There is some controversy brewing as Def Leppard are allegedly looking into legal action against Pop group One Direction due to one of their songs, Midnight Memories, sounding very similar Def Leppard’s, Pour Some Sugar On Me.
“Music lawyers will routinely scour hits like this one to see if there is any evidence that a band has either copied or cleverly mimicked a Def Leppard song,” a source tells The Mirror. “These cases can often take weeks to sort out because we are not talking about peanuts here – the 1D album is selling millions and if the title track goes out as a single it will generate even more money.”
Listen to both songs below and pay special attention to chorus.
Andy Greene of Rolling Stone reports: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has officially announced next year’s inductees: Nirvana, KISS, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Cat Stevens and Linda Ronstadt will all join the class of 2014. The E Street Band will be given the Award for Musical Excellence and Beatles manager Brian Epstein and original Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham will both receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers.
The induction ceremony will be held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on April 10th, 2014. It’s the first time the general public will be able to attend the event in New York City. Tickets go on sale in January; HBO will air the event in May.
Artists are eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single. Nirvana, whose first single Love Buzz came out in 1988, are entering the institution their first year of eligibility. “That’s really no surprise to me,” says Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Joel Peresman. “People see the relevancy of that band. We’re just getting into the creative of the show, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with that performance. They have to figure it out.”
KISS have been eligible for the last 15 years, but didn’t get the nod until now. “The Kiss Army has descended on Cleveland in recent years,” says Peresman. “And we’ve gotten thousands of letters. They also did extremely well in the public vote.” (In 2012, the band joked to Rolling Stone, “We’ve been thinking about it and the answer is simply, ‘We’ll just buy it and fire everybody.'”)
The annual induction ceremony has moved out of the tiny New York Waldorf Astoria Ballroom in recent years into larger venues in Cleveland and Los Angeles, where the public can attend along with music industry insiders.
This year’s event at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center is the first time the induction has been held in an arena, making it the largest ceremony in the history of the Hall of Fame. “Bringing in the fans adds an incredible energy to the event,” says Peresman. “The fans should have an opportunity to see the show. They are the reason these bands exist.”
Jake E. Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel has announced the initial dates of their 2014 U.S. tour – The band made their live debut on Thursday, December 12th to a capacity crowd at The Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood. Although the performance was considered by some to be a “shaky start,” by all accounts it was clear that Red Dragon Cartel seemed to have corrected the startup issues turning in a solid performance last night San Diego at Brick By Brick. (video below)
U.S. tour dates are as follows:
12/20/13 – Las Vegas, NV – Count’s Vamp’d
3/14/14 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Chameleon Room
3/15/14 – Houston, TX – Concert Pub North
3/21/14 – Janesville, WI – The Back Bar
3/23/14 – Richmond, IN – The Firehouse –
3/25/14 – Mckees Rocks, PA – The Dead Horse Music Hall
3/27/14 – Raleigh, NC – The Whisky Room
3/28/14 – Largo, FL – Largo Cultural Center
3/29/14 – Miami, FL – Monsters Of Rock Cruise
3/30/14 – Miami, FL – Monsters Of Rock Cruise
3/31/14 – Miami, FL – Monsters Of Rock Cruise
4/1/14 – Miami, FL – Monsters Of Rock Cruise
4/2/14 – Teaneck, NJ – Mexicali Live
4/3/14 – Philadelphia, PA – The Legendary Dobbs
4/4/14 – Amityville, NY – Revolution Concert Hall
4/6/14 – West Seneca, NY – Rock N’ Roll Heaven
6/21/14 – Idaho Falls, ID – Rock The Falls 2014 (w/ Kix, Queeensryche & Others)
Jake E. Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel was recorded at the Hideout Studios in Las Vegas. Produced by R. Bernard Mann aka Ronnie Mancuso and Jake E. Lee, and executive produced, mixed and mastered by Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Shania Twain, Ringo Starr). The album will be released via Frontiers Records on January 28th 2014.
The band is comprised of lead singer Darren Smith, bassist Ron Mancuso, drummer Jonus Fairley and lead guitarist Jake E. Lee.
The album also features such guests as legendary vocalist Robin Zander from Cheap Trick, original Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno, former Pantera bassist Rex Brown, Todd Kearns and Brent Fitz (Slash) as well as current chart toppers like Maria Brink from In this Moment, Jeremy Spencer (Five Finger Death Punch) and Scott Reeder (Tool, Kyuss).
A real band in the truest sense of the word, Jake E Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel is about to blast off. This amazing virtuoso guitarist with his new band will once again grace the rock world with the lights shining even brighter.
Setlist includes new material like the singles Feeder and Deceived, as well as major hits from Jake E. Lee’s glorious past: Bark At The Moon, The Ultimate Sin (from Jake’s Ozzy days), and Dreams In The Dark and High Wire (Badlands).
Watch a performance The Ultimate Sin (San Diego 12/15/13) below.
On December 12th Jake E. Lee’s new band Red Dragon Cartel made their live debut at Hollywood’s infamous Whiskey A Go Go. However after a series of critical reviews, mostly focusing on the poor performance of singer Darren James Smith, the band’s website have issued a statement defending the vocalist.
