Cinderella still having a ball

Cinderella’s Jeff LaBar may not care for the ‘hair metal’ label, but is proud that the original line-up is still going strong 25 years down the line

Reported by Eric MacKinnon

Published: July 22, 2011. © Rock AAA.

Hair Care

Cinderella guitarist Jeff LaBar admits the ‘hair metal’ tag which his band has been tagged with is irritating especially considering they based their sound on the British rock scene of the 1970s.
The Philadelphia rockers are famous for their bluesy hooks and singalong choruses and this year marks a whopping 25-years since their debut record ‘Night Songs’ was released and the band are still on the road with the original line-up – a rarity in rock n roll.
In an interview with the Bellingham Herald LaBar explained:
“The funny thing is that at the time, what we did was actually called rock ‘n’ roll. All of these terms you hear about came later. ‘Hair metal’ and ‘glam’ – we didn’t get called any of that at the time. We were a rock band.
“I guess we could have been labelled heavy metal. But then Metallica and Anthrax came out, and it was like, ‘Now, that’s heavy metal.’ We were a hard-rock band. So, no, I don’t care for the ‘hair metal’ label. I don’t care for any of the labels that came out later. But I accept them.
“If you interviewed me back in the ’80s and asked me, ‘Now that you have a hit record out, now that you made it, what would your goal be?,’ I would say my goal would be to still be doing this, to be in a supergroup like Aerosmith, 25 years from now.’
“I don’t know if the ‘supergroup’ tag applies. But we’re still all the same guys doing the same thing 25 years later.”
The rockers actually owed their big break to another rising star of the time who recommended them to his own band’s label at the time and helped them get signed as singer Tom Keifer revealed back in 1987.
“Jon Bon Jovi saw us in a club a few years back in Philadelphia,” Keifer said.
“He liked the band a lot. Basically, he went back to PolyGram Records (Bon Jovi’s label at the time), told them about our band and then helped set up some showcases for the label guys to come down and see us.”
Cinderella’s influences can be traced to the UK where LaBar was inspired to follow his dreams by the likes of Led Zeppelin while Tom (Keifer) was a fan of fellow UK rockers the Rolling Stones.
LaBar continued: “I grew up mostly on the British rock of the ’70s.
“I grew up on (Led) Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and even some of the keyboard-dominant bands like Genesis and Yes. Me and Tom grew up about five minutes from each other, although we didn’t know each other as kids. He comes more from the music of the (Rolling) Stones, Kiss and Alice Cooper.
“So people talk about ’80s bands and the genres Cinderella comes from. Well, it was these bluesier bands from the ’70s like Zeppelin that we set out to be like. We got labelled as glam because everyone kept referring to the cover of the first album.
“By the second record, we stopped teasing our hair and stopped wearing makeup and spandex.
“Obviously, we get lumped in with the Motley Crues, the Poisons, the Bon Jovis and even bands like Warrant and Firehouse. And that’s great. They’re all friends of mine. I just think we’re still a little bit different.”

3 Doors Down Talk New Album And Touring

7/20/2011 10:30 AM ET

(RTTNews) - Chris Henderson of 3 Doors Down has opened up about their grueling tour schedule, complaining that it's the only way for a band to make a living anymore.

When it comes to making money on the road, Henderson told espyrock.com:
"It's the only way, the only f*****g way; downloading has killed it. We make a little money on publishing and like sponsorships and merchandise if people buy our t-shirts but touring, on the f*****g road, playing shows, that's how you f*****g do it like it or not. We love touring and we do a lot of f*****g shows and we're here now and the record was supposed to be out."
Time Of My Life hit stores on July 18 and when asked why they held off on releasing the finished album, Henderson had two words — Foo Fighters. He added that they hoped to avoid as much competition as possible by holding back the release.
3 Doors Down will hit the road in the U.K. in 2012 with Seether in support of the new album.

Clay's Park News!

Oney is going to play the Blast From the Past Festival at Clay's Park in Canton, Ohio Fri August 19th. First gig since guitarist Mickey Daniels passed away last year, with Bill Patrick on guitar & vocals. Others on the Bill are LA Guns, Jackyl, & The Godz. Keep spreading the good word & thanks. www.nealpromotions.com/clays.htm.

