Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Van Halen's David Lee Roth Insured His Private Part
(Radio.com) In an interview earlier this week, Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth surprised no one by revealing that he'd had his private part insured by Lloyd's of London.
Addressing a rumor that he had his entire body insured, he pointed out that he had, in fact, only insured "Little Elvis." He mentioned that this was a case of, "Get out of the way of a good rumor."

He said that before the band went on an early tour, "We had to insure [guitarist] Edward's fingers, since he will be using those a lot on the road, and [drummer] Alex Van Halen's elbows. So I said, 'What about Little Elvis? We're going to be using him a lot." more on this story



Leaked Lollapalooza Poster Lists Nine Inch Nails, The Cure As Headliners
(Radio.com) Are Nine Inch Nails and The Cure going to be at Lollapalooza? A leaked photo of this year's poster says they will be.

According to The Chicago Tribune, "multiple industry sources" confirmed that the picture, which hit the web late Wed and early Thurs (March 27-28) via various music-related Twitter accounts and blogs like Slicing Up Eyeballs, is the official lineup of the festival.

The lineup listed on the poster for the three-day Chicago festival, taking place from August 2-4, lists The Cure and Nine Inch Nails as two of the headliners.

Nine Inch Nails have already announced six tour dates and on the band's site they note that "more dates are coming soon." With no shows scheduled during Lolla, it wouldn't be that surprising if they made an appearance at the festival. more on this story



KISS and Hello Kitty Team Up For TV Series
(hennemusic) The KISS branding machine continues to work in overdrive as news surfaces that the band are teaming up with Hello Kitty for a new TV series.

The program has a working title of "Kiss Hello Kitty" and is now in development for The Hub, and KISS bassist Gene Simmons will be one of the executive producers, reports USA Today.

The show will feature "four Kiss x Hello Kitty characters living their rock 'n' roll dreams and bringing pink anarchy to every situation they are in."

"Knowing and viewing The Hub as I do daily with my three children, it is the perfect home for us to bring the Kiss Hello Kitty juggernaut to yet another generation," says frontman Paul Stanley. more on this story




Fall Out Boy Plan Save Rock and Roll Tour
(Radio.com) Some bands announce a new tour with a basic, to-the-point press release that lays out the dates to be played and nothing more. Fall Out Boy does things a little differently.

In a video released yesterday (March 28), a myriad of snippets from other videos are used to announce the tour. Included: Gene Simmons of Kiss, Bill Clinton, Peter Griffin of Family Guy, John F. Kennedy, The Joker (Heath Ledger's version), Conan O'Brien and many more.

"We are proud to announce the Save Rock and Roll Tour, coming this September to a city near you," the spliced-together clips spell out. "Tickets on sale April 5 and 6."

The video notes that the September tour will be the "last chance" to see Fall Out Boy in 2013. The band is already in the middle of a spring and summer tour that includes dates in North America, Europe and Asia, and will remain in the United States through June 30 before leaving the country and coming back for the first date, in Uncasville, Conn. on Sept. 5. Watch the video here.




LL Cool J Discusses Eddie Van Halen Collaboration
(Radio.com) LL Cool J unexpectedly posted a photo to his Facebook page that showed him sitting in the control room of a studio… next to Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen hasn't guested on too many albums in recent years, so this came as something of a shock.

Radio.com sat down LL, who talked about working with the guitar legend, who is one of many guests on his upcoming album, Authentic:

"Working with Eddie was just amazing," he said. "I just really wanted to work with the best, work with people that I respect, people that I look up to, people that impress me, people that I believe are truly super talented… and even more talented than myself. I feel like Eddie falls in that category. Now Eddie Van Halen has officially done a hip-hop record. And I have officially worked with one of the greatest guitarists that ever lived."

The song is called "We're The Greatest," but the famously un-humble MC was quick to point out that the lyrics may not (necessarily) be self-referential.

"It's speaking about all of us," he told Radio.com. "It's not necessarily about me and Eddie per se. It's about people that kinda get tossed aside, forgotten about, kicked down, and then they make a comeback in life and they regain that ground that they had lost, and then some. So that's why it opens up like (he raps the lyrics):

'Knock knock, who's there, the one, remember me? / I'm looking kinda different these days/ Don't you agree?/ You're boy's doing it big this year. Didn't you see?/ The hell with the Devil, there's no sympathy…' Read what else he had to say here.




