Classic Rock News

The Who‘s Pete Townshend has produced and plays guitar on a new single by the contemporary British rock band The Wild Things called “Only Attraction” that was released on Friday.

The song is available now as via streaming services. According to a post on The Wild Things’ official website, the band has been working with Townshend on a number of tracks for its forthcoming second studio album. The group is led by actress/singer Sydney Rae White, who has appeared in the BBC comedy series Uncle and the 2017 action film American Assassin.

In other Who-related news, Townshend recent posted a series of video clips on his Instagram page in which he discusses plans for a 50th anniversary reissue focusing on his band’s classic 1971 album Who’s Next and on the expansive abandoned Lifehouse sci-fi rock opera for which the songs from Who’s Next originally had been intended.

In one of the videos, which were shot at his studio, Townshend reveals that he’d been checking out some old demos for the “Who’s Next/Lifehouse reissue,” which will be released in 2022.

Pete also says he’s trying to recover a rare outtake from the project titled “Ambition.”

In the final clip, Townshend explains, “So you see, it’s not just Who’s Next were talking about here, but Lifehouse,” then notes that the 50th anniversary reissue should have been released this year because Who’s Next came out in 1971.

He adds, “We missed the boat, and you can blame COVID.”

 

 

 

 

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Queen‘s Brian May is the latest musician to test positive for COVID-19.

Displaying a positive result on a home COVID test, the 74-year-old guitarist wrote on Instagram, “Yep. The shocking day finally came for me. The dreaded double red line. And yes – definitely NO sympathy please – it has been a truly horrible few days, but I’m OK. And I will tell the tale.”

“PLEASE take extra care out there, good folks,” he added. “This thing is incredibly transmissible. You really do NOT want it messing up YOUR Christmas.”

Over the past few weeks, various pop and rock musicians, from Bryan Adams to singer/rapper Lil Nas X, have revealed positive COVID tests.  May’s test comes as the omicron variant sweeps through his native U.K.: In London alone, there have been 65,525 new confirmed cases in the past week, and more than 26,000 in the past 24 hours alone.

Earlier in the year, May spoke out against anti-vaxxers, saying, “There’s plenty of evidence to show that vaccination helps. On the whole they’ve been very safe. There’s always going to be some side effect in any drug you take, but to go around saying vaccines are a plot to kill you, I’m sorry, that goes in the fruitcake jar for me.”

 

 

 

 

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As previously reported, Elton John and Ed Sheeran have reworked their holiday hit “Merry Christmas” into a new song called “Sausage Rolls for Everyone” — a charity collaboration with the British couple who call themselves LadBaby. Now, all four of them are starring in a new music video for the song, which has them dressing as sausage rolls, eating sausage rolls and singing about sausage rolls, all in an attempt to raise money for the hungry.

In the clip, the male half of LadBaby, Mark Hoyle, smuggles Elton and Ed into the recording studio dressed as giant sausage rolls. They start the song, with Ed playing a guitar decorated like a sausage roll. Mark, his wife and musical partner Roxanne and Ed are sporting Santa hats and Elton-style glasses, while we see Elton behind the mic chomping away on a sausage roll.

The whole project — the song and the video — raises money for The Trussell Trust, a charity that supports food banks throughout the U.K. and works to end hunger.

“Every pound for this song goes to helping the people along/Sausage rolls for everyone,” they sing. At the end, Elton says, “I haven’t had a sausage roll for years!”

Now, “Sausage Rolls for Everyone” will be directly competing with Ed and Elton’s original version of “Merry Christmas” for the coveted title of the U.K.’s Christmas Number One — the song that will be on top of the chart on Christmas.  The winner will be revealed December 24.

If the LadBaby track wins, they’ll be the first act ever to score four Christmas number ones in a row.  Their three previous songs were also charity singles with funny lyrics about sausage rolls, set to the music of pre-existing hits like “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “I Love Rock ‘n Roll.”

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When Stevie Nicks canceled all of her scheduled 2021 performances a few months back over concerns about COVID-19, one of the shows was a headlining appearance at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass festival. Well, the Fleetwood Mac singer has now been announced as one of the headliners for next year’s edition of the Colorado fest, making it her first confirmed concert of 2022.

