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May 10, 2008
A Few Words With Steely Dan’s Walter Becker
Rolling Stone Magazine recently conjured up some questions for Walter Becker which shed some light on the creative process that gave birth to his latest album. There’s also some talk about his future plans and how Steely Dan fits in.
Becker’s new album, Circus Money, is expected to be released in June and according to Rolling Stone, is just as compelling as his debut solo album, 11 Tracks of Whack, which is described as "an album that boasts tracks that stand up to his best work in Steely Dan…"
One unique aspect of this new project that is unlike a typical Steely Dan project is that Becker mostly stuck with the same musicians for the entire album. Steely Dan veterans Keith Carlock (drums), Jon Herington (guitar) and Ted Baker (keyboards) all contribute to Becker’s latest.
One thing Becker makes quite clear is that the new albums was heavily influenced by Jamaican grooves from the 1960’s and 1970’s which have fascinated Becker since he first heard them. When asked about specific Jamaican music that has influenced him, Becker mentions ska and Rocksteady, among other genres from that part of the world.
When asked about the possibility of another Walter Becker show, Becker does not seem willing to commit and mentions that his plans with Donald Fagan for an up-coming Steely Dan tour, which will occupy a big chunk of his time and energy. He certainly does not close the door to the possibility of a future Becker show, however.
For the full story and a chance to hear a track from the new album called "Somebody’s Saturday Night," check out Rolling Stone.
A Visit To Def Leppard’s Sparkle Lounge
Def Leppard Ringtones Def Leppard Posters
An obvious question that comes to mind with regard to Def Leppard’s new album is, what is a Sparkle Lounge? The group’s frontman, Joe Elliott describes it as "a special room with recording equipment set up 
backstage at each of the group’s 2007 shows."
He goes on to say that, "the crew started having a bit of fun with it, putting in sparkly lights, candles, incense — you name it. It turned into this very atmospheric little work space."
That little room, The Sparkle Lounge, was the birthplace for the material that makes up the album that honors that special place with the name: Tales From The Sparkle Lounge.
In a recent interview, Elliot takes some time to talk about the new album and answers some questions about how the band managed to write an album while on the road. He is also asked about the involvement of country singer Tim McGraw and the rumors that suggest Def Leppard is going country.
For the entire interview, see the Reuters website.
No Slowing Down For Heart During 2008
(Los Angeles) The next two months will have a whole lot of Heart — the superstar rock band, that is — with three releases of classic and recent music coinciding with the group’s three-month, 40-plus date nationwide summer tour. On May 13, Epic/Legacy will release a Heart twofer set that combines their landmark, multimillion selling albums 
Little Queen (1977) and Dog & Butterfly (1979) into one eco-friendly package as part of the debut of the X2 series. The X2 set boasts five bonus tracks, including a live recording of Heart performing Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven.” And the liner notes by critic Michael Hill for the Heart Playlist collection make the case that “You could call Heart the first great indie-rock band” — they debuted with Dreamboat Annie on a Canadian independent label — and observe how “The Wilson sisters flipped the script on male-dominated rock, fronting a group of guys while never acceding to the role of rock-chick window dressing. Their up-tempo numbers were loud, fast, and economically arranged, focusing on Ann’s amazing pipes and some killer guitar licks, but they also displayed a gentler, more hippie-like side that was equally appealing.”
Epic/Legacy will also release a Heart title as part of its Playlist series that gathers 14 of the group’s best songs — all re-mastered and mp3 ready — into an also eco-friendly digi-pak set that includes computer accessible pdf files containing liner notes essays, discographical information, photography, bonus features, and more.
The two packages also coincide with the recently announced June 3 re-release of Jupiter’s Darling, Heart’s most recent studio recording from 2004 that was hailed as “probably their best album to date” from the influential and beloved band and “the only album you need to buy this year” by England’s Rave magazine. All Music Guide praised it as “easily the band’s finest moment in over 20 years [that] proves in spades that Heart is a vital and creative rock’n’roll unit and a force to be reckoned with.”