I was asked to post this: "We have a petition with the help of Lorraine Lewis to get Femme Fatale on 2012 M3 festival, can you pls let your readers know/? We would really appreciate it." www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Femme-Fatale-Petition-for-M3-Rock-Festival/110116775751506.

Alice in Chains Working on ‘Amazing’ New Album?

Bryan Wawzenek

07.21.2011

Alice in Chains are hard at work on a new album, according to friend of the band and Heart frontwoman Ann Wilson. The singer told Ultimate Classic Rock that the grunge greats are making progress on the as-yet-untitled release, due later this year or in early 2012.
“I saw those guys just yesterday,” she said. “I went over to visit them in the studio where they were working on some new stuff – they sound amazing! How can Jerry [Cantrell] not sound amazing, but I mean, it really does – they’re a monster.”
The album will be the follow-up to 2009’s Black Gives Way to Blue, which was the first Alice in Chains album to feature singer William DuVall (in place of the late Layne Staley). Wilson reminisced about her collaboration with the band on 1992’s Sap EP.
“Well, it came about from just us all hanging out together in social situations. In Seattle, it’s a pretty tight music scene, especially in those years,” she said. “We’d all show up at each other’s gigs and then come back to usually my house, because my house is central. We’d hang out and I just got to know the Alice guys, especially Jerry the most, at first.
“And then pretty soon, they were working and they had this song that needed a high voice and they wanted a woman, but not just anybody. So they asked me and it was really fun –  it was like crossing over some kind of taboo line, you know, because we were considered to be an ’80s band, but we weren’t — we were really just a band.”

More On "Stage collapses as CHEAP TRICK plays mid set! 5 injured!"

Monday, 18 July 2011

Stage collapses as CHEAP TRICK plays mid set! 5 injured! Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen after stage collapse. A stage has collapsed at BLUESFEST 2011 in Calgary Ontario Canada while the band CHEAP TRICK was in the middle of their set. The word is the band is ok, but 5 people have been injured. To see the actual video of the collapse as it happens live go HERE Cheap Trick Manager: 'I Can't Believe We're Alive'Band narrowly avoided death in stage collapse July 18, 2011 1:10 PM ET Emergency crew investigate the stage that had collapsed from beneath Cheap Trick's concert at the Ottawa Bluesfest.CSM /LandovLess than a day after surviving a stage collapse at the Ottawa Bluesfest in Ontario, Canada, the members of Cheap Trick and their manager Dave Frey are feeling glad to be alive. "We are so thankful," Frey tells Rolling Stone. According to Frey, the sudden windstorm that brought down the main stage at the festival came as a surprise. "They said that we should be looking out for a storm but it wasn't really that apparent," he says. "I was actually on stage behind the drummer and I was taking a few pictures right before it happened. The air was still and it was humid and then out of nowhere, this wind hit that was just huge. The local news sources are saying 96 miles per hour, another one said like a hundred and something." "It just blew everything back, cymbals are flying and everything. And we're just like 'get off the stage!' and then I heard the rivets in the truss just starting to pop. BAP! BAP! BAP! BAP! BAP! It was like the Titanic or something, and it just started coming down, the roof fell," he recalls. "It hit our truck, which was parked behind the stage and that kept it about five feet off of the deck, and that gave us room to run. We were running as fast as we could." As can be seen in some photos and footage from the scene, the audience was in a state of panic. "It was complete pandemonium," says Frey. "It's so unbelievable that with everything that happened, with the crowd, tents flying away and debris flying, with everything going on, there were less than a dozen people at the hospital with mostly minor injuries." Though Frey and the members of Cheap Trick emerged from the collapse more or less unscathed, their truck driver sustained an injury to his abdomen and a cracked femur, and they lost all of their equipment. "Everything is gone. The gear is crushed and it's soaked, and it's part of an investigation with the police department, the fire department and the Ministry of Labor here," Frey says. "We're trying to get gear set up for our show tomorrow in Buffalo. Do you know where we can rent a five-neck guitar?" The above courtesy of ROLLING STONE

Dennis Quaid Signs On For 'What To Expect When You're Expecting'

7/19/2011 3:35 PM ET

(RTTNews) - Dennis Quaid has signed up to star in the film "What to Expect When You're Expecting." Quaid will star in the role of Ramsey, an aged man whose young wife (Brooklyn Decker) is pregnant with twins.