Nicks is one of three headliners announced for Jazz Aspen Snowmass’ 2022 Labor Day Experience, set for September 2-4 in Snowmass, Colorado.  The other two headliners are country star Chris Stapleton and R&B singer Leon Bridges.

Early bird three-day passes will go on sale starting Monday, December 20, at 10 a.m. MT. In addition to general admission passes, you can buy Deck Passes, which entitle you to complimentary grille food, as well as access to a private bar and restrooms.

The Labor Day Experience was reinstated last year following a COVID-19 pandemic-related cancellation in 2020. As of now, Jazz Aspen Snowmass plans to require attendees show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination, or a negative test result taken within 72 hours.

Jazz Aspen Snowmass is a non-profit organization founded in 1991 that aims to “present and preserve jazz and related forms of music through world-class events, performances and education programs,” according to its website.

Meanwhile, Nicks is featured on a track called “Stolen Car” on Elton John‘s new collaborative album, The Lockdown Sessions, which debuted at #10 on the Billboard 200 chart.

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Legendary British Invasion band The Dave Clark Five‘s 1964 debut U.S. album Glad All Over was reissued today as a limited-edition white vinyl LP.

This marks the first time Glad All Over has been available on vinyl since 1964.

The album reached #3 on the Billboard 200 chart, and yielded three hit singles — the title track, “Bits and Pieces” and “Do You Love Me,” which peaked at #6, #4 and #11, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. The song “Glad All Over” also was a #1 hit in the U.K.

In 1965, the Glad All Over album was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies in the U.S.

The reissue was remastered at London’s Abbey Road Studios by band leader and drummer Dave Clark himself.

The Dave Clark Five went on to score six more top-10 hits during the 1960s — “Can’t You See That She’s Mine,” “Because,” “I Like It Like That, “Catch Us If You Can,” “You Got What It Takes” and the chart-topping “Over and Over. The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

Here’s the full Glad All Over track list:

Side A
“Glad All Over”
“All of the Time”
“Crying Over You”
“Stay”
“Chaquita”
“Do You Love Me”

Side B
“Bits and Pieces”
“I Know You”
“3406”
“Time”
“Who Do You Think You’re Talking To”

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Cinderella front man Tom Keifer‘s solo band is teaming up with two other glam-metal groups that also emerged during the 1980s — L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat — for a 2022 trek dubbed the Sonic Slam Tour.

The outing kicks off on June 1 in Liverpool, New York, and currently is mapped out through a July 16 performance at the Picktown Palooza event in Pickerington, Ohio, with more shows expected to be added in the coming weeks.

“#keiferband is amped for the ‘Sonic Slam’ 2022 tour with our friends L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat!” Tom declares. “Get ready for a 100% live, raucous, loud & slammin’ rock show. Looking forward to seeing everyone in 2022.”

Adds L.A. Guns frontman Tracii Guns, “I’m excited [my band] will be heading out on the road with Tom Keifer. We are really looking forward to touring again.”

Faster Pussycat singer Taime Downe also pipes in, saying, “Faster Pussycat has toured with Tom’s band and L.A. Guns before, but never all of us together. The shows were always amazing, and you can expect the same this summer. There’s going to be three decades of friendship and great music all under one roof.”

Before the Sonic Slam trek, the Tom Keifer Band will be headlining the M3 Rock Festival on May 7 in Columbia, Maryland. Visit TomKeifer.com to check out the group’s full schedule. The Keifer Band’s most recent album, Rise, was released in 2019.

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Eric Clapton is planning a little holiday gift for fans, announcing plans to release a new song called “Heart of a Child” next Friday…Christmas Eve.

The digital track can be pre-saved and pre-added now.

Interestingly, Clapton co-wrote the song with Robin Monotti, an Italian film producer and architect who identifies as a pro-vaccine-safety advocate, and who apparently espouses similar anti-lockdown views to Eric.

“Heart of a Child” was co-produced by Clapton and his longtime studio collaborator Simon Climie. Musicians joining Eric on the track include Sonny Emory on drums, Nathan East on bass, Dirk Powell on mandolin, Daniel Santiago and Pedro Martins on guitar, Climie on keyboards and percussion, and Sharon White and Katie Kissoon on backing vocals.

