WTBO (2024)

25/06/2024

Daryl Hall tells Billboard magazine that he doesn't think he and John Oates will ever reconcile or tour again. "I can't speak for John 'cause I haven't spoken to him in a long, long time, but I think that's how he feels, too. And good on both of us. I can still play all the songs that I wrote over the years, under my own name as well as under the Hall & Oates name. It frees me, really. It frees me up. The real truth of it all is John just said one day he didn't want to do it anymore. I said 'OK,' but the problem is [Oates] didn't make the parting and breakup easy, and that's where the difficulties lay and still lay, and that's all it is."

24/06/2024

Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm will head to Osaka, Japan on October 12th through January 5th. It’s currently showing at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York through August 18th. Its next U.S. stop is the Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon from September 14th through next January 19th.

21/06/2024

Rolling Stone magazine says plans for a Purple Rain musical have been in the works for years. The production aims to honor the iconic album and movie while updating certain scenes for today's audience. The production team is facing challenges in transforming Prince's original vision into a stage performance.

20/06/2024

John Fogerty has commented on the death Tuesday of baseball great Willie Mays. He says, “Sad to see that Willie Mays has passed away. When I was a kid the Giants came to San Francisco and Willie was the Greatest of All Time! I was lucky to see him play many many times at Candlestick Park and he is the standard that Greatness is measured by. Of course he is the ‘Say Hey Willie’ that inspired my song ‘Centerfield’ and was just so nice to me and my family on that special day at Cooperstown! Thanks Willie for your warmth and Greatness!”

19/06/2024

With Paul McCartney turning 82 today (Tuesday) comes news that his handwritten draft for The Beatles' 1968 song "Birthday" is on the auction block.

Complete with chord structures for John Lennon and George Harrison it was drafted on September 18th, 1968 on the back of an Apple Studio recording sheet at Abbey Road Studios. It also includes a 12-bar riff written out by the band's roadie and personal assistant Mal Evans.

The ANALOGr auction is open online now with the minimum bid set at $25,000. It's estimated to sell for between $125- and $200,000.

18/06/2024

Stevie Nicks has put the kibosh on Fleetwood Mac.

In an interview in England's Mojo magazine, she says, “Without Christine [McVie], no can do. There is no chance of putting Fleetwood Mac back together in any way. Without her, it just couldn’t work.”

Looking back on Christine's death in 2022, Stevie says, "It was all stunningly strange, because there wasn’t any lead-up to it. We got a call, and I was going to rent a plane and go see her, but her family said, ‘Don’t come, because she may not be here tomorrow.’ And the next day, she passed away. I wanted to go there and sit on her bed and sing to her — which definitely would have made her pass away faster. But I needed to be with her. And I didn’t get to do that. So that was very hard for me. I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

Of course, should Stevie ever see fit to work again with Lindsey Buckingham, anything is possible as she did record and tour with the Mac without Christine after she retired from the band in 1998.

But she has an answer for that scenario too. “Even if I thought I could work with Lindsey again, he’s had some health problems. It’s not for me to say, but I’m not sure if Lindsey could do the kind of touring that Fleetwood Mac does, where you go out for a year and a half. It’s so demanding.”

Buckingham underwent heart surgery in 2019, but has since recovered and has recorded and toured.

Fleetwood Mac's last tour in 2018 and '19 was without Buckingham, who was fired after Stevie gave Mick Fleetwood an ultimatum -- either he goes or she does. He was replaced by Neil Finn from Crowded House to cover the vocals, and Mike Campbell from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers to cover the guitar.

Buckingham and Fleetwood have since made peace, and Christine was never in favor of his being fired.

17/06/2024

Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon and Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera (born Philip Geoffrey Targett-Adams) have been given honorary British titles as part of the King’s Birthday 2024 Honours List, which was announced on Friday.

Le Bon will receive an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for his service to music and charity, while Manzanera will get an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for his service to music.

