Roger Joseph Manning Jr. shares new single "Just Lust" / new LP 'Hopium' out Sept. 18 via Omnivore Recordings

September 18 marks the date that acclaimed singer-songwriter/keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr. will release his forthcoming album "Hopium" Listen to the sumptuous advance track "Just Lust" and learn more via the official media release. Additionally, check out my coverage of the artist's memorable appearance at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on May 17, 2018 HERE..Robert Kinsler

Roger Joseph Manning Jr. shares new single "Just Lust"

Upcoming album 'Hopium' featuring new music and live tracks from the Jellyfish and Imperial Drag co-founder

Out September 18,  2026 via Omnivore Recordings

Roger Joseph Manning Jr. / Photo courtesy of the artist

August 28, 2026: Today, Roger Joseph Manning Jr. has shared his new single “Just Lust,” the next offering from his upcoming album Hopium, out September 18, 2026 on Omnivore Recordings. Available on vinyl, CD and digital, the forthcoming LP features five new songs and five live tracks from the beloved Jellyfish and Imperial Drag co-founder.

Roger on the new single: “‘Just Lust’ was actually written towards the final days of Jellyfish. Because it had to wait in line behind lots of songs contending for the third unrealized album, it didn’t see the light of day at that time. So many years later, I met the daunting task of writing and singing my own lyrics because I believed in it so much. While I did play all the instruments on this song, I didn’t believe in my guitar skills enough to take on the guitar solo the song was begging for. So my intention became to compose the greatest guitar solo ever but pull it off with a synthesizer. The end result is more exciting than I could have ever imagined. Hope you agree!”

 

Stream "Just Lust" HERE

Pre-order Hopium HERE

Side one of Hopium features five new songs, including “Modern Dance (The After School Specials),” some of which have been in the works for over 15 years. Across the ensuing years, Manning worked with musician friends Victor Indrizzo (drums), Steve Shane McDonald (bass), Jim Wilson (electric guitars), Ken Sluiter (mixing, mastering) and Jason Falkner (additional electric guitars) to perfectly craft the basis of the new album.

 

Roger Joseph Manning Jr. performing
at the Grammy Museum in 2018.
Photo credit: Robert Kinsler

About the songs on Hopium, Roger says, “I remember writing the lyrics in a hotel room in Germany. Out on tour, especially in the middle of the night when you’re jetlagging, you have all this time to think about lyrics that take forever to take shape. It’s a huge sense of personal victory when you realize you’ve got something. This collection of songs is like that, ideas that developed over time that I believed in enough to take the time and resources to flesh out and record thinking, ‘Somebody’s got to hear this someday.’ So I just keep going and it’s a method that’s worked for me over the years because as a freelance musician, we’re all so busy trying to make ends meet, the songs that make it through have a special place in my heart.”

 

The flipside of Hopium is drawn from Manning’s live appearance at the 2018 International Pop Overthrow Festival at Molly Malone’s in Los Angeles. Those five songs include a pair from his 2006 album The Land Of Pure Imagination, one from his previous Omnivore release, 2023’s Radio Daze & Glamping, and another pair from his former band, Jellyfish. The live band appearing alongside him for the IPO date includes Chris Price, Dan Rothchild, Ben Lecourt, Alex Jules, and Emeen Zarookian.

 

Music fans worldwide know Roger Joseph Manning Jr. as co-founder or member of the bands Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, The Moog Cookbook, TV Eyes and The Lickerish Quartet, in addition to being a member of Beck’s band and an in-demand session player. Over the years, he’s contributed to albums by Beck, Morrissey, Lana Del Rey, Blink-182, Johnny Cash, Cheap Trick and Adele, among many others.

