If you’ve ever dreamed about undressing Stevie Nicks, (and let's face it, who hasn't), you can soon join the hundreds that came before you (read that any way you like) …
Well, in some perverted fashion anyway.
Mattel has announced that they will be releasing a limited edition Stevie Nicks Barbie Doll!!!
It’ll become available on November 10th … and captures Nicks in her “Rumours” period.
Stevie herself had this to say …
My Stevie Barbie has been with me now for several months. When Mattel came to me asking if I would like to have a Barbie made in the “Rumours” cover style I was very overwhelmed. Of course I questioned “Would she look like me? Would she have my spirit? Would she have my heart…” When I look at her, I see my 27 year old self ~ All the memories of walking out on a big stage in that black outfit and those gorgeous boots come rushing back ~ and then I see myself now in her face. What we have been through since 1975 ~ the battles we have fought, the lessons we have learned ~ together. I am her and she is me. She absolutely has my heart.”
From the official announcement:
Barbie® celebrates the iconic “Queen of Rock and Roll,”
Stevie Nicks, with a Barbie® doll in her likeness. Nicks achieved worldwide
success with the band Fleetwood Mac before embarking on a critically acclaimed,
chart-topping solo career. Known for her captivating stage presence and
signature style, she has left an indelible imprint on artists and fans around
the world. Stevie Nicks Music Series Barbie® doll wears a beguiling black dress
inspired by the legendary Rumours album cover and holds her iconic tambourine.
Includes doll stand and Certificate of Authenticity. Barbie® doll cannot stand
alone. Colors and decorations may vary.
• Barbie® honors the iconic “Queen of Rock and Roll,” Stevie Nicks, with a
collectible doll that emulates her signature spellbinding style.
• Stevie Nicks Barbie® doll is ready to groove on a moonlit stage with her
flowy blonde hair, full textured bangs, and smoky eye.
• Her ethereal dress is inspired by the legendary 1977 album Rumours and
features a velvety wrap bodice with a layered skirt that drapes and swirls like
smoke.
• As in the hit song Rhiannon, Stevie looks ready to take to the sky like a
bird in flight with her flowing chiffon statement sleeves.
• Stevie’s bewitching look is finished with her signature golden moon necklace,
tall black boots, and a tambourine with cascading ribbons.
(kk)
Stevie also said in a recent interview that she sees no reason to ever reassemble Fleetwood Mac again with Christine McVie gone.
Stevie essentially said "What's the point?" She told Vulture Magazine:
"Without her, what is it? You know what I mean? She was like my soul mate, my musical soul mate, and my best friend that I spent more time with than any of my other best friends outside of Fleetwood Mac. Christine was my best friend. Who am I going to look over to on the right and have them not be there behind that Hammond organ? When she died, I figured we really can't go any further with this. There's no reason to."
Fleetwood Mac last toured in 2019 (famously without Lindsey
Buckingham.) McVie died suddenly and
unexpectedly in November of last year. (kk)
Boy, this story sure spread like wild fire!
We’ve seen some pretty crazy performance riders over the years …
But this one just leaked for Bruce Springsteen SURE is specific! (37 pages long?!?! Seriously?!?!)
It’s hard to think about how much extra money this tacks on to the artist’s performance fee! (They’re likely already getting free airfare and hotel accommodations as it is! And I’m sure there are more than a few other perks thrown in along the way as well)
So when fans wonder about the ridiculously high price of concert tickets, here’s a little insight as to why. (kk)
First, congrats to CB for his
excerpts on IT'S ALL IN THE GAME. What a record to come out of 1958.
About two or three or those artists I didn't even know had recorded the
song. One song or version I thought of and it did make our weekly survey
back in 1967 and that was singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon. It was released on Imperial records with the flip being CHANGIN' MY MIND.
Larry
Vote NO
Here’s a link to a nice piece by Harvey Kubernik about the 50th Anniversary of The Roxy in LA last week. (We ran some exclusive pictures from Neil Young’s two night performance there.)
https://ugly-things.com/lou-adler-and-the-roxy-50-years-on-the-sunset-strip/
And more from Harvey, too, about the new book profiling The Women of The Rolling Stones!
https://www.musicconnection.com/kubernik-parachute-women/
And it sounds like we'll soon be treated to a motion picture spotlighting the life of Anita Pallenberg
.jpeg)
Fresh off his 'Micky Dolenz Celebrates The Monkees' tour, Dolenz appeared at the Days of the Dead-Comic-Con this past weekend in Houston ... with Tom Arnold.
Wow, the list of artists who have passed away this year is quite staggering … and we’re still on 3/4 of the way thru!
Best Classic Bands ran this recap on October 1st …
https://bestclassicbands.com/musician-deaths-2023-10-2-23/
Forgotten Hits Reader John Pumilia sent us this story from the Monday, October 2nd, 2023 "Portland Oregonian:
Music Marathon ...
" 'Louie Louie' Concert Will Feature 70 Acts Playing Iconic Song "
In 1963, The Kingsmen made one of the greatest rock-’n’-roll recordings of all time in Portland.
The original “Louie Louie” was a calypso-style song, but today it transcends genre — a theory that will be put to the test when some 70 performers play it during a 24-hour marathon concert to honor the 60th anniversary of the Kingsmen’s iconic record.
The current lineup of the Kingsmen will perform the opening and closing renditions of the song at 6 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday at AFRU (Art Freaks Are Us) Gallery in Southeast Portland. In between, local acts will take turns with the song for a nonstop performance in every style imaginable.
There will be a Tuvan throat singing version, a bagpipe version, a ukulele version and a full marching band version. Attendees will hear “Louie Louie” performed by a drag king, a singing Santa Claus, the Cleveland High School jazz ensemble and in the soothing whispers of an ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) performer.