Manzanera tweeted that receiving this award “has a poignancy for [him and his] family because in 1966 [his] dad, Duncan Targett-Adams was also awarded the OBE but sadly he died before his investiture." In a tweet, LeBon thanked his fans, saying he owes the honor to them, and explained that right now he “is experiencing the most severe case of IMPOSTER SYNDROME.”

14/06/2024

Pete Townshend will be on stage Sunday at the Tony Awards in New York to introduce a performance by the cast of the revival of The Who's Tommy, which opened on Broadway in March.

It's been nominated for Best Revival of a Musical. In 1993, the cast did a medley on the show, which won five Tonys, including Best Original Score and Best Direction of a Musical.

Townshend is one of 16 Tony winners who have also had Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, which he did in 1980 with "Let My Love Open the Door,” which peaked at number-nine.

13/06/2024

The Rascals have released a remix of their 1967 song, "Groovin'," when they were known as The Young Rascals.

The remix was done by Daytime Disco pioneers Poolside, whose Jeffrey Paradise says, "We originally included the 'Groovin’' edit on the Contact High Mixtape in 2016. We never imagined it would ever get an official release and excited to have it unearthed. This is a song for every summer!”

The song has also been certified platinum and The Rascals' Felix Cavaliere, who co-wrote it with Rascals singer Eddie Brigati, says, “I am very humbled and honored that after 57 years, 'Groovin'' has reached another huge milestone by being certified platinum. Allowing new audiences to be introduced to our music is amazing."

And Rascals guitarist Gene Cornish adds, “We are so thankful that 'Groovin’' has reached platinum status. People all over the world are still enjoying the Rascals' music. This is all that matters.”

"Groovin’” was inspired by Cavaliere, who could only see his then-girlfriend each Sunday between a heavy touring and recording schedule. It peaked number-one on the Billboard Hot 100; was included on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s list of “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll”; and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

12/06/2024

Styx, Foreigner and John Waite have released a new live album called Renegades & Juke Box Heroes. There’s an 18-track version out now at streaming services and digital retailers, with an eight-track vinyl version available at their tour stops and July 12th at retailers. The three acts start their tour tonight (Tuesday) in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

11/06/2024

Paul McCartnPaul McCartney will be back on the road this year. He's bringing his Got Back tour to Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru from October 1st through October 27th.

10/06/2024

It's time for another list of the best albums of all-time.

This one comes from Paste Magazine, whose editors, writers, interns and freelancers each compiled their Top 20 lists to determine the "300 Greatest Albums of All Time."

Topping the list is Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, released in 1976. It's joined in the Top 10 by The Beatles' Abbey Road at five, and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds at 10.

The complete Top 10 is as follows:

Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
Disintergration - The Cure
Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
Sign O' the Times - Prince
Abbey Road - The Beatles
StanKonia - OutKast
Long Season - Fishmans
Wild Is the Wind - Nina Simone
Clube da Esquina - Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys

31/05/2024

Peter Gabriel's third self-titled solo album, also known as Melt, was released 44 years ago today (May 30th). And Gabriel has tweeted some thoughts about what was going on behind the scenes at the time it came out.

He writes, "The album was full of, what at the time were ‘strange’ sounds. I remember when I met [Atlantic Records founder] Ahmet Ertegun and he’d first heard that record, which Atlantic later dropped, he’d asked if I’d been hospitalized myself and obviously thought that I’d gone from being some sort of pop artist to some strange backwater." By dropped, he means dropped from their roster, not the current usage of dropped meaning "released."

"In the end, Polygram took the record up in America and it did quite well, with some success for ‘Games Without Frontiers,' but at the time I remember the A&R guys were trying to encourage me to sound like The Doobie Brothers.

"One of the main jobs of the A&R Department of a record company is to try and make records that they’re going to sell. So they look at what’s selling at the moment and they try and get all of their artists to sound like that.

