Keith Moon was a force of nature. In a deep dive for Drumeo, Brandon Toews examines how Moon’s wild, unconventional style turned percussion into a lead instrument, injecting The Who’s music with chaos and brilliance. Though his life was tragically short, his influence on rock drumming remains unmatched, inspiring generations of percussionists to break the rules and play with passion.
Sofia Coppola’s Hi Octane: A Cult Comedy Central Gem That Burned Bright and Fast In 1994
In 1994, before making her name as a director, Sofia Coppola co-created Hi Octane, a quirky, fast-paced series on Comedy Central alongside Zoe Cassavetes. Despite lasting only three aired episodes, it was packed with high-profile guests, including Martin Scorsese, Naomi Campbell, Kim Gordon, Debbie Harry, the Beastie Boys, Karl Lagerfeld, Thurston Moore, Shawn Mortensen, Keanu Reeves, Jenny Shimizu, Christy Turlington, Gus Van Sant, Anna Wintour, and Nicolas Cage. A mix of interviews, sketches, and indie cool, Hi Octane was ahead of its time—an underground favorite that vanished too soon but left a lasting impression.
Martin Scorsese Breaks Down His Most Iconic Films in New Interview
Legendary film director Martin Scorsese visits GQ to break down his most iconic films, including ‘Taxi Driver,’ ‘Gangs of New York,’ ‘Goodfellas,’ ‘The Departed,’ ‘Raging Bull,’ ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ ‘Mean Streets,’ ‘The Irishman,’ ‘Silence,’ and his newest offering ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’
De La Soul Marks 20th Anniversary of ‘The Grind Date’ with Special Vinyl & CD Reissue
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of De La Soul’s seventh studio album, The Grind Date, the group releases a special package of the original album on vinyl and CD including bonus tracks and instrumental versions via BMG.
The Grind Date, originally released in 2004, showcases the platinum-selling, GRAMMY Award-winning groups signature blend of clever lyrics, innovative production, and a mix of playful and introspective themes including a plethora of featured artists such as the late MF Doom, Ghostface Killah, Carl Thomas and Common.
CD/LP packages are available here for purchase. The limited edition 140g splatter double vinyl includes the original album bolstered with four instrumental versions of the leading tracks. Meanwhile the CD in addition to the instrumentals also includes two never before released tracks, “Bigger” and “Respect” both of which were recorded during the same sessions as The Grind Date.
“With the 20th Anniversary of Grind Date we just feel blessed in knowing that we put together this album that, right now, with its re-release feels fresh, it doesn’t feel outdated, the lyrics feel relevant,” says Posdnuos (Pos). “It really feels good to know that with the re-release of this album it takes myself and Mase back to knowing that this album was the first album done outside of our Tommy Boy relationship and it stands the test of time alongside that catalog, so yeah it’s a blessing.”
The Grind Date 20th Anniversary Tracklisting
1. The Future
2. Verbal Clap
3. Much More (feat. Yummy)
4. Shopping Bags (She Got From You)
5. The Grind Date
6. Church
7. Doo Good In Church (Skit)
8. It’s Like That (feat. Carl Thomas)
9. He Comes (feat. Ghostface Killah)
10. Days of Our Lives (feat. Common)
11. Come On Down (feat. Flavor Flav)
12. No (feat. Butta Verses)
13. Rock Co. Kane Flow (feat. MF DOOM)
14. Shoomp (feat. Sean Paul)
Bonus Tracks
1. Bigger (feat. Choklate)
2. Respect
3. Verbal Clap (Instrumental)
4. Shopping Bags (She Got From You) (Instrumental)
5. The Grind Date (Instrumental)
6. Days of Our Lives (feat. Common) (Instrumental)
Wings’ ‘Venus and Mars’ Celebrates 50 Years with Half-Speed Vinyl & Dolby ATMOS Mix AND Remastered 4K Videos
MPL and UMe commemorate the 50th anniversary of Wings’ fourth studio album Venus and Mars with a half speed master edition and Dolby ATMOS mix. In celebration of the release, live music videos of Wings performing “Letting Go” and “Rockshow” during the 1975 Wings Over The World tour, featuring Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English, have been remastered in 4K.
