2007: The Year of 80’s Reunions?

I’ve recently come across two news items that are making claims about two major reunions for 1980’s power house bands. I’ve been hearing rumors about one of them now for over a year and have just started hearing rumors about the other one in the last month or two.

The first one is the long-awaited and much talked-about Van Halen reunion. According to the latest rumors, David Lee Roth has rehearsed recently with Eddie Van Halen and despite their past problems getting along, reportedly got along just great this time.

Apparently, original bassist Michael Anthony will not be part of the reunion and has been replaced by Van Halen’s son Wolfgang.

There’s talk of a 40-date summer tour with Live Nation, which the new Van Halen is supposed to be close to signing on to.

The second big reunion concerns the well-known trio who were known as The Police. I can remember a time back in the 1980’s when it was virtually impossible to turn on any rock radio station for 10 minutes and not hear their mega-hit “Every breath you take.”

Although I was never a huge fan of The Police, I always liked most of their stuff and thought they were a good, solid rock band with a unique sound.

There are numerous reports that the members of the band have been seen hanging around with each other lately, adding to the rumors that are swirling about.

The trio is supposedly rehearsing somewhere in Canada currently and there are rumors that they will perform at the Grammys on February 11 and announce a tour schedule shortly thereafter.

Should be an interesting year for reunions and I’d love to hear some similar stories regarding Foreigner (with Lou Gramm!) and Max Webster (yeah, dream on!).

So That’s Where He Ended Up

As I was checking out some recent Rush news, I came across a blog that mentioned the fact that Kim Mitchell is now a DJ at a classic rock radio station in Canada.

Most classic rock fans here in the U.S. may not know who Kim Mitchell is, but it is a name that is well worth knowing if you ask me.

Kim once fronted a Canadian band called Max Webster. I was first introduced to them by way of a one of their tunes getting some airtime here in the U.S. back in the 1980’s. That was due to the fact that Rush worked on the recording of that particular song with Max Webster and Rush was very hot here in the U.S. at that time.

Once I got hold of some of Max Webster’s other material I was hooked, and they remain one of my top 5 classic rock bands of all time.

If you have never heard any of Max Webster’s music, do yourself a favor and check it out. It’s a shame that a band that was that good never really hit the big time like their friends from Rush.

If you’d like to keep tabs on what Kim Mitchell is up to these days, check out his section on the Q107 web site, which includes his blog. Keep rockin’ Kim!