Johnny Rotten was apparently the first choice to play the lead role of Jimmy in the 1979 movie Quadrophenia.
Phil Daniels, the actor who eventually laded the part, told XFM:
“I did a film called Zulu Dawn and in Bob Hoskins’ mud hut there was a telephone. I got a call for an audition and came back to London from Africa.
“There were three of us that did a screen test and I got the part in the end. I know Johnny Rotten was one of them. He could have been Jimmy in Quadrophenia. I think they maybe couldn’t insure him. That was one of the stories.
“It would have been a bit of a different film (if he’d got the part).”
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After a pretty busy period, Fleetwood Mac have been quiet lately, but we caught up with drummer Mick Fleetwood who filled us in on the band’s future plans.
“We’ve been working like dogs for about a year and a half nearly. So that ended just before Christmas in Australia and we had a fantastic tour, went all over the world, and a happy one, a happy tour. So I would say knowing us bunch, we’ll probably take about 18 months off. And then there is definitely the want to do more work and hopefully we’ll do more recording. I don’t know whether that’s really gonna happen or not.”
In the meantime, Mick is working with his Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, setting up an American tour. Keep up to date on all things Mick at MickFleetwood.com.
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Anvil! The Story of Anvil, the acclaimed documentary about the Canadian rock band, was honored as Best Documentary at the Independent Spirit Awards over the weekend. It was a big night for the group, who also performed twice during the ceremony. In his acceptance speech, director Sacha Gervasi said, “When I was 15 years old, this band took me out on the road and they showed me a lot of things, some of which I can’t discuss on live television.”
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You can hear Slash’s new single, By The Sword, online right now, but if you want to own the track, you’ll be able to download it on March 28th. That day, the song will be available as a digital single. Until then, head to Spinner.com to hear the tune, which comes off the former Guns N’ Roses guitarist’s upcoming self-titled solo album. That record is out on April
Some fans were surprised he chose the song “By The Sword,” featuring Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale, as opposed to the track “Crucify the Dead,” which has guest vocals from Ozzy Osbourne. According to Blabbermouth.net, the former Guns N’ Roses guitarist explained the move, saying that he didn’t want to step on Ozzy’s toes since the Prince of Darkness has his own album coming out – Slash thought putting out their song together as a single might interfere with it. Get Slash’s self-titled solo album on April 6th.
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While promoting the re-issue of the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, which comes out on May 18th, Keith Richards spoke to Rolling Stone magazine. In the interview, Keith said “there are no definite plans” for a new Stones album, however the guitarist added, “But I can’t see any of them stopping.” As for touring, Richards was unsure if they’d be back on the road but if they do tour again, they might try playing places other than stadiums, saying, “You can’t go around there in lemon-yellow tights forever.” Keith also spoke about those sobriety rumors swirling about him, calling them “greatly exaggerated.” Read more at RollingStone.com.
ARMORED SAINT MAKE NEW ALBUM THE OLD WAY AS TOLD BY BAND MEMBER JOEY VERA
In the fall of 2009 we went in to record our 6th record, La Raza. We were approached by engineer Bryan Carlstrom whom we had worked with on Symbol and we thought it would be a nostalgic idea to work together again. For economic reasons mostly, I decided to produce and co-mix the record. I had been so close to the written song that only I could steer the ship into and out of the storm.
Wrought with the desire to keep the music in its natural state, we chose to work in the analog domain only using Pro Tools as the “tape recorder”. We hit every signal with vintage analog gear before going into the computer. Then, during mixdown, the same. Out of the computer, into an analog mixing board and then to actual analog tape. During the process we chose to keep many of the tracks that were recorded during the demo sessions because we thought they were really good and because we could.
For us, this method was a celebration of how far we’ve come in technology and how much we refuse to abide by the new rules. We both embrace it and snub it. The most important thing is the spirit of the music, and with the tape hiss comes a reminder that we come from a time when the perfect performance or the perfect volume did not make the music any better.
Our music on this record is steeped in the basic form, relying on our past influences in both songwriting and soundscape. We are definitely not attempting to reinvent any wheels here. Instead we are attempting to exercise what strengths we think we’ve gained as songwriters and music producers.
So sit back, insert your tiny ear buds and let those tiny kilobytes stream through your deprived ear canals. Just keep in mind that we didn’t serve it up to you that way
British singer-songwriter and rock icon BILLY IDOL will debut a new powerhouse band when he hits the road this summer with performances at major music festivals throughout Europe, with North American dates set to follow. In addition to his longtime guitarist Steve Stevens, Stephen McGrath on bass and Derek Sherinian on keyboards, IDOL will be joined on this trek by acclaimed guitarist Billy Morrison and drummer Jeremy Colson. Morrison, one of the founders of Camp Freddy and front man for Circus Diablo, has previously played in The Cult, Stimulator, Doheny and Into a Circle, while Colson is Morrison’s collaborator in Circus Diablo and is known for his work with Steve Vai, with whom he’s worked since 2002.
