Classic Rock News

With The Rolling Stones back on tour and the band preparing to release a deluxe Tattoo You reissue next month, Mick Jagger chatted with Apple Music‘s Zane Lowe about numerous topics, including the group moving forward following drummer Charlie Watts‘ recent death.

In the interview, Jagger reveals that before Watts’ passing, he’d recorded parts for new songs that likely will appear on The Stones’ next album, noting that some of the recordings were done while they were working on the reissue’s bonus tracks.

“I did some stuff with him in the studio very recently, while we were doing [these] Tattoo You things,” Mick reports. “We did some…work on Tattoo You. Charlie did some work on…just a few fills and stuff like that. And then when we started messing around with some other things…It seems like only yesterday that I was in the studio with Charlie, joshing around. It’s just so weird and then very sad.”

Reflecting on recording new Stones material in the future, Jagger laments, “[W]ithout Charlie being there, it’s going to be very difficult.”

Having said that, Mick maintains that he and his band mates all want to keep going.

“[T]he thing about the Rolling Stones, I think, throughout their career has been their resilience in the face of adversity,” Jagger noted. “We’ve had adversity, and this was probably one of the most difficult ones. And so we booked the tour [that was] supposed to be played last year. We couldn’t do it for obvious reasons, because of the pandemic. And I just thought, and I think everyone in the band thought that we should just carry on.”

He added, “I’m glad we’re doing it. I know Charlie wanted us to do it. I think the audience wants to do it.”

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Elton John‘s upcoming album The Lockdown Sessions features the song “Finish Line,” a collaboration with the equally legendary Stevie Wonder that was released today as an advance track. In a preview clip from the upcoming episode of his Apple Music show Elton John’s Rocket Hour, Elton calls the tune “one of the greatest records I’ve ever made.”

Elton talks about putting the track together songwriter and producer Andrew Watt, noting, “Stevie came along and played piano, I played electric piano, and then he did harmonica on it, and then we were trying to get another vocalist on it.”

Elton recalls, “[Stevie] wouldn’t do it because I think he thought he’d done enough.” But Watt then added a gospel choir on the song — the same choir Kanye West has been using — and Elton says, “I think when Stevie heard that, he decided to do the vocal.”

“I think for me, it’s one of the greatest records I’ve ever made, because it’s Stevie Wonder!” Elton raves, praising Watt for making “Stevie sound like a 17-year-old again.”

“I’m so proud of this record because I love [Stevie] so much,” Elton rhapsodizes. “He’s always been so kind to me and so sweet to me, you know, the talent is beyond ridiculous. And it was just lovely to spend time with him and just see this wonderful human being smiling and happy and playing on a record of mine.”

You can hear the whole episode of Elton John’s Rocket Hour on Apple Music 1 on Saturday at noon ET.

Elton’s The Lockdown Sessions is coming out October 22.

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As promised, a newly created video for Billy Joel‘s beloved 1977 song from The Stranger, “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” has premiered on Billy’s YouTube channel. 

The animated clip brings to life the two main characters of the song, Brenda and Eddie, who meet at an Italian restaurant after years apart to reminisce about their lives.  The clip pretty much illustrates the lyrics exactly, as the former couple catch each other up on what they’re doing now, think about their days together as the king and queen of the prom, and recall their ill-fated marriage and subsequent divorce.

The fun part of the video, however, is spotting all the Billy Joel Easter eggs.  For example, the story unfolds comic book-style via the pages of a menu on the table of the restaurant, which is called Cacciatore’s — the name of a character in another Stranger song, “Movin’ Out.” The menu’s cover is decorated with a mask and a pair of boxing gloves, both motifs of The Stranger‘s artwork, which recur throughout the video. 

In another comic-strip panel, there are scenes of people outside a bar called “Zanzibar,” the name of a 1978 song by Billy.  When we see Brenda and Eddie’s “apartment with deep-pile carpets,” the walls are decorated with framed covers of Billy’s 1970s-era albums.

Also sprinkled in are scenes of Billy and his band performing live in various eras, and one shot shows a wall of posters advertising a gig at the “Coliseum” — a reference to Billy’s hometown venue, the now-defunct Nassau Coliseum.  As the song ends and the menu closes, it morphs into the cover of The Stranger.

The Stranger is included in the nine-LP box set Billy Joel — The Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1, due out on November 5.

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The Fisher-Price company has introduced a new set of collectible Rolling Stones figurines as part of its “Little People” series of kids’ toys.

The collection, which is priced at $19.99, features miniature versions of the band’s four main longtime members — singer Mick Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, and late drummer Charlie Watts. Each figure stands over 2.5 inches tall.

The toys come packaged in a gift box resembling a concert stage and featuring The Rolling Stones’ iconic “tongue and lips” logo.

The set currently is available as an Amazon.com exclusive.

Other music stars who have been previously been immortalized as miniature toys as part of the “Little People” series include The Beatles, KISS, Elvis Presley and Run-DMC.

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Foo Fighters are releasing a new vinyl single featuring what they are calling “Re-Versions” of two tracks off the band’s new album, Medicine at Midnight.

The disc includes the previously released Mark Ronson mix of “Making a Fire,” as well as a new version of “Chasing Birds” recorded with the acclaimed New Orleans jazz outfit the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

You can pick up the single at your local independent record store on November 26 as part of the Record Store Day Black Friday event.

