MGK: Music News

THE WHO: Back in Theaters

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:10:00 GMT

The Who documentary Quadrophenia - Can You See the Real Me? - The Story Behind the Album will premiere in close to 500 theaters on July 24th. Beginning with a special greeting from Pete Townshend, the film takes you behind the scenes of the band and their second concept album, released in October 1973. For theaters and tickets, log onto FathomEvents.com.

RUSH: Peart's Stepping Out

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:08:00 GMT

Rush drummer Neil Peart has stepped out from behind the kit to voice Clockwork Angels, the novel based on the new Rush album of the same name. It was written by Peart's friend, science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson. Anderson says, "For more than 20 years, Neil and I have wanted to collaborate on something major, a way we could tie together our imaginations, and at last that's happening. We worked together to flesh out the epic story told over the course of the music... In a young man's quest to follow his dreams, he is caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos. He travels across a lavish and colorful world of steam punk and alchemy, with lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life..." The chapters will have some of the lyrics incorporated into the narrative. It is scheduled to be published on September 1st.

RUSH: #2 A Second Time

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:07:00 GMT

Rush's Clockwork Angels has just checked in as the band's second career number-two album. It sold 103,000 copies last week, according to the latest SoundScan figures, placing just behind R&B singer Usher on the upcoming Billboard 200. Rush's other number-two album came in 1993 with Counterparts. They've never had a number-one album, but Clockwork Angels marks their 12th Top 10 appearance. The 103,000 copies sold is Rush's best sales week since 2002's Vapor Trails bowed at number-six with 110,000 copies.

ROBERT PLANT: Getting There

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:05:00 GMT

Robert Plant says he's two-thirds of the way done recording his next album, which features his new band, The Sensational Space Shifters. He's working in Nashville, and among those in the new lineup is singer Patty Griffin from his last outfit, Band of Joy. The two are also rumored to be an item. Plant will unveil the Shifters in London early next month and follow that with the headlining slot at Peter Gabriel's WOMAD festival, July 27th through the 29th in Malmesbury, England. Up next for Plant is the July 10th release on DVD and Blu-ray of Robert Plant and the Band of Joy: Live From the Artists Den. It was filmed at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville in 2011. The concert will also be a featured program as part of PBS's national pledge drive starting on July 26th.

HEART: Album and Book Release Dates Set

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:03:00 GMT

Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock and Roll goes on sale September 18th. Ann and Nancy Wilson's long-awaited memoir tracks the lives of the two sisters who defied the male-dominated world of rock and roll, and successfully fronted their own band for nearly 40 years. Their co-author is Seattle-based writer Charles R. Cross, who has written about Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain.
Fanatic, Heart's new 10-song album, drops October 2nd -- with the Wilson sisters drawing from their own lives and personal experiences as inspiration.

TODD RUNDGREN: On His Birthday

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 15:58:00 GMT

Todd Rundgren turns 64 today. He made his mark with such self-written gems as "Hello It's Me," "We Gotta Get You a Woman," "I Saw the Light" and "Bang on the Drum." Then he enhanced his reputation producing Grand Funk's We're an American Band and Shinin' On albums -- and really hit the jackpot as producer of Meat Loaf's legendary Bat Out of Hell. This summer, the Philadelphia product is in his third stint with Ringo Starr's All Starr Band.

Randy Bachman Says DVD Feedback Feels Like The 70's Again

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 15:54:00 GMT

Coming on June 26th is the DVD and Blu-ray edition of Bachman & Turner's live album Live At The Roseland Ballroom, NYC. Guitarist Randy Bachman and bassist Fred Turner, who were the architects of Bachman-Turner Overdrive's greatest songs, perform a total of 20 tracks featuring BTO's classic hits such as "Let It Ride," "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet," "Roll On Down The Highway," and "Takin' Care Of Business" -- along with Bachman dipping into his Guess Who catalogue with a particularly hot rendition of "American Woman."
Randy Bachman shed some light on how the Live At Roseland Ballroom project came about: "We got an offer to do a 3D 12-camera shoot for PBS, 'cause they're all going 3D in 2014. We picked the (Manhattan venue) Roseland. Paul Shaffer joined us for 'Shakin' All Over' and 'Takin' Care Of Business.' The live CD is the music track from that and we got to play our old hits and, I don't know, three or four selections from our Bachman-Turner album that we released last year. And everything is suddenly coming together really well. Wal-Mart placed a huge-antic substantial order on this -- y'know, like 30, 40,000 units and we were stunned. It's amazing. It's almost like the '70s are back!"

