Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Sights and Sounds: The Both, Spandau Ballet, Neil Diamond

Good morning everybody. Here is today's roundup...


Aimee Mann's Christmas Show returns with Ted Leo
New song “Nothing Left to Do  (Let's Make This Christmas Blue)” set for digital release today

 “Delightful…a Santa-stupefying balance of naughty and nice…with the giddy warmth of an
Eggnog buzz. Hangover included of course.”—The New York Times

“Genuine, irony-free good cheer had been spread, making Mann’s Christmas extravaganza
one of the season’s best gifts.”—Boston Herald

 “For those of us who wrestle with warring impulses—bah, humbug the holidays or succumb to
the twinkly lights—Aimee Mann has created an old-fashioned Christmas variety show that
reminds us that it's possible to have our cynicism and eat our fruitcake too.
Here’s to making it an annual event.”—The Boston Globe

After a three-year hiatus, Aimee Mann’s annual Christmas show returns with Aimee Mann and Ted Leo. This year’s special guests include Susannah Hoffs, Paul F. Thompkins, Tim Heidecker, Jonathan Coulton, John Hodgeman and more to be announced. In the past, Mann’s holiday variety show has played to sold-out crowds on both the East and West Coast featuring a mixture of Christmas classics, original music, video, sketches and a host of musical and comedic guests. See below for tour routing.
Additionally, Aimee and Ted are releasing a new Christmas track, “Nothing Left to Do (Let’s Make This Christmas Blue)” which is available today on iTunes.
Aimee Mann and Ted Leo joined forces as The Both in 2014. The critically acclaimed collaborative project is built on a friendship forged while they toured together last year. Leo’s solo sets piqued Mann’s interest in getting on stage with him and writing music together. The resulting project has been hailed by NPR Music who praises “singer sounds freshened and energized—never diminished—by the collaboration,” as well as The Los Angeles Times who says  “the project places the talents of the two artists in perfect harmony.”
Mann began her solo career in 1993 with the album Whatever and made a name for herself through her independent success and the founding of her record label, SuperEgo. In addition to her solo work, she has appeared on many film soundtracks, composed the soundtrack for Paul Thomas Anderson’s much-lauded Magnolia and appeared as herself on the hit indie TV series “Portlandia.” The new collaboration follows Mann’s eighth studio album Charmer which received national attention. 
Punk/indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Leo is best known for his work with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists over the past 15 years. His most recent album The Brutalist Bricks was released on Matador Records in 2010. Leo also kept up a consistent presence as a solo performer since the late 1990s and began playing with Mann in February 2012. 
TOUR DATES*with Susannah Hoffs
†with Paul F. Tompkins
‡with Tim Heidecker
§with Jonathan Coulton
†† with John Hodgeman
December 3                                              Los Angeles, CA                                                   Largo*†
December 4                                              Los Angeles, CA                                                   Largo*†
December 5                                            San Francisco, CA                                       The Fillmore*‡
December 6                                               Santa Cruz, CA                                             Rio Theater‡
December 9                                                 Boston, MA                                 The Wilbur Theater*§
December 10                                             Tarrytown, NY                         Tarrytown Music Hall*§§
December 12                                              Westbury, NY                                              The Space*§
December 13                                              New York, NY                                             Town Hall*§
December 15                                             Alexandria, VA                                           Birchmere*††
December 16                                             Alexandria, VA                                           Birchmere*††






First North American Tour in nearly three decades on sale this week




Spandau Ballet, one of the most successful and influential British bands has announced their Soul Boys of the Western World Tour.  The tour marks the first time the band will tour North America in nearly 30 years.   All five original members - Tony Hadley, John Keeble, Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp and Steve Norman - will once again captivate fans on this long-awaited and long overdue return. The Soul Boys of the Western World tour will kick off in San Francisco, CA at the famed Warfield Theatre and traverse the continent before winding down in Red Bank, NY at the Count Basie Theatre. 


