Category: Music

Britney Spears marks 20th anniversary of ‘…Baby One More Time,’ thanks fans

Britney Spears has marked the 20th anniversary of her debut single …Baby One More Time with a touching dedication to fans.

The singer took to Twitter on Tuesday to celebrate the occasion, sharing footage from the music video for the track, in which she famously appeared as a racy high school student.

“It’s hard to put into words what today means to me, 20 years ago, the world heard my music for the very first time,” Spears posted. “So much has happened since then but what I really want to say is thank you to my amazing fans who have been there for me since day 1.”

In an accompanying clip, Spears can be seen in behind-the-scenes moments from the 1998 shoot, filmed when she was just 16 years old. In the video the future pop princess shares her excitement over one day hearing her song on the radio.

“If I hear my song on the radio, I’ll just be like, crazy,” she exclaims. “I’d be like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ I think that’d be so cool. I would love that… that’d be a great experience.”

“Your support over the years has meant the absolute world to me!! Love you all!” Spears wrote in a separate tweet.

The star reflected on the song during an August interview with The Guardian.

“The whole song is about the stress that we all go through as teens,” she told the publication. “It was different and I loved it, but I don’t think you can anticipate how a song is going to be received.”

Selling over 10 million copies, …Baby One More Time is one of the best-selling singles of all time.

The special anniversary comes just days after Britney announced the her second Las Vegas residency show, Domination, which is set to run from February to August 2019.

Chris Cornell / 4CD box set

November sees the first ever complete retrospective of Chris Cornell’s career covering Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and his solo works.

Simply called Chris Cornell, the four-CD box set edition (there are two other physical formats) features 64 tracks and includes 11 unreleased recordings, notably ‘When Bad Does Good’, a song found in Chris’ personal audio archive which was performed, recorded and mixed by Chris himself. Other unreleased tracks include live performances such as Chris’ duet with Yusuf/Cat Stevens on ‘Wild World’, Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’ (recorded with his daughter, Toni Cornell) as well as ‘Reach Down’, ‘Stargazer’, ‘One’ and ‘Show Me How To Live’.

The set includes a 54-page booklet with unreleased photos and sleeve note contributions by Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, Tom Morello, Mike McCready and Brendan O’Brien. The box comes wrapped in a custom die-cut o-card that “showcases Seattle with tree-line graphics on the front and other various cities Chris lived in throughout his life on the back.”

A 17-track version of Chris Cornell is also available on single CD and 2LP vinyl. This will be released on 16 November 2018.

Chris Cornell 4CD box set

Disc: 1
1. Hunted Down – Soundgarden
2. Kingdom of Come – Soundgarden
3. Flower – Soundgarden
4. All Your Lies – Soundgarden
5. Loud Love – Soundgarden
6. Hands All Over – Soundgarden
7. Say Hello 2 Heaven – Temple of the Dog
8. Hunger Strike – Temple of the Dog
9. Outshined – Soundgarden
10. Rusty Cage – Soundgarden
11. Seasons – Chris Cornell
12. Hey Baby (Land of the New Rising Sun) – M.A.C.C.
13. Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden
14. Spoonman – Soundgarden
15. Dusty – Soundgarden
16. Burden in My Hand – Soundgarden

Disc: 2
1. Sunshower – Chris Cornell
2. Sweet Euphoria – Chris Cornell
3. Can’t Change Me – Chris Cornell
4. Like a Stone – Audioslave
5. Cochise – Audioslave
6. Be Yourself – Audioslave
7. Doesn’t Remind Me – Audioslave
8. Revelations – Audioslave
9. Shape of Things to Come – Audioslave
10. You Know My Name – Chris Cornell
11. Billie Jean – Chris Cornell
12. Long Gone (Rock Version) – Chris Cornell
13. Scream – Chris Cornell
14. Part of Me (Steve Aoki Remix) – Chris Cornell
15. Ave Maria (With Eleven) – Chris Cornell

