John Fogerty, Stevie Wonder, Graham Nash and The Black Crowes have been added to the FireAid line-up. Also taking the stage will be No Doubt, Alanis Morissette and Olivia Rodrigo.
They’ll be joined by previously announced acts, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Sting, Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Earth, Wind and Fire, Billie Eilish, Green Day, Dave Matthews and John Mayer, Jelly Roll, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Pink and many, many more.
Lots of ways to see and/or hear the concerts … they will stream live on Apple Music and the Apple TV app, Max, iHeartRadio, KTLA+, Netflix/Tudom, Paramount+, Prime Video and the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch, SiriusXM, Spotify, SoundCloud, Veeps, and YouTube, and at select AMC Theatre locations in 70 US markets.
Meanwhile, another fundraiser will be held on January 28th at The Canyon in Agoura Hills, CA. Partaking in this one will be The Strawberry Alarm Clock, Micky Dolenz, Steve Porcaro of Toto and many, many more. (See the advert below)
More from Micky here ...
A different kind of interview as he prepares to perform in Arizona ...
kk -
Enjoyed your post on Alan Freed.
The most important aspect of Alan Freed was that he only spun records he believed in and worthy of airplay. He really stuck his neck out for teenagers and racial integration. When he was fired in 1959 from WABC in New York, payola was not illegal at the time. That happened in 1960. Freed never admitted to taking payola. His endeavors in spreading rock 'n' roll have been under-served in evaluating his radio and movie career.
Like deejay Dick Biondi's circa 1964-1965 L.A. stint on radio station KRLA, Freed's 1960 year-long tenure on KDAY, a 50,000 watt station, really made an impact in the Southern California radio market. I have a faint memory of Freed hailing the Chess Records label and Chuck Berry.
In my fifty year multi-media "career," record label presidents like Jerry Moss and Russ Regan touted Freed's game-changing programing play list and achievements to me during interviews.
Best,
HK
From Chuck Buell …
As read in Forgotten Hits ~~~
>>>It is unlikely that another edition covering the entire history of the albums chart along with the tracks of each album ("The Top Pop Albums, 1955 - 2026" from Record Research) will be released as a single print edition. This may be your final chance to get a record of everything that made the albums chart, from #1 - #200, in one, hefty volume." (Record Research)
A "Record of Everything!" Or ~ A "Record of Records?!"
You may remember last month when Chuck Buell told us about that northernmost town in the U.S., Utqiaġvik in Alaska, (the town formerly known as Barrow, Alaska) that was in the middle of “60 Days of Darkness” during their Longest Night of the Year, a period where most of the 5,000 residents who live there rarely even go outside on that long frigid night.
Well, last night, January 21st, that Blanket of Darkness began to recede and, starting today, the Sun will begin to reappears altho for only around a dawn-like hour! Then, slowly for the nights and days that follow, the town ventures towards 24-hour daylight!
Chuck tells us ...
Not surprising then, it’s a major event for the town. So later today, as they do every year to welcome this night-to-day changing time, the residents will stage a dedicated celebration where singers, drummers and dancers gather together and indulge in their much longed-for annual tradition in what they call “The Welcome the Sun Back” Dance!
Well, of course! During December, their average temperature stayed pretty much below zero but the families who have lived there for generations have learned how to cope with it all during that long, non-stop, dark Polar night by using Vitamin D and light-therapy lamps to help them cope with the darkness. (Last year on that Sunrise Day, the high Temperature around one o’clock in the afternoon was 6 degrees below zero and the low was eighteen below! Just imagining that, my fingers felt so freezing cold and numb jezt wryteng thes stery, I coud heartly teyep et! ).
So, in acknowledgment of their lengthy Arctic Night returning to Day, here is my "Return of the Sun Chuck Buell Minute Medley!"
CB ( which Stands for “Cold Boy!”)
I've gotta tell ya, I'm feeling a little bit like a "Cold Boy" here in Chicago this week, too, where wind chills have been hovering right around 25 - 30 degrees below zero so far this week! (kk)
Garth Hudson, the last surviving original member of The Band, has passed away. He was 87. While no official cause of death was given, it is said that he passed away peacefully. (kk)
https://theseconddisc.com/2025/01/21/in-memoriam-garth-hudson-1937-2025/
>>>Is there even a jazz act listed?!?! (kk)
As to the New Orleans Jazz Fest, Stanley Clarke, Branford Marsalis, and Diana Krall are regarded as primarily jazz artists, tho Branford has also been known for doing classical materials as well ... and what about Harry Connick, Jr.?
As for the "Imagine" strip from "Pearls Before Swine" by Stephan Pastis (I see it in one of the New Jersey papers I read), I thought it was a meme at first, but it really was published in 2021! https://store.gocomics.com/product/pearls-before-swine-april-11-2021-imagine-comic-art-print/ (link to purchase print of strip)
Bob Frable
My point on the jazz festival thing is that if you’re going to CALL it a Jazz Festival … and this thing has been around forever … then let the jazz artists drive the thing, few as they may be.
But the bottom line is that all that matters IS the bottom line …
None of THESE artists would pack them in (at $350+ per ticket no less) like some of the headliners shown in their advertisement. It’s just especially funny in light of all of the attention being paid again to Bob Dylan plugging in at the Newport Folk Festival … who would have ever thought that THIS lineup would be leading the way to the New Orleans Jazz Festival some sixty years later! (kk)
Tom Cuddy sent me this great (but rather sad) article about Eric Carmen … sad, because I was SUCH a fan … sorry to hear his career ended on such a low personal note. (kk)
Eric Carmen Was a Power-Pop Legend.
Then He Vanished
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/eric-carmen-songs-marriage-death-1235230611/?utm_campaign=syndication
Several other readers responded or forwarded this as well ...
A nice job by Rolling Stone Magazine, profiling a pop music legend.
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
1/22/65 – Actress Diane Lane is born
