a chance to hear an unreleased version of his classic track “Let’s Dance,” and it’s all for a good cause.

Gala Music has teamed with musician/songwriter/producer Larry Dvoskin, with support from the Bowie Estate,  for a limited series of Bowie digital collectables, which will give fans access to a never-before-heard version of Bowie’s 1983 hit. The new take was recorded 19 years after the original release, and is being made available as part of the 40th anniversary of the tune.  

“This was a creative endeavor David never got to see released during his lifetime. We are honoring his wish by releasing it now,” Dvoskin shares.

As for the new version of the song, he notes, “I am first and foremost a huge Bowie fan. It would have been a mistake to attempt to copy the original,” adding, “This is something different. David simply imagined a more dreamy, electronic version. He is the original disruptor of expectations.”

The digital collectables will be available starting April 14, and proceeds from the sales will be donated to MusiCares, the Recording Academy’s charity that provides health and human services to the music community.

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The Clash bassist Paul Simonon has teamed with Galen Ayers, daughter of the late Soft Machine bassist Kevin Ayers, for a new album, Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?, and the pair, who go by Galen and Paul, have shared a new track from the record, “Room at the Top.”

Simonon tells Rolling Stone the song is “sort of a tribute to Del Shannon,” explaining that before making the tune he tasked his keyboardist Dan Donovan to figure out how to mimic the sounds on Del Shannon tunes.

“I’ve always loved Del Shannon songs like ‘Hats Off to Larry’; they remind me of a kid when you go to the funfair and there’d be like roller coasters and stuff swinging around,” the punk legend tells the mag. “So Dan got a sound, and I thought, ‘We better write a song,'” adding, “So it came partly from inspiration and various English Gothic films.” Simonon notes the lyrics were inspired by the 1945 film of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day? is set to drop May 19. It is available for preorder now.

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