This Week’s SHAZAM Winner!!
Congrats toShelly Martin in Mt. Horeb, WI who listens to WIBA-FM 101.5, Madison’s Classic Rockand is this week’s Shazam contest winner, scoring a House of Hair t-shirt!
Be sure to Shazam the House of Hair Request of the Week when you hear it each week. Whip out your cell phone and open the Shazam app to get info on the song and register to win an official House of Hair t-shirt, too! One winner will be chosen randomly each week.
METAL NEWS
Leonard Haze, Popular Drummer with Y&T, Dies at Age 61
Leonard Haze died in his Hayward, California home September 11 due to complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“He had that cocky, gruff approach,” says Y&T frontman Dave Meniketti, who formed the band with Haze in 1974. On the band’s Facebook page he wrote: “He was one of a kind. Guys we play with in other bands still talk about him. It is with shock and sadness that I type this. Leonard Haze, the legendary drummer, and a guy I spent decades with creating great music together, has passed away at 61. This, just a few days after his birthday. I just woke up to this news, as I’m in Germany, and immediately called his wife, Kelly. She confirmed that Leonard had passed away in his sleep, a few hours ago, sometime between noon and 7:30pm on Sunday, September 11. Leonard has been struggling with COPD for years, but Kelly said that although his health had recently declined, they felt he had a few years left, so this is unexpected. My deepest condolences to Leonard’s family and friends. His impact on the rock scene was well documented. Rest in peace, my friend.”
The Mercury News reports that Haze had just played his last gig a few weeks ago, with his solo project HazeXperience. As he had for the past few years, he played with plastic tubes running from his nose to a nearby oxygen tank. His long battle with COPD sometimes made it difficult for him to talk and play.
“We had him come and jam with us last year, and this year, at the Fillmore,” says Meniketti, who grew up down the street from Haze in Oakland, California. “He got up there with his oxygen tank and gave it his best. And the crowd loved it. One of the things on Leonard’s bucket list was to have his name with Y&T on a poster from the Fillmore. We made it happen. That’s what you do for a brother.”
Haze’s band HazeXperience were due to support Y&T on two dates in California in November and were also working on an EP of new material.
Y&T spent the late 1970s and early ’80s headlining clubs and theaters with opening acts that became bigger than them. Haze used to tell a story about partying with guitar god Eddie Van Halen on the beach in Santa Monica after a gig in which Van Halen opened for Y&T.
On album sleeves, Haze was credited for drums, percussion and “smoking on matters,” the meaning of which is open to interpretation.
Haze co-wrote some of Y&T’s biggest hits including, “Hurricane,” “Black Tiger,” “Mean Streak,” “Rescue Me,” and “Summertime Girls.” He also worked with the Ian Gillan Band. Haze parted ways with Y&T in 2006.
Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund Announce 2nd Annual “Bowl 4 Ronnie” Event
The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund has announced details for the 2nd Annual “Bowl 4 Ronnie” bowling tournament in Studio City, California.
The charity evening includes bowling with rock stars and celebrities competing for trophies in the name of raising funds and awareness for the RJD SUAS Cancer Fund. A live auction will include collectibles autographed by artists and many more major items. Act of Defiance‘s Chris Broderick has donated a six-string Jackson guitar for the auction.
Current celebs slated to attend include Eddie Money, Rudy and Robert Sarzo, Dio Disciples‘ Bjorn Englen and Joe Retta, Dio‘s Scott Warren and Rowan Robertson, Lynch Mob’s Sean McNabb, Armored Saint‘s Gonzo and Phil Sandoval, Keel’s Marc Ferrari and DC4’s Matt and Shawn Duncan.
“Last year was a blast and we totally sold out the place,” revealed Wendy Dio, co-founder and president of the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. “We hope everyone will come again this year to have some fun and raise money for a good cause.”
This year’s “Bowl 4 Ronnie” will return to the Pinz Bowling Center in Studio City, CA on November 4 at 6:30PM. You can purchase tickets to attend, be an individual bowler or register a team for a corporate lane. For details & tickets are here.
Axl Rose (left) and Chris Pitman (right)
Axl Rose Being Sued by Former Guns N’ Roses Keyboardist Chris Pitman
Chris Pitman, who played keyboards in Guns N’ Roses from 1998 until 2015, is suing Axl Rose for $163,000 in unpaid wages.
According to TMZ, Pitman has been waiting for Rose to pay up since 2011, when the singer wrote him a promissory note saying the debt would be paid by October 2012. Nearly four years later, Pitman says, he hasn’t seen a cent. The original amount owed was $125,000, with interest adding an extra $38,000.
With $116.8 million taken in over nine weeks-worth of stadium dates, the “Not in This Lifetime” tour was easily the highest grossing tour of the summer. This includes more than $11 million earned at their two shows at MetLilfe Stadium in E. Rutherford, N.J. The band is heading to Japan and Australia in early 2017, and it’s believed that even more dates could be added in the future.
Pitman made headlines earlier this year when, shortly after the news of the reunion with Slash and Duff McKagan was made public, he supposedly violated a media blackout by tweeting about their performance at Coachella. After deleting the tweets, he wrote, “When I said ‘We are playing at Coachella,’ I meant me and my daughter like to play in the sand.” It is unknown if his actions were in any way responsible for him being replaced by Melissa Reese for the current tour.
ON TOUR
Motörhead’s Mikkey Dee Joins The Scorpions
Former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee has joined the Scorpions on a permanent basis. Dee played with the Scorps for their run of tour dates earlier this year, standing in for James Kottak, who stepped out for medical reasons.
