Music News - WRNR Online

Taylor Swift Now Has A Touch of Alt-Rock Cred

Posted About Nine Years Ago

Beck, St.. Vincent Dream With Taylor Swift

Beck and St. Vincent gave Taylor Swift a taste of alt-rock cred at her show Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

The pair joined Swift to do Beck's "Dreams," which featured a lengthy guitar solo St. Vincent -- a.k.a Annie Clark.

ED SHEERAN: T-Shirts for Charity

Coldplay and Ed Sheeran have designed T-shirts for charity.

The shirts, on sale at H&M locations around the country on September 3rd, raise money for Global Citizen. If you purchase the shirt or donate gently used clothing to be recycled at any H&M location now through September 17th, you'll be entered to win tickets to the Global Citizen Festival September 26th at New York's Central Park. Coldplay and Sheeran are performing, along with Pearl Jam and Beyonce.

Global Citizen's aim is to fight extreme poverty and inequality around the world.

ROB ZOMBIE, INXS: It's Halloween, Now!

The folks behind the long-running Now! compilation series have announced its first Halloween-themed release.

Now! Halloween includes a mix of all sorts of genres, with Rob Zombie's "Dragula," INXS's "Devil Inside," Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" and Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" sharing space with John Carpenter's theme to Halloween, the "Monster Mash" and a cover of "Ghostbusters" by rappers Run-DMC. Now! Halloween will be out on September 11th.

NEIL YOUNG: All-Star Fest Announced

The folks who produce the annual Dylan Fest and Stones Fest are launching Neil Fest to pay tribute to Neil Young.

It'll take place September 13th and 14th at the Bowery Ballroom in New York, with proceeds going to the Sweet Relief Musician's Fund. Artists talking part include Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, Norah Jones, Ryan Adams, Jakob Dylan, Brian Fallon of Gaslight Anthem, Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ryan Miller of Guster and Nicole Atkins.

G. LOVE: All-Star Lineup on New Album

G. Love and Special Sauce have lined up an impressive roster of guests for their new album.

Loves Save the Day, due out October 30th, features David Hildago of Los Lobos playing guitar on three songs, Lucinda Williams singing on a cover of the old Leadbelly tune “New York City,” Citizen Cope co-writing and appearing on the track called “Muse,” and Ozomatli performing on two songs.

G. Love and Special Sauce will kick off a fall tour on September 3rd in Greensboro, North Carolina.

THE WHO: Coming to Theaters

The Who's show this past June at Hyde Park in London is coming to the big screen.

The Who: Live in Hyde Park will start being shown in theaters around the world on October 7th. In addition to the concert, the film includes interviews with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, along with Iggy Pop, Robert Plant and others.

The Who start the second North American leg of their 50th anniversary tour on September 14th in San Diego.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Governor Christie Gushes Over Born to Run

The 40th anniversary yesterday (Tuesday) of the release of Bruce Springsteen's 1975 album Born to Run was not lost on New Jersey Governor and Presidential candidate Chris Christie.

The big Springsteen fan -- no pun intended -- posted his love of the album on Twitter, saying it is "the most powerful rock album of my lifetime," and adding that "Bruce wrote of the people and places that I knew. He wrote about our hopes and frustrations."

Christie was 12 when the 26-year-old Springsteen released the album...

VAN MORRISON: Catalog Upgrade in the Works

The Van Morrison catalog is about to get a huge overhaul.

Legacy Recordings has picked up the rights to all of his solo albums from 1971 to 2009, and will reissue 33 of them digitally on Friday. Many of these albums have been out-of-print for some time. They'll also be placed on streaming services for the first time. Also due out on Friday is Essential Van Morrison, a 37-track career-spanning anthology that will be available digitally and as a two-CD set.

The label has also secured the two studio albums and two compilations from Morrison's band Them. Those will be reissued in the fall. Also in the works is a new single-disc compilation of his best material, as well as deluxe editions of 1972's Saint Dominic's Preview, 1973's Hard Nose the Highway, the 1974 double live album It's Too Late to Stop Now and 1990's Enlightenment.