"We are over the moon at rediscovering our friendship and are really looking forward to playing live in the US again," said Tony Hadley.  "Playing live is what we do best!  The shows will have all the hits and more."

From their synth pop and dance pioneering early singles To Cut A Long Story Short and Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On), to the globe trotting smashes True and Gold, Spandau will be playing the hits once again.  With 25 million record sales, 6 multi-platinum albums and 23 hit singles to choose from, this is one of the most eagerly awaited reunions to hit these shores in years.

"We are tremendously excited about coming back to America to perform," said Gary Kemp.  "We have great memories of our shows there in the 80s and can't wait re-connect with our amazing fans there."

Last week Spandau Ballet announced they will make their U.S. late night television debut on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! tonight in Los Angeles, CA.  Jimmy Kimmel Live! also marks the first time the band will perform on television in the United States since 1985 when they made an appearance on Soul Train.  Later this week on November 13 Spandau Ballet will stop by Good Day LA for what will surely be a "Throwback Thursday" fans this side of the Atlantic have waited years to see.

In other Spandau Ballet news, the band will show their documentary, Soul Boys of the Western World, as part of the DOC NYC film festival in New York City on November 15 at 945PM at the SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd Street).  The band and director George Hencken will attend the screening and participate in a Q&A about the film afterwards.  This is their first public appearance in New York City since the 1980s.
Soul Boys of the Western World is a voyage through the 80s in the company of Spandau Ballet, one of the decade's most iconic bands. This archive-only documentary film tells the story of a group of working-class London lads who created a global music empire, but at a price none of them imagined.  Using the band's own home movies and showcasing newly discovered material, this film takes us into the heart of the era, and the cultural, political and personal landscape that formed the backdrop to the band's story.  It is a film that speaks not only to fans of the band or those who harbor nostalgia for the 1980s, but also to anyone who has ever experienced friendship and loss.
Critics rapturously received the film when it world premiered at SXSW film festival earlier this year.  UK and Irish fans got their opportunity to see the film on September 30 when the European premiere at the Royal Albert Hall.  This showing was beamed by satellite into over 200 cinemas across both countries along with a Q&A with the band and director George Hencken moderated by Lauren Laverne, followed by a short live performance by the band.
When Norman stepped up front to blow his scripted sax break in "True," the crowd - which took over the chorus from Hadley and no doubt sang it in pubs up and down these isles in '83 - received it with the kind of shouts and applause New Yorkers always gave Clarence Clemons when he took his thundering-tenor spotlight in Madison Square Garden for Bruce Springsteen's "Jungleland." The ecstasy in the Albert Hall was that kind of loud. - ROLLING STONE


Emerging from Soho's ultra hip Blitz Club in 1979 during another economic depression, Spandau formed at school in North London before becoming the hottest unsigned band on the planet.  From underground, fashion and music obsessed working class Londoners, to global superstars, the band set the pace, the styles and the sound of the 1980s.

Not only did their albums sell by the millions, but their look and style impacted on the fashion world and beyond.  They created their own style, combining creativity with entrepreneurship and the 'can do' spirit of early 80s youth at a time of crisis and upheaval eerily reminiscent of 2009.  Spandau Ballet are both commercially and culturally enormous.



SPANDAU BALLET'S SOUL BOYS OF THE WESTERN WORLD TOUR DATES


JANUARY
23rd      San Francisco, CA       Warfield Theatre                         On-Sale 11/14
25th      Los Angeles, CA           Wiltern Theatre                           On-Sale 11/14
27th      Denver, CO                   Paramount Theatre                    On-Sale 11/14
30th      Chicago, IL                  House of Blues                            On-Sale 11/14
31st      Detroit, MI                    Masonic Temple Theatre            On-Sale 11/14


