Kevin Hart like you’ve never seen him before. Zero Fucks Given. Launching Nov 17 from Kevin’s living room. And only on Netflix.
Watch the official trailer for Alex Winter’s Frank Zappa documentary ‘Zappa’
With unfettered access to the Zappa family trust and all archival footage, ZAPPA explores the private life behind the mammoth musical career that never shied away from the political turbulence of its time. Alex Winter’s assembly features appearances by Frank’s widow Gail Zappa and several of Frank’s musical collaborators including Mike Keneally, Ian Underwood, Steve Vai, Pamela Des Barres, Bunk Gardner, David Harrington, Scott Thunes, Ruth Underwood, Ray White and others.
Directed by Alex Winter, the doc is available everywhere now.
‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ starring Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman set to stream on Netflix December 18
Chicago, 1927. A recording session. Tensions rise between Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), her ambitious horn player (Chadwick Boseman), and the white management determined to control the legendary “Mother of the Blues.” Based on Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s play.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by George C. Wolfe. Starring Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Colman Domingo, Michael Potts, Glynn Turman, Dusan Brown and Taylour Paige. Coming to Netflix December 18.
New Pixar “Soul” Trailer Released
Life is full of possibilities, you just have to know where to look. Watch the new trailer for Disney and Pixar’s Soul, streaming this Christmas only on Disney+.
What is it that makes you…YOU? This Christmas only on Disney+, Pixar Animation Studios’ all-new feature film “Soul” introduces Joe Gardner (voice of Jamie Foxx) – a middle-school band teacher who gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. But one small misstep takes him from the streets of New York City to The Great Before – a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities, quirks and interests before they go to Earth. Determined to return to his life, Joe teams up with a precocious soul, 22 (voice of Tina Fey), who has never understood the appeal of the human experience. As Joe desperately tries to show 22 what’s great about living, he may just discover the answers to some of life’s most important questions. Directed by Academy Award® winner Pete Docter (“Inside Out,” “Up”), co-directed by Kemp Powers (“One Night in Miami”) and produced by Academy Award nominee Dana Murray, p.g.a. (Pixar short “Lou”), Disney and Pixar’s “Soul” is streaming only on Disney+ beginning December 25.
Renowned Guitarist and Toto Front Man Steve Lukather Talks About His ‘Life-Changing’ Decision to Wear Widex Moment Hearing Aids
Steve Lukather, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer, has been playing rock and roll since he was nine years old. “And when I was young, I played really loud,” he explained recently. Over the years, like many musicians, Lukather began to suffer from hearing loss. “But I learned to live with it,” he said. “I wore ear protection for 20 years, but it kept still getting worse, and normal life was hard for me to grasp. At night, I’d have the TV on full volume.”
Something had to change. A respected, award-winning studio musician, Lukather is best known as a founding member of the rock band Toto and has toured extensively with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band. He’s played on albums from artists such as Boz Scaggs and Michael Jackson. “This is a way of life for me,” he said. “My ears are so important.” When Lukather mixed his most recent solo album, due out in February, he was wearing WIDEX EVOKE digital hearing aids. The experience was so exceptional, he upgraded this summer to the revolutionary new WIDEX MOMENT hearing aids with natural-sounding PureSound technology. “It’s really been life-changing,” he said.
Lukather’s long journey to adopting hearing aids is not uncommon, especially among musicians. According to the National Institutes of Health’s Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 28.8 million U.S. adults could benefit from hearing aids. Yet, most people with hearing loss suffer through hearing problems an average of seven years before giving hearing technology a try.
“I was working so much, I never had time to really deal with it,” Lukather said. “My brain adjusted to the deficit the best it could.” And although he was used to wearing in-ear monitors when he performed, Lukather said he resisted hearing aids for years because he associated them with the large, bulky devices he’d seen other people wear.
After friend and Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford showed Lukather the small, in-ear hearing aids he wore (“I couldn’t even tell!”), Lukather was ready to take the next step and chose Danish hearing aid pioneer Widex for his first set.
“Suddenly, I’m hearing sounds I haven’t heard in 25 years,” Lukather said. “The new record sounds great. I worked on it with an engineer whose ears I really trust, and we were hearing the same things.”