The only albums not covered by the deal are Morrison's first four solo albums -- 1967's Blowin' Your Mind, 1968's Astral Weeks, and Moondance and His Band and the Street Choir, which were both released in 1970.

U2: New Old Live Tunes

U2 has a new live album, but it's not being sold through the normal channels. Or even given away on iTunes. Another Time, Another Place, recorded at London’s Marquee Club in 1980, is being offered only to those who pay for a subscription to U2.com.

The double 10-inch vinyl release contains 10 songs, including "11 O’Clock Tick Tock," "I Will Follow," "The Electric Co." and "Out of Control." It also contains a reminiscence from Bono about the band's shows at the legendary club. He says, "The first Monday it was half full, the second Monday nearly full, the third Monday they had to turn people away, the fourth Monday, there were lines round the block, across the road. Wardour Street looked like an A-bomb had landed on it – we thought of it as 'The Irish Invasion.' It’s incredible what a few hundred people believing in you does for your self-confidence."

LENNY KRAVITZ: See His...Hits

Lenny Kravitz will try to turn the attention back to the music he makes on stage with the October 23rd release of Let It Go, a live DVD, Blu-ray and digital download.

Shot during the European leg of his tour behind his latest album, Strut, the collection features such hits as "Fly Away," "Are You Gonna Go My Way," "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" and "American Woman." The 12 songs are augmented by another six bonus cuts. Interviews, rehearsals and other behind-the-scenes footage are cut between the songs. (Billboard)

BOB DYLAN: Another Lyric Goes to Auction

An early draft of Bob Dylan's lyrics for "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is headed to auction -- and could fetch more than $300,000.

Dated "1962," the typewritten page contains numerous scribbled revisions and scratches-out. Dylan recorded the song in December 1962 and released it on his second album, Freewheelin', in May 1963.

In the draft, the refrain is "It's a hard rain must fall," which was altered on the recording to "It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall."

In 2014, Dylan's handwritten lyrics for "Like a Rolling Stone" sold for more than $2 million at Sotheby's.

Sotheby's in London will conduct the "Hard Rain" sale on September 29th. (Reuters)

PEARL JAM: Touring = Skateparks

Jeff Ament says that Pearl Jam will likely start work on a new album next year.

A new album means more touring for the band, and Ament tells Vice that being on the road helps his other passion -- building skateparks. Ament explains, "The way I look at it is if I’m touring and doing more things with the band, I make more money. If I make more money, I build more parks. It helps me get more excited about touring because I’m usually not too excited about it.”

Pearl Jam's last album was 2013's Lightning Bolt.

IN OTHER NEWS...

Third Eye Blind has released a new video inspired by the 40th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Directed by and starring frontman Stephan Jenkins, the not-safe-for-work clip for “Get Me Out of Here,” from their latest album, Dopamine, can be viewed on Vevo.

Carlos Santana is among the entertainers profiled in the HBO documentary The Latin Explosion: A New America, which debuts November 16th.

Garbage recently tweeted that they’ve just about completed recording a new album.

The Velvet Underground classic Loaded will be re-issued in a six-CD 45th Anniversary Edition that will include stereo and mono re-masters; demos, early versions and alternate mixes from that era; their Live at Max's Kansas City remastered and a previously unreleased 1970 Philadelphia concert; two high-resolution mixes; plus a surround-sound mix in DTS and Dolby Digital.

Paul Simon's Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Exhibit Is Coming To Baltimore

Posted About Nine Years Ago by Mike Ondayko 103.1 WRNR

PAUL SIMON: New Home for Rock Hall Exhibit

Words and Music will become a traveling exhibit whose next stop will be in Baltimore beginning October 11th.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Paul Simon exhibit will soon hit the road.

After it ends an 11-month run on September 7th in Cleveland, it will re-locate to the Jewish Museum of Maryland in Baltimore, as the first stop on a nationwide tour.

Paul Simon: Words and Music will open on October 11th and run through January 18th, 2016 -- as one of several programs on noted Jewish American songwriters, also including Bob Dylan, the late Theodore Bikel and religious composer Debbie Friedman.

BOB DYLAN & JIMMY BUFFETT: A Tale of a Bed and Toilets

Fans raise money to buy Dylan a bed while Parrotheads leave behind portable toilets at Boston-area concert.

