Classic Rock News

Former Journey frontman Steve Perry has donated a favorite classic car he owns to an auction to raise money for a charity affiliated with his hometown-area baseball team, the San Francisco Giants.

Perry’s silver 1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SL convertible is up for bid via Capital City Auto Auction, and the money raised by the sale will benefit the Giants Community Fund’s Junior Giants program.

The initiative provides free baseball and softball programs for over 20,000 children and teens in under-sourced communities. Junior Giants also works with local agencies, families and volunteers on various other community projects in the areas of education, health and violence prevention.

Perry’s car is painted silver with black leather interior. When he was in Journey, Steve used to drive the Mercedes to writing, recording and rehearsal sessions, and he has written many songs during his rides.

Along with the car, the top bidder will receive a custom-made red tuxedo jacket that Perry wore at many concert performances, and an autographed copy of his upcoming holiday album, The Season.

Proxy bidding for the vehicle is open now, and a live online auction will be held on Thursday, September 23, starting at 9 a.m. PT. As of Friday, the bidding stood at $27,050.

For more details, visit CapitalCityAutoAuction.com.

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When he’s not collaborating with seemingly every artist under the sun, Elton John is speaking out various topical issues, and one of them in particular really has him riled up.

Elton has been complaining for months that since “Brexit” — when the U.K. left the European Union — touring in Europe is now extremely difficult for British musicians, because they have to get special permits and visas, which are very costly.  Elton has taken part in hearings on the issue, but now, he’s decided to go straight to the top.

In the new episode of his Rocket Hour Apple Music show, Elton says he’s requested a meeting with British prime minister Boris Johnson, but admits, “I’ve yet to hear back from him.”

“I’m on the warpath to try to get this sorted out,” Elton declares. “What has happened is that it’s impossible for young artists financially to pay for visas, negotiate their way through all of the red tape that’s necessary for going to Europe. It’s financially impossible for them to do so.”

Recalling how important is was to him personally to get to perform in Germany at age 17, Elton says, “It’s so imperative for young artists to have that opportunity to do that. It makes them grow as songwriters, as artists, and as human beings. And it’s their right to be able to tour wherever they want to…so, at the moment they can’t, but we’re going to try and fix it.”

The legendary star continues, “I’m going to fight for this, and we’re going to continue to try and fight for this because it’s a desperate thing that’s holding young artists back,” adding, “It breaks my heart that these people are being held back by these ridiculous Brexit rules.”

The full episode will stream Saturday on Apple Music 1.

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NHC, which stands for Navarro Hawkins Cheney — the new group made up of Jane’s Addiction members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins — will perform on the second weekend of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder‘s Ohana Festival, on October 2.  But now you can get a preview of what they’ll be playing.

The new trio has released two new songs: The rocking “Feed the Cruel” and the more melodic and mellow “Better Move On.” You can also see the band in action in a black-and-white performance clip for “Feed the Cruel,” now streaming on YouTube.

All three musicians have a long history together.  Hawkins and Chaney once played together in Alanis Morissette‘s backing band, and Chaney later joined Jane’s Addiction with Navarro. The three also played together under the name Ground Control this past January on the David Bowie tribute livestream A Bowie Celebration: Just for One Day! Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor joined them then on vocals.

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This year marks the 45th anniversary of the release of KISS‘ classic fourth studio album, Destroyer.  To commemorate the milestone, the costumed rock legends will reissue the record on November 19 in multiple configurations, including a Super Deluxe box set featuring four CDs, a Blu-ray audio disc, a bevy of collectible items, and a 68-page hardcover book.

The first CD features a remastered version of the original album. Disc two boasts demos that Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons made of songs from the Destroyer era. The third CD includes various outtakes, alternate versions, single edits and more, most of which are previously unreleased. Disc four features an unreleased concert that KISS played at Paris’ L’Olympia theater in May 1976.

The Blu-ray offers up Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround mixes of Destroyer, created by lauded studio whiz Steven Wilson, plus two bonus tracks.

The box set’s memorabilia include a replica KISS Army newsletter, plus posters, photos, an iron-on, stickers, trading cards, flyers, a replica Destroyer tour program and more.

Released in March 1976, Destroyer peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200, and became KISS’ most successful studio album, selling over two million copies. It features “Beth,” the band’s highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100.  The ballad, which was sung and co-written by drummer Peter Criss, peaked at #7. The album also includes the top-40 hit “Shout It Out Loud” and such other enduring songs as “Detroit Rock City,” “King of the Night Time World” and “God of Thunder.”