Many hearing aids use generic amplification to address hearing loss. WIDEX MOMENT hearing aids, however, enable personalized hearing treatments by leveraging real-time artificial intelligence technology, allowing the audiologist to tailor their performance to each wearer’s preferences. MOMENT hearing aids also include cutting-edge PureSound processing to overcome artificial sound that can result when direct and amplified sound arrive at the eardrum out of sync.
“Everyone has different hearing frequency deficits, so my hearing doctor adjusted the EQ [equalization] for my particular pair,” Lukather said. “It took a while to get used to because I was hearing frequencies I hadn’t heard in so long. And I know some can be plastic-y sounding, but these WIDEX hearing aids are much better. And I can switch between settings depending on where I am and what I need to hear.”
WIDEX MOMENT hearing aids feature SoundSense Learn technology to automate the process of creating personalized settings based on a series of A-B tests and cloud-based artificial intelligence. Users can store the settings as programs in their smartphones and activate them throughout the day. Widex studies show that hearing aid users prefer the personalized settings achieved through artificial intelligence, and that 80% would recommend the function to others.
Lukather hopes his experience can influence others — musicians, people who love music, and anyone else with hearing loss.
“I know a lot of guys who are aware they could use hearing aids, but they’re afraid to try them,” Lukather said. “I get it. I’ve played loud for a half century; started to get tinnitus in 1986. I was a studio musician for like 25 years and had headphones on my head 14 hours a day, six days a week getting feedback. It’s not unlike a boxer who takes one punch too many. I’m ok saying I needed a hearing device and other guys should be, too. What? Am I supposed to be surprised by it after 50 years of rock and roll? You can’t even tell I’m wearing them.”
He’s right.
Learn about Steve Lukather’s storied career and watch the video of his new single “Run to Me,” featuring Ringo Starr, at www.stevelukather.com. Explore the new technologies behind natural, personalized hearing experiences at www.widex.com, and talk to a hearing care professional today to determine if Widex hearing aids could make a real difference in your life.
Four Timeless Holiday Jazz Titles By Ella Fitzgerald, Kenny Burrell, Ramsey Lewis And Jimmy Smith Boxed Up For New Vinyl Set, ‘Verve Wishes You A Swinging Christmas’
This holiday season, Verve Records/UMe is boxing up some of the most classic jazz holiday titles and wrapping them in a new vinyl box set titled Verve Wishes You a Swinging Christmas. This lavish collection brings together Ella Fitzgerald‘s Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas (1960), Kenny Burrell‘s Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas (1966), Ramsey Lewis‘s Sound of Christmas (1961) and Jimmy Smith‘s Christmas ’64 (1964) (also known as Christmas Cookin’) for the first time. With the holidays just around the corner, it’s the perfect swinging, syncopated backdrop to get you in the Yuletide spirit and soundtrack your festivities.
Since the dawn of jazz, the genre’s innovators have pulled material from all corners of the Great American Songbook and beyond as springboards for improvisation — and the Christmas canon is no exception. On Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas, the First Lady of Song approaches Great American Christmas songs like “Jingle Bells,” “Sleigh Ride,” “The Christmas Song,” and “Frosty the Snowman” with vivacity and sophistication. Sixty Christmases after its release, the album’s timeless appeal has only grown over the years. In a retrospective review, All Music proclaimed, “this is as good as jazz Christmas albums get,” and just last year, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 1 on their “40 Essential Christmas Albums” list, calling the set “superb” and praising Fitzgerald’s “exquisite phrasing and subtlety.” In celebration of the album’s 60th anniversary, “Frosty The Snowman” has received its first-ever official video, a charming animated video by Fantoons Animation Studio that features Ella and Frosty in a winter wonderland storybook setting.