It's not known why, but Bob Dylan has himself a new bed if he wants it.

A few fans got together and decided he needed one, so they started a Go Fund Me campaign. And with the help of 156 folks who obviously felt the same way, they raised $1555 to buy Dylan a Sleep Number adjustable bed. A post on the page reads, "His songs have redefined genres and given voice to generations, and he has continued to crank out tune after awesome tune well into his winter years. If you have ever listened to any of Bob's music, you owe it to him to donate to this wonderful cause. Let's show him that he is not forgotten, but rather loved and feared."

The goal was to raise $1360,so with the extra $195, they also tossed in a "beautiful Bob Dylan duvet cover." That, along with the gift certificate for the bed, was sent to his label, Columbia Records in New York.

And the donors also got something. If you ponied up $40, you'll received a "drawing of what Bob Dylan might look like in the bed." For $100 you receive a phone call in which someone will whisper the entire Dylan discography to you. And for $500, you become the proud owner of the Twitter account @BobDylan4990.

No word if Bob needs a new toilet, but if he does, perhaps Jimmy Buffett can direct him to the right people. Police in Mansfield, Massachusetts, where Buffett performed on Saturday, say that Parrotheads left behind seven to 10 homemade portable potties in the parking lot, despite warnings not to. What is a homemade portable pottie? It's usually a five-gallon bucket with its rim lined with a foam pool noodle for a seat, placed inside a tent.

STEVIE WONDER: More Than Musial Memories in New York Show

Along with performing eight songs, he commented on several topical issues.

Stevie Wonder capped his Monday tripleheader of mini-concerts with a nighttime show in New York. His Central Park performance was more than just an exercise in nostalgia. Stevie was very much in the moment.

Along with spoofing popular rapper Kendrick Lamar, he turned topical discussing gun control, police brutality and the underprivileged. He also hinted that he might release new music before the end of the year.

Later, chatting backstage with reporters, Stevie got serious on such topics as judicial reform -- especially as it relates to sentences for selling marijuana -- and racially motivated killings. (Billboard)

DAVE CHAPPELLE: Announces Tour Dates

The funnyman will hit the road for the first time in years with a string of dates starting next month.

Dave Chappelle’s comeback continues.

After returning to comedy with a surprise appearance at last year’s Oddball Festival and residencies at New York City's Radio City Music Hall and Gramercy Theater, the funnyman is getting ready to take the show on the road.

Chappelle will visit 12 cities across the U.S. when his tour kicks off September 14th in Salt Lake City. He’ll end the run with a performance in Hershey, Pennsylvania on October 7th.

FOO FIGHTERS: Grohl Opens Up on Emmy Nominations

He says Sonic Highways' four noms didn't seem possible "because the people working on it were just music lovers and friends," not TV pros.

Back in June, Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl-directed PBS series Sonic Highways scored four technical Emmy nominations, including Best Informational Series or Special and Best Directing (Nonfiction Programming). And he's still pinching himself.

In a 20-minute webcam interview with the TV blog Gold Derby that hit YouTube yesterday (Monday), Grohl opens up about the nominations, saying he didn't even think he would be considered "because the people working on it were just music lovers and friends," not TV pros. He says all they were trying to do was "make a show that music lovers would appreciate...something we would enjoy watching... That was it."

Grohl received his Best Directing nomination specifically for an episode about the music of Washington, D.C. He recounts how, while having dinner with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, Ringo told him he'd been turned on to D.C.'s "go-go" music by watching that episode. An excited Grohl says "And I'm like, 'Oh my God, I turned Ringo on to go-go!'"

The Emmys in Sonic Highways' four categories will be handed out at The Creative Arts Emmys, which take place on September 12th in L.A. FXX will broadcast a two-hour version of the show on September 19th at 8 p.m. [ET/PT] and again at 10pm [ET/PT].

SQUEEZE: New Album in October

Cradle to the Grave is the band’s 14th studio effort and first since Domino in 1998.

Squeeze has a new album on the way.

Cradle to the Grave is the band’s 14th studio effort and first since Domino in 1998. The lead track is "Happy Days," a bouncy summertime song that is typical feel-good Squeeze.

