105.7 The Hawk » Music News

Rick Wakeman at 64: A Grumpy Old Man

Barbara LaRue — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:21:52 +0000

Rick Wakeman celebrated a birthday over the weekend, born on May 18, 1949 in London, England. Apparently, Rick is a self-proclaimed grumpy old man, and at 64 years of age, that seems reasonable to me. In fact, Rick is so grumpy that he has entitled his blog, GORR (Grumpy Old Rick’s Ramblings). For a taste of [...]

Pete Townshend at 68: Tommy Revival Stirring His Emotions

Barbara LaRue — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:52:59 +0000

Happy belated birthday to Pete Townshend! The legendary rocker was born May 19th, 1945 in London, England. I’m not so sure he celebrated his birthday happily, because the revival of his brilliant and first ever rock opera, “Tommy”, has brought back the painful emotions of his childhood. According to an online article from cbc news, while watching The [...]

AC/DC Show Support for Bon Scott Hometown Statue

Billy Dukes — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:51:21 +0000

Supporters of a plan to raise money for a statue of Bon Scott in his hometown of Kirriemuir, Scotland received a big boost recently when AC/DC put their weight into the project with a post on their official website. The campaign is looking to raise over $75,000 (50,000 pounds) before June 5. As of today (May 16), they're one-third of the way there.

Bruce Springsteen Joins the Dropkick Murphys on Boston Marathon Bombings Benefit CD

Billy Dukes — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:33:21 +0000

This week, Boston-based Celtic-punk band DropKick Murphys released a three-song EP to benefit the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. One song features Bruce Springsteen, who sought out the group in hours after the April 15 bombing.

38 Years Ago: Alice Cooper Stages 'Welcome to My Nightmare' Tour

Sterling Whitaker — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:29:05 +0000

Kiss recently revealed that the staging for their upcoming tour will feature an enormous, fireball-spewing spider. And while the stage set is brand new, the idea is not -- in fact, David Bowie's 1987 Glass Spider tour featured a huge spider set, and more than a decade before that, original shock rocker Alice Cooper used an oversized arachnid as part of his 1975 tour.

Roger Daltrey Tells Howard Stern About the Time He Knocked Out Pete Townshend

Michael Gallucci — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:44:16 +0000

Roger Daltrey set the record straight about the time he knocked out Pete Townshend today. The Who singer told Howard Stern, on his radio program and TV show, that the story, which Townshend told a couple of years ago, is indeed true.

Journey Gets More Platinum Records After Streaming Rules Change

Jeff Giles — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:55:56 +0000

The RIAA’s ongoing quest to most accurately determine just how much music we’re consuming has reached another milestone, with the much-maligned trade association taking the controversial step of incorporating streaming data into its sales certifications. The change in methodology has had an immediate effect on a wide variety of artists, including Journey (whose ‘Don’t Stop Believin” has [...]

[Top 5 Tuesday] Top 5 Classic Rock Instrumentals

Varacchi — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:26:37 +0000

Sometimes the words just don’t matter. Here are my five favorite instrumentals. 5 – ELO “Fire On High” Okay, technically there are a few words here. There are back-masked vocals during the weird creepy intro; there are also a few words sung by the chorus. Still, there’s are no real “lyrics”, so this falls into [...]

45 Years Ago: John Lennon and Paul McCartney Appear on 'The Tonight Show'

Dave Lifton — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:56:45 +0000

After their February 1968 trip to Rishikesh, India failed to provide the spiritual enlightenment they sought, the Beatles turned in the opposite direction, towards business matters. A few months later, the company they decided to form in the wake of manager Brian Epstein's death was ready to launch. In mid-May, John Lennon and Paul McCartney flew to New York to promote Apple Corps.

Kiss Promise New Stage Show Featuring Fireball-Shooting Spider

Sterling Whitaker — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:58:38 +0000

You can never accuse Kiss of not putting on an over-the-top rock show. But for the upcoming European leg of their ‘Monster’ tour, the band are unveiling a new stage setup that they promise is a step beyond even their previous stadium spectaculars. “It’s really great,” Paul Stanley tells VH1 Radio Network’s Dave Basner (quote [...]