“You fly thousands of miles, have 40 possible songs to create a set with, pick and refine 14 of those, rehearse till 4 in the morning for only four days with jet jag and strep throat. Then have a reasonably good sound check only to return to the stage to find one of the monitors is out and the teleprompter is set up wrong (yes I said it, TELEPROMPTER. It seems to work fine for Obama and Steven Tyler, Elton John), plus it’s said it will be gone within a couple of weeks, mix in some American prescription cough syrup (thanks Nassad) and one to many pre-jitter shots. Result, a sub-standard performance from a great singer. I have stood in a room while they played together and Darren sings his ass off! Yes you’re right, there will never be another Ray Gillen, R.I.P., but the Red Dragon Cartel is about to show the world that they can be a great band and that Darren James Smith is a great singer! Reserve your judgment until you watch the videos from tomorrow night’s San Diego gig and Friday’s show at Vamp’d in Las Vegas. In the meantime go over to iTunes and check out “Deceived” from the Red Dragon Cartel album. Jake E. Lee is back, playing better than ever with a great Band, album and live show. Wait till they come through your town sometime in the next year and decide for yourself. You wont be disappointed.”
It appears Darren James Smith himself realizes he had an off night by stating, “No excuses! I fucked up. I can’t believe the band is sticking with me. With the most sincere apologies to the band and all the Jake fans, you deserved better and you’re going to get it.”
But one poor outing hasn’t slowed down Red Dragon Cartel. The band states that, “based on a huge buzz created by the band’s very first show, our agency’s phone rings all the time and we will have tons of gigs in the USA before and after the Monsters Of Rock cruise. Our European tour will start in Italy on May 3rd and end at a major festival in the UK on June 15. After that some more USA and then Japan and Asia in middle of July, then USA again and then Europe again. RDC will be busy!”
Red Dragon Cartel’s self-titled debut is set for release on January 24th in Europe and January 28th in North America through Frontiers Records.
Black Sabbath have spoken Classic Rock about their current relationship with estranged drummer Bill Ward, and whether we’d see another new album from the metal legends.
“I haven’t spoken to Bill, but to be honest, I don’t actually know how to reach Bill these days because he doesn’t have the same phone number as I have for him,” says Tony Iommi. “I see people saying, ‘Why don’t they talk?’ But it’s not that simple. The only way I can reach Bill is by e-mailing his secretary, and then she speaks to Bill. It’s not as easy as picking the phone up. I e-mailed him the other week, because he’d been in the hospital and wasn’t that well, but that’s as far as it’s got at the moment. I’d like to talk to Bill — me and Bill have been friends for many years — but it’s not happened recently.”
“I don’t talk on the phone to anybody because I’m horrible on the phone as we didn’t have one in our house forever,” adds Geezer Butler. “But I’ve exchanged a few e-mails with Bill, just to see how he is. We all still love Bill, and we desperately wish that it had worked with him, we really do, because that’s the true Sabbath, the four of us. But we tried, and for some reason, it didn’t work, so you have to get on with life. When I’m in touch with Bill, I don’t mention the album or tour or anything. I wouldn’t do that.”
KISS have won the public poll for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next year.
Over 1,390,000 people voted over 16 nominees and Kiss drew 17.22% of those, a total of 239,417 people. Nirvana came second with 15.69% followed by Deep Purple (11.93%), Yes (10.88%), Hall And Oates (8.1%) and Peter Gabriel (7.97%).
But it doesn’t mean Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons will be inducted – the fan choice only counts as one vote, with around 600 others to be placed by musicians, businessmen and commentators.
If they do make the grade, Simmons recently insisted founding members Ace Frehley and Pete Criss wouldn’t be invited to the ceremony in New York in April. He compared them to “cancer” and added, “How many chances in life to do you get? Those guys had three chances to be in the band. Three times they fucked it up.”
But Frehley later said, “There’s no way Gene can put a lid on it. I mean, what’s he gonna do?”
Meanwhile, guitarist Frehley’s New York home was seriously damaged in a fire over the weekend. No one was injured in the accident. Frehley is thought not to live in the building, which is instead inhabited by a caretaker, and was recently the subject of foreclosure action as a result of unpaid mortgage arrears.
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame public poll
1. Kiss: 17.22% / 239,417
2. Nirvana: 15.69% / 218,155
3. Deep Purple: 11.93% / 165,828
4. Yes: 10.88% / 151,238
5. Hall and Oates: 8.1% / 112,673
6. Peter Gabriel: 7.97% / 110,839
7. Linda Ronstadt: 6.13% / 85,252
8. Cat Stevens: 5.37% / 74,638
9. The Zombies: 3.94% / 54,764
10. NWA: 2.95% / 40,985
11. The Replacements: 2.26% / 31,490
12. LL Cool J: 1.92% / 26,740
13. Paul Butterfield Blues Band: 1.76% / 24,481
14. Chic: 1.32% / 18,395
15. Link Wray: 1.32% / 18,337
16. The Meters: 1.24% / 17,272
