New Music Preview: Stevie Nicks' 'In Your Dreams'

Stevie Nicks returns with her seventh and first solo album in over ten years, In Your Dreams.  Stevie' voice has aged a bit, but she still sounds great on the new record, which is a mixed bag of sorts. "Annabel Lee" and "Cheaper Than Free" are among the standouts and one of the tracks, "Secret Love" is newly recorded outtake from Fleetwood Mac's classic Rumours album.  In Your Dreams will be released this Tuesday, May 3rd, but you can stream the album before here.

Friday Video: Lindsey Buckingham 'Trouble'

"Trouble" is a song by Lindsey Buckingham. It was the biggest hit off the album Law and Order, which was released in 1981. It was also Buckingham's first hit as a solo artist.

"Trouble" was the only song on the album that Buckingham didn't play bass or drums on; his Fleetwood Mac bandmate Mick Fleetwoodwas brought in to do the drums. Things didn't work out very well in the recording session, and a taped loop of the drum track, about four-seconds long, was used over and over for the song.^[1] The song is sung in a light falsetto.

The single would become a #9 hit in the US in early 1982. It topped the charts in Australia for 3 weeks.

In the UK, it was released on the Mercury Records label. It entered the UK singles charts on 16 January 1983, rising to a high of number 31, and it remained in the chart for 7 weeks.^[2]

The distinctive music video for "Trouble" features a multi-instrumental "big-band" featuring a plethora of male musicians, including Mick Fleetwood.

 

The song appears in the film Just One of the Guys during the blind date.  (Wikipedia) 

Showbiz Kids Mixtape, Vol. 2

With the summer movie blockbusters just around the corner, it's good to remember the music is just as important as the super heroes, anthropomorphic vehicles, pirates, and wizards. And sometimes, the songs even transcend the movies they are a part of.

What are some of your favorite movie soundtracks, or what songs were you introduced to through a film? Hit us up with your comments!

WHOA!! Grateful Dead Europe '72 Mega-Box Set Sells Out...

Because you dared dream this might happen one day… Because you went down to the Gypsy Woman and offered up your first-born to try to make it happen… Because there are enough passionate Dead Heads at Rhino/GD who thought it might be cool for this to happen… It’s happening! Coming in September is a gargantuan, beautifully designed EUROPE ’72 MEGA-BOX SET containing ALL 22 SHOWS of what is arguably the greatest tour the Grateful Dead ever played, on a whopping 60+ DISCS (over 70 hours of music!). Bet you didn’t see that comin’!

Really, at this point we probably don’t need to lay on too much hype about how wonderful the music is: Chances are, if you’re even considering buying a copy of this stunning box, you already know how amazing the Dead’s tour of Europe in April and May of 1972 was. To review briefly, though, the Dead’s first tour outside of North America took them to all sorts of historic and unusual venues in England, Denmark, West Germany, France, Holland and even tiny Luxembourg. Many members of the Dead “family” came along on what was really an extended working vacation that was designed to both expose the Dead to new audiences and also reward the band for their unlikely conquest of America during the preceding two years. As a hedge against the costs of the nearly two-month trip, the Dead’s label, Warner Bros., paid for the band to lug around a 16-track recorder to capture the entire tour… and we’re glad they did!

This was a band at the top of its game, still ascending in the wake of three straight hit albums — Workingman’s Dead, American Beauty and the live Grateful Dead (“Skull & Roses”). It had been a year since the lineup had gone to its single-drummer configuration, six months since Keith Godchaux had been broken in as the group’s exceptional pianist, and this marked the first tour to feature Donna Godchaux as a member of the touring band. There was a ton on new, unreleased material that came into the repertoire in the fall of ’71 (after “Skull & Roses” was out) and during the spring of ’72, including “Tennessee Jed,” “Jack Straw,” “Mexicali Blues,” “He’s Gone,” “Comes A Time,” “Ramble on Rose,” “One More Saturday Night,” “Black-Throated Wind,” “Looks Like Rain” and Pigpen’s “Chinatown Shuffle,” “The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion)” and “Mr. Charlie.” (Sadly, this was Pigpen’s final tour.) All those future classics were interspersed with songs from the aforementioned “hit” albums—such as “Uncle John’s Band,” “Brokedown Palace,” “Cumberland Blues,” “Casey Jones,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “Bertha,” “Not Fade Away,” et al — and then were topped off by loads of big jamming numbers — the Europe ’72 tour produced spectacular versions of “Dark Star,” “The Other One” “Playing in the Band,” “Truckin’,” “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider,” “Good Lovin’,” “Lovelight” and even the early Pig chestnut “Caution.” And that’s leaving out a truckload of other tunes, too! There wasn’t a clunker show in the bunch, and many are acknowledged today as classics. No doubt you already have some favorites.

