- On Friday night (February 20th) a group of the late-Eddie Money's longtime fans and friends took the stage in L.A.'s at The Canyon at The Saban Theater to salute Money, who died of cancer on September 13th at age 70. The show, which was hosted by comedian Louie Anderson, benefited MusiCares and the USC Eddie Money Cancer Research Fund organizations.
- Among the artists paying tribute to Money were Sammy Hagar, Rick Springfield, George Thorogood, John Waite, Jefferson Starship's Mickey Thomas, REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin and Dave Amato, Greg Kihn, Tommy Tutone, and Metallica's James Hetfield — making his first live performance since entering rehab last fall, and stealing the show with a minor key-tinged, ballad rendition of Money's “Baby Hold On.”
- John Oates certainly got around back in the day. During a chat with The New York Post, Oates revealed that during Hall & Oates' hit-making heyday, he slept around — a lot, claiming, “I’m sure it was thousands, I’ve lost track. If you didn’t live through the '70s and '80s, if you weren’t a rock star during that time, there’s no way you can comprehend what it was like. There were no cell phones and people taking pictures of everything you did. There was no social media. It was much more innocent. I used to meet girls in various towns and sort of have a relationship. I might see them and then see them six months later.”
- Oates maintains that he and Daryl Hall were lucky to never have succumbed to the stereotypical drug problems so many rock legends fell into: “Coke was ubiquitous. Daryl and I never had our issues with it because we never did it. I tried it back in the Studio 54 days and it made me feel so uncomfortable that I couldn’t do it. It just wasn’t my thing.” (Page Six)
- Bon Jovi has posted the official video for his new single, “Limitless.” The track comes from the band's upcoming set, Bon Jovi 2020, due out on May 15th. In the press release for the new album, Jon Bon Jovi promised the set would deal with “tough topics such as gun control, veterans’ issues, politics, the meaning of family, and much more. . . It encompasses life, love, and loss.”
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Neil Young has backtracked on his recent stance of taking a break from the road, revealing a Crazy Horse arena tour is now in the works. Young posted on his NeilYoungArchives.com website: “Many of the old places were used to play are gone now replaced by new coliseums we have to book (a) year in advance and we don't want to anyway. That’s not the way we like to play. . . so we have decided to play the old arenas — not the new sports facilities put up by corporations for their sports teams. Largely soulless, these new buildings cost a fortune to play in.”
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Young went on to write: “We wanted to play in a couple of months because we feel like it. To us it’s not a regular job. We don’t like the new rules. . . If you are looking for us on our Crazy Horse Barn Tour we will hopefully be in one of the existing arenas. Hope to see you there. News coming pretty soon!” (NeilYoungArchives.com)
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- The surviving original members of the Lovin' Spoonful will reunite on February 29th at Glendale, California's Alex Theatre. John Sebastian, Steve Boone, and Joe Butler haven't played together since the group's 2000 Rock Hall induction. Guitarist Zal Yanovsky died in 2002. The trio will join the Wild Honey Orchestra for its annual benefit concert to raise funds for the Autism Think Tank.
- John Sebastian, who wrote all the group's hits, said in a statement: “I’m delighted to be honored this month by the Wild Honey Orchestra. . . Since Steve, Joe and I agreed to attend, I’ve gotten correspondence about a Lovin’ Spoonful 'reunion,' and I want to clarify. Spoonful reunions without Zalman (Zal) Yanovsky are more like get-togethers. Most of the music at the show is played by a great assortment of studio musicians, not always including us. It’ll be a blast but a reunion would be a misnomer.” (Rolling Stone)
- On April 24th, the Doors' Robby Krieger will release his first album in a decade, titled The Ritual Begins At Sundown. The 10-track instrumental jazz set is the followup to Krieger's 2010 Grammy-nominated collection, Singularity. (Press release)
- 40 years after its original release, Bob Seger just issued a new lyric video for his 1980 classic “Against The Wind” on his new, official YouTube channel.
- Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's Against The Wind album was released on February 25th, 1980. The title track was the album's second single and second Top 10 hit, peaking at Number Five.
- The album, which topped the Billboard 200 albums chart for six straight weeks, won the 1980 Grammy for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal as well as Best Recording Package.
