New Wave
Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor Talks Cancer Diagnosis: “I’m Gonna Live Life”
Last year, longtime Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage four metastatic prostate cancer. Now, in a new interview with Channel 5 News, the artist shared a positive outlook on the situation, promising that “I’m gonna live life” despite dealing with an incurable disease. Taylor was diagnosed with prostate cancer about four years ago, and said he originally didn’t think much of the pain he was experiencing before getting it checked out. “I was out jogging, and I started to notice what you would think was a kind of arthritic sort of pain, and I never thought more of it than that,” he recalled. “I started having these symptoms, didn’t recognize them for what they could be, and then I noticed, on my neck, I had what felt like tumors.” Upon receiving hi...
The Story Behind A Flock of Seagulls’ New Wave Classic “I Ran (So Far Away)”
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | YouTube | RSS For the first episode of the New Year, The Story Behind the Song is celebrating the 40th anniversary of A Flock of Seagulls by diving into their new wave classic “I Ran (So Far Away).” Advertisement “I Ran” is a song that immediately spread its wings around the world when it was released in March of 1982, and continues to fly today. Taken from their self-titled debut (a 40th anniversary edition and box set for which is coming on February 17th), the track helped define the band — as did their look. That Seagull-ian hairstyle transfixed audiences back then, and continues to be burned into the collective po...
Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” Traveled the World and the Seven Seas 40 Years Ago
Eurythmics are celebrating 40 years of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” The new wave classic dropped on January 4th, 1983, and both Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart took to social media to acknowledge the milestone. “It’s almost impossible to believe that ‘Sweet Dreams are Made of This’ was released forty years ago!” Lennox said. ‘It has continued to travel the world and the seven seas ever since, which is a wonderful and miraculous story all to itself!” Lennox added, “Songs are like ships…They have their own particular voyages and destinations.. Once they’ve been launched, there’s no turning back. You just have to follow the journey.” Advertisement Related Video “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” was Eurythmics’ first US single, and it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The duo’s album...
Eurythmics Reunite to Perform at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony: Watch
Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics reunited for a rare live performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday (November 5th). After an induction speech by U2 guitarist The Edge and recorded remarks from Cate Blanchett, the duo delivered a ripping, three-song set in matching snakeskin suits. Opening with their 1985 single “Would I Lie to You?” the pair also blasted through 1986’s “Missionary Man” as well as their 1983 breakout smash “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” Watch fan-captured footage of the performance below. Reunions have been surprisingly infrequent for the English duo despite their long-lasting friendship. However, 2022 has become quite the prolific year with their latest performance following another on-stage collaboration in ...
Placebo Announce 2023 North American Tour
Placebo are hitting the road in 2023 for their first North American tour in nine years. The band had previously delayed a fall 2022 trek. The new 19-date stretch opens in Mexico City on April 17th and hits New York for two nights as well as Philadelphia, Austin, Los Angeles, and more. The tour wraps at The Fillmore in Denver on May 20th. LA rock duo Deap Vally will join as support along with Cold Cave on select dates. See the complete itinerary below. Tickets for the 2023 dates go on-sale Friday, November 4th at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster. A Live Nation pre-sale for select shows is ongoing and will run through Thursday, November 3rd at 10:00 p.m. local time (use code HEADLINE). Meanwhile, tickets to the band’s current European and UK run are entirely up for grabs now. Advertise...
Huey Lewis and the News Sell Majority of Catalog for $20 Million
Huey Lewis and the News have sold the majority of their catalog to Primary Wave Music for around $20 million, Variety reports. The deal includes all of the band’s music from inception through 1994, which includes hit albums like Sports and Fore! Of the band’s 10-album discography, seven of them were released before 1994, which means Primary Wave now owns hits like “Heart of Rock & Roll,” “Hip to Be Square,” “Workin’ For a Livin’,” and the Back to the Future single “The Power of Love.” In addition to simply owning Huey Lewis and the News’ music, the deal gives the publishing company the right to use the group’s music in marketing, opening the door to synch opportunities in film and television (though let’s be honest, there’s no topping American Psycho‘s use of ...
