February 4, 2012
Alice Cooper is a semi-shocking 64.
On this day in 1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono traded a bag of their cut hair in return for a pair of genuine Muhammad Ali boxing shorts. And you thought the Seventies were boring!
On this day in 1978, Queen's "We Are The Champions" peaked at #4, E.L.O.'s "Turn To Stone" hit #13 and Heart's "Crazy On You" topped out at #62.
On this day in 2001, Jimmy Buffett was kicked out of his court side seats at a Miami Heat/New York Knicks game due to his use of profanity. Unfortunately for Jimmy, that burst of rebellious Rock & Roll-ish behavior didn't help his record sales in the least.
February 5, 2012
Legendary session drummer Hal Blaine is 83. As the top Los Angeles studio drummer in the Sixties and early Seventies, he played on more than 8,000 different tracks for hundreds and hundreds of different musicians including the Beach Boys, The Byrds and Simon & Garfunkle. It's almost impossible to listen to an oldies radio station for more than 10 minutes without hearing a song with Hal Blaine's drumming.
Cory Wells of Three Dog Night is 70.
Al Kooper, keyboardist for Dylan and Blood, Sweat & Tears, is 68.
Elton John's longtime drummer, Nigel Olsson, is 63.
Original Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagen is 48.
On this day in 1972, Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold" entered the charts.
This weekend, over 80 stations will air OFF THE RECORD with Joe Benson featuring the music of Deep Purple as well as more of Joe's conversation with singer Ian Gillan.
No Glitter At Super Bowl
Disgraced pop legend/convicted pedophile Gary Glitter won't be profiting Sunday when the Patriots will take on the New York Giants at the Super Bowl at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Every year since 1973 Glitter has collected royalties from the Super Bowl telecast whenever his "Rock & Roll Part II" is played during the game. But this year the National Football League has finally banned the song. As the NFL's Brian McCarthy says, "We will not be playing any version (of) it." About time, say we.
Bruce Is Definitely A GRAMMY Player
It's official! Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band will be performing live at the 54th Annual GRAMMMY Awards at the Staples Center on February 12th. Bruce and his band will be joining an all-star line-up including Adele, Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney and Coldplay, among others.
Bad Sabbath News
Black Sabbath are currently in England working with producer Rick Rubin on a new album, and have a world tour scheduled to start May 18th in Moscow. But now, less than a month after guitarist Tony Iommi announced that he'd been diagnosed with lymphoma, drummer Bill Ward says that he won't participate in the reunion unless he is presented with a "sign-able contract" that "reflects some dignity and respect toward me as an original member of the band." This is not the first time that Ward has publicly battled with Sharon Osbourne, singer Ozzy Osbourne's wife/manager. Let's hope that they can come together this time.
Joined By A Traveling Wilbury & A Beatle
Joe Walsh's Wednesday night Troubadour listening party for his upcoming "Analog Man" album saw a couple of special guests join him on stage. The album's producer/former Electric Light Orchestra frontman, Jeff Lynne, stepped up to play on two songs before Joe's brother-in-law, Ringo Starr, took to the stage for the finale, "Rocky Mountain Way."
It was Rita Rudner who said: "When I eventually met Mr. Right, I had no idea that his first name was Always."
It was Mahatma Gandhi who said: "There is more to life than increasing its speed."
It was Calvin Coolidge who said: "No man ever listened himself out of a job."
February 9th - 12th: Make time for some serious high speed rocking with yer Uncle Joe at the 52nd O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals Drag Races at the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona! You know that Randy Balough will be racing his Uncle Joe's Super Gas Corvette and J.B. and Randy will be doing their Saturday and Sunday Meet & Greets with the KLOS Cool Patrol. Check out these pix from last year — then come and join the fun and excitement!
