THE WHO: Are Not Who They Seem?
The Who postponed a second consecutive show “due to illness” Saturday in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Like Philadelphia on Thursday, they’re trying to reschedule it. Or was it a Who tribute band that postponed the shows? That's how Pete Townshend sees them.
Asked by AARP magazine before they started The Song Is Over -- The North American Farewell Tour why he and Roger Daltrey continue to perform as The Who after Keith Moon (1978) and John Entwistle (2002) died, he said, "It’s a brand rather than a band. Roger and I have a duty to the music and the history. The Who [still] sells records -- the Moon and Entwistle families have become millionaires. There’s also something more, really: the art, the creative work is when we perform it. We’re celebrating. We’re a Who tribute band. "But apart from that, it does whet an appetite to think about how we should bow out in our personal lives — what we do with our families and our friends and everything else at this age. We’re lucky to be alive. I’m looking forward to playing [on this tour]." Townshend also addressed his health and the fact that last year he said he felt suicidal. "I think I’m on the [bleeping] mountain top! You know, I just feel supreme. My brain is as sharp as a razor. I’m very, very creative. I’m not good with money, but I’m good at doing business deals. I am healthy, and I think I probably have another five years in show business. I’m not quite sure doing what. I'm very [good at] producing shows, producing artists, working with artists." As for feeling suicidal, he said, "I have a friend who’s a therapist who works in recovery circles. I would wake up, say, at 9 needing to have a wee, and just put my head back on the pillow and feel if I pulled the cover over my head and tried to sleep again, I would be okay. But as soon as I faced the idea of getting up, I would feel a tremendous sense of dread and sadness and frustration and, I suppose, emptiness. I used a metaphor of a gun under the pillow. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so flippant. It certainly felt very, very real to me. But anyway, I’m good. As soon as I forced myself to get out, have a cup of tea, a couple of sugary biscuits, get on with my day, I’m fine. It was just that sleep is not doing what it’s supposed to do."
And in an interview with The New York Times, he faced another challenge following a knee operation earlier this year. “I got re-addicted to painkillers. This is the way rock stars die, OxyContin. “I’d gone through severe alcohol addiction for many years, then narcotics. I’d been clean for over 30 years. I called a close friend who’s working for a recovery clinic in Spain, and he got my head sorted out. I’m feeling really good at the moment.” The next show on The Who's farewell tour is scheduled tonight (Tuesday) in Boston.
THE WHO: So, What Really Happened With Zak?
In June, Pete Townshend said The Who's firing, rehiring and re-firing of drummer Zak Starkey was "a mess." And now, once again, he seems to be saying that Roger Daltrey has some thin skin. Back then he told England's The I Paper that when Daltrey complained about Starkey's playing on "The Song Is Over" during their show at Royal Albert Hall in March, “I couldn’t see anything wrong. What you see is a band who haven’t played together for a long time. But I think it was probably to do with the sound. I think Roger just got lost. Roger’s finding it difficult." And in a new interview with AARP magazine, Townshend offered up a little more clarity on what really upset Daltrey.
"One of the difficulties Roger had was [Zak] jumped straight into Instagram and started to mouth off and defend his position in a cheeky, chatty manner, which belies the seriousness of what actually happened. Roger had asked us to rehearse 'The Song Is Over' because that’s what we were calling the tour. We shortened it to three-and-a-half minutes. And about halfway through [playing it live at the Royal Albert Hall in March], it appeared that Roger got completely lost. He stopped, he complained, spoke to his own sound engineer, and started to rage. It looked like he was raging at Zak, but that’s not the case. It became a story among fans, and it looked like Roger made a mistake, but something technical went wrong. [Zak’s] handling of it, was, I suppose, lighthearted, but you know Roger." Starkey was replaced by Scott Devours, who's been drumming for Daltrey's solo band for several years.
After postponing two shows last week in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, New Jersey "due to illness", The Who are set to resume The Song Is Over -- The North American Farewell Tour
tonight (Tuesday) in Boston.
Oasis Launches First North American Tour In 16 Years
Oasis' first North American tour in 16 years is underway. The duo kicked this leg off with a rain-soaked show in Toronto on Sunday night.The Gallagher brothers played the same 23 song setlist that was featured in the earlier U.K. leg of the tour, including "Acquiesce," "Morning Glory," "Live Forever," and "The Masterplan." Oasis played a second show in Toronto on Monday night. The next show is scheduled for August 28th in Chicago.