 

Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – Hopium:

1. Modern Dance (The After School Specials)

2. Just Lust

3. My Magic Bicycle

4. Wish Away

5. The Lords Of Altamont

6. That Is Why (Live at International Pop Overthrow 2018)

7. The Loser (Live at International Pop Overthrow 2018)

8. Pray For The Many (Live at International Pop Overthrow 2018)

9. Funhouse (Live at International Pop Overthrow 2018)

10. The King Is Half-Undressed (Live at International Pop Overthrow 2018)

Visit Manning's official website HERE.

MVD announces "Billy Idol Should Be Dead" on Blu-ray & DVD Nov. 3, 2026

The acclaimed documentary "Billy Idol Should Be Dead" is coming to both Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 3, 2026. Below is the official media release...Robert Kinsler 

Celebrating Billy Idol's 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, "Billy Idol Should Be Dead" arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 3, 2026

BILLY IDOL SHOULD BE DEAD made its festival debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in summer 2025, followed by an award-qualifying run in fall 2025 and a limited U.S. theatrical release in the first quarter of 2026. U.S. theatrical rights to the film were handled by Evan Saxon Productions. 

  

The deal for the physical media release was negotiated on behalf of Live Nation Studios and Giant Pictures by Bill Sondheim, President and CEO of Greenfield Media, LLC, and by Director of Acquisitions Eric D. Wilkinson on behalf of MVD Entertainment Group. 

  

MVD Director of Acquisitions Eric D. Wilkinson is excited to bring the film to Blu-ray and DVD. “Billy Idol is one of those rare artists whose music, image and attitude have remained instantly recognizable across generations, and Jonas Åkerlund has made a film that goes far beyond the iconography to tell the story of the person behind it. With Billy receiving his long-overdue induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, the timing couldn’t be better to give fans the opportunity to own this documentary on physical media.” 

  

MVD Entertainment Group has scheduled BILLY IDOL SHOULD BE DEAD for release on Blu-ray and DVD on November 3, 2026. The Blu-ray (MVD21395BR / UPC 760137213956) carries a suggested retail price of $29.95, while the DVD (MVD21392D / UPC 760137213925) carries a suggested retail price of $19.95. 

  

About MVD Entertainment Group 

MVD Entertainment Group is an independent studio and full service entertainment distribution company, exclusively representing an extensive catalog with thousands of audio and visual products and content for digital, VOD and packaged media worldwide. 

  

About Live Nation Studios 

Live Nation Entertainment leads the industry bringing artists and their live shows to stages worldwide. Live Nation Studios (LNS) was created to help those same artists tell their stories.

The Oscar, Emmy and Grammy-nominated division is home to artist-driven films and TV series dedicated to sharing those groundbreaking, musically-inspired stories for audiences across the globe. LNS is riding an incredible wave of success including “Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience” recently being the #1 movie world wide; Anderson.Paak’s “K-Pops!” hit theaters as an AMC Exclusive; “Rolling Loud,” starring Owen Wilson and Matt Rife, will premiere in cinemas this Summer; and the upcoming “Noah Kahan: Out of Body” doc was picked-up as a Netflix Original and debuted at SXSW. Recent documentary premieres include Miley Cyrus’ “Something Beautiful,” Ty Dolla $ign’s “Still Free TC,” Dustin Lance Black’s “Rock Out,” Becky G’s “Rebbeca,” and “The French Montana Story: For Khadija.” The latest scripted projects announced are “Stages,” “New Years Rev” - a Green Day story, as well as The Weeknd’s “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” LNS’ previous projects include “Gaga: Five Foot Two,” “Moonage Daydream” with David Bowie and the critically acclaimed “A Star is Born.” 

  

About Giant Pictures 

Giant Pictures is a boutique digital distributor based in New York City and Los Angeles that works directly with filmmakers and rights owners to distribute movies and TV shows to VOD and streaming platforms around the world. A division of Giant Interactive, an award-winning digital media and technology services company, Giant Pictures has licensing and distribution agreements with more than 45 of the top movie and TV streaming services. Giant Pictures has also previously worked with MVD Entertainment Group on the physical media release of “Lunachicks - Pretty Ugly: The Story Of The Lunachicks.” 

