All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com
Photo Gallery: Scorpions with Megadeth at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage
Photo Gallery: Charles Bradley at Wayhome
Charles Bradley (November 5, 1948 – September 23, 2017) was an American funk/soul/R&B singer, signed to the Daptone Records label under the Dunham Records division. His performances and recording style were consistent with Daptone’s revivalist approach, celebrating the feel of funk and soul music from the 1960s and 1970s. One review stated that Bradley “echoes the evocative delivery of Otis Redding”.
Dubbed “the screaming eagle of soul”, Bradley was the subject of the documentary Soul of America which premiered at South by Southwest in 2012. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer in October 2016 and died on September 23, 2017.
All photos by Mini’s Memories.
SiriusXM Completes $480 Million Strategic Investment in Pandora
SiriusXM and Pandora today announced that SiriusXM has purchased $307.5 million of Series A preferred stock in Pandora, completing the $480 million strategic investment announced on June 9, 2017.
Under the terms of the agreement, a subsidiary of SiriusXM purchased $172.5 million of Series A preferred stock upon execution of the agreement on June 9, 2017 and today purchased an additional $307.5 million of the Series A preferred stock.
The Series A preferred stock is convertible into common stock at a purchase price of $10.50 per share. The Series A preferred stock bears a 6% cumulative dividend, payable in cash, accretion of the Series A preferred stock or a combination thereof. The Series A preferred stock represents a stake of 19% of Pandora’s currently outstanding common stock, and a 16% interest on an as-converted basis.
Upon the closing of this second investment, Gregory B. Maffei, the Chairman of SiriusXM, James E. Meyer, the Chief Executive Officer of SiriusXM, and David J. Frear, the Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of SiriusXM, were named to the Pandora Board of Directors. Mr. Maffei was also named Chairman of Pandora. With these additions, Elizabeth Nelson concluded her tenure on Pandora’s board, effective immediately. Nelson has served on Pandora’s board since 2013. The Pandora Board now consists of nine directors.
SiriusXM may require Pandora to redeem the Series A preferred stock beginning on September 22, 2022, the fifth anniversary of the closing, for an amount equal to its liquidation preference plus all accrued and unpaid dividends. Pandora may also redeem the Series A preferred stock at any time after September 22, 2020, the third anniversary of the closing, if the daily volume weighted average price of Pandora’s common stock is greater than or equal to 175% of the then applicable conversion price for a period of at least 20 days during a 30 day trading window prior to the notice of redemption.
Bee Gees-Led ‘Saturday Night Fever’ Celebrated With Special 40th Anniversary Edition Releases
In 1977, Saturday Night Fever captured and propelled a global cultural movement like few movies before or since, with its iconic, Bee Gees-led soundtrack driving the film’s dance floor action. A worldwide smash upon release and an essential modern classic for all time, ‘Saturday Night Fever (The Original Movie Soundtrack)’ spawned four No. 1 singles and won the GRAMMY Award for Album of the Year. On November 17, Capitol/UMe will release the illustrious soundtrack’s 40th Anniversary Edition in expanded commemorative configurations including a super deluxe box set that pairs the remastered album and remixes with the film’s 4K-restored 40th Anniversary Director’s Cut.
The ‘Saturday Night Fever (The Original Movie Soundtrack)’ 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition box set features two CDs with the remastered original album and four Serban Ghenea remixes, the remastered album on heavyweight 180-gram 2-LP vinyl in a gatefold jacket with faithfully replicated original album art, and a Blu-ray disc with the film’s 4K-restored 40th Anniversary Director’s Cut and Theatrical Version, plus bonus features. The collectible box set also includes a 23-page book with newly-written essays by Barry Gibb, Saturday Night Fever music supervisor and soundtrack producer Bill Oakes, director John Badham, and the film’s score composer and musician David Shire, as well as Bee Gees photos and stills from the film, plus an exclusive turntable slipmat, a set of five art prints, and a reproduction of the original Saturday Night Fever movie poster. The soundtrack’s new 2-CD and digital 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition pairs the remastered album with the four new Serban Ghenea remixes.
