Michael McDonald had been a key collaborator on the Doobie Brothers‘ platinum-selling Top 10 album Takin’ It to the Streets. He wrote or co-wrote four of the 1976 LP’s nine songs while singing on five. Two of them became Top 40 hits, however, leading to a seismic shift in roles for the follow-up. “By the […]
As incredible as it might sound now, there was a time when televised entertainment wasn’t available around the clock. That all changed with Burt Sugarman’s music-oriented variety show The Midnight Special, which debuted on Aug. 19, 1972. Until the early ’70s, it was standard practice for most TV stations to shut off their programming after […]
It’s been decades since the Kinks notched a Top 10 hit with “Lola,” but Dave Davies believes the song is more relevant than ever. The 1970 single was controversial upon release because of lyrical content which detailed the narrator’s romantic encounter with what was presumed to be a drag queen or transgender individual. Some stations […]
The Rolling Stones are well known for their dogged endurance. Very little deters them. It’s an unwavering attitude that applies to their touring schedule as much as it does to their willingness to think outside the box. “The more ways you do it, the better it is because you get more variety,” Mick Jagger said in a 2007 […]
Eddie Vedder celebrates the communal spirit of Joe Strummer in a new video cover of “Long Shadow,” a song the late Clash frontman originally recorded with the Mescaleros. The fireside clip, released ahead of what would have been Strummer’s 70th birthday on Aug. 21, shows Vedder strumming an acoustic guitar outdoors. “I hear punks talk […]
Rick Allen looks back on his dramatic post-accident return to the stage in one of the best rock star tweets of the week. In a video message posted to Def Leppard‘s Twitter account, the drummer celebrated the 36th anniversary of the band’s Aug. 16, 1986 appearance at the Monsters of Rock festival. The show capped […]
Lindsey Buckingham has announced a run of fall U.S. tour dates, scheduled to commence after his previously announced shows in Europe. The acclaimed guitarist and singer will hit the road for 17 Stateside concerts, beginning with an Oct. 26 performance in Bristol, Tenn. After largely sticking to the western part of the country during his […]
John Hughes’ classic 1986 teen comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is getting a spinoff about two characters who played a small but pivotal role in the original movie. According to Deadline, the new film, titled Sam and Victor’s Day Off, will follow the two titular valet employees who, in the 1986 classic, take Cameron Frye’s father’s […]
Simon Le Bon said his SirusXM co-hosting role during lockdown helped him learn to appreciate new music more than he had in years. Not only did the Duran Duran singer experience a renewed enjoyment of music in general, it also informed some of the ideas that appear on the band’s latest album, Future Past, as […]
Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith said producer Rick Rubin was brought to tears while working with the band on its latest material. It’s turned into a prolific year for the funk-rock legends. After releasing their 12th studio album, Unlimited Love, in April, Red Hot Chili Peppers are readying another LP, Return of the Dream Canteen, […]