Verve Wishes You a Swinging Christmas includes a variety of jazz greats’ instrumental takes on the Christmas canon via three albums that haven’t seen a vinyl reissue since the ’60s. On Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas, guitar master Kenny Burrell serves up soulful renditions from the carol book (“The Twelve Days of Christmas,” “Away in a Manger“), down the church aisle (“Mary’s Little Boy Chile,” “Children Go Where I Send Thee“) and the R&B wheelhouse (“Merry Christmas, Baby“). JazzTimes declares it “was and is a landmark album” while All Music admires Burrell’s “pensive, meditative, precise playing” and calls it “a must-have.”
The box cranks the fun up a notch with Sound of Christmas by the Ramsey Lewis Trio, which features bassist Eldee Young, drummer Isaac “Red” Holt, and string arranger Riley Hampton. By swerving around any potential treacle and keeping things light at a mere 29 minutes, Lewis and his colleagues ensured Sound of Christmas was a highly accessible slice of holiday cheer. “Lewis avoids the overly reverent… in favor of songs he can tear through with the brisk gait of a sleigh ride and the delight of a full stocking,” All About Jazz mused.”[H]is sensitivity to the tastes of the public served him well here.”
Rounding out the collection is a yuletide offering from Jimmy Smith, the master of the Hammond B-3 organ. On Christmas ’64, which was known for decades as Christmas Cookin’ after being reissued in 1966 with the alternate cover and title, Smith offers up a mix of secular Christmas songs and traditional carols backed by a big band and several trios. He makes a heel-turn from dignified orchestral overtures, like on “We Three Kings (of Orient Are),” injecting the proceedings with funky, down-home energy to get bodies moving this December. “It’s hard to believe that ‘Silent Night’ could ever swing as much as it does here,” All About Jazz noted. But all you have to do is drop the needle on these bluesy interpretations to believe Christmas could be so danceable. For the first time in more than five decades, the LP will be released with its original cover and title.
Why wait until the Christmas shopping rush to secure your vintage sounds? Verve Wishes You a Swinging Christmas offers four titles in their original packaging, all beamed from jazz’s past to warm up your holiday season in the present.
Ella Fitzgerald Wishes You a Swinging Christmas (1960)
Side A:
- Jingle Bells
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
- What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
- Sleigh Ride
- The Christmas Song
Side B:
- Good Morning Blues
- Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
- Winter Wonderland
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Frosty the Snowman
- White Christmas
Kenny Burrell — Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas (1966)
Side A:
- The Little Drummer Boy
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
- My Favorite Things
- Away in a Manger
- Mary’s Little Boy Chile
- White Christmas
Side B:
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
- The Christmas Song
- Go Where I Send Thee
- Silent Night
- Twelve Days Of Christmas
- Merry Christmas Baby
Ramsey Lewis — Sound of Christmas (1961)
Side A:
- Merry Christmas Baby
- Winter Wonderland
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
- Christmas Blues
- Here Comes Santa Claus
Side B:
- The Sound Of Christmas
- The Christmas Song
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
- Sleigh Ride
- What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
Jimmy Smith — Christmas ’64 (a.k.a. Christmas Cookin’) (1964)
Side A:
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
- Jingle Bells
- We Three Kings (Of Orient Are)
- The Christmas Song
Side B:
- White Christmas
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
- Silent Night
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Donny Osmond Returns To The Las Vegas Stage With First-Ever Solo Residency At Harrah’s Las Vegas
Legendary entertainer and music icon, Donny Osmond, today announced his return to Las Vegas and the Caesars Entertainment family with his first-ever solo multi-year residency inside Harrah’s Showroom at Harrah’s Las Vegas, opening Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021.
In an unprecedented and history-making deal for Harrah’s, Osmond’s return to stage will be an exciting, energy-filled musical journey of his unparalleled life as one of the most recognized entertainers in the world. Guests can expect a party as he performs his timeless hits, shares stories of his greatest showstopping memories and introduces brand new music in a completely reimagined song and dance celebration. The announcement comes almost exactly one year after the curtains closed for the final time on his previous record-breaking 11-year residency at Flamingo Las Vegas. Fans can once again experience an unforgettable night with Donny Osmond – exclusively at Harrah’s Las Vegas.
