This Week’s SHAZAM Winner!!
Congrats to Patrick Knechtges in Lansing, MI who listens to WJXQ Q-106, and 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
KISS founding Drummer Peter Criss to Retire in June
Founding KISS drummer Peter Criss will retire after performances at KISS conventions in Australia in May and New York in June.
“You know what, I’m 71,” he told Australia’s The Rockpit. “That scares me when I say that [laughs], but if you’re around me I’m like a 15-year-old kid, I really am. But I’ve had an amazing career in music; I was around in the 60’s and 70’s which was about the best time to be a musician. I actually saw Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison and the Beatles when I was young. I’ve seen the greatest of the greats perform; I grew up at a time when music was so cool. There was Bob Dylan, and things were changing – things were becoming amazing for musicians in the world. So I played clubs for 15 years, then I started the band with the guys.”
“I see now all these guys from the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart and we’re all in our 70’s now, and I hate to say it but were dying out and that’s so real, there’s less Rock and Roll in the world. Less music in the world and it’s kinda sad.
“So I’m 71 I’m in the best health I’ve been in for a while and I thought if I’m gonna do it I gotta do it now.”
Criss’ plans include “a couple of books, maybe a comedy, and I have an album I’ve been sitting on for nine years now! And I want to finish that properly.”
Alice Cooper to Reunite With Original Band Members
Alice Cooper has announced he will be reuniting with members of his original band — bassist Dennis Dunaway, drummer Neal Smith and guitarist Michael Bruce — at a show in Nashville, TN, on May 14.
It will be the only date on this year’s Spend the Night with Alice Cooper tour where fans can experience a special mini-set featuring the four original members of the group, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
“We’ve recorded much of my last album and my new one in Nashville and it’s such a great music town,” Cooper says in a statement. “With so many musician, songwriter and producer friends here, as well as great rock fans who come to our concerts, it’s special to be performing with Neal, Michael and Dennis in Nashville for them.”
Terry Ilous of Great White To Release New Solo Album of Rock Cover Tunes
Terry Ilous, lead singer for the band Great White, and founder of 80’s metal band XYZ, is premiering his third solo venture, Gypsy Dreams, a cover album of classic rock and hard rock favorites with a Latin and flamenco edge on April 28. Check out a video preview here.
Terry says: “This album is just the start in a series of different projects I have in mind for the future. I decided to start with covers of familiar & rock favorites to introduce the Latin / Flamenco Rock sound to my audience, and I plan to start up a series of intimate club shows reminiscent of close-knit Latin & Gypsy gatherings.”
Poison Bassist Doesn’t Want Professional Autograph Seekers To Get Rich Off Him
Poison bassist Bobby Dall has told The Washington Times that he is reluctant to sign many items of memorabilia for “fans” he believes to be professional autograph seekers, only to see those same articles sold online at exorbitant prices.
“I’m not going to sit there and sign 30 things for someone to get rich off of me,” Dall said, “but I don’t mind signing one [item]. That’s my rule.”
Dall also said that while he generally tries to grant the wishes of fans who approach him on the street for photos or autographs, there are times when he wants to be left alone.
“One thing I always try to explain to the fans is sometimes you’re not in a good mood,” he said. “If you buy a $100 ticket, I’ll give you a $400 show, but that’s where it stops. The rest of the time is mine.”
Aerosmith Drummer Selling Austin-Area Luxury Home For $2.23 Million
Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer has put his sprawling luxury home up for sale after deciding to escape the prying eyes of fans, reports Austin Business Journal.
Kramer listed his Cimarron Hills Estate property in Georgetown, north of Austin, with an asking price of $2.23 million. The property covers 2.7 acres and is surrounded by the Cimarron Hills Golf Course and country club on three sides. Whoever buys the home will have another celebrity – former Major League Baseball pitcher Nolan Ryan – as a neighbor.
See photos of the property here.
ON TOUR
Scorpions announce North American tour with Megadeth
The Scorpions announced the first series of dates for a fall North American tour with special guests Megadeth. Shows will begin in Reading, PA on September 14, with dates currently running to mid-October and more to be announced.
