Here is a roundup of recently-announced future releases from a trio of music greats. Check out the must-hear advance tracks from Simple Minds and The Cowsills, and learn how you can get involved in the release of power pop great Richard X. Heyman's new full-length album...Robert Kinsler
SIMPLE MINDS SET TO RELEASE THEIR NEW ALBUM 'DIRECTION OF THE HEART' ON OCTOBER 21, 2022 VIA BMG
PRE-ORDER HERE
LISTEN TO THE NEW SINGLE “VISION THING” HEREWATCH THE AUDIO VISUALIZER HERE
Simple Minds release “Vision Thing”, the first track to be taken from the celebrated band’s highly-anticipated eighteenth studio album Direction Of The Heart.
STREAM/SHARE “VISION THING” HERE
WATCH THE AUDIO VISUALIZER HERE
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| The Deluxe CD version of 'Direction Of The Heart' |
Currently playing acclaimed shows throughout Europe (“Back in fashion and back on thrilling form.” The Times), Direction Of The Heart is Simple Minds’ first album of new material since 2018’s outstanding UK Top 5 album Walk Between Worlds.
Throughout its nine tracks Direction of The Heart, which is scheduled for release October 21 via BMG, finds the band at their most confident, anthemic best on an inspired celebration of life, none more so than on lead track ‘Vision Thing’.
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From left, Simple Minds guitarist Charlie Burchill, singer Sarah Brown and lead
vocalist Jim Kerr performing at the Pearl Theater in Las Vegas on October 21, 2018.
Photo credit: Robert Kinsler |
‘Vision Thing’ is a euphoric song - all pounding drums, synth washes and the unmistakable guitar-playing of Simple Minds’ lifelong six-string wonder, Charlie Burchill. With music written by Burchill and lyrics by frontman Jim Kerr the song is a tribute to Kerr’s “best pal”, his late father who passed away in 2019.
Direction Of The Heart’s opening track, ‘Vision Thing’ sets the pace for a concise nine-track album. One which manages to perfectly encapsulate the essence of past and present Simple Minds, a band whose reascent over the past 10 years has seen them, once again, capture the magic and critical praise of their early days.
Most of Direction Of The Heart’s tracks were created and demoed in Sicily, where both Kerr and Burchill live. Unable to come to the UK because of quarantine rules, the album was recorded at Hamburg’s Chameleon Studios. Here they produced the album - later enlisting Andy Wright (Massive Attack, Echo & The Bunnymen) and Gavin Goldberg (Simply Red, KT Tunstall) for additional production. Band members, bassist Ged Grimes (who co-wrote two of the new songs, ‘First You Jump’ and ‘Solstice Kiss’), drummer Cherisse Osei and vocalist Sarah Brown joined them on some of the tracks, recording their parts separately in London. Album guests include, Sparks’ frontman Russell Mael (‘Human Traffic’) and songwriter and former Grimes music partner from Danny Wilson, Gary Clark (‘Vision Thing’, ‘First You Jump’ and ‘Natural’), recorded their respective parts in home studios.
All of this disparate work is belied by an album which sounds like a cohesive record – one of the most exciting and invigorating of Simple Minds career to date.
Jim Kerr on Direction Of The Heart:
“How to make a feel-good ‘Electro-rock’ record, during the very worst of times? Direction Of The Heart is the result of that challenge. Who would have thought we’d have so much fun creating it?”
Track listing:
1. Vision Thing
2. First You Jump
3. Human Traffic (featuring Russell Mael of Sparks)
4. Who Killed Truth?
5. Solstice Kiss
6. Act Of Love
7. Natural
8. Planet Zero
9. The Walls Came Down (written and originally recorded by The Call)
Direction Of The Heart will be released October 21, 2022 and will be available on audio CD, Deluxe CD with two extra tracks and a hardback book, vinyl including colored vinyl, and cassette.
More on Simple MInds:
Over the past 10 years Simple Minds have rekindled the magic that made them a vital artistic force in their early days, found themselves referenced by younger artists and playing to tens of thousands of people every year, all over the world. They have been the recipient of the Q Awards Lifetime Achievement and received universal critical acclaim for their recent albums. 2015’s Big Music was described by MOJO magazine as “their best album in 30 years”, and 2018’s Walk Between Worlds was acclaimed across the board and became their most successful album in over two decades, culminating in their largest US tour to date.
