Author Archives: Andrea Dresdale

“Dance Monkey” sets chart milestone for Tones & I

Courtesy Elektra Records

Tones & I has set all kinds of chart records in her home country of Australia with her breakout single, "Dance Monkey," but she's just reached a unique chart milestone in the U.S.

As "Dance Monkey" reaches the top five on the Billboard Hot 100, the song becomes the first top-five hit written solely by a woman in nearly eight years.  Toni Watson, who records as Tones & I, is the only writer credited on the track.

As Billboard notes, the last time this happened was in 2012, when Whitney Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" hit number three after Whitney died.  That song was written solely by Dolly Parton.

Before that, you'd have to go back to 2010, when Taylor Swift placed two songs she wrote herself in the top five: "Mine" and "Today Was a Fairytale."  She also wrote her recent single, "Lover," by herself, but it didn't reach the top five.

But as Billboard points out, top-five hits on the Hot 100 just written by one man don't happen that often, either.  Not counting some of the super-old holiday hits that managed to chart over Christmas, the last one was J. Cole's 2019 single, "Middle Child."

By the way, the last number-one Hot 100 hit that was written solely by a woman was Alicia Keys' 2001 single, "Fallin'."

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Flaming Lips announce two Soft Bulletin shows with orchestra & choir

George SalisburyLast year, The Flaming Lips released their first live album: a recording of a 2016 Red Rocks show that featured them performing their beloved 1999 album, The Soft Bulletin, alongside the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.  Now, you've got a couple more chances to see a similar performance.

The band has added two shows to their spring tour during which they'll perform The Soft Bulletin in full, backed by orchestras and vocal choirs.  The shows will take place April 13 in Portland, OR, and on April 19 in Dallas, TX as part of the Dallas Symphony's SOLUNA Festival.  Tickets for both shows go on sale January 30 at 10 a.m. local time via FlamingLips.com.

The Portland show will serve as a kickoff for the band's spring tour of North America, which wraps up June 22 in Vancouver.  The band is also performing May 22 in Walton-On-Trent, England, and July 18 in Galway, Ireland.

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Karen O and Danger Mouse cover Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day”

Courtesy Amazon MusicKaren O helped to induct rock icon Lou Reed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, teaming with her Yeah Yeah Yeahs bandmate Nick Zinner to perform a version of Reed's song "Vicious."   Now, O has teamed with Danger Mouse to once again pay tribute to Reed.

O and Danger Mouse, who released the joint album Lux Prima last year, have recorded a version of Reed's "Perfect Day" as an Amazon Original recording.  It's now available for download.

"Woman" a track from Lux Prima, was nominated for a Grammy Sunday night in the category of Best Rock Performance, but lost to Gary Clark Jr.'s "This Land."

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Tool happy to win a Grammy for “pushing the boundaries a bit”

Amanda Edwards/Getty ImagesSome Tool fans would argue that everything the band releases is groundbreaking in one way or another, but the band themselves were happy to win a Grammy Sunday night for one particular track they think really challenged them as musicians.

Tool won Best Metal Performance Grammy for "7empest," a 15-minute-long track on their long-awaited latest  album, Fear Inoculum.  Backstage, bass player Justin Chancellor told reporters, "I think it's a song that we're really proud of on our new album, kinda of pushed the boundaries a bit."

"From our point of view, we were still being very experimental when we did this particular track," he noted. "So that's pretty satisfying to be able to kind of still go out there and be included in this group of musicians."

For the record, the acts Tool beat in that category were Killswitch Engage, Candlemass, I Prevail and Death Angel.

While Tool's music is generally regarded as transcending genre, incorporating as it does aspects of alternative rock, progressive rock, post-metal and art rock, Chancellor says he's happy to have the band recognized in the category of "heavy" music, a genre he feels is alive and well.

"I think if you get out and about, you know, especially traveling around the country as we're doing at the moment, you've just got to get out and find it...there's plenty of good music, plenty of good heavy bands," he told reporters.  "I'm glad that we won this so that maybe that'll open it up a little bit to keep the genre still kind of accessible to more of the public, y'know?"

Tool is on the road in support of Fear Inoculum. They'll wrap up their current batch of U.S. dates February 1 and then move on to Australia before returning to the U.S. in March.