"At the same time, to be fair, I’ve worked with some really good A&R people who’ve made some very good musical points and have a lot of interesting input, but I’m very fortunate to have grown up in a time, in the post-'60s, when artists were allowed to get on making their own mistakes, doing what they needed to do. You could listen to your record company, but you didn’t have to."

30/05/2024

John Lennon's Famous 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar, which he used on the The Beatles' Help! album, sold Wednesday for just under $2.9 million at Julien's Auctions Music Icons sale at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York.

The $2,857,500 price tag makes it the most expensive Beatles instrument ever to sell at auction.

The previous top sellers were:

Lennon acoustic guitar - $2.4 million
Ringo Starr’s Ludwig drum kit - $2.2 million
Ringo's Ludwig Beatles drumhead from their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show - $2.1 million
Ringo's copy of "The White Album" - $790,000
The guitar ended up in the hands of Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon, who later gave it to their road managers. It was recently found in an attic in the U.K. after being unseen for over 50 years. Considered the most important Beatles guitar ever to come to market, it exceeded by far its estimate of $600,000 - $800,000.

Lennon can be heard playing it on such songs as “Help!,” “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” “It’s Only Love,” “I’ve Just Seen a Face” and "Girl," and George Harrison played it on "Norwegian Wood."

The guitar is in its original, although beat-up, case, plus the winning bidder also gets a copy of the book The Beatles: Photographs From the Set of Help!

Darren Julien, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions, says, “Finding this remarkable instrument is like finding a lost Rembrandt or Picasso, and it still looks and plays like a dream after having been preserved in an attic for more than 50 years."

Another big seller Wednesday was the 1965 Fender Telecaster Bob Dylan played on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde, as well as on his tour that year with The Band, then known as The Hawks. It went for $650,000, which was $50,000 less than the pre-sale estimate.

The Band’s Robbie Robertson later used it on tour as well as on The Band albums Music From Big Pink and Stage Fright, as well as on sessions for Joni Mitchell and Ringo Starr.

The Music Icons auction also includes instruments and memorabilia once owned by Ringo, Randy Bachman, U2 bassist Adam Clayton, Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, The Who, Mark Knopfler, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Elton John and many others.

29/05/2024

Dead & Company have added six shows to their residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas — August 1st through 3rd and August 8th through 10th. Tickets go on sale Friday. These new concerts bring the total up to 31 shows. The residency continues on Thursday.

28/05/2024

The widow of Robbie Robertson has been sued by his kids, claiming that the late Band songwriter-guitarist was subjected to elder abuse.

The Guardian reports that the suit was filed Wednesday by Alexandra, Delphine and Sebastian Robertson, who claim that Jane Zuccarini had Robertson sign documents he was not capable of fully understanding while on pain medication for his cancer. The suit claims that Zuccarini “took advantage of her relationship with a vulnerable and ill Robertson to enrich herself to the detriment of Robertson’s children."

The Robertson children claim that their father intended for the $6 million home in Beverly Hills that he and Zuccarini owned to be sold off jointly with her or bought out from her after his death. The suit alleges that Zuccarini has used an amendment to the agreement to claim “she was entitled to reside in the property until her death -- and that [Robertson’s children] were required to pay, from what would have been their modest inheritance, the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and half of the daily property maintenance expenses for the duration of her life."

In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, lawyers for Zuccarini called the lawsuit “meritless fiction...gross and exploitative."

Robbie Robertson died in August 2023 at age 80.

23/05/2024

When it comes to the "Best Album," it's a safe bet that most music fans would not choose Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. But that's exactly who Apple Music chose to top their list of the "100 Best Albums."

Apple says the list was compiled by their "team of experts, alongside a select group of artists, songwriters, producers and industry professionals.”

When it came to rock albums, only two cracked the Top 10 -- The Beatles' Abbey Road at three and Nirvana's Nevermind at nine.

