LIFE

Duran Duran stumbles, Dolly Parton rolls into Rock Hall

Published

1 year ago

November 6, 2022

LOS ANGELES — Lionel Richie soared. Pat Benatar roared. Duran Duran stumbled but stayed sophisticated. Eminem was Eminem.

The four acts found very different ways to celebrate on Saturday night, but all can now forever say they’re Rock & Roll Hall of Famers. So are Carly Simon, Eurythmics, Harry Belafonte, Judas Priest and Dolly Parton, who gave the honor an enthusiastic embrace after temporarily turning it down.

The first act inducted at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles after a memorable speech from a shaven-headed Robert Downey Jr., Duran Duran took the stage and launched into their 1981 breakthrough hit “Girls on Film.”

The shrieking crowd was there for it, but the music wasn’t. The band was all but inaudible other than singer Simon Le Bon, whose vocals were essentially a cappella.

It was a fun if inauspicious beginning to a mostly slick and often triumphant show.

“The wonderful spontaneous world of rock ‘n’ roll!” the 64-year-old Le Bon shouted as the band stopped for a do-over.

They kicked back in at full volume, playing a set that included “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Ordinary World,” quickly snapping back into what Downey called their essential quality: “CSF — cool, sophisticated fun.”

Lionel Richie brought both chill and warmth to the room hours later, opening his set with a spare rendition of his ballad “Hello” that seemed to make him nearly break down from the weight of the moment.

“His songs are the soundtrack of my life, your life, everyone’s life,” Lenny Kravitz said in inducting Richie.

After “Hello,” Richie breezed into his 1977 hit with the Commodores, “Easy.” The vibe went from smooth to triumphant when Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl made a surprise appearance to play a guitar solo and swap vocals with Richie. That led into a singalong, celebratory rendition of 1983′s “All Night Long” that brought the night’s biggest reaction.

In his acceptance speech, Richie lashed out at those during his career who accused him of straying too far from his Black roots.

“Rock ‘n’ roll is not a color,” he said. “It is a feeling. It is a vibe. And if we let that vibe come through, this room will grow and grow and grow.”

Eurythmics took the stage next with a soulful, danceable rendition of 1986′s “Missionary Man.”

“Well I was born an original sinner, I was born from original sin,” singer Annie Lennox belted, bringing the audience clapping and to its feet four hours into the show. It was followed by a rousing rendition of their best-known hit, “Sweet Dreams.”

Moments later her musical partner, Dave Stewart, called Lennox “one of the greatest performers, singers and songwriters of all time.”

“Thank you, Dave, for this great adventure,” a tearful Lennox said.

As he has been throughout his career, Eminem was the outlier. He was the only hip-hop artist among the inductees, the only one whose heyday came after the 1980s, and he brought an edge to the evening that was otherwise missing outside of the heavy metal stylings of Judas Priest.

He also took the guest star game to another level. After opening briefly with 1999′s “My Name Is,” he brought on Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler to sing the chorus of “Dream On” for 2003′s “Sing for the Moment,” which samples the Aerosmith classic. Then he brought on Ed Sheeran to sing his part on the 2017 Eminem jam “River” as rain fell on the stage.

“I’m probably not supposed to actually be here tonight for a couple of reasons,” Eminem, wearing a black hoodie, said as he accepted the honor. “One, I know, is that I’m a rapper and this is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

He’s only the 10th hip-hop artist among well over 300 members of the Hall of Fame.

He was inducted by his producer and mentor Dr. Dre, whom he credited with saving his life.

But hitmakers of the 1980s defined the night.

“Pat always reached into the deepest part of herself and came roaring out of the speakers,” Sheryl Crow said in her speech inducting Benatar.

Benatar, inducted along with her longtime musical partner and husband Neil Giraldo, took the stage with him and displayed that power moments later.

“We are young!” the 69-year-old sang, her long, gray hair flowing as she soared through a version of 1983′s “Love is a Battlefield.”

Inductees absent from the ceremony included Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor, who is four years into a fight with advanced prostate cancer, the 95-year-old Belafonte and Simon, who lost sisters Joanna Simon and Lucy Simon, both also singers, to cancer on back-to-back days last month.

Carly Simon was a first-time nominee this year more than 25 years after becoming eligible. Olivia Rodrigo, 60 years Simon’s junior and by far the youngest performer of the night, took the stage to sing Simon’s signature song, “You’re So Vain.”

Janet Jackson appeared in a black suit with a massive pile of hair atop her head, remaking the cover of her breakthrough album “Control,” as she inducted the two men who made that and many other records with her, writer-producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

When the nominees were announced in May, Parton “respectfully” declined, saying it didn’t seem suitable for her to take a spot as a country-to-the-core artist. She was convinced otherwise, and ended up the headliner Saturday night.

“I’m a rock star now!” she shouted as she accepted the honor. “This is a very, very, very special night.”

Parton said she would have to retroactively earn her spot.

She disappeared and emerged moments later decked out in black leather with an electric guitar and broke into a song she wrote just for the occasion.

“I‘ve been rockin’ rockin’ rockin’ rockin’ since the day I was born,” she sang, “and I’ll be rockin’ to the day I’m gone.”

She closed the night leading an all-star jam of her fellow inductees on her country classic “Jolene.” Le Bon, Benatar and even Judas Priest singer Rob Halford took a verse.

“We got a star-studded stage up here,” Parton said. “I feel like a hillbilly in the city.”

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LIFE

conic Smiths bassist dies aged 59

Published

11 months ago

May 21, 2023

The San Francisco Telegraph

The bassist with legendary English rock band The Smiths, Andy Rourke, has died at the age of 59, the group’s former guitarist Johnny Marr has announced.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer,” Marr wrote on Twitter on Friday.

“Andy will be remembered as a kind and beautiful soul by those who knew him and as a supremely gifted musician by music fans,” he added.

Mike Joyce, who was drummer for The Smiths, described Rourke as “not only the most talented bass player I’ve ever had the privilege to play with but the sweetest, funniest lad I’ve ever met.” The musical legacy of his former bandmate is “perpetual,” Joyce said in a tweet.

ABBA guitarist dies

Rourke was with The Smiths from 1982 to 1987, performing on all four of the band’s studio albums: ‘The Smiths’ (1984), ‘Meat Is Murder’ (1985), ‘The Queen Is Dead’ (1986), and ‘Strangeways, Here We Come’ (1987).

He also had an impressive career after the group split up, playing with Smiths’ frontman Morrissey on his solo projects and with the likes of Sinead O’Connor, The Pretenders, Dolores O’Riordan, Badly Drawn Boy, Killing Joke, and guitarist Aziz Ibrahim.

In 2005, Rourke put together a supergroup called Freebass with fellow bassists Peter Hook, who previously played with New Order and Joy Division, and Gary “Mani” Mounfield of the Stone Roses and Primal Scream. Among other things, he also worked as a DJ on the popular British rock radio station XFM, now known as Radio X.

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LIFE

Village People demand Trump stop using their music

Published

12 months ago

May 17, 2023

The San Francisco Telegraph

A viral video emerged last week of Donald Trump dancing to a Village People song at his Florida estate

Village People, the disco act best known for 1970s hits like ‘YMCA’ and ‘Macho Man,’ has issued Donald Trump with a cease and desist order to stop using the band’s music at political events without express permission, according to a legal filing. The former US president has frequently played Village People songs at campaign rallies throughout his political career.

Last week, a video emerged online showing Trump dancing to a Village People tribute act during a poolside dinner at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida – leading to the band’s management issuing Trump with a legal request to abstain from using Village People intellectual property at any future events.

“The performance [in the viral video] has, and continues to cause public confusion as to why Village People would engage in such a performance. We did not,” wrote the band’s manager Karen Willis, the wife of singer Victor Willis.

Willis added that Trump’s use of Village People music was previously “tolerated” by the band but that it has decided to issue legal proceedings to prevent further use of its popular songs, for fear that it could be construed as an “endorsement” of Trump’s political ambitions. She also explained that the video had created confusion among fans who mistakenly thought that the real Village People had performed at Trump’s Florida estate.

Trump unveils new Biden nickname

Trump’s legal team has issued a withering response to the band’s cease and desist request. Attorney Joe Tacopinca told TMZ on Monday that, “I will only deal with the attorney of the Village People, if they have one, not the wife of one of the members. But they should be thankful that President Trump allowed them to get their name back in the press. I haven’t heard their name in decades. Glad to hear they are still around.”

Village People music, particularly the song ‘Macho Man’, has been a regular soundtrack to Donald Trump’s political rallies in recent years.

Singer Victor Willis indicated in a post on social media two years ago that while Village People music is intended to be “all-inclusive,” its use by Trump has been problematic. “We’d prefer our music be kept out of politics,” he wrote in February 2020. Willis later requested that Trump stop using his band’s music in June 2020, following reports that then-President Trump intended to use the US military to stamp out Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the United States.

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LIFE

Hollywood star pulls out of hosting awards show amid strike

Published

12 months ago

May 5, 2023

The San Francisco Telegraph

Drew Barrymore is stepping down as host of this year’s MTV Movie & Music Awards, due to be held on Sunday, in solidarity with the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA). The actress has agreed to host the ceremony next year instead, Variety reported.

Although the MTV awards are set to go ahead without a host, Variety said that arrangements for the show are in constant flux as producers are unsure which of the presenters, nominees, and guests will be willing to appear.

Organizers have already scrapped the red carpet as well as interviews that were supposed to take place before the ceremony.

In a statement quoted by Variety, Barrymore said she had “listened to the writers, and in order to truly respect them, I will pivot from hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards live in solidarity with the strike.”

The actress added that “everything we celebrate and honor about movies and television is born out of their [writers’] creation,” and revealed that she is “choosing to wait” until a solution is reached on fairly compensating writers for their craft.

Although Barrymore will not be present at the live event in Santa Monica, California on Sunday, she is likely to appear in several pre-recorded short films created for the telecast.

Unions representing writers working in Hollywood and beyond officially began a strike on Tuesday. The move comes amid a dispute with major studios such as Paramount and Universal over working conditions and the shift brought about by the rise of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon.

Hollywood writers go on strike

The WGA has complained that its members are being “devalued” and have received reduced pay despite significantly more movies and TV shows being in production than ever before thanks to streaming.

Aside from increased pay, the WGA has issued a list of demands to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Hollywood’s major studios. Among them is a request for guarantees that scripts would not be generated using Artificial Intelligence, and that writers would not be asked to edit or rewrite screenplays generated by such technology.

The current strike is the first work stoppage in the US entertainment industry in 15 years. The previous writers’ strike in 2007 lasted for 100 days and ultimately cost Hollywood an estimated $2.1 billion.

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