“We have a group of mascots and furries who will be doing a cover of their own rendition of ‘Louie Louie,’” said organizer Luke Strahota. “We’ve got a band called Viral Tyrant doing a half-hour stoner doom metal version of ‘Louie Louie.’”
This whole thing is Strahota’s wild idea. He’s the founder of the “Louie Louie Committee Committee” that’s organizing the event.
“It’s been in my brain for about 13 years,” Strahota said. “It’s a total passion project. No one in the committee is making any money. We’re all just friends doing this thing.”
The “Louie Louie” Marathon is free to attend, but donations taken at the door will support the nonprofit AFRU Gallery.
From about 2 to 8 a.m., the event will be invitation-only, but the music won’t stop. Bands and singers will alternate between two stages. In case of a lull between sets, a third auxiliary microphone will be available for impromptu “Louie Louies.”
“We will be keeping the ‘Louie Louie’ flame lit the entire time,” Strahota said. “If one person is hitting a tin can and the other person is saying ‘Louie Louie’ on kazoo, that’s ‘Louie Louie,’ and that’s kind of the magic of ‘Louie Louie’ in general.”
Richard Berry wrote “Louie Louie” in 1955 with a rhythm based on René Touzet’s “El Loco Cha Cha.” The (innocuous) lyrics tell the story of a sailor headed home to Jamaica to see a girl.
It’s a simple song — just three chords — and it’s often one of the first tunes someone learns when picking up the guitar or joining a marching band.
“I always call it a gateway song because it’s something that is empowering to learn and it’s empowering to be able to play it and share it,” Strahota said.
As Richard Berry and his band the Pharaohs toured the Pacific Northwest, “Louie Louie” became a minor regional hit.
A few years later, a band of teenagers called the Kingsmen got their chance to record it at Northwestern Inc. Recording Studio at 411 S.W. 13th Ave. in Portland. Singer Jack Ely, in recently tightened braces, shouted the lyrics toward a microphone suspended from the ceiling. The result was a muffled, chaotic recording that at first seemed like a dud — but had actually captured a new, pronto-punk, garage rock sound.
“The vocals were garbled because of how they recorded in the circumstances of the time,” said Julie Madsen, who’s married to Strahota and part of the Louie Louie Committee Committee. “It became a scandal where people were saying that it had obscene lyrics. … J. Edgar Hoover was involved. That moral panic is a thing that we still see happening today.”
An 18-month investigation by the FBI determined the sloppy lyrics where simply unintelligible, not obscene. But the debacle launched the Kingsmen to worldwide fame.
“It wasn’t that popular until the controversy, and because of that, it’s legendary,” said Dick Peterson, the longest-playing member of The Kingsmen.
Peterson joined the Kingsmen at the end of 1963 as a 17-year-old Grant High School student. The band had recorded their version of “Louie Louie” a few months earlier, but it hadn’t made any waves by the time Peterson joined.
“I knew the bass player, Norm. I knew his girlfriend in high school. She sat across me from me in study hall,” Peterson said. “The guys were all 19 at the time, and we had the draft back then, and so the drummer (Gary Abbott) was drafted, and I took his place. She said, ‘Hey, these guys make $20 a weekend a piece, you should come try out for the band.’ I did, and I got the job.”
The Kingsmen version of “Louie Louie” started to see success when a radio DJ from Boston picked up a copy of the record during a convention in Seattle. He played the record on air during his “Worst Record of the Week” segment, but people loved the song.
“The kids would call in and rate the record, and ‘Louie Louie’ was winning as the worst record every day for a month,” Peterson said. “The kids were dancing to it and thinking it was cool.”
But as the song took off, rumors began to swirl that Ely’s muffled lyrics were obscene. In February 1964, the governor of Indiana banned it.
“As soon as he banned that record, it took off like wildfire,” Peterson said. “It was on the front page of every newspaper in the country, and the kids thought, ‘Wow, these guys are getting away with something. Our parents hate it. We must love it.’”
Within weeks of the ban, The Kingsmen were invited to tour. Peterson was still a senior in high school. He turned in his homework from the road and graduated on time. But he never left The Kingsmen.
“It really did start a movement,” Peterson said of the song. “It gave kids, musicians, hope that if a garage band like The Kingsmen can make it, so could they.”
Berry died in 1997, a decade after recovering the rights to “Louie Louie” and receiving royalties for the song.
Ely, The Kingsmen’s former signer, died in 2015. Mike Mitchell, who played the famous guitar solo on The Kingsmen’s recording, died in 2021, but his son will join the band onstage during the “Louie Louie” Marathon.
Since The Kingsmen’s hit, “Louie Louie” has been covered by thousands of artists. There are versions by Iggy Pop, Motörhead, Toots & the Maytals, Joan Jett, and Ike & Tina Turner.
But “Louie Louie” has always had a strong Oregon and Northwest connection. Paul Revere and the Raiders also recorded “Louie Louie” in 1963 — in the same Portland studio as The Kingsmen. And in 1978, when John Belushi’s character in “Animal House” — filmed in Eugene — drunkenly sang along with the song, it cemented “Louie Louie” as a classic party anthem.
“Portland’s gotten knocked around pretty hard
the last few years, and it just feels like the time is right to
come back with something that is reminiscent of old Portland,”
Strahota said. “We all grew up around the X-Ray cafe,” an
all-ages music venue that introduced many of Portland’s ’90s
underground bands. “This is the kind of stuff that they would
do. This is bringing our community back together, showing
really, truly the underground artists coming together and
performing.”