Through the years, there have been a few releases of material from the Europe tour—starting with the 3-album Europe ’72 which knocked our socks off in the fall of that year, and followed many years later by material from a pair of German shows and the fantastic 4-CD Stepping Out, culled from the group’s eight shows in England. Incredibly, though, only one full show from the tour has come out previously: the excellent 4/24 concert in Dusseldorf, Germany, released as Rockin’ the Rhein in 2004.

Until now, that is. Jeffrey Norman, who has been the primary mixer of Dead archival multi-track material for the past 15 years (Fillmore West ’69, Ladies and Gentlemen…, Rockin’ the Rhein, Nightfall of Diamonds, etc.) has spent many months toiling over the 16-track masters from the tour, and will continue working on the mixes through the Winter and Spring, employing the high-tech Plangent Processes transfer and restoration tools, trying to get every show to sound “just exactly perfect” (as Bob Weir says) for this release. You might think you’ve heard that intense “Dark Star” > “Sugar Mag” > “Caution” from Copenhagen, but I guarantee you’ve never heard it sound this alive! Mastering to HDCD specs is two-time Grammy-winning engineer David Glasser of Airshow Mastering. Needless to say, all the songs that turned up on previous Europe compilations will be appear in their proper show contexts, and in the case of songs from the Europe ’72 album, without overdubs that were added later (where possible).
So dig deep, raid the penny jar, take a weekend job at Jack-in-the-Box, beg your kindly ol’ grandma for some of your inheritance early… Yes, it’s an extravagance, but jeez, you (or your loved one) deserve it! This is way cool. (http://www.deadnet.com/)

"And Your Bird Can Sing" April 26th 1966

Dovetailing the ShowbizKids entry from this morning, Rolling Stones Singles (1971-2006) it is a coincidence that on this day in 1966 the final album version of "And Your Bird Can Sing" from Revolver was recorded.  I think not...maybe it is just another way for me to work in a Beatles reference.  However there is some speculation that John's "bird" reference in this song is to Mick's girlfriend at the time Marianne Faithful. lyric connection to Mick Jagger.

 

Here is a photo of Mick Jagger at the Revolver recording sessions.

For those of us that remember the real Saturday morning cartoons then you may also remember the Beatles cartoon series.  The third season opening title song was "And Your Bird Can Sing." Enjoy the video below.

New Music Tuesdays: The Rolling Stones Singles (1971-2006)

From the Artist (Amazon.com)

Time and again, The Rolling Stones Singles (1971-2006) demonstrates why they are the ultimate singles band. More than any other act, The Rolling Stones understand the immediacy and the potency of the format. Their timeless music has often been at its most exhilarating blaring out of juke-boxes or car radios, or booming out of nightclubs speakers, but it has also sound-tracked many a slow dance or first kiss and still adds drama and layers of meaning to a myriad films and TV programmes.

Product Description (Amazon.com)

Lavishly packaged and released both as a physical and digital set, The Rolling Stones Singles (1971-2006) box set collects the amazing run of forty-five 45s the group has issued over the last four decades. Amongst many gems, it includes US chart-toppers such as the irresistible 'Brown Sugar', the beautiful ballad 'Angie' and the floor-filler par excellence 'Miss You', as well as the infectious rockers 'Mixed Emotions' and 'Don't Stop'.