Heart’s 32 years of ongoing and consistently high-quality rocking has had a cumulative effect that finds the band’s appeal resurging as they make 2008 a particularly active year. The recent appearance by Ann & Nancy Wilson on the Idol Gives Back TV charity special performing “Barracuda” with Fergie powered a sales surge on iTunes for the original track as well as the clip of the song from the show. And since the announcement of the group’s summer tour with Journey and Cheap Trick, membership in the Heart fan club (“Heartmongers”) has doubled. On the tour fans will be able to enjoy performances from the extensive catalog of hits as well as songs from Ann Wilson’s recent Zoe/Rounder Records solo album Hope & Glory.
The group’s many 2008 activities and resurgent popularity suggest that even after 30 million albums sold to date, a groundbreaking legacy and a stature to rival rock’s biggest stars, Heart’s fourth decade of rocking will be as notable as those that came before.
Press release courtesy of Miles High Productions.
New Live Album On The Way From David Gilmour
David Gilmour has announced the release of Live In Gdańsk in September, 2008 on Columbia Records. The album was recorded during the last concert of Gilmour’s 2006 summer tour, which was held in front of 50,000 people at the shipyards in Gdańsk, Poland.
The concert was the only occasion on which Gilmour performed the tour material with an orchestra, using the 40-strong string section of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zbigniew Preisner, who was responsible for On An Island album’s orchestral arrangements.
Other unique features of the show included the special 6-screen design, created by lightmeister Marc Brickman to allow each band member his own dedicated screen for the edification of the audience; the performance of “A Great Day For Freedom” with the orchestral arrangement of the late Michael Kamen, and a guest appearance by prominent Polish pianist Leszek Mozdzer, who reprised his piano part from On An Island’s “A Pocketful Of Stones”.
David Gilmour’s most recent offering, On An Island, was multi-platinum around the world, hitting number 1 in Europe, number 1 in the UK and number 6 in the U.S. Best known as guitarist, vocalist and writer with Pink Floyd, Gilmour is also renowned for his solo work and collaborations with other artists including Kate Bush, Paul McCartney and Pete Townshend.
The Who Launches Official Website
The Who today announced the launch of their first-ever official Web site and fan destination, www.thewho.com. The Who also announced 
the first release available exclusively to fan club members, the double live CD View From A Backstage Pass, with rare or previously unreleased recordings of The Who at their finest.
By subscribing to www.thewho.com, fan club members or ‘Wholigans’ will enjoy interactive features with the band and other Who fans, including Pete Townshend’s personal blog where members can share comments back and forth with the band. Members can connect with other Who fans around the world in the exclusive ‘Wholigans Only’ area of the message board and, once every month, thewho.com’s design team will choose images or words posted by subscribers to be featured in the Wholigans Gallery. New subscribers to thewho.com will also receive an “Official Wholigan” t-shirt at no additional charge and a discount coupon for all merchandise in “The Who Sell Out,” the official online store.
May 9, 2008
Boston To Resume Work on New Album Following Tour
Recent word from Boston’s Tom Scholz is that the group hopes to resume work on their new album after their summer tour and have it ready for release just after the first of the year.
The summer tour starts in Thunder Bay, Ontario on June 6 and will be 
accompanied by two new members: Former Stryper singer Michael Sweet and Tommy DeCarlo.
DeCarlo was the fan that Scholz discovered in a Delp tribute video that was posted on YouTube.
The new album will be the first since the release of Corporate America in 2002, an album which Scholz says never sold well. Wanting to give some of the material from that album another chance, they are including some material from that album on the new one. The songs from the previous album will be re-mixed, re-arranged or re-recorded for inclusion on the new one.
Although Scholz has praised the work of late Boston singer Brad Delp and says he could never be replaced, he’s been impressed with the performances from the group’s two newest members and goes on to say that it seemed "wrong not to take it back out, and there were an awful lot of people out there that don’t want to hear Boston go away."
For more on this story, see Reuters.
