Classic Rock News

David Bowie’s 1975 track “Golden Years” has gotten the remix treatment with the release of the new digital single, “Golden Years (TOKiMONSTA Remix).” 

“To me, I connect with Bowie as an amazing innovator. He was always reinventing himself and pushing the envelope of music while somehow never ceasing to be authentically himself,” Los Angeles-based producer and DJ TOKiMONSTA, born Jennifer Lee, shares. “His experimental fashion choices are always a beacon for me to challenge my style and look.”

The new take on the song is part of a trio of Bowie remixes for Peloton’s celebration of Bowie’s legacy, coinciding with his 75th birthday, which was in January.

The original “Golden Years,” released in November 1975, was the first single off Bowie’s classic album Station To Station and was a top 10 hit for the rocker. The tune has since been covered by artists like LCD Soundsystem‘s James Murphy and was even featured in the 2001 movie A Knight’s Tale.

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Queen is once again highlighting their unique stage wear in the latest edition of their weekly YouTube series, Queen The Greatest Live.

In this week’s episode, the band highlights the looks from four performances of their ’80s hit “Under Pressure,” which was recorded as a duet with David Bowie.  

The live clips come from the band’s June 5, 1982, performance at the Milton Keynes Bowl in Buckinghamshire, England; a May 1985 concert in Japan; their historic June 27, 1986, concert in Budapest, Hungary; and finally, clips from their July 1986 homecoming shows at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The London shows, in which Mercury wore a yellow military-style jacket designed by Diana Moseley, wound up being their last-ever performances in London.

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Extreme has canceled the band’s set at the upcoming M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, Maryland, after guitarist Nuno Bettencourt injured his knee.

In a statement, M3 organizers say, “It breaks our heart to announce that due to Nuno’s severe knee injury, Extreme will be unable to perform,” adding, “Rest assured, Nuno is going to be OK.”

Extreme has also shared a statement, reading, “We are seriously bummed out that we are unable to perform for everyone at the M3 Rock Festival as we’ve been looking forward to the festival for several months. We apologize for the inconvenience to fans attending the festival.”

Bettencourt appeared to injure his knee while playing basketball during the Monsters of Rock cruise this week. According to Guitar World, Bettencourt performed while sitting down during Extreme’s performance on the cruise.

Extreme will release a new album called Six on June 9. They’ll launch a U.S. headlining tour in August.

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May 5 brought another full moon, which means music fans just got another single from Peter Gabriel. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just released the track “Four Kinds of Horses,” from upcoming album i/o. The track features Brian Eno on synthesizer.

“One of the inspirations is the Buddhist parable of the Four Kinds of Horses, which describes different ways a student can approach their spiritual practice, but also the interesting overlap of religion and peace on the one hand and violence and terrorism on the other,” Peter shares. “There was also a wonderful film by Hany Abu-Assad called ‘Paradise Now’ which shows two young men who end up being trained to become terrorists and it’s a real insight into where the head goes.”

As he has with his other full moon releases, Gabriel will be sharing different mixes of the song, the first being the Bright Side Mix from Mark “Spike” Stent. Later this month he’ll release a mix by Tchad Blake (Dark-Side Mix) and Hans-Martin Buff’s Atmos mix (In-Side Mix). 

Gabriel’s album i/o is due out sometime this year, although so far he hasn’t revealed a release date. He’ll launch i/o – The Tour in Europe and the U.K. on May 18 in Krakow, Poland, with the North American leg kicking off September 8 in Quebec City, Canada. A complete list of dates can be found at petergabriel.com.

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On This Day, May 5, 1981…

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers released their fourth studio album, Hard Promises.

The album featured the future Petty classic “The Waiting,” as well as “Insider,” a duet with Stevie Nicks, which was recorded around the same time Petty and Nicks recorded her hit “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” which Petty and Mike Campbell wrote. It eventually appeared on Nicks’ debut solo album Bella Donna and went to number three on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Hard Promises’ release was delayed when Petty and his label, MCA, went to war over the album’s list price. MCA wanted to sell it for $9.98, a dollar more than its other releases. After Petty threatened to call the album Eight Ninety-Eight, MCA backed down.

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The Baseball Club, the supergroup that includes R.E.M.’s Mike Mills and Peter Buck, is ready to drop some new music.

The band, which also features The Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey of The Minus 5 and Young Fresh Fellows and Linda Pitmon of Filthy Friends, will release their fourth studio album, Grand Salami Time!, on June 30. The band has also shared the first single from the record, “Journeyman,” which was written by Wynn and Buck.

