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?
TOP 40/POP NEWS: Lorde Meets George Brett, Inspiration Behind Her Hit Song, Royals!!
Last year young pop sensation, Lorde, told VH 1 that her his song, “Royals”, which catapulted her to pop super stardom was inspired by a photo from 1976 of now Hall of Fame Kansas City Royals baseball player, George Brett! Over a week ago Lorde finally got to meet her inspiration face to face prior to her concert in Las Vegas.
“I had this image from the National Geographic of this dude just signing baseballs,” Lorde said at the time. He was a baseball player and his shirt said, ‘Royals.’ It was just that word. It’s really cool.”
They tried a few times to meet up, once during her concert in Kansas City, but eventually Lorde invited Brett to her Las Vegas concert, where the two finally met backstage.
“And we’ve come full circle! .@GeorgeHBrett, the inspiration for Grammy Award-winning song Royals, meets @Lordemusic,” the Kansas City Royals tweeted.
Sometime prior to their meeting, George Brett sent Lorde an autographed “Royals” jersey that she has since described as “one of the coolest things she owns,” according to the news paper, The Kansas City Star.
George Brett wrote on the jersey: “Lorde, you are Royal to me.”
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2014/04/16/Lorde-finally-meets-George-Brett-the-baseball-star-who-inspired-Royals/4261397691375/#ixzz2zdzwfnBR
ALTERNATIVE NEWS: Red Hot Chili Pepper Flea to Pen Memoir!
The powerful bassist for the Alternative Rock band, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea, has spoken of the upcoming release of his memoir. The memoir will be, published by Grand Central Publishing, and it will be written by Flea with no co-author.
“I love literature deeply,” Flea said in a statement. “I view books as sacred things, and in writing my story, I’m going to do my best to honor the form that has played such a huge part in shaping who I am.”
According to Grand Central, the memoir will cover the full range of Flea’s busy life:
“Flea will share stories from his intense and dynamic life, including: his move from a ‘normal’ upbringing in the suburbs of New York to Los Angeles to live a bohemian life with a jazz musician step-father; his young, rebellious life on the streets of L.A. where he befriends Anthony Kiedis and founds the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Kiedis and two other high school friends; details about his sometimes complex friendship and collaboration with Kiedis; his myriad experiences with hard drugs; and, of course, the tumultuous creative journey of the legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers through its various incarnations over the last 30 years.”
There has been no release date announced yet for the book.
Read more: http://www.alternativeaddiction.com/musicnews/article/3763/Red-Hot-Chili-Peppers-Flea-To-Release-Memoir
ROCK “N” ROLL NEWS: AC/DC Not Headed For Retirement After Stroke of Guitarist Malcolm Young!
On April 16th it was reported in Rolling Stone magazine that, after two days of major speculation, hard rock pioneers from Australia, AC/DC, announced they would not be retiring after news broke that one of their guitarists, Malcolm Young, brother to lead guitarist, Angus Young, had had a stroke. AC/DC’s frontman, Brian Johnson, revealed the band would continue with plans to record a new album, but disclosed that founding member, Malcolm Young, is, “taking a break from the band due to ill health.”
According to the Daily Telegraph, Johnson said, “We are definitely getting together in May in Vancouver.” “We’re going to pick up some guitars, have a plonk, and see if anybody has got any tunes or ideas. If anything happens, we’ll record it.”
Australian radio station 6PR reported rumors of a possible breakup during their “Rumour File” section and tweeted that AC/DC’s founding member Malcolm Young and his family “have moved back to Oz because he is very sick.” News anchor Peter Ford of Australia fueled rumors on his Twitter, by reporting, “There is some quite sad detail about it all, that I will not be reporting on, but the band/management may choose to reveal this” and that the “boys played together privately a few weeks back.”
The band confirmed Young was sick in a Facebook post on Wednesday morning saying, “After 40 years of life dedicated to AC/DC, guitarist and founding member Malcolm Young is taking a break from the band due to ill health.” “Malcolm would like to thank the group’s diehard legions of fans worldwide for their never-ending love and support. In light of this news, AC/DC asks that Malcolm and his family’s privacy be respected during this time. The band will continue to make music.”
“I wouldn’t like to say anything either way about the future,” Johnson told the Telegraph earlier that day. “I’m not ruling anything out. One of the boys has a debilitating illness, but I don’t want to say too much about it. He is very proud and private, a wonderful chap. We’ve been pals for 35 years and I look up to him very much.”
Johnson revealed this past February the band was going to begin recording new music which would co-inside with a special 40th anniversary tour. AC/DC’s bass player, Cliff Williams, revealed last spring that Angus and Malcolm Young were working on new songs.