Behind The Scenes Of Def Leppard's VIVA! Hysteria
(hennemusic) A new video report by Fuse TV gives fans a behind the scenes look at Def Leppard's "VIVA! Hysteria."

The UK rockers are in the second week of their Las Vegas residency at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, where they'll perform 11 shows between March 22 and April 13.

"VIVA! Hysteria" features two sets from the band at each performance: the first is a wild card collection of songs that will change from night to night; the scond presents the band's iconic 1987 album, "Hysteria," from start to finish.

Prior to the launch of the series, Def Leppard released a newly recorded version of the song "Hysteria."

The new single is the latest song re-recorded by the band as they were unable to come to an agreement with their former record label over digital rights fees. Check out the behind the scenes video




Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon Radio Play Coming
(Classic Rock) A play based on Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon will be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 to mark the album's 40th anniversary.

Entitled Dark Side, it was written by long-term fan Sir Tom Stoppard and the cast includes Bill Nighy and Rufus Sewell. It's set for broadcast on August 26.

Floyd guitarist David GIlmour has read the script and says he found it "fascinating." He adds: "I can't wait to hear it come to life with the great cast performing it, and our music woven into it. I can't think of a better way to celebrate The Dark Side Of The Moon's 40-year anniversary."

Stoppard admits he'd been thinking about writing the work since the album was released in 1973. "I had no idea for a long time what I would do," he explains. "Finally I found some time, sat down and listened to the album for the thousandth time, picked up from the beginning and kept going. more on this story




Rolling Stones Getting Standard Pay For Glastonbury
(Classic Rock) The Rolling Stones are getting the "bog standard" fee for headlining Glastonbury, organiser Michael Eavis has confirmed.

Fans will be able to see Mick Jagger and co plus hundreds of other acts for around half the price of a standard ticket to the Stones' 50th anniversary concerts last year.

And when the veterans take to the stage on June 29 they won't be receiving preferential treatment in terms of money.

Eavis tells the BBC Today programme: "There's a bog standard price for the headliner – we get headliners for a tenth of the normal price. They're not being paid very much.

"Headliners are always good to us because they want to do it. They get TV and huge record sales straight after the show." more on this story




Slash Jam's AC/DC Classic With Anthrax
(hennemusic) Slash joined Anthrax at the House Of Blues in Hollywood Wednesday night to rock out on an AC/DC classic. The pair teamed up for "TNT," one of the tunes featured on Anthrax's newly-released EP of covers called "Anthems."

"Just went to see Exodus & Anthrax," Slash tweeted after the show. "Missed Exodus though. Anthrax is kicking ass. Played TNT w/them. Good Xs!"

Anthrax are currently on the road headlining the Metal Alliance tour, along with Exodus, High On Fire, Municipal Waste and Holy Grail.

In addition to the AC/DC classic, "Anthems'" also features Rush's "Anthem", Thin Lizzy's 'Jailbreak', Boston's 'Smokin', 'Big Eyes' by Cheap Trick, Journey's 'Keep On Runnin', as well as the album version and a special remix of Anthrax's "Crawl", from the band's 2011 album, "Worship Music." Watch video of the Slash jam here.





Smashing Pumpkins Begin Working On New Album
(Gibson) Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins have spent a good deal of time touring in support of their current full-length, Oceania, but they're ready to start looking ahead to the future. Earlier this week, Corgan dropped the news via Twitter that he and his band have official started work on the next Pumpkins album.

"Excited to announce today's our 1st official day of writing for new SP album. Wish us luck!" he tweeted.

Gibson's Anne Erickson recently had the chance to chat with Corgan about how he gets that characteristic Pumpkins tone. "I think if you want to get the Gibson end of the Pumpkins sound, you take any amp that has a pretty good pre-amp in it, and the treble is probably not going to go any higher than about 3 o'clock," he said. "You want the treble on 2 or 3 o'clock. You don't want the highs too cranky. You want to scoop the mids a bit, so the mids are probably somewhere in the range of 10 o'clock, and then the bass is in the range of 3 o'clock.