And as we've reported, Squeeze frontmen Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook will bring their storytelling acoustic shows to the U.S. this fall. The At Odds Couple tour starts on November 11th in Anaheim, California and wraps up December 18th in New York.

NEIL YOUNG: Fall Tour Announced

He'll be backed once again by The Promise of the Real, the group featuring two of Willie Nelson's sons.

Neil Young has announced a fall tour.

It will run between his annual fall benefits -- Farm Aid on September 19th in Chicago and the Bridge School Benefit October 24th and 25th in Mountain View, California. It starts October 1st in Missoula, Montana and wraps up October 17th in Berkeley, California. He'll be backed once again by The Promise of the Real, the group featuring two of Willie Nelson's sons,

Coldplay Does It For The Kids

Posted About Nine Years Ago

COLDPLAY: Not Giving Up on Kids Center

Coldplay are hoping to save a kids therapy center in London that just lost its major sponsor.

The Treehouse provides education and therapeutic help for vulnerable children and was funded by Kids Company, a charity that shut down last week due to a lack of funds. It's been accused of financial mismanagement and is also being investigated by the Met Police's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command.

The band donated an estimated $15 million over the past six years to Treehouse, and Coldplay's manager Phil Harvey said the group is looking at ways to keep it open. He tells the BBC, "We're incredibly proud of Treehouse's work with children in great need over the past six years. We're not going to give up on the center without looking at all options for the future."

MY MORNING JACKET: First Webcast on Friday

My Morning Jacket will webcast one of their headlining shows for the first time on Friday.

The band's concert at Red Rocks in Colorado on Friday will stream at TourGigs.com starting at 10:00 p.m. ET and cost $12.99. If you purchase the webcast, you'll be able to watch it on a looped replay for 24 hours. The band is also offering a $20 bundle that includes the webcast and MP3 audio downloads of the show.

ARCADE FIRE: Reflektor Film Debut Set

The Reflektor Tapes, the film about Arcade Fire's last album, will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The first screening will be held on September 12th, and members of the band are expected to be on hand for the debut. The North American release of the film has been moved up to September 23rd -- cities and showtimes are posted at TheReflektorTapes.com.

SAM SMITH: Getting in His Licks

Sam Smith wanted to see if his just-made Madame Tussaud's wax figure could take a licking -- so he went to its unveiling and licked it!

Sam showed up at the San Francisco location of the wax museum chain to check out the figure, which he spent an afternoon posing for earlier this spring. Sporting a few days more stubble than his wax lookalike, Sam took a number of selfies, including shots where he was spotted smooching himself and even licking his own cheek.

He put a few of the shots up on Instagram, calling the experience "surreal" and telling fans "feel free to touch my wax bum." You don't necessarily need to go to the Bay Area to do so: Sam's life-size likeness will tour the country next year.

ALABAMA SHAKES: New Videos, Another ACL Taping

Alabama Shakes have a lot of new video-related things in the works.

Tonight (Tuesday) the group will be the musical guest on Conan on TBS. They've also confirmed they'll shoot their third appearance on the long-running PBS concert series Austin City Limits on October 2nd. The taping will happen the day before their set at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas the next day.

Finally, the group has released two more official videos from Sound & Color. The clips for "Over My Head" and "Future People" were directed by Danny Clinch and shot at Capital Studios in Los Angeles.

LENNY KRAVITZ: Quality Piercing

One person who was quite pleased to see the recent photo of Lenny Kravitz and his wardrobe malfunction, in which he split his pants and exposed himself, is Elayne Angel -- who says she pierced his male member.

She tells Mashable.com, "The piercing still looks happy, healthy and very sturdy. I was proud to see it still alive and kicking... He's definitely into aesthetics and how it looks. But this one also had function. It was meant to please women... After I pierced his nipples, which he clearly enjoyed, he announced, 'I wish I had 10 nipples so I could have you pierce all of them.'"

While proud of her work, Kravitz would like to keep it private. His lawyers say that any posted image of his busted trousers breaches their client's "copyright, human rights, right-of-publicity and performer's rights.”