Composed and performed primarily by the Bee Gees, the legendary album’s mega-hits include “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever,” “How Deep Is Your Love,” “More Than A Woman,” and “If I Can’t Have You.” Certified 15-times multi-platinum by the RIAA for U.S. album sales totaling more than 15 million, ‘Saturday Night Fever (The Original Movie Soundtrack)’ has sold more than 40 million copies around the world. The album topped the U.S. album charts at No. 1 for 24 consecutive weeks and remained on Billboard’s albums chart for 120 weeks, also holding the No. 1 spot on the U.K. album charts for 18 consecutive weeks. In 2004, ‘Saturday Night Fever (The Original Movie Soundtrack)’ was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame and it was added to the U.S. Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry as a culturally significant work in 2013.
For Saturday Night Fever’s 40th Anniversary, the film’s director John Badham worked with Paramount Pictures to restore the film in 4K resolution using the original negative, and to update the film’s surround sound mix to further enhance viewers’ enjoyment of its incredible soundtrack. During this process, he added scenes to the R-rated theatrical version that round out character and plot, making the 40th Anniversary Director’s Cut the definitive representation of his original vision.
With John Travolta’s electrifying Academy Award-nominated performance, the Bee Gees’ explosive soundtrack and, of course, the unforgettable dancing, Saturday Night Fever captured the angst and brio of the time, making an indelible impact on popular culture. Forty years later, the film about a Brooklyn kid with no prospects who lives for Saturday night continues to be revered and celebrated.
The Bee Gees – brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb – have earned their stature as one of the world’s most popular and bestselling groups of all time. Having recorded 22 studio albums and for numerous soundtracks, including the monumentally successful Saturday Night Fever, the Bee Gees infused popular culture with dozens of worldwide hit singles that featured their singular and highly influential three-part harmonies. They achieved nine Number Ones and 23 Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Night Fever,” and “Stayin’ Alive” from Saturday Night Fever, and hit charts around the world with many other classics, including “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart,” “I Started A Joke,” “Lonely Days,” “Words,” and “You Win Again.”
Among the honors bestowed upon the Bee Gees are five GRAMMY Awards, as well as The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Legend Award, and President’s Award; five American Music Awards; a Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music; and a Legend Award from the World Music Awards. They have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, BMI Icons, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and the Dance Music Hall of Fame. All three brothers were appointed Commanders in the Order of the British Empire in 2001.
Saturday Night Fever (The Original Movie Soundtrack) 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition
[2-CD / 2-LP / Blu-ray box set]
CD 1
1. Stayin’ Alive [performed by Bee Gees]
2. How Deep Is Your Love [performed by Bee Gees]
3. Night Fever [performed by Bee Gees]
4. More Than a Woman [performed by Bee Gees]
5. If I Can’t Have You [performed by Yvonne Elliman]
6. A Fifth of Beethoven [performed by Walter Murphy]
7. More Than a Woman [performed by Tavares]
8. Manhattan Skyline [performed by David Shire]
9. Calypso Breakdown [performed by Ralph MacDonald]
10. Night on Disco Mountain [performed by David Shire]
11. Open Sesame [performed by Kool & the Gang]
12. Jive Talkin’ [performed by Bee Gees]
13. You Should Be Dancing [performed by Bee Gees]
14. Boogie Shoes [performed by KC and the Sunshine Band]
15. Salsation [performed by David Shire]
16. K-Jee [performed by MFSB]
17. Disco Inferno [performed by The Trammps]
CD 2
The Serban Ghenea Mixes
1. Stayin’ Alive
2. Night Fever
3. How Deep Is Your Love
4. You Should Be Dancing
2LP Vinyl
SIDE A
SIDE B
1. Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees)
6. A Fifth of Beethoven (Walter Murphy)
2. How Deep Is Your Love (Bee Gees)
7. More Than a Woman (Tavares)
3. Night Fever (Bee Gees)
8. Manhattan Skyline (David Shire)
4. More Than a Woman (Bee Gees)
9. Calypso Breakdown (Ralph MacDonald)
5. If I Can’t Have You (Yvonne Elliman)
SIDE C
SIDE D
10. Night on Disco Mountain (David Shire)
15. Salsation (David Shire)
11. Open Sesame (Kool & the Gang)
16. K-Jee (MFSB)
12. Jive Talkin’ (Bee Gees)
17. Disco Inferno (The Trammps)
13. You Should Be Dancing (Bee Gees)
14. Boogie Shoes (KC and the Sunshine Band)
Blu-ray
Saturday Night Fever 40th Anniversary Director’s Cut by John Badham [4K-restored under supervision of director John Badham]
Saturday Night Fever Theatrical Version [4K-restored under supervision of director John Badham]
– Audio Commentary by director John Badham [Theatrical Version Only]
– ’70s Discopedia [Theatrical Version Only]
– Catching the Fever
– Back to Bay Ridge
– Dance Like Travolta with John Cassese
– Fever Challenge!