Lionsgate, which is producing the film, announced Quaid's involvement, adding:
". . . impending fatherhood is just another way for the hilariously competitive Ramsey to try to one-up his adult son Colin, who is also expecting his first child."
The film, adapted from Heidi Murkoff's pregnancy guide of the same name, will also star Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Chace Crawford and Rob Huebel.
"What to Expect When You're Expecting" is slated for a 2012 Mother's Day release.
Quaid is also starring in the forthcoming remake of the 1980s hit "Footloose."

GOO GOO DOLLS "iTUNES LIVE FROM SOHO" EP NOW AVAILABLE ON iTUNES:

July 19, 2011 ­ (Burbank, CA)

­ Goo Goo Dolls today released a brand-new EP titled iTunes Live From Soho, now available exclusively on the iTunes Store. The EP features six songs, including the hit singles “Slide,” “Home,” and “Notbroken,” as well as three other tracks from the band's current album Something For the Rest of Us. It was recorded live at the Apple Store in New York City's SoHo neighborhood in December 2010.
In other Goo's news, the band, which is singer-guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist Robby Takac, and drummer Mike Malinin, will perform their new single, “All That You Are” exclusively from the album, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, live on Good Morning America this Friday, July 22 as part of the show's annual Summer Concert Series broadcast live from New York's Central Park. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon was released June 14.
As per usual, USA Harvest will be on the road with the Goos all summer collecting canned food for families in need on all tour dates including the Good Morning America show in Central Park. To learn more go to: www.usaharvest.com.
This past May 15, Rzeznik performed with Daryl Hall on his famed series Live From Daryl's House (Click on the link to view!). The show brought together Hall and Rzeznik for a day-long session that included a stellar seven-song set, including Goo's hits, “Iris” and “Slide,” both from 1998's triple-platinum Dizzy Up the Girl, with the former also appearing on the City of Angels soundtrack album, where it spent a record-breaking 18 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay charts and was nominated for three Grammys. Hall and Rzeznik also performed a pair of songs from Something for the Rest of Us, “Home” and “Still Your Song.” To hear the session, visit: www.lfdh.com.
The track-listing for iTunes Live From Soho is as follows: “Slide” “Now I Hear” “As I Am” “Something For The Rest Of Us” “Home” “Not Broken”.
Goo Goo Dolls will be out on the road all summer-long.

7/20/2011 11:10 AM ET

(RTTNews) - Shia LaBeouf and Robert Redford have reportedly signed on to appear in the new action thriller "The Company You Keep" from Voltage Pictures. According to ew.com the film follows the story of an ex-Weather Underground militant (Redford), who after hiding for thirty years is forced into the open by a journalist (LaBeouf).

Redford has also reportedly committed to direct the picture, which features a script penned by "Dark City" writer Lem Dobbs. In a statement, Voltage producer Nicolas Chartier says that the pairing is a perfect match for the high flying film:
"This is an edge-of-your-seat thriller about real Americans who stood for their beliefs, thinking they were patriots and defending their country's ideals against their government. It is absolutely amazing to have Shia LaBeouf, arguably the brightest young star in Hollywood today paired with the global icon Robert Redford."
Production for "The Company You Keep" is set to begin this fall.