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Paramore’s Hayley Williams calls out Grammys telecast for snubbing rock and metal

Credit: Lindsey Byrnes

It's safe to say that everyone has some kind of complaint about the Grammys, and Hayley Williams took to Twitter Sunday night to air her grievances.

First, Hayley praised Billie Eilish, who won five Grammys and made her Grammy performance debut with a hushed rendition of "when the party's over," accompanied by her brother Finneas on piano.

"Not able to watch tonight but i had to search the internet for this performance cause i knew this bish was gonna serve talent and delicious, buttery vox," Williams said of Billie's performance. "Congrats @billieeilish & @finneas."

The Paramore frontwoman then mentioned the Best Rock Album winners. That category was one of the dozens presented during a pre-telecast ceremony, which is only available to watch online.

"also - heard Cage won Best Rock Album? CONGRATS @CageTheElephant!!" Hayley said, of the Social Cues rockers bringing home the gold.  

But Hayley continued, "Can we get even just one Rock category televised next year, @RecordingAcad? Rock and Alternative music are vital(!) and relevant(!!!) and the youths need to see it on the TV.  ok I'll shut up now."

None of the rock categories -- Best Rock Album, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, Best Metal Performance or Best Alternative Album -- were televised this year. 

A number of fans agreed with Hayley's point, with one writing, "So TOOL won...Best Metal Performance, but of course it was in the rock genre, so it wasn’t in the prime time broadcast. I’m growing incredibly disappointed in the lack of equality when it comes to the music industry."

Yet another fan stated succinctly, "Grammy’s can go f**k themselves for not including Rock and Metal in the actual show."

Gary Clark Jr., winner of Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance, did perform on the show, however.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Billie Eilish says she “maybe, maybe not” has a “couple songs” for next album

Monty Brinton/CBSNow that Billie Eilish has won all the Grammys, everyone wants to know when we can expect new music from her.  But she's reluctant to go on record about just how much work she's done on the follow-up to WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

Speaking to Billboard at the Grammys, Billie said in the coming months, she'll release one-off singles "if I have them," but cautions, "I don't really know what's coming. I'm kinda just like doing what I feel and while doing that, thinking about making an album.  But it's not done at all -- it's like, a couple songs, maybe. Maybe not."

Says Billie, "I'm just gonna like, go with whatever happens, y'know?"

The record-breaking singer also talked about her upcoming Apple TV+ documentary, and said she plans to watch it before it launches, noting, "I better get some say in what's in it and what's not! Dude, they have filmed some stuff that I'm like, ‘Please don't put that in there’ -- like, just me being annoying or whatever. But yeah, I'll watch it. I'll watch it, for sure. I'm excited.”

Billie also said that even though we think we know a lot about her, we'll still learn "hella s**t" by watching the doc.

As for her 2020 goals, Billie says above all things, she wants to be present.

“I realized a couple months ago that I'm in the period of my life that I'm gonna miss, I think,” she said. “Life is kinda perfect for me right now, to be honest with you, and I feel like I can say that now because it wasn't for a really long time...and now I'm not lying.”

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

My Chemical Romance reunion tour rolls on with more European dates

Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

The reunited rockers has announced a third U.K. show, at Milton Keynes, England's Stadium MK for June 18, having sold out their two previous dates on June 20 and June 21.  In addition, the group has announced a show in Dublin, Ireland on June 23, one in Bologna, Italy on July 4, and a July 6 show in Bonn, Germany.

All the new shows were announced using images of the creepy skull-faced hooded figures that appear in the band's mysterious video, "An Offering."

As previously reported, Gerard Way and crew will spend March performing at festivals in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

MCR reunited for their first show in seven years on December 20, 2019 at L.A's The Shrine.  That show was the venue's highest-grossing gig of all time.

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The Grammys: The Performances

Francis Specker/CBSAs usual, the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards crammed a whole lot of extravagant, emotional and occasionally mind-blowing performances -- and very few actual awards -- into a three-and-a-half hour telecast.  There was a lot of profanity onstage -- both in the acceptance speeches and in the lyrics of the songs -- causing the telecast to be perhaps the most highly-bleeped Grammys ever. Here's a rundown of who performed what:

Lizzo kicked off the show with a medley of her song "Cuz I Love You" -- which she sang while wearing a huge, black sparkly gown while conducting an orchestral string section -- and "Truth Hurts," for which she stripped down to a futuristic bodysuit.  The performance featured plenty of dancers as well as one of Lizzo's signature flute solos.