– Deleted Scenes
Sex Pistols mark 40th anniversary of ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’
The Sex Pistols are planning a reissue of their Never Mind the Bollocks deluxe edition, timed to mark the album’s 40th anniversary next month.
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols is the only studio album by the group. Released on October 28, 1977, it created a stir as much for its groundbreaking music as for its vulgar title and the controversy that already surrounded the band.
In 2012, a super deluxe edition of the album was released, featuring the same iconic day-glo cover by Jamie Reid and including the full studio album with B-sides as well as a disc of outtakes and another of live material. That deluxe edition, which was released in limited numbers and has since gone out of print, is set to be reissued in a new version for the album’s 40th anniversary.
On October 27, the 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will go on sale, offering all the material from the 2012 version as well as a DVD featuring 1977 footage of the band performing at the infamous boat party for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and a 48-page hardcover book that includes text by music journalist Pat Gilbert and rare photos from John Tiberi, Bob Gruen, Dave Wainwright and Barry Plumm.
Watch Chris Rodrigues and The Spoon Lady Perform “Angels in Heaven”
Here’s Angels in Heaven, filmed on the Spoon Lady’s front porch for PLAY MUSIC ON THE PORCH DAY on August 26, 2017.
How To Rebuild Yourself. This Is The “Stronger” Trailer.
Jeff Bauman loses both of his legs when two bombs explode during the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. After regaining consciousness in the hospital, Jeff is able to help law enforcement identify one of the suspects, but his own battle is just beginning. With unwavering support from his family and girlfriend, Bauman embarks on a long and heroic journey to physical and emotional rehabilitation.
This is the story of Stronger, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, and Clancy Brown.
Rag’N’Bone Man Covers The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”
Rory Charles Graham aka “Rag’N’Bone Man”, he of the massive Human hit, covers The Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge.
Stephen King on the origins of IT’s Pennywise and meeting Ronald McDonald
Here are two interviews with Stephen King about Pennywise, the IT movie inspiration and shares a funny true story about him meeting Ronald McDonald while traveling.
The first was filmed by Nicole Schröder in Hamburg in November 2013 in which King explains the origin of Pennywise.
“I had an idea when I was in Colorado that I wanted to write a really long book that had all of the monsters in it. I figured if people think I’m a horror writer — I never considered myself to be that myself, I’m just a writer-writer — I thought to myself, ‘I’ll get all of the monsters together as I possibly can; I’ll get the Vampire, I’ll get the Werewolf, and I’ll even get the Mummy.’ The Mummy has never really scared me because it’s like the Mummy is after us, let’s all walk. It’s not a terribly scary monster, but he had to be there because he’s one of the classics. But then I thought to myself, ‘There out to be one binding, horrible, nasty, gross, creature kind of thing that you don’t want to see, [and] it makes you scream just to see it.’ So I thought to myself, ‘What scares children more than anything else in the world?’ And the answer was ‘clowns’.