Album of Unreleased Ronnie James Dio Songs Coming

07/20/2011
. A new album featuring twelve previously unreleased tracks that Ronnie James Dio recorded in 1971 will be released this October. Here is the official word with the details: (Kayos) Over the years, legendary singer Ronnie James Dio fronted some of the most popular/enduring hard rock/heavy metal bands of all-time, including Rainbow, Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell, and Dio. But before all of these bands, there was Elf. Described as a "Rock/Honky Tonk/Blues band," a forthcoming release, 'And Before Elf…There Were Elves,' will prove that Ronnie could easily handle other rock-related styles.
Released on October 11th via the Niji Entertainment Group, 'And Before Elf' will feature twelve previously unreleased tracks (all from 1971), comprised of both live in the studio and live on stage tracks.
The album will feature a striking Lenticular/3D/Hologram cover, that when you turn it, you will see two alternating images – Ronnie from the first Elf LP, as well as a vintage group shot from 1971. And although these recordings are 40 years old, the sonic quality still passes the test, as longtime Dio engineer Wyn Davis remastered the original tapes.
Formed in 1967 in Cortland, New York, The Elves also featured other members that would carve a niche for themselves in the hard rock world!
Guitarist David "Rock" Feinstein (Dio's cousin) would go on to front the Rods. Elf would last for a trio of albums, before Ronnie exited the group in 1975, to co-form Rainbow with ex-Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore.
"And Before Elf…There Were Elves" Track Listing:1. You Shook Me
2. Stay With Me
3. Four Day Creep
4. Buckingham Blues
5. Wakeup Sunshine
6. Driftin'
7. Smile For Me Lady
8. You Felt The Same Way
9. Simple Man
10. Drown Me In The River
11. Cold Ramona
12.. Little Queenie

Listen To Pearl Jam’s Unreleased ‘Wishing Well’

By Johnny Firecloud

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

 

Since we’re all getting into the spirit of nostalgia with Pearl Jam’s twentieth anniversary upon us, we figured there’s no better time to share a rare, unreleased track from the band with you: a cover of Wishing Well by the band Free (not Terence Trent D’arby, sadly).

Recorded in 1990, the track features a fetal-stage Pearl Jam just developing their sound and chemistry, and as such is of very little similarity to the fully realized grunge-survivor rockers we know them as today. Note the awkward, laughing choral singing around a minute thirty:
The track was offered up today on a new Twitter account called PearlJam Twenty, which also made various early-demo downloads available. In addition to a slower, rough cut of State of Love And Trust (listen to that excitement at the end!), a nearly seven-minute version of Ten bookend track Master/Slave is included, as are various instrumental demos. A highlight is a silly-fun track called Touch Me I’m Dick, recorded for the fictitious band Citizen Dick, which PJ fans know well as the Matt Dillon-fronted band in the 90’s Seattle film Singles (PJ members comprised the rest of the band and had cameos in the film).
Additionally, a very Bad Radio-sounding take on Alice In Chains’ Aint Like That is featured, in which the vocals are omitted; frontman Eddie Vedder’s only utterances are “Hello, this is Abe Vigoda, and I just want to say that Alice In Chains rocked my world.”
Yeah, you may want to track these sounds down if you’re a PJ maniac. Additionally, fans can find a slew of new details on longtime PJ friend Cameron Crowe’s upcoming Pearl Jam Twenty documentary at PBS.org.
“When I set out to make this film, my mission was to assemble the best-of-the-best from Pearl Jam’s past and present and give audiences a visceral feeling of what it is to love music and to feel it deeply — to be inside the journey of a band that has carved their own path,” says Crowe. “There is only one band of their generation for which a film like this could even be made, and I’m honored to be the one given the opportunity to make it.”
Just another gem on the trail to the festival-weekend culmination of their anniversary celebration at the PJ20 gathering in Wisconsin. See you there!