Spanning five decades of entertainment, Donny Osmond has been a singer, actor, triple-threat television series host (talk show, game show, variety show) and best-selling author (his autobiography entered the UK bestseller chart at #1). Throughout his illustrious career, Donny has earned 33 gold records; selling over 100 million albums becoming a worldwide music legend. Currently Donny is hard at work on his 63rd album which is set to be all original music for the performer. Osmond’s debut at Harrah’s signifies the launch of his highly anticipated world tour.
“Las Vegas has been great to me and my family and in many ways, so this feels like a homecoming,” said Osmond. “I am incredibly excited to return to the entertainment capital of the world for my own solo residency at Harrah’s Las Vegas next summer, and I hope my fans are as excited as I am.”
Tickets will go on sale to the public starting Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 10 a.m. PT. Presale tickets for Caesars Rewards members as well as Ticketmaster customers will be available Monday, Nov. 23 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. PT.
General ticket prices begin at $65, plus applicable tax and fees. Also, a limited number of VIP meet & greet packages are also available for performances Tuesdays through Fridays only. All tickets and packages can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com/donny. Performances will take place nightly from Tuesday to Saturday with all shows beginning at 8 p.m.
The available performances going on sale are:
August 2021: 31
September 2021: 1 – 4, 7 – 11, 14 – 18, 28 – 30
October 2021: 1 – 2, 5 – 9, 12 – 16
November 2021: 2 – 6, 9 – 13, 16 – 20
SiriusXM is the New Destination for Original, Exclusive, and Popular Podcasts
tarting today, SiriusXM is the new destination for original, exclusive, and popular podcasts with exclusive new original podcasts from Marvel Entertainment, a slate of SiriusXM original series featuring new shows from popular SiriusXM hosts including Jeff Lewis and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, influential podcasts from FOX News, and a highly-curated selection of popular podcasts from leading creators and providers including Stitcher, NBC News, CNN, NPR, ViacomCBS, The Wall Street Journal, HBO, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Joel Osteen Ministries, Wondery, Barstool, Westwood One, Crooked Media, TNT, WNYC Studios, Slate, PodcastOne, TED, Cadence13, Pineapple Street Studios, PRX, Pushkin Industries and many more. Kevin Hart‘s Laugh out Loud Radio will also roll out a slate of new radio shows and podcasts on SiriusXM beginning in 2021, including Hart’s first-ever, solo-hosted podcast.
Starting today, SiriusXM subscribers with streaming access can enjoy a unique mix of exclusive, original, and popular podcasts via the SiriusXM mobile app or online at www.siriusxm.com/podcast2020
The launch of SiriusXM’s new podcast destination coincides with its latest “Listen Free” campaign, where any non-subscriber in North America can sample SiriusXM’s wide variety of audio entertainment with no credit card required – including 300+ channels and hundreds of podcasts – from November 19 to December 1, 2020. For more information, visit www.siriusxm.com/freelisten3
“As the popularity of podcasts continues to expand, we’re thrilled to offer our subscribers an amazing selection of podcast entertainment and expand on our unmatched variety of compelling, must-hear programming,” said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s President and Chief Content Officer. “With exclusive new series from entertainment powerhouses like Marvel and Kevin Hart, SiriusXM originals from some of our most popular hosts, and a curated collection of top shows from leading providers, subscribers now have direct access to our new destination for podcasts without ever leaving the SiriusXM app. And with Stitcher and their catalog of hugely popular original podcasts joining the SiriusXM family, this is just the beginning.”
Podcasts now available to SiriusXM subscribers with streaming access include:
- Exclusive new original podcasts from Marvel and SiriusXM:
- Marvel/Method – A brand-new exclusive weekly SiriusXM podcast where Method Man interviews celebrity guests including Killer Mike, DMC, and Jemele Hill about life and all things fandom, Marvel comics, music, and more. (premiering today).
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- Marvel’s Declassified – An exclusive nonfiction narrative podcast focusing on the rich, dynamic, and evolving history of Marvel Comics – as told through a contemporary lens (scheduled to premiere December 8th).