One of the world’s most beloved rock outfits, Wings came to define the era of 1970s arena rock, while dominating the airwaves with no fewer than 14 US Top 10 hits and 12 Top 10 hits in the UK. Following their 1973 masterpiece Band on the Run, Venus and Mars would represent another peak of Wings’ creative and commercial heyday. The band’s fourth studio album, it was released on May 27th 1975 ahead of the legendary Wings Over the World tour. Preceded by the US Number One single “Listen To What The Man Said” and featuring “Letting Go”, a fan favorite in Paul’s live set to this day, Venus and Mars hit Number One in the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic and went on to sell over 4 million copies worldwide.
50 years since the album’s original release, Venus and Mars has received critical acclaim anew, described “ingenious” in a 9/10 review in Uncut Magazine and “rifftastic tunes that juggle his melodic gifts and pop smarts with the desire to rock out” by MOJO.
This special 50th anniversary vinyl edition was cut at half speed using a high-resolution transfer of the original master tapes from 1975 by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. The album is presented as a meticulous reproduction of the original UK pressing, with recreations of the original “Venus and Mars are alright tonight” circular sticker and “comparative sizes of sun and planets” bookmark sticker, and comes with two posters with photography by Aubrey Powell and Sylvia de Swaan. The iconic album artwork by Hipgnosis has been meticulously recreated and presented in a gatefold sleeve.
Venus and Mars is also now available in Dolby ATMOS for the first time, newly mixed by Giles Martin and Steve Orchard.
Less than one year after Band on the Run’s release, the first recording sessions for Venus and Mars took place in November 1974, and featured a revamped Wings line-up. Following the departure of Denny Seiwell and Henry McCullough on the eve of the Band on the Run sessions in Lagos, Paul and Linda McCartney and Denny Laine were now joined by guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Geoff Britton. After recording “Letting Go”, “Medicine Jar” and “Love In Song” at Abbey Road Studios, Wings left London for New Orleans’ Sea Saint Studios, facing another unexpected line-up shift with Geoff Britton’s exit, recruiting Joe English to complete the album.
In tandem with Venus and Mars’ topping the charts worldwide, the album’s predecessor Band on the Run was continuing to build its global multi-platinum popularity. With a powerful new line-up solidified, Wings’ response to the overwhelming demand surrounding them was to launch the Wings Over the World tour – a 65-date run of shows starting in 1975 and stretching into October 1976.
The first Wings release for 2025, Venus and Mars follows 2024’s theatrical release of the rare Wings live-in-studio performance film One Hand Clapping and its accompanying album landing in the Best of 2024 lists of Billboard, Uproxx and the Los Angeles Times, as well as last year’s 50th anniversary edition of Band on the Run.
Looking ahead, the new book WINGS: The Story of a Band on the Run, will be published on November 4th, 2025 – a landmark account of Paul’s triumphant musical reinvention in the 1970s and the rise of one of the decade’s most iconic and vital bands. More exciting celebratory Wings activity and announcements are soon set to follow.
Side One
Venus and Mars
Rock Show
Love in Song
You Gave Me the Answer
Magneto and Titanium Man
Letting Go
Side Two
Venus and Mars – Reprise
Spirits of Ancient Egypt
Medicine Jar
Call Me Back Again
Listen to What the Man Said
Treat Her Gently – Lonely Old People
Crossroads
Dan Seals’ Estate Partners with Melody Place for Unreleased Single “Steal A Little Thunder”
The estate of beloved country music hitmaker and Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Dan Seals, has partnered with Nashville-based record label Melody Place. The first release is a never-before-heard recording by the late singer with a song called “Steal A Little Thunder” which was penned by his late brother, Seals & Crofts’ Jim Seals along with Brian Whitcomb. The song, releasing April 4, is available for pre-save here.
“Steal A Little Thunder” will appeal to music lovers of all ages, evoking the nostalgia of Yacht Rock mixed with the quality songwriting genetics of the Texas-bred Seals family. Jim Seals and Seals & Crofts played an integral role in creating the pop subgenre, which his younger brother, England Dan & John Ford Coley came to perfect in the late ’70s.