Disc: 3
1. Promise (Feat. Chris Cornell) – Slash
2. Whole Lotta Love (Feat. Chris Cornell) – Santana
3. Call Me a Dog (Live Acoustic) – Chris Cornell
4. Imagine (Live Acoustic) – Chris Cornell
5. I Am the Highway (Live Acoustic) – Chris Cornell
6. The Keeper – Chris Cornell
7. Been Away Too Long – Soundgarden
8. Live to Rise – Soundgarden
9. Lies (With Chris Cornell & Ace) – Gabin
10. Misery Chain (With Joy Williams) – Chris Cornell
11. Storm – Soundgarden
12. Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart – Chris Cornell
13. Only These Words – Chris Cornell
14. Our Time in the Universe – Chris Cornell
15. ‘Til the Sun Comes Back Around – Chris Cornell
16. Stay With Me Baby – Chris Cornell
17. The Promise – Chris Cornell
18. When Bad Goes Good – Chris Cornell

Disc: 4
1. Into the Void (Sealth) [live at the Paramount] – Soundgarden
2. Mind Riot (Live at the Paramount) – Soundgarden
3. Nothing to Say (Live in Seattle) – Soundgarden
4. Jesus Christ Pose (Live in Oakland) – Soundgarden
5. Show Me How to Live (Live in Cuba) – Audioslave*
6. Wide Away (Live in Sweden) – Chris Cornell*
7. All Night Thing (Live in Sweden) – Chris Cornell*
8. Nothing Compares 2 U (Live at Sirius XM) – Chris Cornell*
9. One (Live at Beacon Theatre) – Chris Cornell*
10. Reach Down (Live at the Paramount) – Temple of the Dog*
11. Stargazer (Live at the Paramount) – Temple of the Dog*
12. Wild World (With Chris Cornell) [live at Pantages Theatre] – Yusuf/Cat Stevens*
13. A Day in the Life (Live at the Royal Albert Hall) – Chris Cornell*
14. Redemption Song (With Toni Cornell) [live at Beacon Theatre] – Chris Cornell*
15. Thank You (Live in Sweden) – Chris Cornell

*previously unreleased

Lost Neil Young and Joni Mitchell concert recordings uncovered by archivists

Live concert recordings of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell considered lost for decades have been unearthed by Michigan archivists.

The Canadian folk legends are among a number of historic music performances recently discovered by the non-profit Michigan History Project.

All of the recordings were made at the Canterbury House, the Episcopal student ministry at the University of Michigan campus in the late 1960s. The space doubled as a place of worship and a concert venue during the era with some of the biggest folk acts of the time performing there.

Each was recorded in professional audio quality on seven-inch reel-to-reel tapes. They’re now being shopped to record labels for an official release, organizers say.

Other tapes found in the collection include performances by Tim Buckley, Doc Watson and Odetta.

Archivists have known about the elusive recordings of Young and Mitchell for years.

Beach Boys, Brian Wilson to Reunite for SiriusXM ‘Town Hall’

The Beach Boys’ classic lineup – including Brian Wilson – will reunite for a special Q&A session moderated by director Rob Reiner that will air August 10th at 5 p.m. ET/PT on the band’s SiriusXM channel, Good Vibrations.

The “Town Hall” event marks a rare live appearance for founding members Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine and David Marks, as well as longtime Beach Boy Bruce Johnston. The event will take place at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles, were the Beach Boys recorded some of their earliest material.

The Q&A will feature fan questions and focus on the Beach Boys’ “SiriusXM channel, their new album, The Beach Boys with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and their celebrated career as one of the world’s most beloved and respected bands.”

The SiriusXM “Town Hall” marks the first time the surviving Beach Boys will take the stage together since 2012, when they wrapped their extensive 50th anniversary tour. That year, the band’s classic lineup also released a new album, That’s Why God Made the Radio, though afterwards Love decided to keep touring as the Beach Boys, but without Wilson, Jardine and Marks.

Since 2012, Love’s Beach Boys have continued to tour regularly, while the musician also released a solo album, Unleash the Love, in 2017. Wilson has also kept a busy touring schedule, releasing his own record, No Pier Pressure, in 2015. In June, the Beach Boys released The Beach Boys with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which paired the group’s classic vocal takes with new orchestral arrangements.

November Rain becomes first ’90s video to top a billion YouTube views

Guns N’ Roses’ November Rain video has become the first music promo from the 1990s to score over a billion YouTube streams, according to Forbes.

Axl Rose and his bandmates also hold the title of most-viewed 1980s hit as well, with their video for Sweet Child O’ Mine, which has almost 695 million views.

The nine minute long video for November Rain was released in 1992 and has become a steady view in recent years, following Axl’s reunion with former bandmates Slash and Duff McKagan for the Not In This Lifetime… tour, which is currently the fourth highest grossing tour of all time.