The new box set also highlights the band's rock and roll and rhythm'n'blues roots, and showcases their wonderful cover versions of Chuck Berry's 'Let It Rock', the Temptations' 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg', Smokey Robinson and The Miracles' 'Going to a Go-Go', Bob & Earl's 'Harlem Shuffle' and Bob Dylan's 'Like A Rolling Stone'. And it brings the group's compelling story up to date with the soulful 'Streets Of Love', 'Rain Fall Down' and 'Biggest Mistake', their most recent studio recordings.

 

By 1971, The Rolling Stones had topped the UK singles charts eight times and established themselves as the `enfants terribles' of the rock generation. Leaving Britain that year, they became the modern equivalent of wandering minstrels, free to record wherever the fancy took them, from the French Riviera to California via Jamaica, New York and Montserrat. Every single time, the results were astonishing. The rolling groove of 'Tumbling Dice', the garage rock of 'Happy', the anthemic cry of 'It's Only Rock'n'Roll', the falsetto soul of 'Fool To Cry', the sweaty funk of 'Hot Stuff', the heartfelt fluidity of 'Beast Of Burden', the snarling urgency of 'Respectable' and 'Shattered' sound-tracked the seventies.

 

The group grew ever more versatile in the eighties, changing mood and tack and excelling in every genre with every single release. 'Emotional Rescue' bossed the dance-floors, 'Start Me Up' exemplified Keith Richards' on-going mastery of the riff, and, not for the first time, Mick Jagger came over all sensitive on 'Waiting On A Friend' and 'Almost Hear You Sigh'. The Glimmer Twins pulled no punches on 'Undercover Of The Night', 'One Hit (To The Body)' and 'Highwire', their 1991 single, and the singer's most controversial lyric in two decades.

 

In the nineties, The Rolling Stones kept their sticky fingers on the pulse of popular culture. They let remixers Teddy Riley, Deep Dish and Todd Terry loose on the likes of 'Love Is Strong', 'Saint Of Me' and 'Out Of Control', and they featured rapper Biz Markie on the incredibly catchy 'Anybody Seen My Baby?'.

And we haven't even mentioned the deep cuts that were singles in the US or Continental Europe only, like the much covered 'Wild Horses', 'Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)', 'She's So Cold', 'Hang Fire', 'Rock And A Hard Place', 'Terrifying' and 'Sex Drive', or the live versions of their sixties hits 'Time Is On My Side' and 'Ruby Tuesday', concert staples issued as A-sides in the eighties and nineties.

 

The set comes in a striking pink box featuring the band's trademark tongue design, styled on the original 7" `house-sleeves'. It's overflowing with all-time classic hits, collectable B-sides and hidden gems. Across 45 CDs, lovingly recreating the original releases in miniature picture sleeves, it contains 173 tracks, 80 of which are not currently available officially.

 

The box also houses a 32-page hardback book packed with memorabilia, period photos and a new essay by renowned journalist, broadcaster and Rolling Stones expert Paul Sexton, as well as an exclusive new interview with Bill Wyman, the band's former bassist and on-going archivist.

 

Many people have specific memories attached to certain Rolling Stones singles and will enjoy reliving them all over again. Many music fans have been trying to replace dog-eared copies of the original 7" and 12" vinyl singles and will love reconnecting with old friends. Many collectors will relish the opportunity to have every single mix and permutation of tracks released on various formats throughout the heady days of the seventies, eighties, nineties and noughties readily available in this sumptuous package.

Classic Albums Revisited: Simple Minds 'New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)'

New Gold Dream is the fifth studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds. The album was released in 1982 and was a turning point for the band as they gained critical and commercial success in the UK and Europe. It made #3 in the UK Albums Chart.^[1]

The record generated a handful of singles; "Promised You a Miracle" (released in April 1982), "Glittering Prize" (August 1982) and "Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)" (November 1982). The title track saw a limited release in Italy, when the band visited the country during their tour in March 1983. In addition, the jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock performed a synthesizer solo on the track "Hunter and the Hunted."

