The SCORPIONS had a huge hit in the early '90s with "Wind of Change" . . . which is about how the Soviet Union was changing and opening up at the time. It was SUPPOSEDLY written by lead singer KLAUS MEINE, who was inspired by how much different Russia seemed between gigs there in 1988 and '89. I say "supposedly" because there are people who believe it was actually written by the CIA as Cold War propaganda. (???) And now there's an eight-part podcast coming out that tries to determine if that's true. The CIA tried to off Castro by hiring the Mafia and it failed...it's hard to believe they could write a sensitive song.
It's called "Wind of Change", and it's hosted by Patrick Radden Keefe, an investigative journalist from "The New Yorker". He says, quote, "I've had so much fun pursuing this crazy story over the course of a year, exploring the dark byways of Cold War history and doing nearly a hundred interviews in four countries with rockers and spies. I can't wait to share it with the world."
"Wind of Change" hits Spotify on May 11th.
Klonk talked to Mike Abramson from the Hartford Yard Goats to talk about baseball and community service.
One, the CD compilation of all The Beatles' British chart-toppers, was certified Diamond for 10 million copies sold in the U.S. on April 28th, 2005. "Love Me Do," the lead track on One, was first released in the U.S. on April 27th, 1964. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1964, over a year-and-a-half after it was first released in the U.K. "Love Me Do" was the A-side of the first Beatles single released in the U.K. In an archival interview, George Harrison recalls how it felt to hear it over the airwaves for the very first time.
"I remember first hearing that song on the radio. That was the best buzz of all time. We knew it was gonna be on tonight. 7:30 Thursday night it's gonna be on Radio Luxembourg. And we all listened in, and that was 'wow!'"
Original KISS lead guitarist Ace Frehley was born on April 27th, 1951 making him 69. The third single off KISS's self-titled debut album, "Strutter" didn't receive much love from music buyers or radio when it first came out, but it became a classic cut as the band's legend grew. Original lead guitarist Ace Frehley says one thing that makes the song great for him is the way they recorded the guitars.
“The thing with ‘Strutter’ that makes ‘Strutter’ a cool song is that I’m always doing octaves of what Paul Stanley’s doing. Paul’s playing a low chord, I’m playing the inversion, y’know. That was something I did with Paul a lot over the years, and it made the song sound thicker.”
Suzi talked to Adria Giordano from the Chrysalis Center about their response to COVID-19 pandemic, and their upcoming “Donation Creation 2020” food drive.
Eddie Van Halen could have taken the life of Fred Durst according to photographer Andrew Bennett in his new photobook, Eruption in the Canyon: 212 Days & Nights With the Genius of Eddie Van Halen,
Eddie was jamming with Durst and his band Limp Bizkit in 2001 in a house in Beverly Hills, California when suddenly someone lit a joint. Not a fan, Eddie up and left, leaving behind his gear.
He called Durst the next day to arrange a pick-up time, but Durst didn't return his call. That's when Eddie decided to pay a visit, driving over in an assault vehicle he'd bought at a military auction -- with an illegal gun mount on the back.
Bennett writes, "Eddie drove that assault vehicle through L.A., into Beverly Hills, then parked and left it running on the front lawn of the house Limp Bizkit was rehearsing in. He got out wearing no shirt, his hair in a Samurai bun on top of his head, his jeans held up with a strand of rope and combat boots held together by duct tape. And he had a gun in his hand.”
Eddie explained to Bennett, "That [a-hole] answered the door. I put my gun to that stupid red hat of his and I said, ‘Where’s my [crap], mother[effer]?’ That [stupid] guy just turned to one of his employees and starts yelling at him to grab my stuff... Eddie Van Halen stood on the front lawn of a residential home in Beverly Hills in broad daylight, smoking a cigarette while holding a gun on Fred Durst as he went back and forth from the house to the assault vehicle, lugging amps and guitars.”