Jack Bruce at 70: On Tour with his Big Blues Band

Barbara LaRue — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:16:48 +0000

Happy birthday to Jack Bruce, born on May 14, 1943 in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. To celebrate Record Store Day last month, Cream released a 3 LP edition of “Live at the Albert Hall” with a very limited run of 1,500 copies. Jack’s busy these days with his Big Blues Band, currently on tour in Europe. [...]

25 Years Ago: Led Zeppelin Reunite at Atlantic's 40th Anniversary Concert

Jeff Giles — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:36:17 +0000

By 1988, Led Zeppelin had been disbanded for the better part of a decade, its members having moved on to solo careers in a show of respect for their fallen drummer John Bonham. But as they'd shown in 1985 with their mini-reunion for Live Aid, they were willing to come together for the right cause.

A True "Space" Oddity; The Greatest Cover Song Ever!

Varacchi — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:17:51 +0000

Astronaut Chris Hadfield has spent the past five months as the commander of Expedition 35 aboard the International Space Station, posting lots of great videos. His tenure ended Sunday night, and he left us with one final amazing video. Perfect. Flawless. Epic. How many people can say they performed “Space Oddity” while actually IN [...]

Billy Squier at 63: Offered a Song to Help Sandy Relief Efforts

Barbara LaRue — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:36:20 +0000

Happy (belated) birthday to Billy Squier, who celebrated a birthday yesterday, born on May 12, 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts. This past January, Billy offered up “Somebody Loves You”, a recent song of his, for a charity album to support grassroots Sandy relief efforts. The compilation album is called “Songs After Sandy” and also includes offerings [...]

Real-Life Astronaut Covers David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' from Space

Jeff Giles — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:50:43 +0000

More than 40 years after David Bowie recorded ‘Space Oddity,’ the song has finally made its way into outer space. Consequence of Sound turned up the incredibly cool video embedded below, in which International Space Station astronaut Chris Hadfield records a revised cover of the Bowie classic from the inside of the ship — including [...]

Black Sabbath: Behind the Scenes at 'CSI'

Dave Lifton — Sat, 11 May 2013 17:32:23 +0000

CBS has released a special behind-the-scenes video of the season finale of their hit show, 'CSI,' which features a special appearance by Black Sabbath. The video is embedded above.

John Densmore Details Feud with His Doors Bandmates

Mary Ouellette — Sat, 11 May 2013 13:49:11 +0000

The feud between drummer John Densmore and his remaining bandmates from the Doors – keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger - has played out in the press for the past decade. Now in his new book, ‘The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison’s Legacy Goes on Trial,’ Densmore offers up his very personal account of the lawsuits and the often very public battle he’s endured.

Phil Lynott Statue Damaged by Vandals

Sterling Whitaker — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:32:54 +0000

Investigators are looking for information after a statue of Thin Lizzy bassist Phil Lynott in Dublin was seriously damaged after it was apparently pushed over by vandals. Irish paper the Journal reports that two youths pushed over the monument in the early morning hours on Friday (May 10), tearing its bronze coat in the process. Investigators say [...]

Jimi Hendrix Asked Paul McCartney to Play Bass on Record With Miles Davis

Dave Lifton — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:52:36 +0000

One of the great "what-ifs" in rock history just got even greater. A newly uncovered telegram shows that Jimi Hendrix had asked Paul McCartney to play bass in a proposed recording session with legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and drummer Tony Williams.

Bono at 53: 'I'm a Jumped-Up Jesus' and 'I am Sexually Aroused by the Collating of Data'

Barbara LaRue — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:24:34 +0000

Not that we didn’t already sort of know that, at least the part about the Savior. But he confessed both of these things out loud at the TED Conference in California recently. By the way, Bono celebrates a birthday today, born on May 10, 1960 in Dublin, Ireland. I get the Jesus part, but let’s [...]