Now Scorpions report that Dee has taken Kottak’s place in the lineup as a fully-fledged member of the band.
Scorpions said: “We would like to thank James for so many years of lasting participation in the band and personal friendship. We understand and respect his need for time as he makes his way through the final stages of his healing process.
“After our incredibly successful shows in the US, Europe and Asia, we are sure to have found a fantastic drummer with Mikkey Dee. He brings a fresh energy to the band and we look forward to the exciting time together that lies ahead.”
Megadeth And Body Count To Team Up For World Tour
Megadeth’s frontman Dave Mustaine and Body Count star, Ice-T, had teased an upcoming collaboration on social media and Mustaine now reveals it will be a tour in 2017.
Mustaine says that, while he is not a hip-hop fan, he is an admirer of Body Count frontman Ice-T and that he can’t wait to hit the road in 2017. Mustaine tells Metal Hammer: “We’re talking about a very large tour next summer with five bands on it with us. It’s going to be more of a guest appearance than a direct support kind of thing.
NEW RELEASES
Motörhead Guitarist Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons to Release Debut EP
The legendary Motörhead guitarist, Phil Campbell, has teamed up with his sons Todd, Dane and Tyla, plus vocalist Neil Starr, to record their debut self-titled 5-track EP, Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons (formerly known as Phil Campbell’s All Starr Band) which will be released by Motörhead Music on November 18.
Pre-orders with an exclusive download of “Big Mouth” will be available from September 30. Stay tuned for updates on their Facebook page.
Runaways Vocalist Cherie Currie to Release All Star Solo Album
Runaways vocalist Cherie Currie has revived her solo career and returned with Reverie, her first solo album in 35 years. She reveals that a long shelved album with several name guests will be arriving at some point this month.
Speaking with the White Line Fever podcast, Currie stated, “Matt Sorum was playing with me — of course you know him from Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver and he was just amazing. He and I made a record together with a bunch of cool stars. In fact, the Veronicas as well, they sang on a few songs. What great gals they are. Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins wrote a duet, and, of course Slash and Duff were on it as well as Juliette Lewis. That album’s coming out in September.”
Further details on the album, including the title and release date, have yet to be revealed.
Hear Currie’s podcast interview, here.
Metallica Launch “Back to the Front” Book – Official Video
Metallica have released a video trailer for the new book, “Metallica: Back to the Front — A Fully Authorized Visual History of the Master of Puppets Album and Tour”, Written by Matt Taylor, which tells the definitive story of Master Of Puppets and the subsequent tour that followed its release.
The Deluxe Edition of “Metallica: Back To The Front” has already sold out at Metallica.com. Check out MoonriseMedia.net, which is the only other place carrying the Deluxe Edition.
The book is available at Amazon. More details at Metallica’s official website.
Slayer Launching Comic Books + BMX Bikes, But No New Music
In a new interview with Billboard.com, Slayer’s Tom Araya discussed the band’s upcoming projects.
A follow-up to last year’s Repentless album isn’t even on the docket yet, but there’s no shortage of Slayer-related projects coming in the next few months including comic books and BMX bikes.
The group is partnering with Dark Horse Comics (Hellboy, Sin City) to release three issues of Slayer: Repentless, based on the recent “Repentless” and “You Against You” videos. The first comic is expected later this year.
Also in the mix is a line of new Slayer-themed BMX bicycles, which come out in October and will be decked out with the band’s graphics on their frames.
All of that — along with heavy touring since even before Repentless, has kept Araya and his bandmates from doing anything on the new music front.
“We haven’t been a put-a-record-out-year-after-year band since back in the ’80s, when Reign In Blood, South Of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss came out,” Araya explains. “We like to work our material out and make sure we’re happy before anybody decides to say, ‘Let’s do a record.’ And now there’s no Jeff, so that leaves a lot on Kerry, and he’ll need to take a break from touring work to start working on ideas and get stuff together and work things out. So there hasn’t really been any talk of a new record yet.”
Read the full interview at Billboard.com.
Former Alice Cooper Guitarist Kane Roberts to Release New Solo Album in 2017
Kane has recorded a total of four solo albums so far (also including the Phoenix Down project released on Frontiers in the late 90’s). Kane’s name and abilities first came to prominence on Alice Cooper’s Constrictor album, which was soon followed by his self-titled debut solo album in 1987. More albums and tours with Alice followed, making Kane a well-known face in the business, especially for his guitar skills, but also for his body-builder image and his now iconic machine-gun guitar.
No release date or title of the album have been released.
Megadeth “À Tout Le Monde” Signature Beer Bottling Has Begun
Megadeth frontman / founder Dave Mustaine is turning 55 this year and celebrating with the launch of his own beer, À Tout Le Monde, a Belgian style Saison Ale made in Quebec, Canada and coming soon to a location near you. The brewery, Unibroue, has checked in with an update:
“Exciting news! Our brew master Jerry Vietz started bottling À Tout le Monde Ale for the first time today and the precious liquid will now be stored in a warm room for refermentation. We are getting closer to sharing this new beer with Dave Mustaine and all Unibroue and Megadeth fans waiting for the launch. Stay tuned, more information will soon be revealed.”
Metalheads Say The Damnedest Things
“I literally never drink, privately or publicly. I don’t like the taste or smell of alcohol. I’ve never been drunk in my life and have never taken more than a sip of anything – and I hated it every time. I’ll toast, just to be sociable, but that’s it.”
“Life is a race and we’re in constant competition. If you and I are lined up along with 10 other guys, do you think you’ll do better than the guy who’s a little tipsy? The alcohol is not going to help him.”
~ KISS frontman Gene Simmons on why he doesn’t drink