Following a brief a cappella performance of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" with Boyz II Men in honor of the late Kobe Bryant, host Alicia Keys sang a version of Lewis Capaldi's Grammy-nominated "Someone You Loved" with the lyrics changed to be about this year's nominees -- the chorus was, "I'mma get you kinda used to hearing music you love."

The Jonas Brothers were up next: First, they performed a stripped-down performance of an unreleased song that may have been called "Five Minutes," and they took the stage for a massive performance of their current hit "What a Man Gotta Do," complete with dancers, horns and fireworks. Nick Jonas appeared to have something stuck in his teeth throughout, which he later acknowledged by tweeting, "At least you all know I eat my greens."

Tyler, The Creator gave the most bonkers performance of the night. It started out somewhat chill, as he performed "Earfquake" with Charlie Wilson and Boyz II Men. Then, he was joined onstage by dozens of Tyler lookalikes, all wearing the same blonde pageboy wig and white-and-red suit as he sang "New Magic Wand" on a set that looked like an empty suburban street. The song climaxed with Tyler jumping up and down and screaming and the entire street burning down; he then fell backwards off the part of the stage he was standing on and disappeared.

Usher performed a Prince tribute as a way of promoting the upcoming CBS-TV special Let's Go Crazy: A GRAMMY Salute to Prince.  Singing and dancing his way through "Little Red Corvette," "When Doves Cry" and "Kiss," Usher was backed up by Prince's close friend Sheila E. Oddly, even though FKA Twigs was introduced as being part of the performance, all she did was dance on a stripper pole and then slink around, rubbing up against Usher and looking sexy.

Camila Cabello gave one of the most emotional performances of the night, singing "First Man," a tribute to her father Alejandro Cabello, while home movies of him with a baby Camila were shown.  At the end of the song, she came off the stage and stood in front of her dad, singing directly to him, as he wept openly. They embraced at the end of the song.

Country icon Tanya Tucker, who won her very first Grammys on Sunday, performed a stripped-down version of her winning song "Bring My Flowers Now" with her co-writer and musical collaborator Brandi Carlile.

Ariana Grande gave an elaborate performance of three songs.  She started out dressed in a ballgown, singing "My Favorite Things" with a string section.  Then, she stripped off her gown, donned some sexy sleepwear, and moved onto a bedroom set to sing her nominated song "7 Rings," which interpolates "My Favorite Things."  She finished off with part of her smash hit "thank u, next."

The night's big winner, Billie Eilish, performed a hushed version of her song "when the party's over" with her brother and musical collaborator Finneas on piano, plus a backing choir.

Lifetime Achievement honorees Aerosmith performed "Livin' on the Edge" -- during which lead singer Steven Tyler stopped in the audience in front of Lizzo and yelled, "I f***ing love you!" -- and then teamed up with Run-DMC for their smash hit "Walk This Way."  There was no last-minute reprieve for drummer Joey Kramer, who the band had barred from performing with them because they claimed his playing wasn't up to par. He sued...and lost.

Lil Nas X performed his 19-week number-one hit "Old Town Road" on a stage set that revolved to show different rooms, and in each room, there was a different act who joined him to perform the song, including K-pop superstars BTS, Diplo, Mason Ramsey and, of course, Billy Ray Cyrus. At the very end, none other than Nas -- the rap legend who inspired Lil Nas X's stage name -- joined the younger artist onstage to sing "Rodeo."

Another emotional of a moment came from Demi Lovato, who performed a raw ballad called "Anyone," which she wrote just four days before she overdosed in 2018.  She was so choked up that she had to stop the song and start it again, and then sang it with tears running down her face. She got a standing ovation at the end.

A tribute to slain rapper Nipsey Hussle featured Meek Mill, DJ Khaled, John Legend, Kirk Franklin, Roddy Ricch and YG, who was arrested on robbery charges two days before the Grammys.  Meek kicked off the performance by performing a rap addressed to Hussle; Roddy Ricch then did "Letter to Nipsey." Khaled, Franklin, YG and Legend performed "Higher," which then went on to win the Grammy for Best Rap/Sung performance.  Hussle's other song "Racks in the Middle" also won a Grammy during the pre-telecast awards.