Virgin Records reissued the album as a remastered edition in 2002 (cardboard vinyl replica edition) and early 2003 (jewel-case). On the 2002/2003 edition, the gaps between the tracks on the album are slightly shorter. Virgin also reissued the album on SACD in 2003. (From Wikipedia)

Happy Easter from the Showbiz Kids

Rolling Stone's Best Albums of the 80s

Follow the link to take you to Rolling Stone's List of the Best 100 Albums of the Eighties.  I will say that while we agree on most selections and rankings, we are seriously left scratching our heads at some of the others that made the list of top best 20 albums.  While we find Tracy Chapman and Richard & Linda Thompson in the top 10, there is no mention of the Police, The Cure, or Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers until a little further on down the line... the editors of Rolling Stone have their opinions, and The Showbiz Kids have ours....at least we can all agree on The Clash, U2, the Talking Heads, Prince, and R.E.M. 

Erick Baker Tickets On Sale This Saturday, April 23rd

Ticket Onsale Celebration for Next Knoxville Show (from Erick Baker.com)

Knoxville! I am coming back to play The Bijou Theatre on Friday August 26th!

Tickets will go on sale on Saturday, April 23 at 10 a.m., but this won't be any ordinary onsale! The onsale will take place at The Bijou Theatre box office from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and I am going to be there. This is my chance to personally thank you all for supporting me, my family, and my music. I am even going to play a short acoustic set for the crowd!

After 1 p.m. tickets will be available via the box office, all Tickets Unlimited outlets, by phone at 865-656-4444, or online at: http://www.knoxbijou.com/

We are also going to be collecting food and taking donations for Manna House, which is a local food pantry serving hundreds of families in need each month from our surrounding community. We need all non-perishable canned food items. If all you do is grab a few cans from your pantry before coming down, you are making a difference is someone's life. 

Random Thoughts featuring The Grateful Dead and Television

I was listening to the Grateful Dead's self-titled debut album from 1967 and after further examination of Jerry Garcia's guitar solo from the studio version of the Dead's classic 'Morning Dew,' I kept recalling the same guitar style and effects used by Television's front-man, Tom Verlaine, on their classic, Marquee Moon. 

Both Garcia and Verlaine were known to use delay, reverb, phasing/flanging, and tremolo in addition to utilizing unconventional approaches at playing the standard mixolydian and minor pentatonic scales.  I realize that the Grateful Dead and Television are completely different in just about every aspect, musically, but listen to the guitar work in both songs and please confirm that I am not going crazy here. 

Did the Dead influence one of the most underrated but profound bands of the late 70s?   Listen and decide for yourself...

 

New Beastie Boys Album due May 3rd

The new Beastie Boys album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two sounds promising and is slated to be released on May 3rd, 2011.  Pre-order the album on the Beastie Boys' website or on Apple's iTunes store.  In the meantime, ch-ch-check out some of the new tracks here.

New Music Review: The Kills 'Blood Pressures'

After her stint fronting the Dead Weather with Jack White, Alison Mosshart reunites The Kills and returns to her original guitarist, Jamie Hince, to releases the duo's most intense and best effort to date, Blood Pressures.

The Kills have always taken a minimalistic approach on earlier garage sounding albums, but there are a variety of sounds on the new record.  The mood of the album is strikingly intense and Mosshart wails with reckless abandonment.  Highlights include the bluesy "Nail in My Coffin" and the mood shifting "Satellite." 

Showbiz Kids Rating: 7.5 out of possible 10 "Recommended"

New Music Review: The Gorillaz 'The Fall'

In what may eclipse the actual music on the latest Gorillaz album, The Fall, Damon Albarn utilized his iPad and recorded an album in his down time while on the road in North America in support of Plastic Beach last year.  Surprisingly enough, The Fall is a solid hip-hop album, which makes me feel inadequate with all of the music apps I have purchased and the limited amount of music I have actually created on my iPad.  

The Fall is a clear departure from the cartoon band's first three albums, and scaled down with only one guest star this outing, Bobby Womack. 

From start to finish, this is a cohesive album.  Some of the highlights include 'The Snake In Dallas,' 'Amarillo,' and 'The Joplin Spider.'

 Showbiz Kids Rating: 8.3 out of possible 10. "Very Interesting"

Weekend Recap, What's Next?