“So, I created Pennywise the Clown,” he adds. “Then, what happened was, ABC came along and said they wanted to make a mini-series out of it and wanted to cast Tim Curry as Pennywise. I thought it was a strange idea but it really worked and it scared a whole generation of young people and made them scared of clowns, but clowns are scary for children to start with.”
The second half of the video takes us back to 2005 when King visited Conan O’Brien to promote his novel “The Colorado Kid”. Conan O’Brien asked about King if he had personal interaction with a clown that scared him. While the answer was “No,” he did share this hilarious anecdote.
“I was on a book tour and I was on my way home…the plane started to pull away from the gate…and then it pulls back in. The door opens again and Ronald McDonald gets on the airplane. He’s fully dressed [and] sits down next to me – because I attract weirdness, I’m a weirdness magnet – here he is orange hair, orange shoes, the whole nine yards. He sits down next to me – this is years ago – plane takes off, ‘no smoking’ light goes off, he pulls out a pack of Kents, lights up and he orders a gin and tonic from the stewardess…I said the only thing I could think of, ‘Where did you come from?’ He says, ‘McDonaldland’, which is a real place in Chicago.
https://youtu.be/QWFmPwmW4jg
Capitol Records To Release ‘Holidays Rule’ Album Featuring Paul McCartney
Holidays Rule Volume 2, a joyful and diverse collection of seasonal music featuring an array of convivial contributions from across the musical spectrum, will be released by Capitol Records on October 13. The pre-order launches today along with the release of “Wonderful Christmastime,” a spirited new version of Paul McCartney’s perennial favorite that was performed by McCartney, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in December 2016. “Wonderful Christmastime” is available today to stream, download, or receive immediately with album pre-order.
The set is a sequel to the popular 2012 collection, and features 16 new recordings by beloved artists including Norah Jones, Grace Potter, Rosanne Cash, The Decemberists, and Lake Street Dive, alongside up and coming artists such as Barns Courtney, Albin Lee Meldau, Calum Scott, Kandace Springs, and Vera Blue. The album delves into an unusually rich assemblage of Pop, R&B, Rock, Americana, Jazz, Mariachi, and more.
Holidays Rule Volume 2 lets today’s artists put their own mark on tradition by offering wonderfully fresh takes on holiday chestnuts old and new (Barns Courtney and Lennon Stella remake “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”; Judah & The Lion reinvents “The Christmas Song”; Albin Lee Meldau delivers a soulful version of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”), reframing songs for the holiday season (The Decemberists cover Big Star’s “Jesus Christ”; Norah Jones covers Horace Silver’s “Peace”; MUNA covers McCartney’s “Pipes of Peace”), unearthing rarities (Kandace Springs delivers a glistening new version of “(Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man With The Bag”; Rosanne Cash dusts off Louis Jordan’s “May Ev’ry Day Be Christmas”; Lake Street Dive offers up the cheeky novelty song “I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas”), and contributing new songs to the seasonal repertoire (Grace Potter’s original song “Christmas Moon”).
The track listing for Holidays Rule Volume 2 is as follows:
Paul McCartney, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots – Wonderful Christmastime
Barns Courtney Feat. Lennon Stella – Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Albin Lee Meldau – All I Want For Christmas Is You
Calum Scott – It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas
Kandace Springs – (Everybody’s Waitin For) The Man With The Bag
Norah Jones – Peace (Live at the Sheen Center)
Grace Potter – Christmas Moon
Rosanne Cash – May Ev’ry Day Be Christmas
Judah & The Lion – The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
The Decemberists – Jesus Christ
Lake Street Dive – I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas
Flor De Toloache – That’s What I Want For Christmas
Vera Blue – A Winter Romance
MUNA – Pipes of Peace
US Girls – Blue Christmas
Andrew McMahon – What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve