Friday, February 24, 2017

Giant bolt marks Bowie memorial in Brixton

There is a crowd funding project going on with the aim to raise a 9 meter steel bolt a' la Aladdin Sane near David Bowie's birthplace in Brixton, UK.

Check pictures here:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/feb/22/campaign-david-bowie-memorial-brixton

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-39044933

Monday, February 20, 2017

Happy 67, Walter Becker!

Photo: Sandrine Lee/walterbecker.com
This June it'll be nine years since his latest solo album; Circus Money.
It's close to 14 years since Steely Dan released a new recording; Everything Must Go.
His co-worker in that band, Donald Fagen, presented his latest record to the world; Sunken Condos, late 2012, so a little over four years ago.

With this trickle of new music from the duo there's been more time to tour as Steely Dan. And that's what Walter and Donald have planned for 2017 as well.

So Happy Birthday Walter, from Radio Dupree!
And if you should get the urge to record and release a third solo album we promise we won't try to stop you.

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Unexpected cover from Rickie Lee Jones and Madeleine Payroux

We've always had a soft spot for the earlier, quirkier hits from British singer David Essex from the 1970's, so it was a suprise to find his Rock On covered by Rickie Lee Jones and Madeleine Peyroux!



Here's what David's original sounds like.



Bonus:



Tuesday, February 14, 2017

New book: The Beatles in Tokyo 1966

1 966 copies and no more...
The Beatles last tour was in 1966. They spent a couple of days in Tokyo, Japan and a photographer named Shimpei Asai documented the bands stay.

These photos have now been collected in a limited edition book named Hello, Goodbye: The Beatles in Tokyo, 1966.
Signed by Shimpei Asai and in hand-bound leather with a cloth-bound slipcase and a facsimile ticket it will cost a pretty penny? Yes, with the print run limited to 1 966 copies the recommended retail price is £265 or 330 US dollars or €311.

More on the book here:
http://www.genesis-publications.com/Hello-Goodbye-The-Beatles-in-Tokyo-by-Shimpei-Asai/default.htm

And you can see photos from the book in this rollingstone.com article:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/beatles-in-japan-see-photos-of-groups-historic-tokyo-trip-w464967

Monday, February 13, 2017

5 Grammy Awards for Bowie's Blackstar

David Bowie's Blackstar album won all five nominations:
Best Rock Performance
Best Rock Song
Best Alternative Music Album
Best Recording Package
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

Frank Zappa's 200 Motels - The Suites was nominated for Best Classical Compendium but did not get the award, unfortunately.

https://www.grammy.com/nominees

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

Two more Steely Dan shows + that Fagen produced album almost here

Steely Dan have added two more spring dates to the 2017 tour.

April 17: San Diego - Humphrey's

April 25: Santa Barbara - SB Bowl

And the album by the band Oh Whitney that Donald Fagen started producing in 2013 is finally ready for release. It has been delayed a few times and there's still no set date, but the band has said that there will be new music this spring.
Technically that doesn't mean the music must be from the 11 track record, it could be something completely new, but...

Read the artcle over on the Fort Worh Weekly for more on the record.

Main points from a Steely Dan/Fagen fan view:

- The band Oh Whitney and Fagen met in San Miguel in 2012 and Donald said he wanted to work with them.
- Recording started in 2013 and has been done on and off over the past couple of years.
- The record consists of 11 tracks. Donald supplied almost all keyboard parts, sings on a few of the songs and had a big part in the arrengements of several tracks.

And the band has changed its name from Oh Whitney and now goes by the frontman's name: Peter More.

Here's a 25 second taste:
https://www.facebook.com/PeterMoreMusic/videos/1507414272619597/

Saturday, February 04, 2017

Upcoming release? 6 Zappa shows from Halloween '77

Guitarist Adrian Belew's post on Facebook recently made several Zappa fans gasp for breath. 
Click on the picture to enlarge Adrian's message.