Gwen and Gavin- Welcome to Divorce Court

Posted About Nine Years Ago

GWEN STEFANI: Let's Make a Deal

Gwen Stefani is scrambling to save her $120 million fortune before going to divorce court with hubby Gavin Rossdale -- by offering him a buyout, rather than letting a judge split their assets.

According to Radar Online, the couple didn't bother getting a pre-nup before tying the knot 13 years ago -- which Gwen now regrets. A source close to the couple says, “Her business advisers recommended they get a pre-nup, but Gwen balked and didn’t think it was necessary because this was going to be her forever. Gwen has really struggled with the idea of just handing over half of her hard-earned money to Gavin, and there is a lot of anger there. Gwen is hoping to just pay Gavin off because she doesn’t want to pay him any support. Gwen’s approach is that she should get to keep what is hers.”

The insider says that lawyers for Gavin, who's worth "only" $20 million on his own, will fight to get half of everything.

GREGG ALLMAN: New Album and New Dates

Gregg Allman's new album, Live: Back to Macon, GA, is out -- and he's adding to his live catalog.

He's just announced more dates that take him through October, followed by another run set for next January. All the dates can be found at GreggAllman.com. Up next is the Allman Brothers' Peach Music Festival, next Thursday through Sunday in Moosic, Pennsylvania.

PEARL JAM, GUNS N' ROSES: Pay Tribute to Iggy

Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and ex-Guns n' Roses bassist Duff McKagan have teamed up to help out a Seattle public station.

Raw Power is the name of the one-off group with McCready, McKagan, Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees and Mad Season, and Mark Arm of Mudhoney. They'll play a set of Iggy Pop and the Stooges covers on the Pike Place Market rooftop on August 23rd.

The free show promotes a campaign to help public station KEXP build a new facility.

MICK JAGGER: Peels Back the Vinyl

Mick Jagger is offering up a sneak peek of his new TV series, Vinyl, a fictional account of the debauchery in the music world in the '70s as New York music executives try to navigate an industry that is controlled by the mob. The trailer is a minute long with The New York Dolls' "Personality Crisis" providing the soundtrack.

The series stars Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, Andrew Dice Clay and James Jagger -- Mick's son with Jerry Hall, who'll play the leader of a punk rock band. Among the real-life musicians portrayed in the series are David Johansen, Otis Redding, Elton John, Alice Cooper and Lou Reed.

Mick tells us they're shooting nine episodes through October. It will premiere on HBO next year.

NEIL YOUNG: For Sale Down by the Ocean

Want to sleep in Neil Young's bedroom? He's put his estate on the Big Island of Hawaii up for sale.

It has five bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths spread over nearly 3000 square feet, with two guest cottages and 830 feet of ocean frontage. The asking price is $24.5 million.

RYAN ADAMS: Teaming Up With Judd Apatow for Benefit

Ryan Adams is teaming up with director and stand-up comedian Judd Apatow for a benefit.

Their concert on August 26th at Largo in Los Angeles will raise money for the victims of last month's shooting in Lafayette, Louisiana. The July 23rd tragedy -- which left three dead, including the shooter, and nine others injured -- occurred in a theater where Apatow's film Trainwreck was playing.

Apatow promises that this won't be a standard benefit with just a few songs from Adams -- he says they'll both turn in "long sets."

TEARS FOR FEARS: Back on the Road Next Month

Tears for Fears will be back out on the road next month.

Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith will hit eight cities, starting September 19th in Pasa Robles, California and wrapping up September 30th in Red Bank, New Jersey.

X AMBASSADORS, ROYAL BLOOD: More Turns in Video Games

Royal Blood, X Ambassadors, James Bay and Kings of Leon are the latest acts to have their songs added to two major video games.

Up first is Madden '16, the latest edition of the popular NFL game that's due out August 25th. The game makers have gone with newer artists for this year's soundtrack, which includes cuts by James Bay, Twenty One Pilots and X Ambassadors.

The latest additions to the re-launch of the Guitar Hero series, Guitar Hero Live, includes tracks by Blink-182, Royal Blood, Rush, Echosmith, James Bay, MGMT and Kings of Leon. Guitar Hero Live is due out October 20th.

Music News Archives for 2015-08