Spanish star Rosalía and a troupe of dancers performed her flamenco-inspired songs "Malamente" and "Juro Qué."

At the podium to present Song of the Year, Little Big Town and Smokey Robinson harmonized on his composition "My Girl."

Alicia Keys and Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard performed a stripped-down version of Alicia's current single "Underdog," co-written by Ed Sheeran. By the end of the song, Alicia, joined by a troupe of dancers, had moved to a satellite stage with a piano, which rose in the air for a dramatic finale.

Singer, songwriter and guitarist H.E.R. performed her song "Sometimes" at the piano, backed by a line of musicians in single file behind her, and then she stood up and ripped off a searing guitar solo.

Bonnie Raitt performed a brief rendition of John Prine's song "Angel from Montgomery" in tribute to Prine; that was followed by guitarist Gary Clark Jr. performing his Grammy-winning song "This Land," which is about racism and immigration.

The final performance of the evening was a version of "I Sing the Body Electric" from the 1980 movie Fame, featuring Camila Cabello, Cyndi Lauper, Ben Platt, pianist Lang Lang, violinist Joshua Bell, Gary Clark Jr., ballerina Misty Copeland and a chorus of student musicians. It was a tribute to music education, and to Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich, who after 40 years is stepping aside.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Two Feet announces debut album “Pink,” new tour dates

Republic RecordsAfter releasing a string of new songs, singer/songwriter Two Feet, aka Bill Dess, has released details of his full-length debut album, Pink.

The album will be out March 13, and is currently available for pre-order.  A new track, "Grey," is also available.

In a statement, Dess says, "For a lot of these lyrics, I’m using real memories and trying to figure out the best way to formulate and pull emotions from listeners. That’s how my past experiences affected this record."

"A lot of the songs deal with the passage of time and how you interpret it," he adds. "Musically, I wanted it to be a full album with bangers, heavy songs, and acoustic tracks.”
 
From the project, Two Feet has released the songs "Intro," "Pink," "You?" and "BBY."

In addition, the "I Feel Like I'm Drowning" artist has announced his Two Feet Pink tour, kicking off April 28 in L.A. and wrapping up May 26 in Chicago.  A pre-sale starts January 29 at 10 a.m. local time.

Two Feet will donate a dollar for every ticket purchased to SRNA, an organization that advocates and brings awareness to rare neuroimmune diseases. It's a cause that's close to his heart, since his sister has been diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord.

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First-time nominees The Cranberries will “Linger” at the Grammys: “Dolores would have been really excited”

BMGFollowing the unexpected 2018 death of frontwoman Dolores O'Riordan, The Cranberries released their final album, In the End, last year.  Featuring vocals Dolores recorded before her death, the well-received album unexpectedly earned the Irish band their very first Grammy nod: It's up for Best Rock Album at Sunday's ceremony.  Cranberries drummer Fergal Lawler tells ABC Audio that the nod is simultaneously exciting and bittersweet.

"Obviously, when we heard the news, it was very exciting cause it's our first Grammy nomination," says Lawler.  "But then you obviously think, 'Oh, wouldn't it be great if Dolores was here to come up and be at this event with us?' Y'know, she loved getting dressed up and picking out a costume or whatever. So she'd have been really excited about that."

As for why it's their final album that got the Grammy love, and not, say, their 17-million-sellling smash No Need to Argue, guitarist Noel Hogan says, "I think there's the strength of the songs firstly, and...there's a lot of nostalgia as well that it brings back. And we felt from the very beginning it was one of...the strongest albums that we've done in a long time."

Lawler says he's sure Dolores would've been "very honored" because, he says, "Everyone knows in this industry that the Grammys is the biggest nomination you can get." 

Dolores' brother and his wife will join The Cranberries Sunday at the Grammys, but the band still hasn't decided how they'll celebrate if they win.

"Haven't really thought about it, to be honest," says Lawlor. 

"We're trying to stay calm either way," adds Hogan.

As for the future of The Cranberries, a documentary is in the works, as is a 25th anniversary reissue of No Need to Argue.

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