Now for some of the titles that one can argue deserve to be in the Top 10 or higher up on the list:

11) Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
14) Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
16) Blue - Joni Mitchell
20) Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
21) Revolver - The Beatles
22) Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
24) The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (2012 Remaster) - David Bowie
27) Led Zeppelin II
28) The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
35) London Calling - The Clash
38) Tapestry - Carole King
43) Remain in Light - Talking Heads
49) The Joshua Tree - U2
52) Appetite for Destruction - Guns N' Roses
53) Exile on Main Street - The Rolling Stones
60) The Velvet Underground & Nico
63) Are You Experienced - Jimi Hendrix Experience
69) Master of Puppets - Metallica
73) Aja - Steely Dan
78) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
81) After the Gold Rush - Neil Young
83) Horses - Patti Smith
90) Back in Black - AC/DC
99) Hotel California - Eagles

22/05/2024

It was a reunion Monday night in Toronto when Randy Bachman went to see his teenage friend Neil Young in concert with Crazy Horse.

Bachman writes on his socials, "Let me tell you, this show was the perfect summer night...

"If you had polled the audience for a perfect set list, it couldn't have been any better on this sold-out show. Hits and album cuts back to back with everyone singing along to Neil's signature mix of rock and country -- 'Heart of Gold,' 'Comes a Time' and so many more, followed by a double encore.

"Neil and I go back to Winnipeg in the '60s. We've stayed connected all these years and collaborated together. It's always great to see him and his wife [actress] Daryl [Hall]."

One of Randy and Neil's collaborations involved another Canadian town, Winnipeg, where they grew up. Young sings and plays guitar on "Prairie Town" off of Bachman's 1992 album, Any Town. The song also features a shout-out to Neil's band while he was living in Winnipeg, Neil and the Squires. And it features Margo Timmins from Cowboy Junkies. Bachman cut two versions of the song -- one fast, the other slow.

Neil and Crazy Horse are in the Detroit suburb of Clarkston, Michigan on Wednesday. Bachman starts another round of touring on June 13th in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

21/05/2024

Ronnie Wood and Paul Simon were at Monday night's New York Yankees-Seattle Mariners game at Yankee Stadium. Woody and The Rolling Stones are in town for their performance across the Hudson River at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Thursday and Sunday.

20/05/2024

Five albums from The Animals have been released to streaming services in Dolby Atmos -- 1964's The Animals, 1965's The Animals on Tour and Animal Tracks, and 1966's Animalization, plus The Animals Retrospective.

A new Fleetwood Mac compilation, The Best of Fleetwood Mac (1969-1974), will be out July 26th. It covers the period before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined.

The Allman Betts Band, led by Devon Allman, son of Gregg Allman, and Duane Betts, son of Dickey Betts, have added another Rock & Roll Hall of Famer offspring with Alex Orbison, son of Roy Orbison, joining on drums.

17/05/2024

The Zombies will stage their second Begin Here Festival in their hometown of St Albans, England -- 20 miles outside of London -- on November 8th, 9th and 10th. Band singer Colin Blunstone will perform his debut solo album, 1971's One Year, and The Zombies will perform on the final night. There will also be a screening of the band's 2023 documentary, Hung Up on a Dream.

16/05/2024

Beach Boys singer Mike Love is hopeful his cousin and Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson could perform with them again, despite having dementia and being placed under a conservatorship.

Love tells BBC Radio 4’s Today program he saw his cousin recently during the making of the band's new documentary.

"He was remembering things I’d forgotten about our high school days. His long-term memory is right there.

"His musical abilities, as long as he’s alive he’ll have those, but he does need medical supervision and care. His wife did take care of that... (Melinda Wilson died suddenly this past January 30th. She was 77.)

“He knows that he needs the help but we’re still able to get together and we‘re going to see each other soon.

"It’s not so negative as it sounds. As long as he’s cared for properly. He’s seeing his children… he’s being well taken care of...

"It’s a brand new day now and I’m hoping we can do something together - all of us - and it’ll be great”.

And Beach Boy Bruce Johnston adds, "I think once Brian and Mike sit round the piano and just the magic, you can’t stop it.”