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- Marvel’s Wastelanders – A new multi-part original scripted series available exclusively on SiriusXM featuring Marvel heroes Old Man Star-Lord, Grey Widow, Old Man Hawkeye, Old Man Wolverine, and more. (Coming in 2021)
Plus, SiriusXM subscribers are the first to hear other Marvel podcasts, including:
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- The exclusive Spanish-language version of Marvel’s Wolverine: The Long Night (scheduled to premiere in December)
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- This Week in Marvel – Marvel hosts Ryan “Agent M” Penagos, Lorraine Cink, and James Monroe Iglehart share inside access to all the latest Marvel comics, TV, movies, games, toys, and beyond!
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- Women of Marvel – The Women of Marvel assemble to show how people of all backgrounds are making a powerful and positive impact on Marvel stories.
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- Marvel’s Pull List – Each week, Ryan “Agent M” Penagos and Tucker Markus give exclusive previews of all the new Marvel comics that will be available in stores.
- Season 3 of Marvel’s Voices – Hosted by Angelique Roche, featuring more in-depth conversations with diverse storytellers about their creative processes, collaborations, and professional journeys (scheduled to premiere December 3rd)
- Marvel’s Pull List – Each week, Ryan “Agent M” Penagos and Tucker Markus give exclusive previews of all the new Marvel comics that will be available in stores.
- A slate of exclusive new SiriusXM original podcast series including:
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- Comedian Kevin Hart‘s first-ever solo-hosted podcast (coming soon)
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- Huuuge Fan – Host LaChina Robinson welcomes celebs like Tracy Morgan, Darius Rucker, Ashley Judd, and Dierks Bentley to share their journeys about being rabid fans of their favorite sports teams.
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- Jeff Lewis Has Issues – The former Flipping Out star and SiriusXM host dives into his personal issues – from relationships to parenting and beyond – with an array of friends and experts.
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- Digging Up the Past with Christopher Russo – SiriusXM’s Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo takes a historical deep-dive into the events and innovations that have shaped the sports landscape, starting with a history of Thanksgiving-day NFL games and how they’ve become as much of a holiday staple as turkey dinners, featuring Bill Belichick, Earl Campbell, Bill Parcells, Gil Brandt and many others.
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- Podversaries – A new podcast series that tells the stories behind some of the greatest rivalries in sports history with the people who witnessed them firsthand, including:
- Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning – Hear from the two icons themselves and those who played with and against them.
- Yankees vs. Red Sox – Rapper/producer Chuck D looks at the history between two of baseball’s greatest adversaries.
- Michigan vs. Ohio State – Featuring memories from those who played in “The Game,” including Desmond Howard, whose famous Heisman pose remains an enduring image from this rivalry.
- Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes – Chronicles the defining rivalry between two of the greatest personalities in professional wrestling history
- Dale Earnhardt vs. Jeff Gordon – A close-up of the rivals who represented, and dominated, two different eras of NASCAR.
- Podversaries – A new podcast series that tells the stories behind some of the greatest rivalries in sports history with the people who witnessed them firsthand, including:
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- I Want My 80s Podcast – Each week, original MTV VJs Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, and Alan Hunter flash back to discuss and give personal insights into the defining moments of the 80s.
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- Vital Signs – The doctors and staff at NYU Langone Health share moving personal stories from the front lines of the prestigious medical center.
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- Exit 209 with Storme Warren – The host of SiriusXM’s The Highway traces the humble beginnings of country music’s biggest stars, starting with hugely popular duo Florida Georgia Line.
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- Unboxing the 90s with Jim Shearer – The former MTV/VH1 VJ hangs out with the artists and celebs who defined the 90s to unbox the decade’s most indelible songs, entertainment, and cultural moments.
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- Comic-Con Begins: An Oral History of San Diego Comic-Con – A six-part documentary series chronicling the rise of the legendary comic convention from its origins in the early 70s to its impact on modern-day fandom
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- SiriusXM Comedy Docs – A collection of SiriusXM’s best new and archival comedy documentaries launching with Hope on Top: A Mitch Hedberg Oral History, a brand-new two-part special hosted by journalist Julie Seabaugh featuring commentary from comedians including Doug Stanhope and Dave Attell. Additional documentary podcasts from the SiriusXM Comedy vault will celebrate the careers of Robin Williams, Redd Foxx, Joan Rivers, and many more.