Kevin Costner Joining Quentin Tarantino's 'Django Unchained'

By MIKE FLEMING | Monday July 18, 201

EXCLUSIVE: Quentin Tarantino never has trouble putting together good casts for his films, but his Sergio Leone-style Spaghetti Western Django Unchained is turning out to be quite something. Kevin Costner is in negotiations to join a cast that is headed by Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio. Costner is in talks to play Ace Woody, and it's a real surprise turn for an actor most associated with good guy roles. He's the sadistic trainer of the male fighting slaves who entertain the white patrons of Candyland as well as the female slaves who are forced to be prostitutes. The club and ranch are owned by Calvin Candie (DiCaprio) and Ace Woody is the one who pits the "mandingo" fighters against one another, and has little qualms about mistreating and even killing the slaves who don't measure up. The roles that DiCaprio and Costner will play are every bit as sadistic as the one that Waltz played in Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, and while Costner is still doing fine work, this could shine a light on him the way that Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta.
Foxx will play the title character, a slave-turned-bounty hunter who must take on those villains to free his slave wife. It's looking like Tarantino might make a discovery on that role, a character named Broomhilda. The Weinstein Company will put the picture into production in the early fall, with Sony Pictures taking foreign.  Costner will take the role after playing Pa Kent in the Superman reboot Man Of Steel, and prepping to star in the miniseries The Hatfields and McCoys for History, which he's also producing. Costner's repped by WME and One Talent Management.

"Contagion," Sept. 9: Must See Movie Of The Fall!!

(RTTNews) - "Contagion," Sept. 9:

Hitting theaters this September will be director Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion," a thriller about what would happen if the Bird Flu actually became the epidemic that many have feared.
Much like Soderbergh's Oscar-winning film "Traffic," "Contagion" looks to be a gritty film designed to look and feel more like the real world than a typical Hollywood thriller. Though that will doubtless lose some of the audience, "Contagion" should be able to find adult audiences looking for a more cerebral film experience.
In the trailer, Matt Damon stars as the husband of Gwyneth Paltrow, who dies suddenly as the Bird Flu starts to explode to pandemic levels. The story also deals with the many different bureaucrats involved as governments all over the world struggle to deal with the looming crisis.
True to Soderbergh form, the cast alone is staggering, with Damon, Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne and Marion Cotillard all along for the ride, not to mention quality character actors like John Hawkes ("Winter's Bone") and Elliot Gould ("Ocean's 11"). This one looks like one of the must-see films of the fall.
The trailer for "Contagion" can be viewed at the movie's official site.

Ugly Kid Joe Complete New Album

Peter Hodgson

|

07.18.2011

The reunited Ugly Kid Joe have completed a new album, their first since 1995’s Motel California, drummer Shannon Larkin has confirmed.
The lineup for the sessions is Whitfield Crane (vocals), Klaus Eichstadt (guitar), Dave Fortman (guitar), Cordell Crockett (bass) and Larkin, the same lineup as their second album, Menace to Sobriety.
Larkin, who also is in Godsmack, revealed the album’s status in an interview with California’s 107.7 The Bone at the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. “A lot of the songs, Klaus wrote in ’98,” Larkin said. “It’s a fun band – it’s funny, you listen to the songs and it makes you laugh. Just a good-time rock band, y’know?”
Originally named Overdrive, the band became Ugly Kid Joe as a joke when booked to support Pretty Boy Floyd. The name stuck and they scored hits with “Everything About You,” “Neighbor” and “Cat’s in the Cradle.” Guitarist Fortman, who joined in 1992, went on to produce Superjoint Ritual, Mudvayne, A Simple Plan, Evanescence and Slipknot. Fortman also mixed Anthrax’s forthcoming album Worship Music.

Queensrÿche’s Geoff Tate: ‘Rock is Pretty Much Dead’

Bryan Wawzenek

|

07.19.2011

Queensrÿche frontman Geoff Tate sees a pretty gloomy future for rock bands, unless they can adapt to new ways of doing things. The singer talked to Classic Rock magazine (via Blabbermouth) about how things have changed in the music industry and how his band is trying to change.
“Rock is pretty much dead. If you look at the numbers, it's definitely not the music of the times anymore,” Tate said. “If it’s gonna keep moving, bands need to embrace new ideas. There’s a lot of elements to rock that, mentally speaking, are kinda boneheaded. Like the whole ‘chunk-chunk-chunk’ guitar progression – the stuff you play when you're learning the damn thing. You would hope bands would get beyond that.”
In the same interview Tate spoke about Queensrÿche’s new album, Dedicated to Chaos, being a “headphones record,” tailor-made for the modern listener.
“That’s the way people listen to music now. People today are plugged in switching between their iPod and phone, back and forth, listening to music all day long,” he said. “No, I don’t miss the days of guys siting around listening to vinyl. I don’t miss the past much. I love the age we live in. Every day there’s something new to wrap your head around. I want to keep embracing new ideas, technology, work of art, literature, films. If you stop doing that, your brain gets lazy.”
For more on Tate and the new album, check out Gibson.com’s recent interview with the singer.