“I was in a hotel room just outside of Buffalo when I got an email from Peter with an instrumental version of this song,” Wynn shares. “The words came immediately, not surprising since a veteran musician stringing together a series of one-night stands has more than a little in common with a left-handed relief specialist who plays for a dozen teams in a workmanlike career.” 

Grand Salami Time! is The Baseball Project’s first album in nine years. It was produced by Mitch Easter, who worked with Mills and Buck in the ’80s on R.E.M.’s early albums, including their debut EP, Chronic Town, and their debut album, Murmur.

Grand Salami Time! is available for preorder now.

The Baseball Project is also set to hit the road in support of the album, with the tour kicking off August 8 in Birmingham, Alabama. A complete list of dates can be found at baseballproject.net.

Here is the Grand Salami Time! track list:

“Grand Salami Time”
“The Yips”
“Screwball”
“Uncle Charlie”
“Journeyman”
“Erasable Man”
“New Oh In Town”
“Disco Demolition”
“Stuff”
“The All or Nothings”
“That’s Living”
“64 and 64”
“Having Fun”
“Fantasy Baseball Widow”
“The Voice of Baseball”

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Dead & Company is getting ready to kick off their final tour with a set at the New Orleans Jazz Fest Saturday, May 6, and there’s no doubt many fans will be decked out in their best Grateful Dead gear. Well, now they can represent their favorite band on their feet, as well.

The shoe company Sanuk has teamed up with the Dead for a new capsule collection, featuring 12 styles of men’s and women’s summer shoes — six each — which feature vintage-inspired Dead-themed patches, like their Deadhead logo, dancing bears and lighting bolt.

All shoes in the limited edition Sanuk x Grateful Dead capsule collection are made from natural, repurposed and eco-minded materials, with hemp the main material used. By using hemp for the product, Sanuk has already been able to save 137 million gallons of water and 396,000 millijoules of energy. Plus, they’ve reduced their CO2 equivalent emissions by 82,000 pounds.

The Sanuk x Grateful Dead collection is on sale now.

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Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band are set to play a three-night stand in Dublin and it looks like The Boss has been having some fun tooling around Ireland.

Fan-shot footage posted to the Spring-Nuts fan group Twitter page shows the singer sharing a pint and singing his Born in the U.S.A. track “My Hometown” with fans at a pub. At the end he jokes, “You guys, I’m firing the E Street band, I’m hiring (you),” which gets a laugh from the group. 

And that’s not the only place Springsteen turned up. On Wednesday, Windmill Lane Recording Studios shared a photo of The Boss with some of their staff, noting that he was recording in the studio. Bruce also paid a visit to The Pogues’ Shane McGowan, with McGowan’s partner Victoria Mary Clarke calling The Boss “a truly wonderful man and a total genius!”

And Springsteen will have plenty more time to enjoy the city. He headlines Dublin’s RSD Stadium May 5, 7 and 9. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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A new trailer has just been released for the upcoming documentary Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis), which tells the story of the art studio known for some of the most iconic album covers in history.

The studio, run by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell, created album covers for artists like Sir Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, Def Leppard, Genesis and particularly Pink Floyd, including their classic The Dark Side of the Moon.

The trailer for the Anton Corbijn-directed film includes interview clips from the likes of McCartney, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and Noel Gallagher.

The movie, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, is set to open in New York on June 7 and Los Angeles June 16, expanding nationwide on June 20.

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Sting is set to give a special live performance at the U.K.’s 2023 Ivor Awards, taking place May 18 in London. 

As previously reported, The Police frontman will be given the Ivors’ highest honor during the ceremony: he’ll become a Fellow of the Ivors Academy. Previous artists who’ve been named Fellows include Sir Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. 

“Of all the awards in the world of music, The Ivors are for me, the most prestigious. Songwriting is a skilled craft and The Ivors Academy are its guild,” Sting previously said about the honor. “So, I am delighted and honored to be offered this Fellowship of the Academy, joining and acknowledging this extraordinary group of fellow songwriters, and all of those who went before us.”

The Ivors, which have been handed out since 1956, are the most prestigious music honor in the United Kingdom. They celebrate excellence in British and Irish songwriting, and are peer awards, voted on by other British and Irish songwriters and composers.

This year’s nominees include Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, Kate Bush and Glass Animals.

The 2023 Ivors ceremony will be broadcast on the Amazon Music UK channel on Twitch, with artists RAYE and Matilda Mann also performing. The telecast will also include a live red carpet and backstage interviews.

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