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- The MeidasTouch Show – Following their successful limited run on SiriusXM Progress leading up to the 2020 Election, the three brothers behind MeidasTouch, whose infamous viral videos took on the Trump administration, host a new show amplifying progressive policies and taking the wind out of right-wing talking points.
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- Makeup to Breakup – Host Julia Cunningham and a rotating cast of journalists and insiders trace the wild, sad, and triumphant stories of the rise and fall of popular music groups, including the White Stripes, Destiny’s Child, and Pink Floyd.
- Influential podcasts from FOX News Media featuring FOX News Channel’s top-rated primetime lineup including The Five, Special Report with Bret Baier, The Story with Martha MacCallum, Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity, The Ingraham Angle, and FOX News @ Night with Shannon Bream
- A wide selection of podcasting’s best and most popular shows including Pod Save America, My Favorite Murder, Song Exploder, Dr. Death, Call Her Daddy, and Up First from leading creators and providers including NBC News, CNN, NPR, ViacomCBS, The Wall Street Journal, HBO, ESPN, Westwood One, Barstool, Crooked Media, Sports Illustrated, Joel Osteen Ministries, Wondery, TNT, WNYC Studios, Slate, PodcastOne, TED, Cadence13, Pineapple Street Studios, PRX, Exactly Right, Pushkin Industries, and many more
- Over 60 podcasts from across Stitcher‘s catalog of popular original shows, including Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Freakonomics Radio, Science Rules! With Bill Nye, Office Ladies, and Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness
- Highlights from dozens of SiriusXM shows presented as podcasts featuring popular hosts including Andy Cohen, Hoda Kotb, Coach K, Gayle King, Dan Rather, and more
“Marvel has always told stories to entertain and inspire. And just as Marvel’s stories began in the comics and grew into the rich universe we know today, we see audio storytelling as just the beginning of unlimited possibilities for our brand,” said Dan Buckley, President of Marvel Entertainment. “Our fans are consuming content more than ever, and now wherever they are, they can explore the Marvel Universe through brand-new and ongoing podcasts that bring Marvel together with the world and people around us, along with exciting new scripted content coming on SiriusXM’s platform next year.”
Today’s launch follows SiriusXM’s acquisitions of leading podcast platforms Simplecast and Stitcher, which along with Pandora and AdsWizz establish SiriusXM as the premier full-service platform for podcast creators, publishers, and advertisers.
Dr. Dre and Feed Your City Challenge Team Up to Feed the City of Compton
Feed Your City Challenge – entertainment’s most massive response to the COVID-19 crisis, founded by music industry legend Tony Draper and retired NBA star Ricky Davis – will make the tenth stop on its nationwide campaign to fight the effects of COVID-19 as its positive case numbers increase around the globe. Hip-Hop pioneer, philanthropist, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, multi-platinum Grammy award-winning producer, and current music tech mogul Dr. Dre will lend his support to help feed the community of Compton, California. Working alongside Compton Mayor Aja Brown, video director Gabriel Hart, and media partners Power 106 and 93.5 Kday, FYCC organizers and volunteers will pass out free groceries provided by Dr. Dre. Community members will receive fresh produce, meat, including holiday turkeys, and essential PPE supplies, while supplies last. Access will be granted via a one-lane contactless drive-thru with a separate line for walk-ups following all social distancing guidelines.
Understanding the catastrophic effects the virus has had throughout Southern California and the rest of the country, Compton native and music icon Dr. Dre was eager to join the movement. Compton’s Mayor, Aja Brown, will use Saturday’s event to continue her pledge to empower Compton and build up equity in the community.
“Unity is within us all. By us working together we can serve the underserved,” explained Dre of why he felt doing this event with Mayor Brown right before the Thanksgiving holiday was so important. “Thanksgiving is a special time to bring people together; people shouldn’t have to worry about how they’re going to feed their family for the holidays, so we accepted the challenge from Tony Draper and his team to generate that unity for Compton during these difficult times.”