"So, you want bass but not too much bass, you want treble but not too much treble and you want to scoop the mids, and that's pretty much where you start. And crank the pre-amp all the way up." more on this story






ZZ Top Plan American Spring Tour
(Gibson) ZZ Top have lined up a number of tour dates in the U.S. after they have just wrapped up a tour of Australia, which included dates with Guns N' Roses.

After the U.S .dates, they are heading to Europe for a short summer tour, before heading back to the US for a pair of summer festivals, including Bonnaroo, and the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

On top of that, guitarist Billy Gibbons will reunite with the Moving Sidewalks, his band from the late '60s, for two shows — March 30 in New York City, and April 28 for the Austin Psych Fest in Austin, Texas.

"Keep on keepin' on!" Billy Gibbons told the Compass news, "We put this band together with nothing in mind but getting out there and playin' some of that low down rockin' blues. Moreover, we have to keep it on the move. We don't know anything else."

New ZZ Top tour dates:

5/2 — Newkirk, Okla
5/3 — Concho, Okla.
5/4 — Memphis, Tenn
5/8 — Wallingford, Ct.
5/9 — Morristown, N.J.
5/10 — Crewe, Va.
5/11 — Atlantic City, N.J.
5/13 — Lancaster, Penn.
5/14 — Englewood, N.J.
5/15 — Westbury, N.Y.
5/17 — Hampton Beach, N.H.
5/18 — Lynn, Mass.
5/19 — Baltimore, Md.
5/21 — Knoxville, Tenn.
5/25 — Biloxi, Miss.
6/13 — Manchester, Tenn. (Bonnaroo)
8/1 — Costa Mesa, Calif.
8/4 — Sturgis, S.D. (Motorcycle Rally)






Jay Pepper Admits It May Be Time To Bring Curtain Down On Tigertailz
(Classic Rock) Tigertailz guitarist Jay Pepper has shared his frustration over the turmoil that's surrounded his band over the past five years.

He and bassist Pepsi Tate restarted the Welsh outfit in 2004 – but their plans were derailed when Tate was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died in 2007 after they'd released two new albums, Bezerk 2.0 and Thrill Pistol.

Since then Pepper has remained with the band as frontman Kim Hooker returned then left again, amid a revolving-door progression of other musicians. Yesterday original drummer Ace Finchum announced his second departure, calling the organisation a "bloody mess."

With bassist Jason Sims having recently dropped, Pepper admits it could be time to "bring the curtain down" – but he's not yet sure.

He spoke to Classic Rock about the ups and downs of the band's recent incarnation. Read that here.



Beware Of Darkness Release Howl Video
(Classic Rock) Los Angeles-based Beware Of Darkness are preparing to release their debut full-length album Orthodox via Bright Antenna Records and have released a video for the song "Howl".

This new power trio is made up of songwriter and guitarist Kyle Nicolaides, drummer Tony Cupito and bass general Daniel Curcio.

On first listen, Orthodox is a mindless good time aimed somewhere between the gut and a dirty dive bar. It is not, however, a thoughtless endeavour. In actual fact, it turns out it's a (deep breath now) "heady meditation on death and its implications for the living".

"I remember being 13 or 14 and being in school one day, and having that realisation that I'm going to die," says frontman Nicolaides. "That's kind of why I started writing songs and working really hard in high school. It was weird, because there was a motivation for me. I had read an article about a local girl who had just died in a car crash. You realise, that man, it could happen any time.

"The working title was Bleak," he reveals. "It became Orthodox. I kept writing that word down in my journals. Once I finally looked up what it meant, it made sense and it fit. The first half means right and true, the second half means belief. Check out the video and read more.



Gibson Make Strategic Investment in TEAC
(Gibson) Gibson Guitar Corp. announced early this morning an agreement to make a strategic investment into Japan's TEAC CORPORATION.

TEAC is one of the world's top names in audio and visual equipment, and a leading producer of data storage equipment and related products. The transaction was unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies.

Gibson has entered into an agreement, signed today, with Phoenix Capital in which two investment funds operated by Phoenix Capital have agreed to sell to Gibson all the shares they own in TEAC Corporation, or 157,447,000 shares, (54.4% of the issued and outstanding shares), at a price agreed between the parties of 31 JPY per share. As this will result in Gibson acquiring over one third of TEAC, Japan's Financial Instruments and Exchange Law requires Gibson to undertake a tender offer process.