Blink-182 Name New Album Neighborhoods

Blink-182 Name New Album Neighborhoods

July 18, 2011 Last week, Blink-182 finally released their new single, "Up All Night," and revealed that their upcoming album will be called Neighborhoods. The album reportedly has a release date of September 27, according to AOL's Spinner blog, and hopefully fans will be getting a taste of plenty of the new material when Blink hits the road in August with My Chemical Romance. Their 40-date tour will begin on August 5 in Holmdel, NJ, and end on October 15 in San Diego. "One of the things I'm really proud of about this record is a lot of the songs are really built for a big audience," Blink's Tom DeLonge told Spinner. "I think we've done a really great job kind of separating our record into sections, where some stuff is throwback, some stuff is very progressive, and some stuff is just plain different." As for "Up All Night" specifically, the song has actually been around for more than two years, ever since Blink-182 first started jamming together again in early 2009. However, during that time, the single has undergone some rather drastic changes. "'Up All Night' was the first song that we started writing when the band got back together," Mark Hoppus told MTV about the single. "The foundation of the song remains largely the same as when we first began, but over the past two years, as we've been recording others songs, coming back to this one, working on something else, coming back to this song, it's gotten harder and heavier than its original incarnation. Initially the chorus had much more air. It was a lofty, synth-y chorus, but we wanted the first song that people heard to be much more of a rocker. We changed a bunch of the instrumentation, recorded heavier guitars and bass, and Tom wrote the progression that the guitars take on in the chorus. Then Travis [Barker] took it over and the drums really solidified the rock element of the track. The half-time intro of the last section was all him, and I think punctuates the song very well." "Up All Night" can be heard below:

LED ZEPPELIN – 2007 Reunion Rehearsal Audio Surfaces!

July 18, 2011

TMD has obtained a soundboard outtake of “Good Times Bad Times” performed by LED ZEPPELIN during the rehearsal at Shepperton Studios for the legendary act’s December 10, 2007 reunion show in London at 02 arena.

This audio is making its debut on YouTube.

Though rumors have begun to swirl again about the legendary act reforming with Bonham’s son, Jason, on drums for a final tour, vocalist Robert Plant continues to be adamantly against the idea.

Listen to the audio below! In related news, guitarist Jimmy Page has launched his official website.

http://www.ledzeppelin.com/

VINCE NEIL ON 90'S BANDS

Vince Neil Explains Why Bands From The Nineties Disappeared

7/16/2011 11:30 AM ET

(RTTNews) - Vince Neil has explained why he thinks bands from the 1990's disappeared.

The Mötley Crüe singer (who is touring with Poison and the New York Dolls) explained: "Most bands forget that this is entertainment, and you've got to put a show on. Most of these bands are content to wear jeans and a t-shirt, and just stand there and play their music. Which, is kind of missing the point."
He then added: "That's why all those '90s bands disappeared. They were f****** depressing people."
Neil also expressed a lack of hope over new music: "I don't really listen, I don't know anything about new music or new bands that are out there. When I listen to music, I listen to stuff I grew up with. Hopefully, there will be a band that breaks through with the rock 'n' roll thing, but there just doesn't seem to be one."

