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Ronnie Wood has chimed in along with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards bidding farewell to their fallen Rolling Stone drummer Charlie Watts.
Woody writes: “I love you my fellow Gemini ~ I will dearly miss you ~ you are the best”
The Charlie Watts death at age 80 has hit everyone hard because it points up the fragility now of our beloved classic rock stars. Everyone is over 70, a few over 80, and there are no replacements for them. It hurts to say goodbye!
Nader famously appeared on “Dynasty” as Joan Collins’ lover, Dex Dexter, and on “All My Children,” as Dmitri Marick.
His earlier work included a stint on “As the World Turns.” Before that he had a recurring role on the TV series, “Gidget,” in the mid 60s (yes, opposite soon to be double Oscar winner Sally Field).
At the time of “Gidget,” Nader appeared as himself in a bunch of signature beach movies including the well titled “Beach Blanket Bingo” and “How to Stuff a Wild Bikini.”
Twenty years ago Nader was arrested when he tried to sell coke to an undercover cop in a New York club. That got him bounced from “All My Children.” He’d had several run ins with the law before that. He’d grown up in Hollywood, going to Beverly Hills High School. His uncle was B actor George Nader.
Reports are Nader of an inoperable cancer. Condolences to family and friends.
Now the great singer songwriter has been named Person of the Year by MusiCares, the Grammy charity. She’ll get a big tribute dinner in Los Angeles on January 29th. Joni won’t sing, but you can bet the list of superstars who want to sing her songs is long.
So who could be there? Jackson Browne, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Neil Young– at the very least. And plenty of ladies including Brandi Carlile, Bonnie Raitt, and of course, Judy Collins singing “Both Sides Now” would be great, but who knows if that can be brokered?
It’s nice to know that the Recording Academy expects an in person event at the LA Convention Center next January. We are all longing to be there, or anywhere at this point.
Sting is back with a new album, a single and of course his Las Vegas residency.
The album of new songs is called “The Bridge,” and it appears on November 19th. The single is “If It’s Love,” and it’s a winner.
Sting wrote a lot of the new album beginning in early 2020 when he was performing his Broadway show, “The Last Ship,” on tour. When the show was anchored in Toronto for six weeks, he built a little recording studio into his digs backstage and started writing. Earlier this year, he was in the Bahamas recording the songs. Between the pandemic, and loss of his best friend and touring manager Billy Francis, Sting has a lot to write about.
Sting — who had a whole “Jeopardy!” category named for him last spring — hits Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas on October 29th for the first part of his Vegas residency, and it’s just about sold out. The run is named “My Songs,” and it’s all his hits from The Police and his amazing solo career. Finally, some music to look forward to!
The thing Jackson fans don’t like to hear about Michael is that he was sneaky, and lied a lot. He was willful. He was taught all this by his father. He broke agreements all the time, stole tapes from studios and held them for ransom, and so on. Does it make him a bad person? You can decide for yourselves.
In many ways, Michael was a musical genius. But he also depended on collaborators like Quincy Jones and all the songwriters who wrote his hits either on their own or with him. Michael knew a hit when he heard one. In the case of the Anka songs, he tried to get away with a few things. But read the story above.
In any case, Anka made a lot of money from the uncovering of the Jackson songs and tapes. So he can’t really complain. And he’s Paul Anka, for god’s sake, he wrote “My Way” for Frank Sinatra and the “Tonight Show” theme song for Johnny Carson. But he also wrote the worst Top 40 song of all time, “Having My Baby.” C’est la vie!
For Mick and Keith, there are no words. You have to think this is devastating for them, to lose their oldest mate. Charlie Watts goes back to the beginning with them, 60 years. Ronnie Wood, by comparison, is a late comer. (And Ronnie, who’s had his own health problems, hasn’t posted anything yet. I’m sure he’s wiped out by Charlie’s death.)
So Mick and Keith have each posted pictures. No words possible. Condolences to them.
You may remember “Donda,” the Kanye West album that has never been released. There’s a third listening event for it this week, this time in Chicago. And then? Is it finished? Will it drop?
No one knows, and it’s hard to say if anyone cares at this point.
Meantime, Sean Combs, aka Puff Daddy, aka Diddy, and now aka LOVE, I’m told is working day and night on an album set for release on September 24th. It’s called “Off the Grid” and will be an R&B album.
Combs is the current cover subject on the September Vanity Fair but the article makes no mention of “Off the Grid.” I’m told several producers are involved including Mario Winans, who had a big hit with Puffy back in 2004 on “I Don’t Wanna Know.”
Puffy wound up making his money in other businesses than the music business, like with Ciroc Vodka. But he knows a hit. His biggest one was turning Sting’s Police hit “Every Breath You Take” into “I’ll Be Missing You.” Of course, Sting pocketed all the publishing royalties. What if Puffy comes up with something like that again?
And unlike Kanye, Combs is actually sticking to his release date. That album is coming. If Combs beats West to the punch, that will be a story. If I know Sean Combs, he’s going to do it.
Charlie Watts had the longest marriage, lived the best life, and was the standard bearer for The Rolling Stones. He has died at age 80. The rock world mourns the loss.
Bernard Doherty, Charlie’s PR guy, said Tuesday that Watts “passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family.”
Doherty said: “Charlie was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and also as a member of The Rolling Stones one of the greatest drummers of his generation.”
Watts had pulled out of the Stones next tour after having a surgical procedure. He said on Twitter that he felt his timing was off, but expected to recover from whatever was ailing him.
Steve Jordan is replacing him as the Stones’ drummer but no one can really ever replace him. Charlie was the heart and soul of the Stones. With his exit, we are down to two original members, Mick and Keith.
Charlie married Shirley Ann Shepherd in 1964. They have a daughter, a grandaughter, and a step-grandson. They lived a grand life, but he was never like the other Stones. Watts was a family man, and a serious musician. What a shame.
Steve van Zandt Tweeted: “Oh no! This is terribly shocking. Not just one of greatest drummers in one of the greatest bands of all time, but a gentleman’s gentleman. He singlehandedly brought the Rock world some real class. Rock and Roll will miss him profoundly. We are significantly less without him.”
#God bless Charlie Watts we’re going to miss you man peace and love to the family Ringo 😎✌️🌟❤️🌈🎶☮️ pic.twitter.com/3tSFg7EMQG
The teaser trailer for “Spider Man: o Way Home” is here after being illegally leaked. This is official. Seems like Peter Parker calls in Dr. Strange to erase the world’s knowledge of his alter-ego. And everything goes wrong.
In the teaser, Alfred Molina is back as Doc Ock after 17 years. Past Peter Parkers Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are said to maybe appear also, but not yet. Tom Holland and Zendaya, who are maybe a real life couple now, star in the third iteration of this “Spider Man” series, which I think makes 9 movies devoted to this character.