Thus, Gibson, through a special purpose vehicle, will make an all-cash tender offer to purchase 157,447,000 shares of TEAC common stock for 31 Japanese Yen per share in cash. Gibson will purchase a maximum of 157,500,000 shares. The tender offer period is scheduled to commence on April 1, 2013 and will remain open for 21 Japanese business days.

Today, TEAC's Board of Directors issued a press release supporting the tender offer. more on this story






Singled Out: The NowhereNauts
Today The NowhereNauts producer Kevin March tells us about their current single and title track to their latest album "Warned You". Here is the story:

Songwriting with The NowhereNauts is a collaborative effort between Sofie, Anders, Hunter, Tony and myself. "Warned You" was developed in one of our collaborative writing rehearsal sessions back in May 2011 as we started looking forward to recording our second album. The song's inception began with the guitar intro riff Hunter started playing, and we built the song off of that spark. I was immediately excited to hear a song that could build off of this simple, mesmerizing guitar hook; almost like a drone. So we began with everyone jamming trying to develop the part using dynamics as the focus for the song to create an emotional rollercoaster. I joined Tony on floor toms as he played around the drum kit so we could keep the tribal vibe that the guitar part invoked. (We recorded the song this way in the studio too; me playing alongside Tony on the same kit). Anders began by moving around melodically on the bass and discovered a part that supported the guitar and drums (almost like a trombone or tuba would do as support in a New Orleans brass band—especially in the outro of the song)—this was getting very exciting. Sofie started improvising vocal melodies and some lyrical ideas. Once I heard that we essentially had three parts, we created a song form and played straight for about thirty minutes focusing on dynamics. We then recorded an instrumental version so that everyone could develop other melodies and lyrical ideas. What I found when listening back to the initial jam session recordings was that Sofie had some really interesting vocal melodies, and the hook "I, I, I," was there along with the words "I warned you." I took lines that I thought she was saying and made them more personal and emotional and added some rhythmic syncopation and wrote the verse lines " I warned you, I wear my heart on my sleeve more than most" then Sofie wrote " I want you, I use my heart as a lure more than most," and then I suggested "I want you" and to use both "I warned you" and "I want you"---the song now had a vulnerability to it giving it more emotion. Tony added the melody and lyrical hook that is used in the 2nd chorus over the "I, I, I" and I shaped it to make it more mellifluous and sang it in the studio: "And I want somebody to, and I want somebody to hold you." I wrote the melody and lyrics for the sing-a-long anthemic outro "Goodbye" and then Sofie brought into the studio the final lyrical part "You're mine" and that solidified the song as the voice of a femme fatale, which inspired the video too. Carl Glanville took the production to a whole new level when he mixed the song using Sofie's vocal range, the dynamics, space, and then the instrumental and vocal sonic density at the end to take the listener for a ride!

Note: I record every rehearsal when we are in writing mode because I never know what is going to be captured, and most likely we will forget what we just did. Because creativity is very linear, and thinking forward, you can't depend on the memory at this stage to get you back to a great idea or even remember how it sounded. Recording writing sessions takes the stress out of remembering, and allows the writer to freely create ideas, that can be examined and "rediscovered" later.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and check out the video here learn more about the album right here!



Thirty Seconds to Mars Literally Go Up in the Air With Lyric Video
(Radio.com) Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto has called the band's upcoming album Love Lust Faith + Dreams a "brand new beginning," backing up that statement with first single "Up in the Air," a swift rocker with slight electronic undertones.

The song was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket that docked at the International Space Station, so it seems only fitting that space continues to play an integral role within the song's new lyric video. The video features footage taken from the International Space Station as it orbits Earth, while the song's lyrics flash onscreen.

A proper music video for "Up in the Air" was shot in early February, with the guys putting out a casting call for "a female bodybuilder, a voluptuous male, natural redheads and a person who can perform tricks on a pogo stick." The clip also reportedly features American Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney. We'll have to see if she's actually impressed by the band. Watch the lyric video here.




Led Zeppelin's Houses Of The Holy Turns 40
(Radio.com) Radio.com continue their Not Fade Away series with a look at Led Zeppelin's 1973 classic "Houses Of The Holy," which turned 40 this week (March 28).