The legendary rocker’s 2010 summer trek will kick off with a pair of shows in Russia (Moscow on June 5 and St. Petersburg on June 7), to be followed with a performance at the Malmo Sweden Rock Festival and his second appearance at the Download Festival at Donington Park in his native U.K.
European tour stops include multiple dates in Germany, along with Switzerland, Serbia, Macedonia, Czech Republic, among others. Look for the U.S. dates to be announced in the coming weeks.
Along the tour, IDOL will be performing classics from his storied career. As leader of the group responsible for starting a youth cult, Generation X, he was one of the original British punks who gave the rock establishment a good kick up the arse with such classics as “Ready, Steady, Go,” “Wild Youth,” “Your Generation” and “Dancing With Myself,” the latter of which marked the transition to IDOL’s solo career when it appeared in remixed version on his 1981 DON’T STOP EP.
Other show-stoppers will likely include hits from the Grammy and MTV nominee’s multi-platinum selling career including “Hot In The City,” “White Wedding,” “Eyes Without A Face,” “Flesh For Fantasy,” “To Be A Lover” and the #1 smash “Mony Mony.” He long ago found a way to take that sneering punk attitude into the pop and rock mainstream, carving out songs that have lasted a lifetime. All of these classics are included on 2008’s The Very Best Of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself, a career-spanning CD, Deluxe Edition CD/DVD and digital collection (Capitol/EMI). His immortal “Rebel Yell” was also featured on 2008’s Guitar Hero® World Tour game. In 2009, Eagle Rock Entertainment released IDOL’s first in-concert DVD “In Super Overdrive Live” (filmed at the Congress Theatre in Chicago).
DATE CITY VENUE
Sat 6/5 Moscow, Russia SCCH Russia
Mon 6/7 St. Petersburg, Russia Ice Hall
Wed 6/9 Helsinki, Finland Ice Hall
Sat 6/11 Malmo, Sweden Sweden Rock Festival
Sun 6/13 Donington Park, UK Download Festival
Wed 6/16 NR Nurenburg, Germany Arbenburg, Burg
Fri 6/18 Athens, Greece Karaiski Stadium
Sun 6/20 Skopje, Macedonia Skopsko Lizgaliste
Mon 6/21 Belgrade, Serbia Belgrade Arena
Tue 6/22 Zagreb, Croatia T Music Festival
Thu 6/24 Ljubjiana, Slovenia Hala Tivoli
Fri 6/25 Vienna, Austria Danube Island Free Festival
Sun 6/27 Prague, Czech Republic Sasazu
Tue 6/29 Ravensburg, Germany Oberschubenhalle
Thu 7/1 Sopron, Hungary Volt Festival
Sat 7/3 Germany TBA
Sun 7/4 Bremen, Germany Freeload Festival
Thu 7/8 Bonn, Germany Museumplatz
Fri 7/9 Huttweil, Switzerland Rocksound Festival
Sun 7/11 Weert, Holland Bospop Festival
12 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED FULLY REALIZED JIMI HENDRIX STUDIO RECORDINGS
AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ONVALLEYS OF NEPTUNE
Experience Hendrix LLC & Legacy Recordings Launch Monumental Jimi Hendrix Catalog Project With Collection Documenting Pivotal Creative Period in 1969
Valleys of NeptuneAvailable Everywhere Tuesday, March 9
Experience Hendrix LLC and Sony Music Entertainment’s Legacy Recordings will launch their monumental 2010 Jimi Hendrix Catalog Project on Tuesday, March 9, with the release of Valleys of Neptune, a newly curated album of 12 fully realized studio recordings, more than 60 minutes of music never commercially available on a Jimi Hendrix album, from the artist Rolling Stone magazine called the greatest guitarist of all time.
Centered around tracks recorded during a pivotal and turbulent four-month period in 1969, Valleys of Neptune unveils the original Jimi Hendrix Experience’s final studio recordings, as the group lays down the foundation for its follow-up to Electric Ladyland, alongside the guitar superhero’s first sessions with bassist Billy Cox, an old army buddy he’d recruited into his new ensemble.
Valleys of Neptune provides an essential, compelling, and up-til-now largely unseen view of what Jimi Hendrix was up to musically in the critical period between the release of Electric Ladyland in October 1968 and the 1970 opening of his own Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village, the state of the art facility where he would begin his final project, the ambitious double album First Rays of the New Rising Sun.
Janie Hendrix, CEO of Experience Hendrix LLC, the Hendrix family-owned company entrusted with preserving and protecting the legacy of Jimi Hendrix, noted, “My brother Jimi was at home in the studio. Valleys of Neptune offers deep insight into his mastery of the recording process and demonstrates the fact that he was as unparalleled a recording innovator as he was a guitarist. His brilliance shines through on every one of these precious tracks.”