Three Rolling Stones Hitting The Stage This Month

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 15:49:00 GMT

The Rolling Stones' Ron Wood will be teaming up with two former Stones, Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor, for a special concert in London on June 30th. According to The London Evening Standard, half of the surviving Stones will take part in Bluesfest 2012: Ronnie Wood & Friends, The Chess Records Story set to play at London's HMV Hammersmith Apollo. Wyman and Wood last jammed together in December when Wyman sat in on a Stones rehearsal for the first time in 20 years.
On December 1st, 2010 Taylor, Wood, and the Stones' pre-fame bassist Dick Taylor performed at London's 100 Club as a fundraiser for the "Save The 100 Club" campaign to help keep the legendary club in business. That same year, Taylor teamed up with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to add overdubs to the unreleased material on the Exile On Main Street reissue. He remains on good terms with the Stones, and has frequently sat in Richards, Wood, and Wyman over the years.
Mick Taylor, who's currently working on his autobiography, recalled that back in the day, like any working band, the Stones were extremely tight -- both on and off the road: "That whole period was incredibly intense and creative for all of us because it was a new beginning for the band -- and they had signed a new contract with Atlantic Records and we had to, in theory, at least, we had to come up with at least six albums in six years. If we weren't hanging out together or recording, we were touring. I just remember most of the time we were either in the studio, or we were socializing together, or we were on the road."
Ron Wood says that over the years, each member has done their part to keep the Stones rolling when it seemed as though things might end: "Yeah, I think subconsciously, as well as consciously, we all have a huge percentage of 'let's save this institution,' yeah."
Bill Wyman told us a while back that his departure from the Stones 20 years ago hasn't effected his personal relationship with the band at all: "I loved my 31 years with the band, and I mean, I'm still great friends with the guys. I see them regularly. In fact, I've seen them all in the last two or three weeks at various events and had a good time with them, and all that, as I always do. We socialize quite a lot, especially Charlie (Watts). I see Mick (Jagger) quite a lot, and I see Keith (Richards) and Woody (Ron Wood) less, but, you know, when we get together we have a good laugh, so it's a nice atmosphere."

Classic Rock songs during Olympic Opening ceremonies

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 13:55:00 GMT

Here's a list of Classic Rock Songs that will be played at the Opening Ceremonies at this year's Olympics.

The Beatles - "She Loves You," "Hey Jude" & "The End"
Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody" & "Under Pressure"
The Who - "My Generation"
Rolling Stones - "Satisfaction"
The Kinks - "All Day and All of the Night"
Led Zeppelin - "Trampled Under Foot"
Eric Clapton - 'Wonderful Tonight'
Pink Floyd - "Eclipse"
David Bowie - "Starman," "Heroes" & "Absolute Beginners"
The Clash - "London Calling"

JOE WALSH SHEDS LIGHT ON JEFF LYNNE COLLABORATION

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 19:42:00 GMT

Joe Walsh is riding high with the success of his first solo album in 20 years, the critically acclaimed, Analog Man. The set, which debuted last week on the Billboard 200 at Number 12, features the unmistakable sounds of co-producer and ELO leader, Jeff Lynne.
Walsh explained how the Walsh-Lynne collaboration came to be in the first place: "I met Jeff through my wife, Marjorie -- Jeff's a dear old friend of hers, and so I met Jeff. And back in the day, ELO and the James Gang had played a couple of gigs together, but Jeff and I never really got a chance to hang out. We just met socially and that led to a 'show and tell.' He's in the middle of a project, and of course I had my unfinished album. So we played some of that for each other."
He explained that it was at Lynne's urging that the material on Analog Man came to be fully realized: "And then he said, 'Well, why don't you bring your tracks over to my house and we'll check 'em out -- and he decided to help. He just had suggestions. And I mean, he would hear a middle part, or it would be the middle of the song -- time to do somethin' and I just had the basic track, and he would hear stuff. He wanted to 'ELO it' (laughs)." )