25 years ago, eight and a half years after its release, George Thorogood and the Destroyers' Live was certified platinum for one million sales on April 21st, 1995. He's bad! That phrase was the inspration to his song "Bad to the Bone" George Thorogood wrote "Bad to the Bone" while on his 1981 tour, which took him to each of the 50 states in 50 days. He talks about what inspired the song.
"When I grew up in Delaware, the saying was 'bad.' Everything was 'bad.' Bad meaning hip. Bad meaning groovy. If you're from the East Coast, you'll understand that. And now it's commonplace. Everybody says it. I wanted to write a song around that, 'cause a guy told me about a song that a bluesman did named Lowell Fulson, a song called 'Stoned to the Bone.' And I wanted to get lyrics like 'Jumpin' Jack Flash,' or like 'Who Do You Love?' bad, tongue in cheek, masculine lyrics. And I was on this 50/50 tour and I put it together then. And that's it."
David Crosby says he reached out to Neil Young before the COVID-19 pandemic about reuniting Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for a get out the vote against Trump tour, but he never heard back, and he doesn't hold out hope for it happening.
He tells Rolling Stone, "I sent an email to Neil, saying, 'Listen, I know you’re pissed at me because I slagged your girlfriend [now wife, actress Daryl Hannah]. And I’m sorry.' I’ve apologized a couple of times publicly, but that’s not really relevant to what’s going on in the country... we can’t have another four years of this guy... we have a big voice, we could probably sway the outcome... I’m really sorry I shot my mouth off about your girlfriend. I really am. But we’ve all been horrible to each other over the years...
"It was a really good email, man. It was very sincere, very straightforward. I’m not buttering his toast, trying to suck his [member]. I’m just telling them what the real truth is..."
Crosby feels Stephen Stills would be on board, and, while he no longer speaks to Graham Nash, he thinks he'd be up for it, too. "There’s only one person who doesn’t want it," adds Crosby. "No, there’s two people who don’t want it. That’s Neil and the lady in question."
Of course at this point, no one will be touring, including Crosby, and that has him worried.
"I don’t want to be sitting at home, man. I’m 78. I only got a few years left. You know that. I don’t want to spend them sitting on my butt. I got a lot of music in me still, and I’m trying really hard to make music every minute I can, because it’s the one place I can contribute. [But] I’m sitting here, watching the last bits of cash that I’ve got dribble out, and I don’t have any savings. So it’s not looking good."
Crosby has had one tour canceled and his praying his run of dates in August and September happen, as well as those in November and December, which will feature Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin.
Crosby ended the Rolling Stone interview with, "I’m gonna get in trouble for some of [what I just said], but I don’t give a [damn]."
Glenn Frey's son Deacon was born on April 17th, 1993. He turns 27 today and he now sings "Peaceful Easy Feeling" when the Eagles are on tour. That song was a big hit and Glen Frye found it in his mailbox. It hit #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it was just sitting in the mailbox of his house in L.A.'s Coldwater Canyon, sent to him by his friend Jack Tempchin. Here is the late Glenn Frey:
“Jack was always sending me songs. And I went in the house and I put it in my cassette machine and I heard it and I thought, ‘Wow, this is it, a Poco-type song for me to sing.’ So I took the tape to rehearsal and we started working it up right away. And it’s one of Jack’s best songs. Always do I hear the line, ‘I want to sleep with you in the desert tonight with a million stars all around.’ Great line.”
The late Foghat singer and guitarist "Lonesome" Dave Peverett was born on April 16th, 1950. One of Foghat's best know songs is "Fool for the City". It was recorded in the country but Dave missed the city and that's where the song came from. In a 1990s interview, the late Foghat frontman Dave Peverett explains why he wrote “Fool for the City.”
“That was actually written while I was recording out in the country in Wales. We were out on a farm and I was born in the city, you know, and I was getting a bit tired of getting chased around by wasps and stuff. So when everybody was writing songs about getting back to the country at that time, I wrote kind of a reversal of that, about getting back to the pollution and the smog and stuff.”
