PETER GABRIEL: Car+Scratch+Melt+Security=Vinyl
Peter Gabriel will re-release his first four albums on vinyl on October 2nd. The albums, which originally date from 1977 to 1982, have not been available in the format for more than a decade.
While the official title of each album is Peter Gabriel, each has a nickname. The first one is Car, named for the car he is sitting in on the cover. The second one is Scratch for the marks he is making on the cover. Melt is the nickname of the third album thanks to his melting face. And the fourth, Security, got its nickname from a sticker on the shrink-wrap to differentiate it from his previous releases.
Each reissue is limited to 10,000 individually numbered copies.
Gabriel is currently at work on a new album.
FARM AID: Turns 30 With Imagine Dragons, Kacey Musgraves, More
The 30th anniversary edition of Farm Aid will be held September 19th at the FirstMerit Bank Pavilion in Chicago.
Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews (with his acoustic partner, Tim Reynolds) are all on board as headliners. This year they will be joined by Jack Johnson, Imagine Dragons, Kacey Musgraves, Mavis Staples, Old Crow Medicine Show and more. Tickets go on sale Monday.
Since 1985, Farm Aid has raised more than $48 million to support the survival of family farms.
U2: "Beat" for First Time in 25 Years
At U2's sixth show at New York's Madison Square Garden last (Monday) night, the band dug out a song it hasn't played in 25 years.
T
he second song in the set was "Two Hearts Beat as One" from the 1983 album War. Bono introduced it by saying, "This is a song we haven't played in a quarter of a century." And he was correct: U2 last did it live on December 27th, 1989. And the previous performance of the song was April 29th, 1985, so they've only played it in concert twice in the past three decades.
U2 continues its eight-night run in New York on Thursday night.
SMASHING PUMPKINS: Radiohead Is Last Band to Innovate on Guitar
The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan calls Radiohead "probably the last band that really did anything new with the guitar."
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Corgan complains about how the current dominance of pop with younger audiences has left kids expecting a rock concert to be "like an MTV awards show or something: A lot of flash, a lot of bang, a lot of putting your hands in the air, a lot of declaring everything awesome."
He says that "no band in the past 15 years has come along and been able to figure out" how to "invoke a darker spirit on stage and conjure it right in front of you in a mass of power you can’t explain." He cites Royal Blood as a current band that's "trying to figure that power out," but feels even a successful band like Queens of the Stone Age is, like the Pumpkins, "coming from an earlier generation of power and an earlier language." He says most alternative rock music hasn't really evolved for 20 years.
He also updates the progress on the next Smashing Pumpkins album, which he says is "almost done. There’s probably six to eight weeks of work left until we finish." He says it probably won't actually come out until the beginning of next year.
LOLLAPALOOZA: What You Can See If You're Not There
Lollapalooza takes over Chicago this weekend -- and once again you can watch much of it at home.
Forty-eight of the 130 acts performing on the festival's eight stages in Grant Park are already on the list for live-streaming via Lollapalooza.com and RedBullTV, which is available through a variety of apps and cable systems. Among the artists you'll be able to see are Paul McCartney, Metallica, Florence and the Machine, Alt-J, Of Monsters and Men, Alabama Shakes and many more.
Friday's live-stream lineup includes McCartney, Alt-J, Alabama Shakes, Gary Clark Junior, MS MR, Borns, The War on Drugs, Cold War Kids, Saint Paul and the Broken Bones, Father John Misty and James Bay.
Saturday's live-streamed sets include Metallica, Walk the Moon, Death from Above 1979, Chet Faker, Zella Day and Delta Spirit.
Sunday closing day includes Florence and the Machine, Of Monsters and Men, TV on the Radio, Lord Huron and Marina and the Diamonds.
JOHN LENNON: Guitar With Amazing History to Be Auctioned
The guitar John Lennon used to record and write such Beatles classics as "Please, Please, Me," "From Me To You," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "All My Loving," and "This Boy" will go to auction in November. According to Collectible Guitar: Then and Now, John McCaw of San Diego, California has owned the Gibson J-160E with a Sunburst finish since 1969.
McCaw says he played that guitar for 45 years before finding out it was John's. He adds, "And ever since the guitar has had this wonderful aura around it, especially to the true believers and fans of Lennon and The Beatles... This is a very special guitar, and I believe it wants to be played again."
Its estimated value is between $600,000 and $800,000. Julien's begins taking bids November 6th.
IN OTHER NEWS
Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera has tapped Clash bassist Paul Simonon and Nigerian drum legend Tony Allen to be part of an ad hoc group of musicians from around the world that will perform at the annual La Notte della Taranta concert, held in Salento, Italy on August 22nd.
The Doors, Bonnie Raitt and Neil Young are back on the British airwaves, after a contractual impasse that kept them from BBC radio broadcasts was solved. Their music publisher, a company called Wixen Music UK, concluded a licensing deal with the MCPS, a British counterpart to BMI and ASCAP.
David Gilmour has added a warm-up show to his tour - September 5th at the Brighton Centre in Brighton, England. It comes a week before its September 12th start in Croatia and two weeks before the release of his new album, Rattle That Lock.
The crossword puzzle in this Thursday's Guardian newspaper (in England) will be based on Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits.
David Crosby may not be Neil Young's favorite person for negative comments Crosby made about Young's girlfriend, actress Daryl Hannah, but that hasn't stopped Young from selling Crosby's new album, CROZ, in the store for his Hi-Resolution Audio player, Pono.