Valleys of Neptune is originality electrified, offering more than 60 minutes of previously unreleased Jimi Hendrix music, originally recorded, and newly mixed for this historic release, by Hendrix’s longtime engineer Eddie Kramer, who first worked with the guitarist on Are You Experienced? in 1967. Valleys of Neptune is produced by Janie Hendrix, John McDermott (who contributes detailed liner notes to the album) and Eddie Kramer.
“Valleys of Neptune” has long been one of the most sought after of any commercially unavailable Jimi Hendrix recording. The song will be released as a single globally on February 2, 2010, nearly forty years after Jimi finished recording the track at New York’s Record Plant in May of 1970.
Other highlights on Valleys of Neptune include blazing studio covers of Elmore James’ classic “Bleeding Heart” and Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” as well as premier performances of original Hendrix compositions like “Ships Passing Through The Night,” “Lullaby For The Summer” and the original un-dubbed Jimi Hendrix Experience rendition of “Hear My Train A Comin’.” Also included in Valleys of Neptune is “Mr. Bad Luck,” a Jimi Hendrix Experience track, produced by Chas Chandler during the 1967 Axis: Bold as Love sessions.
As part of the opening wave of releases for the Jimi Hendrix Catalog Project, Legacy Recordings will also be releasing new deluxe CD/DVD editions of Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love, Electric Ladyland, and First Rays of the New Rising Sun, also available on vinyl, on March 9.
Each of the essential titles in the Jimi Hendrix catalog to be newly reissued on Legacy will feature a bonus DVD featuring newly created documentaries directed by the Grammy award winning Bob Smeaton [Beatles Anthology, Festival Express, Beatles: The Studio Recordings] and featuring interviews with Experience members Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, original producer Chas Chandler and engineer Eddie Kramer. In addition, Smash Hits, Jimi’s original compilation, will be reintroduced. The critically acclaimed Live At Woodstock will be available as a standard DVD as well as a Blu-ray Disc.
“No artist has ever transformed the pop music landscape as profoundly or as permanently as Jimi Hendrix,” said Adam Block, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Legacy Recordings. “We are proud to be partnering with Experience Hendrix in releasing Valleys of Neptune, a treasure for Hendrix fans both new and experienced. It’s an auspicious start in fulfilling a shared vision for the Jimi Hendrix catalog going forward.”
Frontiers Records to release the new EXTREME Live DVD and CD
“TAKE US ALIVE” WILL BE RELEASED APRIL 23rd IN EUROPE & MAY 4TH IN THE USA
Napoli (March 8, 2010) – EXTREME is releasing their ‘Take Us Alive’ live CD and DVD on Frontiers Records world-wide April 23rd in Europe & May 4th In USA. In 2008, following a 13 year hiatus, the band returned to the stage for their ‘Take Us Alive’ world tour, which encompassed 75 cities and multiple continents in support of their new and groundbreaking record, Saudades de Rock.
This recording captures EXTREME at the peak of their game with a renewed enthusiasm led by Gary Cherone’s spellbinding stage performance and powerful vocals, Nuno Bettencourt’s ferocious guitar, Pat Badger’s flawless bass and Kevin Figueiredo’s pounding drums not to mention the Extreme trademark, spot on, back up vocals.
This brilliant performance was recorded on the last night of their tour at the House of Blues August 8, 2009 in EXTREME’s hometown of Boston, MA . “We wanted to do something really special for our hometown fans that were there for us since the beginning… the club days,” states Nuno. “It was the last night of the tour and we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than by bringing it back to where it all started… Boston.”
The concert showcases material from all 5 EXTREME albums and exhibits the bands broad stylistic abilities. Features include a blistering rendition of the Zeppelin-minded “Comfortably Dumb,” the scorching “Play With Me,” the funked-up “Cupid’s Dead” as well as the anthemic “Get The Funk Out.” Songs like their #1 hit “More Than Words” and the top 5 “Hole Hearted,” highlight the crowds enthusiasm and loyal support their fan base has had for this beloved foursome. “As much as we enjoy recording, for me, I’ve always loved playing live for the fans,” Cherone says. “We couldn’t wait to get out there and play for our fans.”
The DVD will contain 4 unreleased bonus videos from their latest record Saudades de Rock. Videos include the songs “King of the Ladies”, “Interface”, “Run” and “Ghost.” The videos were produced by Nuno Bettencourt. “This DVD/CD is a culmination of all the years we played together and the chemistry the four of us put out live,” explains Bettencourt.
Concert Track Listing
Decadence Dance, Comfortably Dumb, Rest in Peace, It (’s a Monster), Star, Tell me Something I Don’t Know, Medley - Kid Ego - Little Girls -Teachers Pet, Play With Me, Midnight Express, More Than Words, Ghost, Cupid’s Dead, Take us Alive, Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee, Get the Funk Out, Am I Ever Gonna Change, Hole Hearted.
Bonus Music Videos (DVD only)
King of the Ladies, Interface, Run, Ghost