Simple Minds are: Jim Kerr (vocals), Charlie Burchill (guitars, keyboards), Gordy Goudie (acoustic guitar), Ged Grimes (bass), Cherisse Osei (drums), Berenice Scott (keyboards) and Sarah Brown (vocals).
Connect with Simple Minds:
Official | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
The Cowsills Announce First New Music In
30 Years With New Album Rhythm of The World
Out September 30 via Omnivore Recordings
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| The Cowsills / Photo credit: Danny Clinch |
Featuring 11 Brand New Songs Written By The Band
The Cowsills, the hit family singing group of the 60s, have announced a new album Rhythm Of The World, their first new music in nearly 30 years, which will be released on September 30 via Omnivore Recordings. They have also shared the title track which is available to listen to now.
Listen to “Rhythm Of The World” HERE
Starting in 1965 as a regional act from Newport, Rhode Island, The Cowsills, who were composed of six siblings, was “founded” by Joda Records owners Danny Sims and reggae/pop singer Johnny Nash (“I Can See Clearly Now”), whom they recorded a handful of singles before signing to MGM Records in 1967. At this point, the group’s mother Barbara and young sister Susan joined the act and they were awarded a Gold record for over one million copies sold of their very first single for MGM, the sublime, “The Rain, The Park & Other Things.” This began a series of chart records that dominated the Top 40 for the next three years. Among the classic Cowsills recordings are “We Can Fly,” “Indian Lake,” “Hair” (from the rock musical Hair), and “Love American Style” (the theme song from the popular ABC-TV show of the same name).
The group recorded and charted with five successful albums during this time period. They had their own comic book published in 1968, and their story was even the inspiration for the popular 1970s sitcom The Partridge Family. They remained a prosperous touring attraction up through 1972.
In 2011, SHOWTIME released Louise Palanker's documentary Family Band: The Cowsills Story, which chronicled their rise and fall from stardom. Now, nearly 30 years after their last recordings as a group, The Cowsills are returning with new music for the new world!
“When we decided to record an album, since we had written 11 songs, we opened up a donor campaign with Pledge Music and set our goal and went down the funding path,” explains Bob Cowsill of the inception of the album.
“Pledge Music went bankrupt with everyone's money and nobody got a dime. At the same time, Dr. Rock Positano, who became our Executive Producer, is standing on Gull Rock Island in Newport, Rhode Island staring across at the white church steeple we all know so well there and says to his assistant, ‘I need to get a hold of The Cowsills.’ Rock entered our lives, and he backed us, our campaign, our music, our family group, and told us ‘I'm in it to win it.’ With that we embarked upon a new and great relationship and we have not looked back since.”
“With a few exceptions we co-wrote the 11 songs for Rhythm Of The World with each other during our Happy Together summer tour. We wrote them in our hotel rooms on our tour bus and in our dressing rooms. From Howard Kaylan’s (The Turtles) exuberant plea with the audience each night of the tour giving us inspiration for ‘Ya Gotta Get Up!’ to ‘Katrina’ (the first-person account of our brother Barry's death during hurricane Katrina in New Orleans) and all the songs in between, we use melody and harmony to bring some love and the hope of peace to the world. Frank Filipetti was our mix engineer and Greg Calbi mastered it (Rock's doing) so these songs have passed through the hands and ears of two of the best. Gail Marowitz and Danny Clinch teamed up for a great cover and packaging and with the Omnivore blessing, Rhythm Of The World is now ready for prime time! We are thrilled to be here to claim our legacy and share our music!!!”
The Cowsills will wrap up the Happy Together Tour (with The Turtles, The Association, Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, and the Vogues) at the end of the month, with their own headline show to look forward to on September 10 at The Cutting Room in New York City.