The trio and its bandmates are currently wrapping up the European leg of the tour.

Prince Estate, Sony Ink Distribution Deal For 35 Albums

The Prince estate and Sony Music Entertainment have signed a distribution deal for 35 of Prince’s previously released album titles.

The catalog included in the deal will be distributed by Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony.

According to details announced Wednesday, albums originally released between 1995 and 2010 will be available for worldwide distribution this year, including The Gold Experience, Emancipation and 3121.

Legacy will distribute more of Prince’s music in the future. Music from the 1978 to 1996 era will be available in the U.S. starting in 2021.

Prince estate entertainment adviser Troy Carter says Sony’s deep knowledge of Prince’s music makes it an ideal partner to release his work and give fans “more great music from Prince.”

Prince died in 2016 from an accidental fentanyl overdose.

Official! Paul McCartney’s new album, Egypt Station, due in September

Paul McCartney‘s new album is titled Egypt Station and will be issued in September.

His 17th studio solo long-player has been produced by Greg Kurstin (except for one Ryan Tedder track) and contains 14 songs, including the ‘double A-side single’ combo of I Don’t Know and Come on to Me. A physical release of this ‘single’ hasn’t been confirmed and isn’t looking particularly likely.

The album is supposed to have a ‘travelogue’ vibe and McCartney has said the following about the it: “I liked the words ‘Egypt Station.’ It reminded me of the ‘album’ albums we used to make.., Egypt Station starts off at the station on the first song and then each song is like a different station. So it gave us some idea to base all the songs around that. I think of it as a dream location that the music emanates from.”

NEWS
Official! Paul McCartney’s new album, Egypt Station, due in September
June 20, 2018 by Paul Sinclairtags: new music, paul mccartney, The Beatles

New album announced • Few details • ‘Deluxe’ coloured vinyl is £50
Paul McCartney‘s new album is titled Egypt Station and will be issued in September.

His 17th studio solo long-player has been produced by Greg Kurstin (except for one Ryan Tedder track) and contains 14 songs, including the ‘double A-side single’ combo of I Don’t Know and Come on to Me. A physical release of this ‘single’ hasn’t been confirmed and isn’t looking particularly likely.

The album is supposed to have a ‘travelogue’ vibe and McCartney has said the following about the it: “I liked the words ‘Egypt Station.’ It reminded me of the ‘album’ albums we used to make.., Egypt Station starts off at the station on the first song and then each song is like a different station. So it gave us some idea to base all the songs around that. I think of it as a dream location that the music emanates from.”

Despite MPL announcing the album, there is no actual confirmation of formats (and nothing as straightforward as a track listing) but by looking at what’s listed right now in various places, we can deduce that there appears to be a standard vinyl, a standard CD, a deluxe vinyl edition (there is no info at all on what makes it ‘deluxe’) and a coloured vinyl versions of both vinyl options, which are exclusive to McCartney’s store. There is also an exclusive Target edition with two bonus tracks. Finally, a ‘mystery’ super deluxe edition box set is listed on the US site, but not the EU one. Not that there are ANY details, anyway and no ability to pre-order. The US site also only lists coloured vinyl for the non-deluxe version.

NEWS
Official! Paul McCartney’s new album, Egypt Station, due in September
June 20, 2018 by Paul Sinclairtags: new music, paul mccartney, The Beatles

New album announced • Few details • ‘Deluxe’ coloured vinyl is £50
Paul McCartney‘s new album is titled Egypt Station and will be issued in September.

His 17th studio solo long-player has been produced by Greg Kurstin (except for one Ryan Tedder track) and contains 14 songs, including the ‘double A-side single’ combo of I Don’t Know and Come on to Me. A physical release of this ‘single’ hasn’t been confirmed and isn’t looking particularly likely.

The album is supposed to have a ‘travelogue’ vibe and McCartney has said the following about the it: “I liked the words ‘Egypt Station.’ It reminded me of the ‘album’ albums we used to make.., Egypt Station starts off at the station on the first song and then each song is like a different station. So it gave us some idea to base all the songs around that. I think of it as a dream location that the music emanates from.”