  

Billy Idol performing at House of Blues Anaheim in 
Anaheim, CA, on March 13, 2017.
Photo: Kelly A. Swift

About Billy Idol

For almost 50 years, Billy Idol has been one of the definitive faces and voices of rock & roll. Between 1977 and 1981, Idol released three albums with Generation X as their camera-ready frontman. In 1982, with guitarist Steve Stevens at his side, he embarked on a transatlantic/trans-genre solo career that integrated the bold and simple lines of punk and rock’n’roll decadence on songs like “Dancing With Myself,”“White Wedding,” Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without A Face,” “Cradle of Love,” and more. Touring consistently around the world and showing no signs of slowing down, Idol released "Dream Into It" on Dark Horse Records in 2025, earning praise from fans and critics alike. In 2026, Idol released "Billy Idol Should Be Dead," the definitive documentary about his life and career. 

Bayou Blues Guitarist Tab Benoit bringing 'Soul Of The Swamp' Tour to Southwest beginning Aug. 21

Singer-guitarist Tab Benoit performing at The Coach
House in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Sept. 1, 2022.
Photo: Bob Steshetz 

Acclaimed singer-guitar great Tab Benoit is bringing his "Soul Of The Swamp" tour to the West Coast beginning later this week, including an intimate date at Pappy & Harriet's in Pioneertown, CA on Tuesday, Aug. 25. Tickets to the concert are $54.14. Opening for Benoit is UK-based Americana-rock troupe the Zac Schulze Gang.

Benoit's "Soul Of The Swamp" tour comes in support of his outstanding album I Hear Thunder, a disc released via Whiskey Bayou Records that reached #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart in September 2024. In 2025, the Houma, Louisiana-born Benoit won four Blues Blast Music Awards: "Rock Blues Album" (I Hear Thunder); "Blues Band"; "Male Blues Artist"; and "Electric Guitarist of the Year." I Hear Thunder also features Benoit's touring band (bassist Corey Duplechin and drummer Terence Higgins).

This writer has caught Benoit a number of times in concert, most recently at a memorable outing at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano in September 2022. That 100-minute concert featured Benoit and his terrific backing band performing a mix of winning original material and fiery covers of classics including Buddy Miller's "Shelter Me" and Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth."

Tab Benoit on Sept. 1, 2022.
Photo: Bob Steshetz

Benoit's winning solo career began in 1992 with a radio hit from his debut album Nice and Warm. Over the subsequent 34 years he has received multiple Blues Music Awards and earned four Grammy nominations.

Pappy & Harriet's is located at 53688 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Visit pappyandharriets.com for more details on the event. Benoit will also be performing a number of concert dates throughout California and Arizona this month. See below for his upcoming schedule, and visit his official website tabbenoit.com for more information.

Aug 21       Tucson AZ@Fox Theatre*

Aug 22       Phoenix AZ@MIM*

Aug 23       Phoenix AZ@MIM*

Aug 25      Pioneertown CA@Pappy & Harriet's*

Aug 27       Solana Beach CA@Belly Up Tavern*

Aug 28       San Juan Capistrano CA@Belly Up Tavern*

Aug 29       Bakersfield CA@World Records*

Aug 30       Venice CA@Venice West*

Sept 2        Monterey CA@Golden State Theatre*

Sept 3        Berkeley CA@Cornerstone*

Sept 4        Sacramento CA@Quarry Park Amphitheatre*

Sept 5        Napa CA@Uptown Theatre*

Sept 6        Lake Tahoe CA@The Hangar*

Sept 8        Fresno CA@Tower Theatre*

Sept 10-13 Las Vegas NV@Big Blues Bender

                                           

          *w/ Zac Schulze Gang  ** w/ Bonerama

        ***w/ The Cold Stares  ****w/ Jesse Dayton  *****w/ Ghalia Volt

******w/ Damon Fowler *******w/ Duane Betts