May 1, 2008
Motoring Brits Like Their Meat Loaf
In a recent survey of 2,000 British drivers, Meat Loaf’s well-known hit song "Bat Out of Hell" was voted to be the best song to listen to while driving. The larger-than-life American rocker edged out Queen hit "Bohemian Rhapsody," which came in second.
Not surprisingly, the survey also found that the music a driver is listening to can influence the speed they choose to drive.
What was a bit surprising, however, was that blues fans were the ones most likely to be caught speeding. I would have suspected heavy metal fans or jazz fusion fans due to the intensity of their chosen music.
Drivers listening to talk radio were less likely to be caught speeding which is understandable. No word on those who choose to listen to the sound of silence when they hit the road.
For more, see news:lite.
New Book From Former Eagle Don Felder
This week John Wiley & Sons will be releasing Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001), Don Felder’s revealing behind-the-scenes 
stories about the Eagles, the band’s creative process, and its legendary partying.
Heaven and Hell is a raucous and bittersweet tale about the love of music and the price of fame. It offers a glimpse into Felder’s childhood in Gainesville—during which he crossed paths with several rock greats, from Duane Allman to Stephen Stills to Tom Petty–and goes on to chronicle his years as a member of The Eagles.
Felder recalls every part of the band’s wild ride, from the pressure-packed recording studios to the trashed hotel rooms. Yet, beyond the mayhem and clashing egos, he also captures the joy of writing powerful new songs with his band mates, the magic of performing in huge arenas packed with fans and the hard work, dedication, and creativity that each band member brought to the music.
April 26, 2008
Def Leppard on TV
Def Leppard Ringtones Def Leppard Posters
Def Leppard fans will get a chance to see the group on some upcoming television appearances this coming week which happens to be the week of the release of their new album, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge.
On Tuesday, April 29, the group will appear on ABC’s hit show Dancing With The Stars and also on The Ellen Degeneres Show. On Wednesday, April 30, the British rockers will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Def Leppard has also released some new tour dates. Some recent shows had to be postponed due to an upper respiratory tract infection that had sidelined lead singer Joe Elliott. The new dates include the shows that had been postponed.
For more details, check out Def Leppard’s official web site.
News From The World of Rush
It’s stuff like this that makes me glad I’m not a lawyer. A bit of news about Alex Lifeson’s troubles with the Collier County, Florida Sheriff’s Department has come to light recently and it appears to be some good news for his son Justin, who was also involved in the New Year’s Eve 2003 incident at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Naples, FL that gave birth to years of legal battles.
It is being reported that a federal appeals court has said that a lower court judge in Florida was wrong to dismiss a negligence claim by Alex 
Lifeson’s son, Justin Zivojinovich, against the hotel and their security manager on duty at the time of the December 31, 2003 altercation.
That sounds like good news for Justin Zivojinovich, but then the story goes on to report that an 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld the dismissal of the rest of the claims brought by Lifeson and his son - including the contention that the Collier County deputies violated their civil rights by using excessive force.
In plain English, it looks like Lifeson’s son Justin had filed suit against the Ritz-Carlton and their security manager for allegedly leading police to expect trouble when they were called that fateful night, which led to an increased likelihood that hotel guests could be injured.
A lower court later dismissed that suit along with another that was filed against the Collier County Sheriff’s Department. Although this late news does not say Justin Zivojinovich’s suit will be reinstated, that sounds like a reasonable assumption. But, like I said, I’m not a lawyer.
In other Rush news, another interview with Alex Lifeson has surfaced where he talks about the group’s experience while recording their most recent album, Snakes & Arrows.
The group was said to be quite pleased with their scenic surroundings at Allaire Studios, just outside Woodstock, New York where they worked for six weeks on the album. In fact, they found the beautiful view from the glass-enclosed studio so inspiring, it helped to fuel the creation of two of the album’s instrumental numbers, "Hope" and "Malignant Narcissism"
For more details on the groups experience while recording Snakes & Arrows, see NewsOK.com.