DEF LEPPARD - R.I.P. JOE SNR.:

Recent Def Leppard US Tour Dates have been postponed due to the unfortunate passing of singer Joe Elliott's father. I sent condolences out via Twitter at the time, but I'd like to extend those well-wishes to Joe, his family and the Def Leppard family as a whole.
Tour manager Malvin posted this tribute on the DL website. I thought it would be fitting to pass it on here. R.I.P. Joe Snr.:

"A tribute to Joe Elliott Sr. - by Malvin Mortimer (friend & tour manager)
Joe's Elliott's father (“Joe Senior” to all that knew him well) suffered a significant heart attack in April this year, whilst in ICU he suffered two more attacks. He was very low for a week or so.
I was not surprised to hear from Joe a few days later that his dad was making a remarkable recovery. Not surprised because I knew him to be made of old style bricks and mortar, upright, forthright and as tough as nails. He was a gadget maker, he showed Joe how he devised home made radios, model aeroplanes and air rifles amongst other projects, in his spare time.
At the hospital Joe discussed the upcoming tour with his recovering father. Joe Senior insisted that his son go ahead and do the thing that had always made him proud. Joe packed his case and departed to start the 2011 tour.
When Joe recently heard that his dad's condition had deteriorated severely he had to think seriously about his next move. We had already arrived at the next show when the news arrived. Joe decided to go home to support his father and mother but he insisted on doing the show that night in honor of his father: a tribute to the person who, had he not supported and financed his son and his friends, then Def Leppard, as we know them, might never have been - and we might never have had the pleasure of listening to the music that spans more than 30 years from a group that has survived amidst great challenges and against all odds.
That night Joe appeared to be tearful coming off the stage for a change of shirt, at the end of “Love Bites”, I checked to see that he was OK…He explained that it was his dad's favorite tune. The next day, I took Joe to the airport and he flew to his father's bedside.
A few days ago, his condition worsening, Joe Senior finally succumbed to his increasing illness and passed away quietly in hospital. Joe and his mother were together at the hospital.
At the age of 18 Joe had an opportunity to join a band. The band met regularly in Joe's bedroom in the family home in Sheffield, UK- with the full support of his parents.
That band came to be known as Def Leppard.
In 1978 Joe asked his dad for some help to finance the recording and release of the first few songs written by the young and up and coming musicians. Joe senior put up 150 UK pounds. (at that time, about $500.) They recorded at Fairview studios in Hull, East Yorkshire, it cost 148.50 and with the loose change they shared fish and chips on the way home. (Joe's mother Cindy played guitar and taught Joe his first few chords, Joe Sr. actually recorded, on a primitive cassette device, Joe's first ever song. Joe was eight years old. The song was entitled "Goin' Forever").
Joe Senior will be missed by Cindy, Joe and all of us that knew him."

Ratt's Stephen Pearcy To Introduce 'Detonator' Hot Sauce

July 15, 2011

Ratt vocalist Stephen Pearcy, being a connoisseur of hot sauces and always looking for the next fresh taste, has partnered with High River Sauces to bring you two new flavors for your table. Prepare your taste buds for the ultimate hot sauce and BBQ sauces -- 'Detonator' Hot Sauce and 'The Kill' BBQ Sauce, made from Chris Santos on behalf of High River Sauces.

'Detonator' is a hot sauce to surely light your fuse -- perfect for chips or anything that needs to be lit up. 'The Kill' is a tangy BBQ sauce to compliment any dish on the dinner table or off the barbie.

Expect these legendary sauces soon at stores and restaurants near you.

Pearcy says, "I've always lit up my meals and couldn't find the right hot sauce to fire me up, same with the BBQ sauces. I spoke with Chris Santos, and along with High River Sauces took my ideas and created the ultimate in the two sauces. 'Unreal heat, taste and flavor'. We're at the last stage before the debut, the FDA."

Stephen Pearcy is currently working on a solo album entitled 'Sucker Punch' and has been selling preview tracks from the upcoming CD on iTunes.

Courtesy of www.sleazeroxx.com and www.fnarecords.net

New Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Out Today

07/18/2011
. (Gibson) The Red Hot Chili Peppers released the first single from their new album, I'm with You, today. "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" will be the first taste of the album, coming in late August. The song hit the airwaves on July 18.The Chili Peppers' also have launched a new Facebook page, where fans will receive updates from the Chili Peppers camp before the release of the album.I'm with You is the band's first album since Stadium Arcadium, and the first album with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. It will be released on August 30 in the U.S., and August 26 in other parts of the world.