After the latter duo’s breakup, Dan Seals went on to become a country solo powerhouse, launching eleven songs to the top of the charts and crossing over the leagues of fans he had built in pop music to the country genre – contributing to what became the massive boom of country music in the ’80s and ’90s.
The release on April 4 is just the tip of the iceberg. expect more major news – and releases – in the coming weeks.
The Waterboys Unveil ‘Life, Death And Dennis Hopper’ with Fiona Apple-Assisted Single
Ahead of the release of their new album Life, Death And Dennis Hopper, out 4 April on Sun Records, The Waterboys today release the lyric video for “Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend” featuring Fiona Apple.
The most audacious Waterboys album yet, Life, Death And Dennis Hopper is the epic story of the trailblazing American actor and rebel told through a song cycle depicting not only Hopper’s story, but the saga of the last 75 years of western pop culture.
“The arc of his life was the story of our times,” says Mike Scott, “He was at the big bang of youth culture in Rebel Without A Cause with James Dean; the beginnings of Pop Art with the young Andy Warhol. He was part of the counterculture, hippie, civil rights and psychedelic scenes of the ’60s. In the ’70s and ’80s he went on a 10-year rip, almost died, came back, got straight and became a five-movies-a-year character actor without losing the sparkle in his eye or the sense of danger or unpredictability that always gathered around him.”
Scott worked for 4 years on Life, Death And Dennis Hopper. Produced with Waterboys bandmates Famous James and Brother Paul, the album spans 25 tracks and traces the extraordinary arc of Hopper’s life, from his youth in Kansas to his long rise, five wives, tumultuous fall, and ultimate redemption. Every track has its own special place and fascinating, deep-rooted story.
The album is The Waterboys’ first for Sun and alongside Scott’s masterful songwriting, the album features a stellar lineup of guests including Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple, Steve Earle, Nashville-based Alt Americana artist Anana Kaye, young English singer Barny Fletcher, Norwegian country-rockers Sugarfoot, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s, and punk arch-priestess Patti Palladin – incorporating a kaleidoscopic blend of genres that embodies the band’s trademark spirit of musical exploration.
Casper Allen & The Naturals Unleash Debut Single “Damned Old Sun” Ahead of ‘The Hard Way’ EP
Casper Allen & The Naturals are kicking off the year with the release of their debut single, “Damned Old Sun,” a soulful, hard-hitting track that marks the beginning of a new era for the Texas-born troubadour and his powerhouse band (featuring critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter Shawn Hess on bass and R. Cooper Long locking in the rhythm).
The track is accompanied by a visually stunning music video directed by Greg Lewis. “Damned Old Sun” is the first taste of The Hard Way, the group’s upcoming debut EP set for release in May.
“‘Damned Old Sun’ was written as I was becoming conscious of the dissolution of my marriage,” says Allen. “I was thinking back on better times and walking along the beach in the Peconic Bay in New York, and the lyrics just started coming to me. I was listening to Roy Orbison’s Crying album non-stop at the time, so, apologies to Roy if I accidentally swiped any ideas.”
Following a decade-long solo career that saw him honing his craft on the road in the tradition of songwriting legends like Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, Allen has assembled this three-piece band that embodies the spirit of Americana music in its rawest, most electrifying form. The Naturals deliver a genre-blurring sound that fuses Texas blues, honky-tonk, R&B, and vintage rock & roll.
The band’s formation was as organic as their sound. “This was from our first recording session, which, coincidentally, was also the first day we ever played together,” Allen shares. “Shawn and I had messed around a little, but I’d never played with Cooper before. Three of the tracks on the EP are the takes from that very first day. The session went so well, we all looked at each other and went: ‘We should take this on the road.’ And here we are, 100 cheeseburgers and a few thousand miles later.”
Recorded in a whirlwind session at Shawn Hess’ place in Laramie, WY with Ruebin Buchanan running the tape machines, the EP captures the raw energy of a band in perfect sync from day one. “We started on Saturday morning, took a three-hour break for a gig that night, came back, recorded more, and did a track the next morning before everyone had to leave,” says Allen. “When Ruebin sent us the files, we were all texting each other like, ‘Holy, these rule.’ I just drove around banging that for like three hours.”