If you are a member of a fitness center or gym, every January, you typically steer clear due to the influx of people who have made a new year's resolution to lose weight and get into shape.  By those same standards, if the amount of people seen shopping at the Disc Exchange on Saturday morning/afternoon was any indication, Record Store Day 2011 was a success.  Despite not being able to find the White Stripes, Foo Fighters, and Television RSD Exclusives, the three Showbiz Kids were able to meet and spend a few hours being "music dorks" on Saturday.  (A special "thank you" to our wives for allowing us time to be "music dorks!")

So, what's next for The Showbiz Kids, you may wonder? Well, I can tell you that we were able to sit down with Erick Baker for a few hours and well have an exclusive three part interview coming soon.  We have also finally figured out how to post '8tracks' onto the page as a Widget and have several new playlists coming in the near future.  New reviews, exclusive interviews, music, vinyl; the future is looking pretty bright.  Stay tuned, and we appreciate you taking time to check out our music blog.

Band to Watch: Fitz & The Tantrums

Imagine a combination of 80s New Wave, Alternative, and Motown mixed together in a blender and you have something completely fresh and original called Fitz & The Tantrums.  Their debut album, Pickin' Up The Pieces, is available in record stores everywhere and is a solid debut.

Chickenin' Out And Then A Root For It - Shombalor

At a certain point in my life, I turned away from everything that approached any kind of popularity.

I loved Pearl Jam's Ten, but never purchased another album by them and for me, Ten remains the high water mark of their work. I followed, rabidly, the Red Hot Chili Peppers until their breakthrough into mainstream, circa Blood Sugar Sex Magik. After that, I found something lacking. I've argued for hours with friends the superlative merits of Gish over Siamese Dream.

Ok. I immediately recognize two things about myself with the above statements. One: I am dating myself.

Two, I am a music snob, and I may have prematurely dismissed some good music because it became popular.

Well, I'll own that.

I am a music snob. I like what I like, and I know for a fact that I have ignored music that reached the mainstream. And I probably have missed out on a lot of good music.

However, I have found a lot of great music as a result.

Yes, I missed the evolution of Pearl Jam. And I dismissed Queens of the Stone Age. And I was shamefully late to the White Stripes party. But, as a result, I have discovered musical treasures that would otherwise have remained buried for me. And I'll accept that trade off.

At any rate, I still do it. I search for my own buried treasures. Lately, I'm uncovering Doo Wop. My introduction to the genre might be unorthodox (The Marcels, by way of American Werewolf In London), but I'm hooked.

One recent discovery is Sheriff and the Ravels' "Shombalor." You need to hear it.

That's it. No track review. You just need to hear it.

Something about chickens, catfish knees, Frankenstein, and stealing wine.

I can't stop listening to it.

Cheers!

Amazon

Record Store Day 2011

I would admit that I am an Apple "junkie" in every sense of the word. I have owned almost every version of the iPod that has been released over the years, I have an iPhone 4, three Macs at home and am typing this on my iPad. Without a shadow of a doubt, Apple changed the music business with the inception of the iTunes store. I also admit that I was on board from the very beginning. When new music is released on Tuesdays, I typically wake up early in the morning and preview songs before I purchase them right from the comfort of my home. This was routine and very convenient for me when I lived in a small town that didn't have a local record store nearby. After moving to Knoxville and discovering my "Graceland," the Disc Exchange, I was reacquainted with the wonderful experience of going into a music store and spending time browsing through the many aisles of music and getting lost in all of the sights, smells and sounds. They could literally play any music while you are in-store and make it "cooler."

I have many fond memories from my childhood, saving up all of my allowance money and riding my bicycle several miles to the record store in Greenville, SC, where I grew up. In recent years, purchasing an entire album was foreign to me as I had grown so accustomed to just downloading only the songs I wanted. What about the album artwork? I had accepted that a compact disc had a smaller version of the album artwork inside the jewel sleeve, but with digital music, there is nothing but a measly digital picture of the music with NO additional artwork with most purchases.

Don't get me wrong, I am not blaming Apple for the demise of the music business like Jon Bon Jovi has. Being a disc jockey, playing music for a crowd is the fun part, but loading up a vehicle with heavy sound equipment and carrying in stacks of compact discs and vinyl is quite miserable. With an iPod, I can literally carry most of my music collection in my pocket. I guess i thought that I was embracing the future and joining the evolution of the music industry, but the reality is that I was part of the problem and am just as guilty of shutting down independent record stores, as Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

About two years ago, I began to ween myself off of my downloading addiction and made the time each week to drive over to Chapman Highway and visit the Disc Exchange. I began purchasing vinyl again and have introduced my two sons to a medium of music that is making a major comeback. I have also gotten to know some of the great folks that work at the Disc Exchange. In fact, one of their resident music experts knows my tastes in music so well, he has been able to introduce me to several new artists that I would have never discovered on my own. You simply cannot put a price or value on the experience you have at an independent record store. Sadly, with the state of our economy and the music industry's dismal sales year in 2010, many of the great independent record stores will not survive much longer. When the record stores are gone, what is this generation going to remember about buying music...that they were able to download Lady GaGa while sitting on the toilet? Come on people!

All the reason that you need to make the time to visit the Disc Exchange tomorrow and experience RECORD STORE DAY! The doors open at 9 am and there will be bands, food, beer and exclusive buys in store at the Disc Exchange, tomorrow only. I went last year and it was a blast. Independent records stores all across America will be hosting Record Store Day and whether you are a music nut or only a casual listener, there is something there for everyone. Support your local independent record store!!

Friday Videos: Genesis 'I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)'

"I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" was the first single to chart by Genesis. The single was first released in August of 1973, but did not become a hit until 1974, when it hit number 21 in the UK Singles Chart. The song had been in Genesis's live set for years, but was not recorded in the studio until 1973.

"I Know What I Like" is the second track on the Selling England by the Pound album.  Betty Swanwick's painting The Dream, was used for the Selling England by the Pound album cover and also provided inspiration for the lyrics of the song.  Peter Gabriel's lyrics tell the story of a young man who mows lawns for a living and does not want to grow up and do great things, as he is content where he is.

"I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)' remains the band's biggest hit from the Peter Gabriel era of Genesis without Phil Collins singing lead vocals.

Sundown In The City 2011

One of my favorite yearly events, Sundown in the City, the free concert series that takes place on Market Square in downtown Knoxville, returns April 21st.

AC Entertainment first brought the spring concert series to Knoxville in 1998 and this year, the five shows will be held on Thursday evenings beginning in April and concluding in June.   

Gates open at 6 p.m. on Thursdays, and the music begins at 7pm. 

This year’s Sundown in the City lineup:

• April 21 — Randy Houser with JC and The Dirty Smokers
• May 12 — Better Than Ezra with Johnny Astro & The Big Bang
• May 19 — Umphrey’s McGee with Zach Deputy
• June 2 — Jonny Lang with Megan McCormick
• June 16 — Warren Haynes Band with The Black Cadillacs

White Stripes to Release Final Concert as Live Album (RS Article)

Alex Henry Moore/WireImage

By MATTHEW PERPETUA 

APRIL 11, 2011 8:45 AM ET

Jack White's Third Man Records have announced that the White Stripes' final concert from 2007 will soon be released as a live album titled Live in Mississippi. The double vinyl set will feature the band's full set in Southhaven, Mississippi on July 31st, 2007. There doesn't seem to be any plan to release the album as a CD or digital download. 
Choose the Cover of Rolling Stone, Round Two: Vote by April 14!

Though the final White Stripes show included selections from all six of their albums, the set was rather light on singles and excluded many of their best-known hits. Instead, the band was inspired to play a number of Mississippi blues songs byRobert Johnson, Son House and Leadbelly. 
Photos: The Many Guises of Jack White

In addition to the live LP, the defunct duo will also be releasing a new seven-inch album featuring covers of Love's "Signed DC" and Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long," and a DVD titled Under Moorhead Lights All Fargo Night, which will feature the band's set at Ralph's Corner Bar in Moorhead, Minnesota on June 13th, 2000.