The Destroyer reissue, which you can pre-order now, also is available as a two-set set, as a double-LP package pressed on black or limited-edition colored vinyl, digitally, and via streaming.

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Ozzy Osbourne‘s birthday is December 3, but he’s the one giving fans a present.

On that day, Ozzy is releasing a 10-inch black vinyl single featuring three tracks: Ozzy’s song “Hellraiser;” a mash-up duet of Ozzy’s vocals amd those of the late Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, who co-wrote the song; and Motorhead’s own version of “Hellraiser.”

The duet version is also available on the digital 30th anniversary release of Ozzy’s No More Tears, which as previously reported is out today. The original version of “Hellraiser” appeared on No More Tears; Motörhead then recorded it and released it on their 1992 album, March ör Die.

Ozzy co-wrote four songs in all for No More Tears with Lemmy; in addition to “Hellraiser,” they include  “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” “Desire,” and “I Don’t Want to Change the World.”

You can pre-order the vinyl now.

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In August, it was announced that John Mellencamp would be serving as a guest programmer on Turner Classic Movies this month, and now details have been revealed about the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s programming contributions to the network.

Mellencamp has curated two special nights of films that will be shown on TCM — airing tonight, September 17, and Friday, September 24. The heartland rocker will appear alongside TCM host Ben Mankiewicz to introduce the movies, which are some of his favorites.

For tonight, Mellencamp has chosen Tortilla Flat, Cool Hand Luke and The Misfits, and his picks for September 24 are The Fugitive Kind, On the Waterfront and East of Eden.

Back in July, the 69-year-old singer/songwriter lent his voice to a Turner Classic Movies interstitial segment called “From Hollywood to the Heartland” that looked at how small towns were portrayed in select vintage movies and featured him reflecting on his own experience growing in a small Indiana town.

Also, on August 27, Mellencamp’s new documentary The Good Samaritan Tour 2000 got its premiere on TCM’s YouTube channel, and you can still watch it on the website.

As previously reported, the film focuses on John’s 2000 trek of the same name, which featured a series of free, unannounced acoustic concerts held at public parks and on street corners in select major cities in the Midwest and on the East Coast.

The doc is narrated by Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, and includes special contributions from Nora Guthrie, daughter of late folk legend Woody Guthrie.

A companion live album also was released the same day.

Meanwhile, Mellencamp is working with Turner Classic Movies on various other projects, including sponsoring his next tour.

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There may have been No More Tears on Ozzy Osbourne‘s 1991 solo album of the same name, but, according to Zakk Wylde, there were plenty of “shenanigans.”

Speaking with ABC Audio, Wylde recalls having a “blast” recording the quadruple-platinum record, which turns 30 today.

“The whole thing, recording it and drinking and the whole shenanigans that went on making that record were just hilarious, man,” Wylde shares.

No More Tears marked Osbourne’s second solo studio effort featuring the future Black Label Society frontman on guitar, following 1988’s No Rest for the Wicked. For round two, Wylde remembers feeling much more “relaxed.”

“The first album was, like, [a] ‘let’s see what you got’ kinda thing,” Wylde explains.

Wylde also felt more comfortable to explore some of his own personal influences on No More Tears, bringing in some of the Southern-rock twang from artists like The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. You can definitely hear that in the intro for the single “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” which would become Ozzy’s biggest solo hit.

“Originally, me and Ozz had did it on a piano at my apartment at the time in North Hollywood,” Wylde says of “Mama.” “Ozz was over there, and then he had that melody…and he was singing that, and we ended up doing it on the piano. Then when we got in the studio is when I transposed it to guitar and put it on a 12-string.”

He adds, “When the album was done, when we listened to ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home,’ I was, like, ‘Man, this came out really good.'”

A 30th anniversary reissue of No More Tears is out today.

Wylde, meanwhile, is releasing a new Black Label Society album, Doom Crew Inc., on November 26.

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Snooze you lose: Metallica fans in San Francisco who weren’t paying attention to the band’s social media yesterday missed out on the opportunity to see the metal giants rock their hometown at a tiny venue, for 20 bucks.

The group announced the surprise show at the San Francisco Venue The Independent on Thursday: It required proof of vaccination, as per a mandate by the city.  The show sold out in 30 minutes, but there is footage posted on the band’s Instagram Stories and, frankly, all over YouTube if you want to see what you missed.