The Story Behind Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo’s Halloween Classic “Dead Man’s Party”
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | YouTube | RSS Over the last 40 years, true renaissance man Danny Elfman has delivered it all through various incarnations. As performer, frontman, composer, conductor, and visualizer, he is the consummate multi-dimensional artists. Always unconventional, always out of place — and always slightly dangerous because of it — the Grammy- and Emmy-winning innovator and his body of work are undeniably genius — and also all a bit mad. Advertisement The frenetic and haunted mind of so many mediums, Elfman was meant for the Halloween season. For this special spooky season edition of The Story Behind the Song, Elfman — Jack Skel...
Alphaville’s Marian Gold on Eternally Yours, Space Exploration, and Shakespeare
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Amazon Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS Alphaville’s Marian Gold joins Kyle Meredith to chat about the band’s new symphonic album, Eternally Yours. Advertisement Related Video The frontman discusses how the classical radio of his youth led him to synthesizers in the ’80s, and reveals the process of turning their pop songs into dreamy, orchestrated pieces. Gold later dives into his lifelong love of space exploration, how drugs influence literature and music, and writing “Around the Universe” about his father, who was a pilot in WWII. He also talks about leaning on Shakespeare’s sonnets for inspiration in regards to the title track, which h...
Blink-182’s 10 Best Songs
This feature originally ran in February 2015. We’re revisiting it in celebration of Blink-182’s upcoming reunion tour and new music. “What is it about 20-somethings?” asks the title of a New York Times Magazine article published in 2010. The subtext to that question is another question: “Why are people in their 20s finding it so hard to grow up?” The answers range from changing social mores to an uncertain job market, but maybe it’s even simpler than that. Maybe a new generation of so-called “millennials” is finally starting to understand a line they heard in a song back in 1999: “Nobody likes you when you’re 23.” If you’re a sociologist searching for Ground Zero — that time when the 20s shifted from a life stage of “emerging adulthood” to one of “prolonged adolescence” — an album called E...
Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan on Forging Ahead After the Passing of Andy Fletcher
Depeche Mode experienced the tragic passing of founding member Andy Fletcher in May of this year. On Tuesday (October 4th), the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band announced that it will soldier on with a new album and tour in 2023. The new LP is titled Memento Mori, a Latin term used to describe an object that serves as a reminder of death. Despite the timing of the announcement, the name of the album and its subject matter had already been conceived prior to Fletcher’s passing. In support of the album, which is set to arrive in Spring 2023, Depeche Mode will embark on their first tour in five years, beginning with a North American leg that kicks off March 23rd in Sacramento, California. Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, October 7th at 10:00 a.m. local time via Tick...
The Police Announce Ghost in the Machine Vinyl Reissue
The Police are revisiting their 1981 album Ghost in the Machine by reissuing the LP on a limited edition vinyl picture disc. The project arrives on November 4th. The Ghost in the Machine reissue features The Police’s originally intended tracklisting for the album, as well as three additional tracks: “I Burn for You,” which first appeared on the soundtrack to Brimstone and Treacle, “Once Upon a Daydream,” and “Shambelle.” Four more songs, “Spirits in the Material World,” “Rehumanize Yourself,” “One World (Not Three),” and “Hungry for You,” now include the original audio of drummer Stewart Copeland counting in the tracks. As for the “picture disc” aspect of the reissue, Side A and B of the newly printed Ghost in the Machine are etched with the artwork from the package’s o...
Iggy Pop, Descendents, Parquet Courts to Headline 2023 Destination Chaos Fest
A new festival dubbed Destination Chaos will debut in 2023 with a killer lineup that includes Iggy Pop, Descendents, Parquet Courts, and many more acts. The all-inclusive week-long experience takes place January 28th through February 4th at the Senator Puerto Plata Resort and Spa in the North Coast of the Dominican Republic. Joining the aforementioned acts on the bill are Gogol Bordello, Peter Hook & The Light (performing Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures in its entirety), Amyl and the Sniffers, Amigo the Devil, Bouncing Souls, Shame, The Bronx, The Chats, Starcrawler, Teenage Bottlerocket, and more. The event is being produced by Mark Stern, who formerly spent 22 years as producer of Las Vegas’ Punk Rock Bowling festival. “Developing Destination Chaos has been a long-time vision that’s...
