May 12th, 2014 Monday Edition. Find out what’s happening in the world of Rock & Roll, Alternative Rock, Hip Hop, EDM, and Top 40 music every Manic Monday on the MLE Blog! Have you heard any music news?
ROCK “N” ROLL NEWS: Bob Dylan’s Lyrics To His Song, “Like a Rolling Stone” Up For Auction This June. Expected to Bring In $1-$2 million dollars!!
According to Reuters media reporting, “Bob Dylan’s four-page original manuscript for “Like a Rolling Stone” – considered to be one of the greatest rock songs ever – is expected to fetch $1 million to $2 million when it is put on auction in June, Sotheby’s said.”
Dylan’s 1965 groundbreaking hit addressed to “Miss Lonely” and asking “How does it feel, to be on your own, with no direction home” was a breakthrough for Dylan and the music industry.
The song had a running time of over six minutes which was rare during the sixties, but it also established the folk artist as a rocker, and was almost “double the length of pop songs that got radio air time in that era.”
“In this near complete four-page working draft the distinctive often repeated ‘how does it feel’ lyric is clearly visible alongside unused lines, stray thoughts on American cultural imagery, and interesting doodles,” Sotheby’s said in a press release.
The man in charge of the sale, Richard Austin, commented: “This is the Holy Grail of rock lyrics. The release of ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ irreversibly changed postwar music history with one song, Bob Dylan elevated rock music from mere ‘pop’ to the medium though which youth culture expressed itself.”
“The lyrics set down on these four small sheets of paper are a near complete rendering of the song that resonated like no other, influencing the course of pop music for the next 50 years.”
In 2004, “Like a Rolling Stone” topped Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Read More: http://news.yahoo.com/dylans-rolling-stone-draft-set-auction-124146111-finance.html;_ylt=A0LEVwiSI2lT8SAAxS9XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0dXFjMmoxBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDQwMl8x
TOP 40/POP NEWS: New Michael Jackson Song Released By the Late Singer’s Estate.
According to CNN, a song Michael Jackson recorded 31 years ago is out, the first single from the upcoming “Xscape” album.
Jackson wrote, recorded and produced “Love Never Felt So Good” with Paul Anka in 1983, but it has been “contemporized” by Anka and Jackson estate co-executor John McClain, according to an Epic Records news release.
The song has “a magic combination of the new and the original production that retains the track’s analog, early 80s feel, while also sounding right at home with the disco-soul inflected music of today,” the label said.
The track debuted at the iHeartRadio Music Awards recently. ITunes, have it for downloading already, Epic said.
Jackson and Paul Anka worked on the song at about the same time they wrote and recorded “This Is It,” which went on to become the theme song to a documentary based on Jackson’s preparations for a tour that never happened because of his death.
Jackson died on June 25, 2009, at age 50 while prepping for his “This Is It” comeback tour.
“Eight previously unheard Michael Jackson songs, originally recorded between 1983 and 1999, will be released on the new album May 13, Epic Records announced in March.”
Epic Chairman L.A. Reid chose a number of producers with the “gravitas, depth and range to creatively engage with Jackson’s work” to update the recordings for release, Epic said.
“Timbaland is the lead producer, with contributions from Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon and McClain, the release said. A bonus version of “Love Never Felt So Good” features Justin Timberlake along with Jackson.”
Michael Jackson’s record label for three decades, Sony’s Columbia Epic Records — signed a longterm deal with Jackson’s estate to continue releasing music from his large archives of his recordings.
Reid “was granted unlimited access to the treasures representing four decades of material on which Jackson had completed his vocals,” the announcement said.
“New” music is not always met with a warm reception from fans and the Jackson family. Some questioned the authenticity of the vocals on a 2010 album, although the estate and the record company said sound experts verified Jackson’s voice.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/01/showbiz/michael-jackson-new-song/index.html
ALTERNATIVE NEWS: Chris Martin and Coldplay Dedicate “Fix You” to Mick Jagger and his Recent Loss of his Girlfriend to Suicide.
During their Beacon Theatre show in New York City a week ago, Coldplay dedicated “Fix You” to Mick Jagger according to The Associated Press. “It’s for Mick Jagger,” Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said just prior to beginning to sing the band’s cathartic anthem. The dedication took place a few days after a memorial service was held for Mick Jagger’s girlfriend of nearly ten years, fashion designer L’Wren Scott.
The service was on the Friday before at New York City’s St. Bartholomew’s Church. It was “attended by family and friends of Jagger and Scott’s including Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Scorsese, Julianne Moore and Meg Ryan. Scott was honored with tributes from Parker, Ellen Barkin, her brother Randy Bambrough and fashion editor André Leon Talley. Jagger reportedly shared some words as well and sang Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman.””
Not long after Jagger’s girlfriend was found in her Manhattan apartment dead from an apparent suicide, Jagger released a statement about her, writing, “I am still struggling to understand how my lover and best friend could end her life in this tragic way. We spent many wonderful years together and had made a great life for ourselves. She had great presence and her talent was much admired, not least by me.”
Coldplay is preparing for the May 19th release of their upcoming album, Ghost Stories. The weekend prior, the band performed on Saturday Night Live where they sang lead single “Magic” — which Chris Martin said is about his “conscious uncoupling” with former wife, Gwyneth Paltrow. They also performed the song, “A Sky Full of Stars,” which was co-written with EDM star Avicii.
“Ghost Stories follows up Coldplay’s 2011 LP, Mylo Xyloto. On May 18th, ahead of the album’s release, NBC will air an hour-long special, Coldplay: Ghost Stories, which will feature live footage of the band playing through their new album in its entirety filmed during an intimate show on a soundstage in Los Angeles back in March.”
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/coldplay-dedicate-fix-you-to-mick-jagger-at-nyc-show-20140506#ixzz30xbXuS1R
EDM NEWS: Calvin Harris Is Back With New Music!
Calvin Harris has once again reached the top of the UK sales charts for his fourth time ever. Harris’ latest single to top the charts is his single, “Summer”, and its sure to be a hit summer track for 2014.
“The Official Charts Company reports that “Summer” finished the chart week almost 7,000 sales ahead of last week’s new entry at the top, Mr. Probz’ “Waves” (Left Lane Recordings).”
Read more: http://www.edmsauce.com/2014/05/06/calvin-harris-tops-uk-sales-charts-one-time/#ixzz30xjQEbpo
HIP HOP NEWS: Aesop Dubbed Hip Hop Artist with the Largest Vocabulary!
According to a study by data scientist, Matt Daniels, Aesop Rock has the largest vocabulary in hip-hop. Daniels examined 85 rappers’ first 35,000 lyrics, using lyrics from Rap Genius, for unique words to give a level playing field to old and new artists. “(Rock had 7,392 unique words—more than two times as many as DMX, who had the least number of unique words with 3,214.)”
For comparison’s sake, Daniels included Shakespeare’s and Herman Melville’s number of unique words in the first 35,000 words of their works, with Rock using more unique words than those authors as well.
“It’s really strange to see this data compiled in this way, as it’s a bunch of rappers on a scale unrelated to rapping,” the rapper tells Rolling Stone. “I like songs by most, if not all, of these people, and I’m sure if the study had cast a wider net, I would be buried. That said, I do find the information interesting to look at, and it’s nice to wake up to a bunch of kind words on the computer net.”
After Rock, Wu-Tang Clan and its individual members dominate the list: GZA, RZA, Ghostface Killah and the Wu (as a collective) all crack the top 10. East coast rappers also comprise most of the top spots.
“After posting to Reddit’s HipHopHeads subreddit and getting feedback, Daniels included Aesop Rock, who ended up taking the top spot. There were some surprises on the lower spectrum of the graph, too, with Kanye West and 2Pac each placing in the bottom 20 percent.”
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/aesop-rock-gza-have-largest-vocabularies-in-hip-hop-says-new-study-20140505#ixzz30xgx8OyE
What’s more? Update on Smashing Pumpkins!
Billy Corgan has announced that on one of the two albums that the Smashing Pumpkins will release in 2015, Tommy Lee of Motley Crue will be the drummer throughout one of those albums. The album in question will be titled, “Monuments to an Elegy”. Read more…http://pitchfork.com/news/55101-motley-crues-tommy-lee-will-drum-on-the-smashing-pumpkins-next-album/
Our last item for this week’s Manic Monday Music News…Noted May Birthdays this week in Music!!
May 11: Christopher “Kit” Lambert (UK record producer, manager; The Who/others), Irving Berlin (US composer of many pop, stage show and film hits).
May 12: Steve Winwood (UK vocals, keyboards; Spencer Davis Group/Traffic/solo), Billy Squier (guitarist, vocals, keyboard; The Dead Kennedys/ The Sidewinders/ Piper/ Solo), Burt Bacharach (songwriter, pianist, arranger).
May 13: Michael Madden (bassist; Maroon 5), Buckethead/Brian Carroll (guitar virtuoso; Deli Creeps/Guns’n’Roses/many others), Darius Rucker (vocals, guitar; Hootie & The Blowfish), Stevie Wonder/Stevland Judkins (singer, songwriter, multi- instrumentalist), Ritchie Valens/Ricardo Esteban Valenzuela Reyes (singer).
May 14: Bobby Darin/Walden Robert Perciville Cassotto (singer), Ian Astbury (UK vocals, producer, percussion; The Cult/freelance), C.C. DeVille/Bruce Anthony Johannesson (lead guitar; Poison), David Byrne (Scottish vocalist, guitar;Talking Heads/solo), Jack Bruce (UK bassist, multi-musician; Manfred Mann/West/Bruce&Laing/Cream/freelance).
May 15: Brian Eno (UK synthesisers, keyboards; Roxy Music/U2), Ahmet Zappa ( singer, songwriter).
May 16: Janet Jackson (singer; solo artist/sister of Michael), Boyd Tinsley (violinist, mandolin, vocals; Dave Matthews Band/solo/sessionist).
May 17: Trent Reznor (singer; Nine Inch Nails), Andrea Corr (Irish vocalist, tin whistle; Corrs), Jordan Knight (vocals; New Kids On The Block), Page McConnell (singer, keyboardist, songwriter; Phish), Taj Mahal (blues singer,multi-instrumentalist).
Every Monday look forward to the “Manic Monday Music News”, run by yours truly, Scott Rossi! Music is the Universal language which brings the world together, something we can all agree on, so I will always try to find some cool weekly news for you to hear about, here on the MLE Blog. Thanks go out to Deejay Shelly, for this opportunity. Enjoy!