Other artists releasing exclusive vinyl for RSD Black Friday include Ozzy Osbourne, Aerosmith, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, U2 and Fleetwood Mac. For the full list of releases and participating stores, visit RecordStoreDay.com.

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Sting has released a new song and video from his upcoming album, The Bridge.  Called “Rushing Water,” the tune is the album’s opening track, one Sting says “is a fitting start to an album that seeks to bridge all of the petty differences that can separate us.”

“Rushing Water” follows the previous released advance track from The Bridge, “If It’s Love.”

Meanwhile, Sting premiered a new weekly web TV show, On the Bridge, on Tuesday.  It features an intimate look at the rocker’s life as he gears up for the November 19 release of the album.  There will be a new episode posted on Sting.com every Tuesday at 9 a.m. ET, where it will be exclusive to fan club members for 24 hours, and then be made available to everyone on Wednesdays at 9 a.m. ET.

Sting, who turns 70 on Saturday, will kick off his Las Vegas residency, My Songs, on October 29 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

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Did you know the “P” in RHCP stands for Platinum?

Well, maybe not, but it might as well after the Red Hot Chili Peppers earned a whole bunch of new RIAA certifications this week.

Songs including “Dark Necessities,” “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie” and “Tell Me Baby” are now all officially Platinum singles. Additionally, the tracks “Scar Tissue,” “Dani California,” “Californication,” “Snow (Hey Oh),” “Otherside” and “Can’t Stop” extend their multi-Platinum totals.

A few RHCP albums also got in on the fun: Californication and Stadium Arcadium are now seven and four-times Platinum, respectively, while the most recent Peppers record, 2016’s The Getaway, has been certified Gold.

The new RIAA distinctions come amid an eventful week for the Peppers. Last Friday, they announced plans for a 2022 world tour, marking their first full outing since longtime guitarist John Frusciante rejoined the band at the end of 2019. The news arrived on the 30th anniversary of RHCP’s hit 1991 album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

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AC/DC‘s new “Through the Mists of Time” video certainly lives up to its name.

The clip opens up on an ancient Greek, Parthenon-type building filled with legendary paintings such as the Mona Lisa. Being that this is a rock video for one of the hardest rocking bands on the planet, the museum is filled with amps that shoot electricity through Leonardo da Vinci‘s masterpiece.

Towards the middle, the video transitions into a history of AC/DC themselves, showcasing all sorts of archival photos and videos. There’s a particular focus on late members Malcolm Young and Bon Scott, who passed away in 2017 and 1980, respectively.

The video ends with a Sistine Chapel-esque painting of AC/DC rocking out on the ceiling.

You can watch the “Through the Mists of Time” video streaming now on YouTube.

”Through the Mists of Time” appears on AC/DC’s comeback album Power Up, which was released last November. It reunites the surviving members of the band’s classic Back in Black lineup, and is dedicated to Malcolm.

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The Rolling Stones have released a second advance track from the upcoming expanded 40th anniversary reissue of the band’s hit 1981 album, Tattoo You: a cover of the 1970 Chi-Lites song “Troubles A’ Comin.”

The soulful tune is one of nine previously unreleased tracks that will appear on the Lost & Found: Rarities bonus disc of the deluxe collection, which is due out on October 22. The Stones’ rendition of “Troubles A’ Comin” was recorded in Paris in 1979.

The track is available now via digital formats, and a companion lyric video for the tune has debuted at The Rolling Stones’ official YouTube channel.

The clip features animated graphic elements from the Tattoo You cover and other associated artwork, as well as photos of the band members from that period.

The Rolling Stones performed “Troubles A’ Comin” at the private tour warmup show they played at Massachusetts’ Gillette Stadium on September 22, and the song likely will be included in some sets during the trek.

The first advance track released from the Tattoo You reissue was a previously unheard original sing called “Living in the Heart of Love” that also will be part of the Lost & Found: Rarities disc.

You can pre-order the Tattoo You reissue now.

Meanwhile, after launching the 2021 U.S. leg of their No Filter Tour in St. Louis on Sunday, The Stones are scheduled to play the second show of the outing tonight in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Judas Priest‘s Richie Faulkner is “stable and resting” after undergoing emergency heart surgery.

The update comes from his partner, Mariah Lynch, who took to Instagram on Tuesday to say, “Thank you to everyone for all your messages.”

Alongside a photo of the couple with their one-year-old daughter, Daisy Mae, Lynch wrote, “Richie underwent major emergency heart surgery. He is stable & resting. If you know him, you know how tough & strong he is. So tough that he finished the show & kept the hair flips coming.”

Lynch added, “There’s no one like him. We’d be lost without him #HotDad.”

Priest frontman Rob Halford also took to social media to spread the “good news.” Sharing a photo of the guitarist, he wrote, “Good news metal maniacs as you may have seen via Ritchies beautiful @mariahklynch our Falcon is stable and resting after undergoing extensive heart surgery.”

The health update comes just one day after the band announced they were postponing their tour due to Faulkner’s health.  

“It is with deep regret that we have to postpone the rest of our U.S. tour,” Judas Priest said. “Richie Faulkner has major medical heart condition issues which have landed him in the hospital where he is being treated. In the meantime, we are all sending love to our Falcon to wish him a speedy recovery… As soon as we have any updates from the doctors on when we can reschedule the dates, we will of course announce them.”

 

 

 

 

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