As more than 10 million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19, its effects have had disproportionate health and economic consequences on communities of color. This staggering statistic is one of the many elements that propelled FYCC into action to combat this deadly disease. They have steadily grown outreach and donations after every relief effort. Each of the nine cities during the campaign has received thousands of pounds of high quality produce, fresh meat and PPE supplies. Residents in each city are lined up hours before the start of the event to collect their free items from FYCC volunteers and celebrity host(s).
With a simple mission statement, ‘to serve underserved communities,’ ‘Feed Your City Challenge’ continues feeding those in need while challenging more cities to join. Previous events around the country included Norfolk, VA with recording artist Pusha T; Petersburg VA with recording artist Trey Songz; Brooklyn, NY with music executive Steven Victor in honor of Pop-Smoke; Oakland, CA with Grammy award-winning (and Oscar-nominated), producer/singer/songwriter Raphael Saadiq; Los Angeles, CA with Grammy award-winning multi-platinum producer Mustard, singer Jhene Aiko and Grammy award-winning artist Roddy Ricch; Miami, FL with Grammy-nominated rapper/songwriter, entrepreneur, and record executive, Rick Ross; Port Arthur, TX with retired NBA player and ESPN host Stephen Jackson; Atlanta, GA with Def Jam recording artist 2 Chainz; and Chicago, IL with actor, television host, comedian Nick Cannon.
‘Shape of My Heart’ is not about what you think it is
He might not be as famous among today’s youngsters as he was a couple of decades ago, but to a generation of music fans, English musician Sting was and will remain an absolute legend. Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, to give him his actual name, is recognized as a hugely successful solo artist, but many people may be surprised to know that he was also the lead singer and principal songwriter for The Police from 1977 to 1984. Sting’s solo career as well as his run with The Police has seen him win 17 Grammys, while his other work has also won him a Golden Globe, three Emmys and four nominations for an Oscar for Best Original Song.
‘Shape of My Heart’, a song by Sting is one of those which seems as though it is about one topic, but is actually about something else entirely. It was released as the fifth single from his album ‘Ten Summoner’s Tales’ in 1993, and featured in two movies as well – in the end credits for Leon, and as part of the movie Three of Hearts. It is one of the songs most closely associated with Sting’s solo career, along with ‘Desert Rose’, and has over 130 million plays on the streaming service Spotify. It sold over 10 million copies when it was released, and reached a high of number 57 on the UK Singles Chart.
While the name of the song suggests that this is a love ballad, Sting has actually said that the song was written to try and tell the story of a card player; of a gambler who plays casino table games not to win but to try and figure out some sort of logic or law to how luck and chance works.
This will, of course, come as a surprise to many fans, but anyone who paid really close attention to the song lyrics would have figured this out. Sting characterizes the gambler as some sort of philosopher, as he is looking for the higher truth behind luck, making it a spiritual or even religious experience, rather than one driven by greed or even a simple love of gambling. He also says that the gambler, because he is a poker player, never shows his true emotions, which is necessary during a game of poker so as to keep the other players in the dark. Another interesting tidbit about the song is that Sting has said that he had written the entire song in his head during a walk in the woods, after hearing the song’s riff from his friend Dominic Miller.
The track was produced with English record producer Hugh Padgham, who is one of the most influential music producers of all time. He had worked previously with Sting during his time with The Police, producing several of their tracks, and has also produced songs for the likes of Phil Collins, Genesis and David Bowie, among others. He is perhaps best known for pioneering the gated drum sound which is heavily featured on Collins’ 1981 superhit ‘In The Air Tonight’, which has become a legendary sound in music today.
As one of the more recognizable songs from Sting’s solo career, it is no surprise that this song has been sampled quite a bit by other artists. The 2003 song ‘Shape’ by English group Sugababes, as well as ‘Rise and Fall’ by Craig David, released in 2003 as well, both heavily sample this track. There have been more recent instances as well, such as rapper Juice World+s 2018 track ‘Lucid Dreams’, and ‘Pieces’ by Tory Lanez and 50 Cent. The popularity of this song is set to continue to rise, as more and more young fans are introduced to Sting’s music by their parents and older relatives.