“When our album Crazy World was released back in ’91, right at the end of the cold war,” said singer Klaus Meine, “we toured around a world that was pretty crazy back then, but there was so much hope in the air for a more peaceful future. Now 26 years later, things are getting more crazy every other day. After all these years, ‘Crazy World’ is still a good motto for our upcoming world tour. We are very much looking forward to seeing all of you out there.”
The Scorpions – who made former Motorhead drummer Mikkey Dee an official member last September – will play a series of European festivals over the summer ahead of the fall North American gigs.
Megadeth previously announced that they will be launching a summer tour of North America in support of their 2016 album release, Dystopia, that will feature support from Meshuggah, TesseracT and Lillake.
Beginning in Big Flats, NY on June 23, the summer tour will also see Megadeth perform at a series of festivals including Quebec’s Amnesia Rockfest, Wisconsin’s Rock USA and Rock Fest, and Chicago Open Air.
View tour dates for both Scorpions/Megadeth and Megadeth solo tours, here on the HOH website.
Metallica Bassist Robert Trujillo’s 12-year-old Son Plays Bass with KORN on South American Tour Dates
Tye Trujillo, the 12-year-old son of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, is filling in for KORN’s regular bassist, Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu, who was unable to make the band’s South American tour due to what the group called “unforeseen circumstances.”
Said KORN, “We are bummed Fieldy can’t join us on this run but excited to do a few gigs with a young player like Tye. We look forward to welcoming our brother Fieldy back when we return to the States in May.”
Tye will perform with the band through April 29. Check out a video of Tye on tour here.
Robert Trujillo told Brazil’s Globo Play about Tye: “I never forced him on music. I always felt that if he wanted to embrace an instrument, great; I’d try to help him with it. So initially, at first, it was drums. And then around that same time, when he was one, he had a little plastic guitar, and he would play it all the time, just strumming it — always strumming it everywhere, to the point where the plastic was worn down.”
He continued: “It’s a beautiful thing, ’cause he’s still a 12-year-old, and he still acts wild and crazy, as a twelve-year-old should, but when it comes to music, he’s very focused. And with KORN, it’s funny, because I haven’t shown him anything at all for the KORN stuff — I’ve been too busy and I’ve been out of town a lot — and he’s taking this opportunity very seriously.”
NEW RELEASES
KnuckleBonz Will Release Two New Statues of Alice Cooper This Fall
Alice Cooper I features Alice as he appears during the “Ballad Of Dwight Fry” performance, complete with his iconic straightjacket and microphone. The base design on this statue has some pretty interesting elements as well.
Alice Cooper II depicts Alice with a snake wrapping around his neck as he stands on top of a “Billion Dollar Babies” base design.
Both statues are limited editions of 3000. These are officially licensed and approved directly by Cooper. Pre-orders are available now at knucklebonz.com.
Deep Purple Release New Video Series for Album “inFinite” called “About The Album”
Deep Purple released their new studio album, inFinite, on April 7. They’ve just uploaded Part 2 of the video series, entitled About The Album, in which they discuss their work with legendary producer Bob Erin (KISS, Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd).
Metalheads Say The Damnedest Things
“There’s something about a band that’s been together for a long time, you just can’t bottle it. There’s no way you can replace what all this experience gives you…. And I know when my band is playing, we just give it up for the audience. And that’s why it’s never boring playing our hits — when I start playing those songs and I see the reaction, it’s never boring.
“I’ve been really, really lucky to be able to go off and do side projects and that kind of thing, because that also helps to keep the band strong. It’s a long time, but when we’re onstage it feels timeless. It’s funny, I would think I would feel kind of worn out, tired and too jaded to do this, but I don’t feel that way. I feel that way about other things in life, but not the band.”
~ Aerosmith’s Joe Perry on the longevity of the band
Last Week’s Third Dee-Gree
KISS – “God of Thunder”
OZZY OSBOURNE – “Lightning Strikes”
THUNDER – “Dirty Love”
Answer: Bands or songs feature thunder and lightning