The wristbands for the show noted that it had been 738 days since Metallica’s last concert. The last time Metallica played its hometown was in 2019.

According to Setlist.FM, the band’s set list included “Whiplash,” “Ride the Lightning,” “Sad but True,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Creeping Death,” “One,” “Master of Puppets,” and “Seek & Destroy.”

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Thirty years ago today, September 17, Guns N’ Roses simultaneously released their third and fourth studio albums, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.

With the band riding high after the massive success of its 1987 debut, Appetite for Destruction, and its popular 1988 follow-up, G N’ R Lies, Use Your Illusion I and II debuted at #2 and #1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Former GN’R drummer Matt Sorum, who joined the group just as they were starting to record the albums, tells ABC Audio that most of the band initially thought they were going to make a single record featuring 12 or 13 songs.

“We ended up recording 34, I believe,” Sorum recalls. “When we did that…[frontman] Axl [Rose] was the one that came in and said, ‘Let’s put it all out. I want to release it all.’ And we’re like, ‘What?!'”

Sorum says it also was Rose’s idea for the two albums to have identical covers, with the only difference being the color schemes — Use Your Illusion I is red and yellow and II is blue and purple.

Use Your Illusion I features two top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, “Don’t Cry” and “November Rain,” which reached #3 and #10, respectively. Use Your Illusion II includes one Hot 100 hit, “You Could Be Mine,” which peaked at #29.

Each album features a well-known cover song — Paul McCartney & Wings‘ “Live and Let Die” and Bob Dylan‘s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” appear on I and II, respectively. GN’R’s version of “Live and Let Die” peaked at #33 on the Hot 100.

The albums both have gone on to be certified seven-times platinum by the RIAA for amassing seven million sales units.

Here’s the Use Your Illusion I track list:

“Right Next Door to Hell”
“Dust N’ Bones”
“Live and Let Die”
“Don’t Cry” (Original)
“Perfect Crime”
“You Ain’t the First”
“Bad Obsession”
“Back Off Bitch”
“Double Talkin’ Jive”
“November Rain”
“The Garden” — featuring Alice Cooper
“Garden of Eden”
“Don’t Damn Me”
“Bad Apples”
“Dead Horse”
“Coma”

And here’s the Use Your Illusion II track list:

“Civil War”
“14 Years”
“Yesterdays”
“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”
“Get in the Ring”
“Shotgun Blues”
“Breakdown”
“Pretty Tied Up” (“The Perils of Rock n’ Roll Decadence”)
“Locomotive” (“Complicity”)
“So Fine”
“Estranged”
“You Could Be Mine”
“Don’t Cry” (Alternate Lyrics)
“My World”

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A special Queen-themed pop-up store celebrating the band’s five-decade history will open later this month on London’s famed Carnaby Street.

The shop, called Queen The Greatest, will open its doors on Tuesday, September 28, and will close in January 2022. The store will feature variety of limited-edition music releases, apparel collaborations, lifestyle products, jewelry and more, with new items made available and special events scheduled each week.

The two-floor shop will feature areas reflecting different eras in Queen history, including ’70s thrift store, ’80s concert performances and tours, ’90s record store, 2000s DVD tribute and 2010s technological concepts.

The fashion collaborations include unisex T-shirts and sweatshirts from Champion, denim items from Wrangler, and silver and gold jewelry from U.K. jewelry designer Johnny Hoxton.

Proceeds from an exclusive Freddie Mercury T-shirt sold at the store will benefit the Mercury Phoenix Trust AIDS charity founded by Brian May, Roger Taylor and Queen manager Jim Beach.

After September, each upcoming month that the shop is open in 2021 will have a theme reflecting special merch that will go on sale. October is Music Month, November is Art & Design Month, and December is Magic Month.

During October, limited-edition music releases be available at the store, including an exclusive vinyl version of Queen’s Greatest Hits compilation, as well as both new and recent solo releases from May and Taylor.

In November, the shop will be selling special items from Japanese designer Tokolo and a teddy bear from Steiff, as well as offering a first look at an upcoming Queen pinball machine.

December will see the arrival of some magical Queen-themed Christmas items, including a Rubik’s Cube, holiday apparel, cards, wrapping paper and more.

Items from the store also will be available for purchase online.

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