STING: Comes Under Fire
It's two against one in The Police as Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland have reportedly filed a lawsuit against Sting, claiming they are owed millions in royalties. Filed in London’s High Court under “general commercial contracts and arrangements,” a source tells The Sun, “This has been coming for quite some time. Lawyers tried repeatedly to reach an out-of-court settlement but hit a stalemate. Andy and Stewart decided there was no alternative than court so pressed the button. They say they are owed millions in lost royalties.” The suit is believed to center around the trio's only number-one song, 1983s "Every Breath You Take," which Summers feels he should be credited as the co-writer of as he talked about in this interview in October 2023. “It’s a very contentious moment that's very much alive at the moment so I can't really say much about it. Watch the press. Let's see what happens in the next year. That song was going in the trash until I played on it, and that’s all there is to it. And I think that’s kind of composition, absolutely.”
Summers recalls "That was a song that Sting brought in, and he had a huge synthesizer part for it that obviously wasn’t working. We had the tempo and the rhythm and where it was going, but what we got down first was the bass and drums to a simple, classic part. And then we tried so many things on it. Sting just said to me, ‘Go in and make it your own.’ So I went in and immediately played this figure that I’d come up with and stopped everyone dead in their tracks, because the minute I put that guitar thing on the whole thing fell into place. Just with guitar, bass and drums we had it." A spokeswoman for Sting denies the suit is related to "Every Breath You Take," but would not elaborate on the case.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Garden State Honor
U.S. Representative Frank Pallone Junior has introduced a House Resolution honoring the 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s third album, Born to Run, which was released today -- August 25th -- in 1975. Pallone says, "Bruce Springsteen didn’t just write an album. He wrote an anthem for the American dream, captured in the poetry of the working class and the spirit of the Jersey Shore. Fifty years later, Born to Run still makes us roll down the windows and believe in something better just over the horizon. It's time Congress officially said so.”
The resolution goes on to mention the success of the album and multiple achievements from throughout Springsteen's career, including his birthday, September 23rd, being Bruce Springsteen Day in New Jersey. “Bruce has always been a proud son of the Jersey Shore,” adds Pallone. “My resolution recognizes what fans have known for decades: that his music belongs not just to New Jersey, but to the heart and soul of the nation.” Pallone represents New Jersey’s Sixth Congressional District, which includes Long Branch, where Springsteen was born and where Born to Run was written.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Has His Character Staind
The very liberal Bruce Springsteen is obviously not that appealing to Aaron Lewis, the very conservative singer of Staind. During a recent appearance on The Tucker Carlson Show, Lewis ripped into Springsteen for comments he made on his recent European tour against President Trump and his administration. Lewis said, "I think that he is a disgusting display of not appreciating what was handed to him, in this country as being an American, the success that he has had. The fact that he duped us all with one of the most anti-American songs ever and called it 'Born in the U.S.A.' as some sort of celebration of how great it is to be born in the U.S.A. I'm angry at myself for not seeing it for so long and actually giving him, in my mind, the credit of being a representation of blue-collar America. "I think that [Springsteen] has forgotten where he came from. I think that if you're not careful doing this, this career that that me and him have both been so blessed to have had, if you're not careful, it will consume you. And it's obvious that it creates a situation where you've lost sight of the reality of the country that you live in because you've...had so much, you have so much that it's really easy to take a stance that is so anti everything that you were lucky enough to have, lucky enough to create, lucky enough to change your situation in life. And he's just lost touch with the struggles."
As for Springsteen supporting the Democratic party, Lewis says, "It seems like most people who have lost touch with the true struggle of life, those are the people that vote for these idiots... Those are the people that, somewhere along the way, they feel guilty for the success that they have had, so they somehow have to make it up with this nonsensical [crap]."
This is not the first time Lewis has railed against Springsteen, having previously called him out in his song "Am I the Only One," which took aim at liberals. At the end of the song he sings, "Am I the only one who quits singin' along every time they play a Springsteen song." Springsteen didn't respond when Trump called him "highly overrated," so it's doubtful he'll respond to Lewis.