We reached out to Wilson's manager and she tells us, "No that’s not happening as far as a tour. Not sure what they meant, so we don't have anything to add."

Wilson turns 82 on June 20th.

15/05/2024

Buffalo Springfield’s “For What it’s Worth,” written and sung by Stephen Stills, has been covered by Hootie & The Blowfish, who will release it this Friday. They recorded it in 2017 during sessions for their 2019 album, Imperfect Circle. Singer Darius Rucker says, “For us, adding our voice to ‘For What It’s Worth’ is about more than just a great song, it’s about standing up for what you believe in, speaking out against injustice and trying to find a sense of unity. In today’s world, where there is so much division, this song carries a message that is as relevant as ever.” Hootie, with Collective Soul and Edwin McCain, start their Summer Camp With Trucks tour May 30th in Dallas.

14/05/2024

George Harrison wrote a song called "Old Brown Shoe," which The Beatles recorded, but it's Paul McCartney who's auctioning off a pair of old black boots in support of his Meat Free Monday campaign.

He designed the black vegan suede boots with shoemaker Crispinians for his 2011 On the Run world tour and wore them during his performance at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

He says, “As it was time for me to get myself a new pair of boots I thought this might be a good way to help our Meat Free Monday campaign celebrate its 15th anniversary.

“Me and my boots have great memories of that special evening at the Olympic opening ceremony in London. It was a high to be involved with such an awesome and spectacular event. Something I’ll remember forever.”

They are being sold by Sotheby's in London starting May 24th with a pre-sale estimate of $12- to $19,000. The auction closes on May 31st.

13/05/2024

Back in February we reported on Ringo Starr working on a new album.

A longtime fan of country music, having released a country-flavored collection in 1970 with his second album, Beaucoups of Blues, he's following it up 54 years later.

He tells USA Today, "I’m working on it with someone very special – T Bone Burnett. He’s doing stuff in Nashville and he comes to L.A. and it’s all working out. He came to me with nine songs. It won’t be out until October, at least.”

Until then, Ringo will be on the road with his All Star Band starting May 22nd in Las Vegas.

10/05/2024

Huey Lewis says that he started performing on the street when he was in Europe. "I went to Europe for about six months when I was a kid. I picked up a harmonica and started busking for change. That made me realize the power that music had. I could earn money just by blowing into a harmonica. It was life changing.”

09/05/2024

The debut solo album from the late Jack Bruce of Cream, Songs for a Tailor, will be reissued on July 26th on vinyl and as a two-CD and two-Blu-Ray set that includes 32 bonus tracks and the 1970 documentary, Rope Ladder to the Moon.

08/05/2024

In celebration of The Rolling Stones’ show tonight (Tuesday) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona, a portion of 95th Avenue in the Westgate Entertainment District has been ceremonially been renamed "Satisfaction Way" in recognition of them doing three shows at the State Farm Stadium – 2006, 2019 and 2024. Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers also proclaimed May 7th “Ruby Tuesday,” after their 1967 song.

07/05/2024

Mike Rutherford is putting Mike + The Mechanics back together for the Looking Back: Living the Years 2025 U.K. tour. It starts March 3rd in Glasgow, Scotland with 30 shows through April 14th in London at the Royal Albert Hall.

06/05/2024

Daryl Hall tells Variety magazine that his split with John Oates took him by surprise. “It hit me by surprise. I don’t know, man — all I can say is people change and sometimes you don’t really know someone like you thought you did. Difficulties can be made from things that aren’t difficult, and then it goes to a place where it can never come back from. It’s unfortunate and untimely, but some things just change. People rewrite history and harbor thoughts you had no idea about. I haven’t had a creative relationship with John for at least 25 years. We didn’t write songs together, we didn’t do anything together except perform live shows. We had an arrangement that I couldn’t play my solo songs onstage with Hall & Oates — and now I get to.”

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