Strings on the track were arranged and conducted by Nick Ingman, and the strings were led by violinist Everton Nelson. Ingman also arranged and conducted strings on Clapton’s recent single “This Has Gotta Stop.”

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Performances by Rod Stewart, Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, Neil Young, Lindsey Buckingham and a variety of other artists will be featured on the 2021 edition of Nordoff Robbins charity’s The Stars Come Out to Sing at Christmas concert special that will stream online for free this Sunday, December 19, at 2 p.m. ET.

The event will be hosted by Nile Rodgers of Chic, and also will feature performances by Rodgers and his band, Eurythmics member Dave Stewart, Tony Bennett, Shakira, Robbie Williams and many more.

Plant will be featured singing with his current band project Saving Grace, while Daltrey will team up with former Jam front man Paul Weller. Some of the performers also appeared on last year’s inaugural edition of The Stars Come Out to Sing at Christmas.

The 2021 presentation also will include footage of the Nordoff Robbins benefit holiday concert that took place Tuesday at St. Luke’s Church in London. The show was headlined by Rod Stewart, and featured a variety of other performers, as well as readings from actors Alice Eve and Clarke Peters.

The free program will be viewable at carols.nordoff-robbins.org.uk. Viewers are encouraged to make a donation to Nordoff Robbins, a U.K. music-therapy charity that focuses on helping people with physical disabilities and mental-health issues.

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Phil Chen, a Jamaican-born session bassist whose long list of credits include recordings with Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck and members of The Doors, died on Tuesday, December 14, after “a long battle with cancer” at age 75.

Chen’s passing was announced on his official Facebook page in a message that reads, “He spent his final days surrounded by family and close friends and cherished time with his grandchildren who always brightened his day. He will be missed greatly and his contagious passion for music and positive energy on and off the stage will be remembered always.”

Phil played on Beck’s acclaimed 1975 album Blow by Blow, and on three albums by Stewart during the late 1970s and 1980. He also was a member of Robby Krieger and John Densmore‘s post-Doors project The Butts Band, and later joined Krieger and Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek in some of their post-Doors groups.

Krieger recently told ABC Audio that he’d been working with Chen on a new reggae-flavored instrumental album featuring various cover tunes.

Regarding the project, Robby said, “[Phil’s] been down with mesothelioma lately, so we wanted to do something that would make him happy.”

Krieger posted a tribute message about Chen on his Facebook page that reads, “Aside from his extraordinary musical talent, Phil was an incredible human being who would do anything for a friend and always brought a smile to whatever situation he was in.”

Among the many other artists with whom Chen collaborated are Donovan, Pete Townshend, Jackson Browne, John Fogerty, Eurythmics and Queen‘s Roger Taylor.

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Metallica received a special honor in their hometown of San Francisco Thursday.

In honor of the metal legends’ upcoming 40th anniversary concerts at S.F.’s Chase Center, Mayor London Breed declared December 16, 2021, to be “Metallica Day.”

Metallica shared the news in a tweet featuring a photo of drummer Lars Ulrich and bassist Robert Trujillo receiving the proclamation from Mayor Breed. They also posted a photo of a letter sent to them by California Governor Gavin Newsom thanking Metallica for “their contributions to our Golden State and for representing the best California has to offer.”

“Thank you so much to Mayor @LondonBreed for hosting us this afternoon…and for the in[c]redible honor of this proclamation,” Metallica wrote. “Contributing to San Francisco in our small way means the world to us.”

Metallica’s 40th anniversary concerts take place December 17 and 19. You can watch them live streaming for free via Amazon Music, Amazon Music’s Twitch channel and Amazon Prime Video.

Thank you so much to Mayor @LondonBreed for hosting us this afternoon @ChaseCenter and for the inredible honor of this proclamation. Contributing to San Francisco in our small way means the world to us. @sfgov @apeconcerts #Metallica40 pic.twitter.com/wMvgmZ1Ybm

— Metallica (@Metallica) December 16, 2021

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