About Rock Positano:
Executive Producer Dr. Rock Positano has worked closely alongside Grammy-winning producers Phil Ramone and Jack Douglas, during his career. Positano also had the privilege of being mentored by the legendary Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records and former chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Tracklist:
1. Ya Gotta Get Up!
2. Lend A Hand
3. Hawks On The Line
4. Every Little Secret
5. Nuclear Winter
6. Rhythm Of The World
7. Largo Nights
8. Goodbye’s Not Forever
9. The Long Run
10. Try To Believe It Too
11. Katrina
Tour Dates:
Aug 13 – Owensboro, KY @ RiverPark Center*
Aug 14 – Northfield, OH @ MGM Northfield Park*
Aug 16 – Hamburg, NY @ Erie County Fair*
Aug 17 – Indianapolis, IN @ Indiana State Fair*
Aug 18 – Shipshewana, IN @ Blue Gate PAC*
Aug 19 – Aurora, IL @ Paramount Theatre*
Aug 20 – Saint Charles, MO @ Family Arena*
Aug 21 – Kansas City, MO @ Kauffman Center For the Perf. Arts*
Aug 23 – Louisville, KY @ Kentucky State Fair (Main Stage)*
Aug 24 – Effingham, IL @ Effingham Perf. Center*
Aug 25 – Des Moines, IA @ Hoyt Sherman Place*
Aug 26 – Wisconsin Dells, WI @ Crystal Grand Music Theatre*
Aug 28 – Deadwood, SD @ Deadwood Mountain Grand*
Aug 29 – Grand Island, NE @ Nebraska State Fair*
Sept 9 – Somers Point, NJ @ Somers Point Beach Concert - William Morrow Beach
Sept 10 – New York, NY @ The Cutting Room
Nov 1 - Dec 9 – Branson, MO @ The Andy Williams Christmas Show
Dec 10 – Waukesha, WI @ McCombs Performing Arts Center
Mar 23-31 – Miami, FL @ The Flower Power Cruise
*Happy Together Tour w/ The Turtles, The Buckinghams, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, The Vogues, and The Association
Power Pop auteur Richard X. Heyman announces Kickstarter Campaign for new album '67,000 Miles An Album'
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| Richard X. Heyman |
Power Pop hero Richard X. Heyman is set to release 67,000 Miles An Album.
Check out the official media release below...
The disc is a collection of brand-new songs mixed with some from a few years back. The earlier compositions were written for The Doughboys, in which RXH played the drums and sang. He thought he’d try his own versions of these garage-rock-ish stompers, and he certainly puts his unique stamp on them. Then there are two songs that date back to the beginning of his songwriting – Plans and You Can Tell Me were written when RXH was a wee lad of seventeen! All in all, it all adds up to an adventurous time traveling trip through the pop landscape.
Speaking of landscapes, Heyman hails from Plainfield, New Jersey, a town which also gave us such luminaries as George Clinton & The Parliaments, jazz great Bill Evans and 60’s top-40 pop group The Critters. It was there that RXH helped form The Doughboys, who released a couple of singles on Bell Records. Subsequently, Heyman landed a record deal with Cypress/A&M and then Sire/Warner Brothers, who released his first two albums, Living Room!! and Hey Man! respectively. Along with his wife, Nancy, RXH has recorded an impressive dozen albums on his own label, Turn-Up Records. With this new CD (his fifteenth!), Heyman once again has written, produced and performed an exuberant display of melody and lyrics that will surely please the most discerning ears.
For those of you unfamiliar with RXH's music, it might help to list his influences: one can hear traces of early rock'n'roll, 60's British Invasion groups, American folk rock, Motown; even some Broadway and classical baroque find their way into the mix, but it all ends up bearing his singular sound. Besides drumming with The Doughboys, he also lent his chops to Link Wray, Mark Lindsay, Brian Wilson, The Left Banke's Michael Brown and Steve Martin Caro, and Jonathan Richman, among others. As a guitarist, he performed with Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las, and played keyboards with Ben E. King.
The new album will be released on Turn-Up Records following the Kickstarter campaign. Says RXH:
“As I write this in the stillness of a summer day in New York City, I am reminded that we are all speeding through space at 67,000 miles per hour. If that wasn’t enough, we’re also spinning around at over 1,000 miles per hour. It kind of reminds me of the Tilt-a-Whirl I used to ride at the Fun House in Asbury Park. My new album deals with this frenetic issue among other topics. It’s called, no surprise, 67,000 Miles An Album. That’s the approximate distance you will travel as you listen to these songs…have a nice flight!”