With “Damned Old Sun” and The Hard Way EP, Casper Allen & The Naturals are set to carve out their own space in the ever-evolving landscape of Americana music. Get ready for a year of relentless touring, soul-shaking performances, and storytelling at its finest.
Casper Allen & The Naturals debut single “Damned Old Sun” is out now. The group’s The Hard Way EP will be released in May.
Sony Music Publishing Nashville Honors Jeannie Seely with Reimagined Classics Featuring Rising Stars
Sony Music Publishing Nashville honors iconic country star Jeannie Seely this Women’s History Month by bringing three reimagined songs to fans through collaborations with rising female country artists. The series, which launched on March 14 with “Let’s Get Together” featuring Mae Estes, continues throughout March with the release of “Who Needs You” with Hannah Dasher and Tiera on the 21st and “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)” with Madeline Edwards on the 28th.
Grand Ole Opry legend Jeannie Seely, known as ‘Miss Country Soul,’ has performed over 5,400 times on the Grand Ole Opry stage throughout her nearly 58-year tenure, more than any other country artist in the show’s 100-year history. Her expansive career as a songwriter and performer began with her 1966 hit “Don’t Touch Me” and continues to endure today, cementing her legacy as an influential mentor for female artists at the Opry and beyond.
Jeannie Seely said, “What an honor to be a part of this exciting new Sony Music Publishing Production with Chelsea Kent. It is one thing to have your old copyrights reinvented in a fresh light, but yet another to be included on the recordings as well! It has been a joy to work with some of the brightest and most talented young artists and musicians who are leading our industry into the future.”
“We are honored to represent Jeannie Seely and her incredible catalog of songs. She is a genre-defining artist and songwriter who has continued to be one of the greatest mentors across multiple generations of country music. This project showcases our team’s unique ability to bring value to our songwriters in innovative ways, and we are grateful for Jeannie’s partnership on these exciting new releases,” said Rusty Gaston, CEO, Sony Music Publishing Nashville.
Newly recorded by Mae Estes, the project’s first release, “Let’s Get Together,” is an unreleased song written by Jeannie Seely and Glen Campbell. Discovered by SMP catalog expert Dale Bobo in Sony Music Publishing Nashville’s tape room, this hidden gem has been revitalized through modern technology by engineer Jason Hall, enabling a new artist to join the recording.
Dropping on March 21, the second release, “Who Needs You,” is a fun and rowdy track that’s already an Opry favorite and is perfect for a girls’ night out. Solely written by Jeannie Seely and recorded at Sony Tree Studio A, the track features Jeannie, Hannah Dasher and Tiera and is produced by multi-year ACM Electric Guitar Player of the Year Rob McNelley.
The final installment in the series arrives on March 28 with “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand),” featuring Seely and Opry Next inductee Madeline Edwards. Co-produced by Edwards and McNelley, the release brings a fresh perspective to the iconic R&B hit.
Karley Scott Collins Falls for an “American Boy” in Her Latest Release
Rising country singer, songwriter, musician and producer Karley Scott Collins is finding love with an “American Boy,” on her brand-new song, out now.
“I wrote this song about a night that I walked into a room, saw someone, and instantly thought ‘I have to know this person,'” explains Collins. “I’ve always had a thing for old school James Dean-type of person who maybe has some tattoos, maybe rides a motorcycle. There was something about the electricity the first time we made eye contact that made me want to write a song.”
Co-written with Alex Kline and Joybeth Taylor – and co-produced with Nathan Chapman – “American Boy” highlights Collins’ emotional rasp as she celebrates the classic elements of a quintessential heartthrob with a wild side:
His heart’s on his sleeve in that tattoo
My daddy don’t like it but I do
He’s a Levi jeans real McCoy
Yeah, I think I’m in love with an American boy
Named an artist to watch by the Nashville Briefing and a CMT Next Woman of Country, Collins will join Morgan Wade for select dates of her OBSESSED TOUR European leg, performing in the Netherlands, U.K., and Ireland. Collins was also recently announced as an opener on Keith Urban’s 2025 HIGH AND ALIVE TOUR across the U.S. and Canada. Kicking off May 22 in Orange Beach, AL, Collins will support on more than 40 dates.