Despite Young’s illness, Johnson said, “That would be a wonderful way to say bye-bye,” said Johnson. “We would love to do it. But it’s all up in the air at the moment. AC/DC is such a tight family. We’ve stuck to our guns through the Eighties and Nineties when people were saying we should change our clothes and our style. But we didn’t and people got it that we are the real deal.”
Earlier this year, Johnson remarked about a possible tour saying, “It’s been 40 years of the band’s existence. So I think we’re gonna try to do 40 gigs, 40 shows, to thank the fans for their undying loyalty. I mean, honestly, our fans are just the best in the world, and we appreciate every one of them. So, like I said, we’ll have to go out, even though we’re getting a bit long in the tooth. You know what?! It’s been four years [since we last toured], and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ac-dc-not-breaking-up-amid-retirement-rumors-20140416#ixzz2ze3f8aTD
EDM NEWS: President Obama Pens Letter Acknowledging DJ Frankie Knuckles Impact on Music!
David Morales, a DJ and producer recently shared a letter President Barack and Michelle Obama wrote to address the friends and family of Frankie Knuckles. President Obama lived in Chicago, Illinois just as Frankie Knuckles did before moving into the White House.
David Morales posted the image of the letter to his Facebook page stating that “Frankie’s work helped open minds and bring people together, blending genres to capture our attention and ignite our imaginations.”
Obama’s letter said,
“We are deeply saddened to learn of Frankie’s passing, and we extend our heartfelt sympathies as you mourn his loss, and reflect upon his life.
Frankie’s work helped open minds and bring people together, blending genres to capture our attention and ignite our imaginations. He was a trailblazer in his field, and his legacy lives on in the city Chicago and on dance floors across the globe.
While he will be dearly missed, we trust Frankie’s spirit will remain a guiding force. At this difficult time, please know we are holding you all in our thoughts and prayers.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.
Read more: http://www.edmsauce.com/2014/04/22/president-obama-said-frankie-knuckles-helped-bring-people-together/#ixzz2ze9SXEbz
HIP HOP NEWS: Jay Z Deals With Producer Who Attempted to Extort Him!
Legally, Hip Hop Mogul, Jay Z, owns his own master recordings of all of his albums. However, a former engineer of his named, Chauncey Mahan, has sought to obtain $100,000 in exchange for master recording tapes belonging to Jay Z and his songs from 1998-2002.
For over a decade, Mahan had possession of the tapes in a Northridge, California storage facility. This April 18th, Mahan contacted Live Nation requesting $100,000 as a “storage fee” for the tapes. Live Nation arranged the meeting and then followed the meeting up by informing the Los Angeles Police Department of the actions of Mahan.
Mahan was detained but not arrested and he was taken in for questioning. Apparently Live Nation filed a grand larceny complaint against Mahan because in 2002 the master recordings went missing.
Mahan engineered the albums for Terror Squad, Beanie Sigel, 112 and others for over a 15 year period. Hours after news of Mahan’s alleged extortion broke, Just Blaze, frequent Jay Z collaborator, shed some light on Mahan’s relationship with Jay.
Blaze took to his Twitter account, and spoke on “Mahan’s ineptitude as a producer, most notably on Jay Z’s The Dynasty album”.
Read more: http://allhiphop.com/2014/04/21/engineer-requests-100000-for-jay-z-master-recording-tapes-just-blaze-responds/
Our last item for this week’s Manic Monday Music News…Noted April Birthdays this week in Music!!
April 27: Sheena Easton (Scottish singer), Paul “Ace” Frehley (guitar, vocals; Kiss), Jim Keltner (session drummer).
April 28: Kim Gordan (bassist; Sonic Youth/Ciccone Youth).
April 29: Klaus Voormann (German musician, record producer;sessionist/Manfred Mann/Plastic Ono Band/more), Willie Nelson (American country singer, guitar, songwriter, actor), Duke Ellington/Edward Kennedy Ellington (pianist,bandleader,songwriter-composer), Wayne Kramer (vocals, guitar; MC5 / solo), Bobby Vee/Robert Thomas Velline (singer), Johnny Farina (guitar, vocals, composer; Santo & Johnny).
May 1: D’Arcy Wretsky-Brown (bass player; Smashing Pumpkins/Filter), Tim McGraw/Samuel Timothy Smith (country singer), Glen Ballard (American songwriter and record producer), Rita Coolidge (singer; Delaney and Bonnie, solo), Judy Collins (US folk singer).
May 2: Engelbert Humperdinck/Arnold George Dorsey (UK singer).
May 3: James Brown (soul singer, keyboards; Famous Flames), Bing Crosby (singer, actor), Farrah Franklin (singer, actress, model; Destiny’s Child/solo), Jay Darlington (keyboardist; Kula Shaker/Rooster), Frankie Valli/Francis Stephen Castelluccio (singer; The Four Lovers/Four Seasons), Pete Seeger (folk singer, songwriter, guitar, banjo).
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!