FEBRUARY
3rd        Toronto, ONT               Massey Hall                             On-Sale 11/14
5th        Boston, MA                 House of Blues                          On-Sale 11/14
6th        New York, NY               Beacon Theatre                       On-Sale 11/15
7th        Westbury, NY               Theatre at Westbury                On-Sale 11/14
9th        Washington, DC           9:30 Club                                 On-Sale 11/13
10th      Red Bank, NY              Count Basie Theatre                On-Sale 11/14

*All tickets on-sale at 10:00 AM local time

# # #



Neil Diamond's All-Time Greatest Hits set for release on two-disc CD collection on Nov. 24, 2014
Capitol/UME will release Neil Diamond’s All-Time Greatest Hits, a 42-track, two-CD collection that will mark the Grammy® winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s most comprehensive hits collection since signing a long-term recording agreement with the iconic label, Capitol Records, last January. The historic agreement unites Diamond’s complete Columbia, Uni/MCA and Bang catalogs, encompassing the artist’s entire body of work, from the earliest recordings through the present-day.
On October 21, Capitol Records released Diamond’s MELODY ROAD, his first original studio album since 2008’s HOME BEFORE DARK. The new album, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, is Capitol’s first original Neil Diamond release since THE JAZZ SINGER, which featured three of Diamond’s all-time greatest hits: “Hello Again,” “America,” and “Love On The Rocks.” “Something Blue,” a track from MELODY ROAD, will also be included on the two-CD All-Time Greatest Hits.
Neil Diamond’s All-Time Greatest Hits is an expanded version of the single-CD set which came out in July 2014, and features the original studio recordings of such standards as “Sweet Caroline,” “Holly Holy,” “I Am…I Said,” and chart-toppers like “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Song Sung Blue” and the rarely heard original solo version of “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.” The set captures his beginnings as a songwriter-turned-singer in New York to his multi-platinum days in Hollywood, all the way to a track from his new album, MELODY ROAD.
Throughout an illustrious and wide-ranging musical career, Neil Diamond has charted 37 Top 10 singles and 17 Top 10 albums in the U.S. and has sold more than 128 million records worldwide, racking up 72 multi-platinum, platinum and gold album certifications in the United States alone. A Grammy® Award-winning artist, Diamond is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the highest honors bestowed upon songwriters. Diamond’s many other achievements include a Golden Globe Award, 13 Grammy® nominations and 2009’s NARAS’s MusiCares Person of the Year award. In 2011, Diamond received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor for his lifetime contributions to American culture.
Here is the complete track listing for Neil Diamond’s comprehensive, two-CD All-Time Greatest Hits.
CD #1:
BROOKLYN ROADS
SHILO
BROTHER LOVE’S TRAVELING SALVATION SHOW
GLORY ROAD
SWEET CAROLINE
HOLLY HOLY
SOLITARY MAN
FOREVER IN BLUE JEANS
AND THE GRASS WON’T PAY NO MIND
SOOLAIMON
I AM…I SAID
CRUNCHY GRANOLA SUITE
STONES
PLAY ME
DONE TOO SOON
KENTUCKY WOMAN
MORNINGSIDE
YOU DON’T BRING ME FLOWERS (ORIGINAL SOLO VERSION)
SONG SUNG BLUE
SOMETHING BLUE
CRACKLIN’ ROSIE
CD #2

CHERRY, CHERRY
I’M A BELIEVER
GIRL, YOU’LL BE A WOMAN SOON
YOU GOT TO ME
LOVE ON THE ROCKS
LONGFELLOW SERENADE
I’VE BEEN THIS WAY BEFORE
BEAUTIFUL NOISE
RED, RED WINE
SEPTEMBER MORN
HELLO AGAIN
AMERICA
DESIREE
WE
YESTERDAY’S SONGS
HEARTLIGHT
PRETTY AMAZING GRACE
THE BOAT THAT I ROW
THANK THE LORD FOR THE NIGHT TIME
HELL YEAH
IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN

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