The "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to recording albums can be a dangerous one for rock bands. On one hand, it leaves many possibilities open. On the other, it can result in albums that sound haphazard and unfocused. In 1972 and 1973, Led Zeppelin was one of the most powerful forces popular music had ever known. At the peak of their artistic and commercial powers, they were looking to expand their horizons. After exploring the spectrum of the blues, from the dirt floor acoustic sounds of the Delta to the rave-up electric sound of the Chicago (notably artists from the Chess label, namely Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy), they began looking elsewhere for inspiration while keeping one foot firmly entrenched in blues.

Opening with the rocker "The Song Remains The Same," Robert Plant sang, "Anything I wanted to know, any place I needed to go," would become something of a mantra for the singer, who to this day still explores new genres from bluegrass to Egyptian music. The song's title, which would also end up as the name of their 1976 concert film and live album, set the tone for the album. Although they would try different styles on the album, it was still identifiably Zeppelin.

Rolling Stone revisited the album in 2003, giving it a belated five-star review. In the review, writer Gavin Edwards noted that "The Rain Song" was inspired by George Harrison, who lamented to John Bonham that Zeppelin didn't have any ballads (apparently he missed "Thank You," "That's The Way" "Tangerine" and "Going To California"). Instead of locking Harrison in a room with Zeppelin's II, III and their untitled fourth album, they locked down and created one of their most tender moments: "The Rain Song." The song really showed the band's growth, and Jimmy Page took a quantum leap forward as a producer. Instead of using layers of guitars to create something fearsome (a la "Whole Lotta Love"), this time he created something of beauty and sadness, and one that still feels fresh today. A lot of the credit for that also goes to Robert Plant, who restrained some of his machismo on the song. The "golden god" wasn't always the easiest singer to relate to and he didn't attempt to be, but when he sings "Upon us all, a little rain must fall," he was. It has one of his finest performances ever. more.




Trucker Diablo Release Drive Video
(Classic Rock) Classic Rock have proudly to premiered Trucker Diablo's new music video for their new single Drive. It's taken from the rising Irish stars' second album, Songs Of Iron, due out in May via Ripple Music and Bad Reputation.

They're one of Black Star Riders frontman Ricky Warwick's favourite new bands – he's referred to them as "hardworking, fantastic musicians and players, and a really great bunch of guys."

Drive has already proved popular at Trucker Diablo's many live shows, including tour support with Terrorvision last year. See them for yourself with The Treatment at Rock City, Nottingham, this Sunday (March 31). Watch the video here.




The World of Guitar According to Paul McCartney
(Gibson) Paul McCartney seems to have found another gear. Last year he undertook his record-breaking "On the Run" tour, staged several memorable one-off appearances (including a stunning Olympics Opening Ceremony concert) and released a terrific new album, Kisses on the Bottom. 2013 is shaping up to be just as busy. A few days ago, the legendary former Beatle announced that a new world tour – dubbed "Out There!" – will kick off June 22 in Poland. Plus, a new studio album is in the works. With this swirl of activity simmering, we decided to gather some choice commentary from Sir Paul on a range of topics. Below, he talks about his love of guitars, his approach to bass playing, and why "nicking" great riffs is not a bad thing to do.

On getting his first guitar, as told to Guitar Player (1990): I bought a right-handed guitar, a Zenith, an old acoustic which I've still got. I sat down at home with a little chord book and started trying to work it out. It didn't feel good at all … very awkward. It was only when I saw a picture of Slim Whitman in a magazine, holding his guitar the "wrong" way, that I thought, "Oh, he must have turned his strings around." So I started on that problem, which is always the nut. I used to actually take matchsticks and build up the bass nut. It was only later that I was able to buy a left-handed guitar.

On his favorite guitar part as a Beatle, as told to Guitar Player (1990): I like "Taxman" just because of what it was. I was very inspired by Jimi Hendrix. It was really my first voyage into feedback. It was just before George was into that. In fact, I don't really think George got too heavily into that kind of thing. George was generally a little more restrained in his guitar playing. He wasn't into heavy feedback.

On how he and Lennon wrote songs together, as told to Drowned in Sound (2012): We had a kind of system, which was: you just sat with a pad of paper and a pencil, and you sat at your guitar or your piano, and you make a song, and within about three hours, you should have finished the song. That's how we always did it.