Tico Torres Of Bon Jovi Shoots Down Retirement Rumors
Tico Torres is categorically denying he's thinking about stepping away from the the drum kit. The Bon Jovi drummer posted a video to the band's Instagram yesterday, addressing rumors that he's retiring from music. "I'm here to dispel a lot of rumors that I've read, people calling me up, saying, 'Did you retire from music, from the band?' Well, no. I have no idea how this stuff starts. Musicians don't retire, especially me." He goes on to explain he (and the band) are still in their prime. "Me and the boys, Jon and everybody, we're still making music. I mean, the best we've ever been. All I can tell you is don't listen to what you read. It's most likely b******." Rumor killed...but how exactly did that rumor start?
Earlier in the month the hosts of the "Bon Jovi Talk" podcast threw it out there in a post on X. "Wait.... Has Tico retired???? Apparently, David [Bryan] said in the latest podcast with Jon that he and Jon started when they were 16 and now, they're the only two remaining in the band...If Tico is done, that's the band done. Tico is the heart and soul of the band. This isn't a thing to start a rumor or gossip either. I am genuinely asking..." So, now you know, straight from the drummer's mouth. See Tico's video (CAREFUL! NSFW LANGUAGE!) here.
BUSH: Late Mastodon Guitarist Helped Rossdale
While many musicians have paid tribute to ex-Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds after his death in a motorcycle accident last week, Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale's carries a bit more weight than most. Rossdale posted on his Instagram that Hinds was "was directly responsible for stopping me on a self-sabotage [path] back to the fatally dangerous world of Xanax. "He spoke about its actual deadly effects. The slowing down of the body. The barely breathing. I will always be grateful for that advice. This life can be ended in a literal moment. I should have taken guitar lessons from Brent."
BRIAN WILSON: There Was a Place Where He Wanted to Go
Brian Wilson was asked by The Beach Boys to be part of their 1988 song "Kokomo" -- at least according to his former lawyer. John Mason tells FOX News that Brian long regretted not being on the song, which was featured in the Tom Cruise film Cocktail. He says, “Mike [Love] and Carl [Wilson] came into my office and said to Brian, ‘Hey, we have the opportunity to write a song for this movie, Cocktail‘... “It’s really great. We’d love you to join us. And Brian was really excited. He said, ‘Oh, I’d love to do that.’ But later in the evening, Brian called and said, ‘I shouldn’t do that. Dr. Landy said I shouldn’t do that... “Brian felt really badly about not working on ‘Kokomo.’” And then later on when he heard it, Mason says Wilson said, "Oh my gosh, was that a missed opportunity?”
Wilson became a patient of the controversial celebrity therapist Dr. Eugene Landy in 1975. The reason Landy refused to allow him to participate was that the doctor also wanted to be listed as a co-writer, which the band refused to do. Brian stopped seeing Landy in 1976 due to the expense, but they would reunite from 1982 until Landy's license was revoked by the State of California in 1989, though Brian didn't completely sever ties until 1991. Wilson later referred to his time with Landy as a "prison sentence." Landy died in 2006. Wilson died at his Los Angeles-area home on June 11th from respiratory arrest. The L.A. coroner's report also said that the 82-year-old had sepsis and cystitis -- both infection issues.
Michael Antunes Of John Cafferty And The Beaver Brown Band Dead
Michael "Tunes" Antunes is dead. The musician, who played the saxophone with John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band passed away on August 19th, just nine days after his 85th birthday. He died of kidney failure. In a post on his official Instagram account, Cafferty shared a video of the saxophonist playing his solo from "Tender Years" and said "love, gratitude, respect, joy for our precious time together and sadness for our gentle fond farewell."
IN OTHER NEWS
Sammy Hagar had a layover in Maui on his way home from a vacation in Hawaii and he posted a video on Instagram of him visiting Sammy’s Beach Bar & Grill. He says, “I don't often get to stop by my airport restaurants where the Hagar family foundation gives the money away to local charities. The Maui location was the first one and it's still great and slamming I can testify. Thank you for nearly 15 years of support. We've done a lot for kids & families in the community.”
Metallica will headline Salesforce's annual Dreamfest fundraising event for UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital at the Chase Center in San Francisco on October 15th.
John Fogerty has announced a tour in support of his new album, Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years -- John's Version, which was released on Friday. It starts September 29th in Mexico City and then heads north to Highland, California on October 1st, followed by 11 more U.S. dates through November 14th in Boston.