Despite MPL announcing the album, there is no actual confirmation of formats (and nothing as straightforward as a track listing) but by looking at what’s listed right now in various places, we can deduce that there appears to be a standard vinyl, a standard CD, a deluxe vinyl edition (there is no info at all on what makes it ‘deluxe’) and a coloured vinyl versions of both vinyl options, which are exclusive to McCartney’s store. There is also an exclusive Target edition with two bonus tracks. Finally, a ‘mystery’ super deluxe edition box set is listed on the US site, but not the EU one. Not that there are ANY details, anyway and no ability to pre-order (although you can sign-up to be notified). The US site also only lists coloured vinyl for the non-deluxe version.

To summarise, this campaign has so far been a bit of a shambles. A week of tedious teases on social media, ended up with a ‘reveal’ of the album name on Monday. But rather than then doing the sensible thing and announcing the album, the very next day (yesterday) the focus was suddenly on a double A-side single, that was going to be ‘released’. Before we could say ‘is it going to be available physically?’ the news cycle has now moved on to the album. However, MPL appear to think every snippet of information should be treated like a precious commodity, and are withholding details to a ludicrous extent. So there is no track listing, no information about why a deluxe 2LP coloured vinyl is as expensive as it’s listed, and nothing about how anything is going to be presented. Not really good enough. If you’re not ready with the details, then WAIT before announcing!!

Egypt Station will be released on 7 September, although given that they clearly haven’t worked out the content for it yet, there’s a fair chance that the super deluxe edition won’t meet that release deadline.

The Spice Girls reunion is cancelled again

The Spice Girls reunion is cancelled again, according to reports.

The famous female group had been teasing a hotly anticipated reunion but it now appears to be off.

Reports have surfaced that Victoria Beckham cannot come to an agreement about touring.

And this has led to rifts between Posh, Mel C, Mel B, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton.

Her fellow band members are frustrated by Posh’s stance that could lead them to missing out on a $40 million windfall.

While she has always insisted that she would never tour with the band again, the girls thought their original manager Simon Fuller would convince her, an insider revealed.

But with no agreement having been reached the other band members have been left in ‘disarray’ following ‘heated debates between the girls and Victoria.’

And these meetings have failed to reach any deal about finalizing their reunion tour.

New Prince album to be released in September

MINNEAPOLIS — Warner Bros. Records has announced a new Prince album on what would have been the musician’s 60th birthday.

The company said Thursday that “Piano & A Microphone 1983” from Prince’s storied vault will be released on Sept. 21 on CD, vinyl and digital formats.

Warner Bros. says the album features Prince working through nine tracks in a private rehearsal recording at his now-demolished home studio in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen.

Among the songs are “17 Days,” Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” “Strange Relationship,” “International Lover” and “Purple Rain,” the title song of Prince’s 1984 hit movie.

Also included is Prince performing the spiritual “Mary Don’t You Weep.”

Prince was 57 when he died of an accidental fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park recording complex in 2016.

ABBA Reunite in Studio After 35 Years to Record Two New Songs

Legendary Swedish pop quartet ABBA have answered their fans’ decades-long wish and reunited to record two new songs. The “Waterloo” group announced on Friday morning (Apr. 27) that they have written and recorded their first new tracks in 35 years. “The decision to go ahead with the exciting Abba avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence. We all felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio,” they wrote in a statement about the songs. “So we did. And it was like time had stood still and we had only been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”

They revealed the name of one of the songs, “I Still Have Faith in You,” which will be featured in an NBC/BBC special that is slated to air in December. The group — which includes Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältsko, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad — hinted at the sound of the new music, saying, “We may have come of age, but the song is new. And it feels good.” The two-hour TV special co-produced by NBC and BBC will feature the group’s avatars performing their greatest hits; the avatars are slated to launch a world tour next year.

ABBA notched 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1974 and 1983, including the No. 1 “Dancing Queen” in 1977. They also claimed top 10s with their debut hit “Waterloo” (No. 6), “Take a Chance on Me” (No. 3) and “The Winner Takes It All” (No. 8). They claimed 13 entries on the Billboard 200 albums chart, including the top 20 sets Arrival, Voulez-Vous and Super Trouper. Their Gold – Greatest Hits album has spent more than 130 weeks on the Billboard 200 and sold nearly 6 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music.

The group formed in Stockholm in 1972 and rose to international fame two years later when they won the Eurovision song contest in Brighton, England, with their breakout hit “Waterloo.” They had a string of global smashes throughout the next decade before splintering in 1983. Though generous sums have been dangled before them to reform for decades, the quartet had resisted reuniting until 2016, when they performed together at a private event in Stockholm.