Recently I spoke with Tom Johnston and John McVee of the Doobie Brothers. Both of them, in fact the whole band is overjoyed at the way their new album came out. The first new Doobies album of new material in 10 years! is called World Gone Crazy. It was produced by Ted Templeman who produced about 10 of their greatest albums in the past, as well as producing Van Halen’s early stuff. The thing Tom Johnston was so excited about was the fact that the record went into some new directions. In other words, they were creating music instead of just turning out some predictable product. There are some special guests including Norton Buffalo, bittersweet. Give a listen to a bit of our conversation below.

Tom Johnston Interview-
doobie world gone crazy

Producer Ted Templeman
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Last Sunday night, Mike Singletary stayed up ‘til dawn watching an all night horror film marathon.  Oh wait.. those were the first three games.  One coach gets popped… another gets promoted.  Yeah, there’s big time turmoil… and the Atlanta Falcons are no picnic.  So when things get painful, what do we do?  Find someone else to get excited about… like Pat Burrell, or Tim Lincecum, or Buster Posey.  The Giants are in the pennant race of their lives… either life gets very good or very bad over the next 72 hours.  There’s only so much torture you can take…

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By Russell Hall

Roger Daltrey says The Who plan to tour next year, adding that a new Who album for 2011 is a possibility as well. In a Q&A session recorded for the group’s website, the veteran frontman said, “We’re in the planning stages for next year… we are planning on doing something. I can’t really talk about specifics yet, but it will be based around a past work.”

Asked if the tour would consist of “greatest hits” performances, Daltrey said such shows “would bore him [expletive],” and that he would prefer to mix things up instead.

“I would like to be on the road playing as many different kind of shows as we could: maybe doingQuadrophenia one night, and greatest hits the next night,” Daltrey said. “And Tommy, if I could still sing Tommy. That, to me, would be really good fun. And don’t keep going out with the same show every night – the audience would have to take a chance on what show they actually got.”

Perhaps most enticingly, Daltrey said Pete Townshend is working on new material. “Pete is writing,” he said. “You never know when that might turn up. So, between now and then, there might be a new album, plus Quadrophenia, and Tommy, and those things we haven’t visited for a while. That will be fun.”

To listen to the Q&A in its entirety, click here.

From KCRA 3

A three-alarm fire early Thursday burned the Sacramento recording studio of the rock band Tesla and an apartment building next door. The blaze broke out just before 2 a.m. at 1012 27th St. Some of the well-known band’s memorabilia was lost. Firefighters salvaged musical instruments from the damaged studio.

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By Bryan Wawzenek

When Bob Dylan visited The White House earlier this year, to perform “The Times They are a-Changin’” as part of a celebration of Civil Rights era music, he didn’t make much time for President Barack Obama or first lady Michelle. The details of Dylan’s visit were detailed in a Rolling Stone interview with the President.

“Here’s what I love about Dylan: He was exactly as you’d expect he would be,” Obama said. “He wouldn’t come to the rehearsal; usually, all these guys are practicing before the set in the evening. He didn’t want to take a picture with me; usually all the talent is dying to take a picture with me and Michelle before the show, but he didn’t show up to that. He came in and played ‘The Times They are a-Changin’.’ A beautiful rendition. The guy is so steeped in this stuff that he can just come up with some new arrangement, and the song sounds completely different. Finishes the song, steps off the stage… comes up, shakes my hand, sort of tips his head, gives me just a little grin, and then leaves… That was our only interaction with him.”

But Obama didn’t seem irked at all by the rock legend’s unique behavior.

“I thought: That’s how you want Bob Dylan, right? You don’t want him to be all cheesin’ and grinnin’ with you. You want him to be a little skeptical about the whole enterprise.”

By Michael Wright

With Darkness on the Edge of Town set for re-release in a little over a month, Bruce Springsteen took the opportunity to look back on the landmark album. In a new interview with The Guardian, The Boss reminisced about those touch-and-go days following the sweeping success of Born to Run.

“The whole force of Darkness… was a survival thing,” he recalled. “After Born to Run, I had a reaction to my good fortune. With success, it felt like a lot of people who’d come before me lost some essential part of themselves. My greatest fear was that success was going to change or diminish that part of myself.”

He continued, “People thought we were gone. Finished. They just thought Born to Run had been a record company creation. We had to reprove our viability on a nightly basis, by playing, and it took many years. You had to be very committed. One thing we did well after Born to Run was, I said: ‘Woah.’ I got on Time and Newsweek because I decided to be. But I was very frightened at the train and how fast it was going when we got on.”

Looking back on it now, 32 years later, the New Jersey bard says the album stands as a marker for its era.

“The record was of its time,” he said. “We had the late-70s recession, punk music had just come out, times were tough for a lot of the people I knew. And so I veered away from great bar band music or great singles music and veered towards music that I felt would speak of people’s life experiences.”

The re-released Darkness on the Edge of Town will be in stores on November 15^th.

It may not come in time for Oktoberfest, but the world’s first beer to be certified for consumption in space will soon undergo tests in weightlessness to see if it is brewed with the right stuff.  Astronauts4Hire, a non-profit space research corporation, will conduct the tests on an Australian beer that has been brewed specifically for easy drinking in both microgravity environments as well as here on Earth.

The development of space beer is intended to coincide with the burgeoning space tourism industry, and as the market expands, industry leaders are anticipating a demand for such products. So how do you test space beer without a rocket? Drink it, of course. Testing for the new space beer is set to begin on board Zero Gravity Corporation’s modified Boeing aircraft, which flies a series of parabolic arcs that simulate environments of weightlessness.

Data will be collected on the taste of the beverage and its drinkability during weightlessness. Other studies have examined the type of container that would be needed to maintain the drink’s carbonation in spite of the extreme pressure and temperature changes that accompany a ride into space.

Yeah, because if it’s packaged in clear plastic bags, it would look a bit too much like beer’s “by-product”…

Paul Rodgers is THE voice of Bad Co, and one of the premier vocalists in rock history. But give credit to Mick Ralphs, the guitarist for the band, who will also be at Thunder Valley Friday nite in concert. Mick co-wrote a number of BadCo hits, and was the riff-master for many more.  He isn’t the flashiest guitarist, but has a nasty tone, with memorable licks. Mick had been in Mott the Hoople before joining Rodgers to found BadCo in 1974, and had written “Can’t Get Enough” for Ian Hunter (of the Hoople).  Ian couldn’t sing it..but it proved to be the first monster hit for BadCo. In the pix, I’m chatting with Mick at Abbey Road Studios…and Mick plays his ax in a 1978 show.

By Bryan Wawzenek

Despite being snubbed (again) by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Canadian rock legends Rush will be honored at the 2010 Billboard Touring Awards. The trio of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart will receive the Legend of Live award on November 4 in New York City.

According to Billboard.com, the award “honors groups or individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to live music and the touring business, and acknowledges the recipients’ commitment to the art of performing live and reaching fans through the concert experience.” Previous recipients include Ozzy Osbourne, the Allman Brothers Band and Elton John.

“With a remarkable body of live work over the years, altering the course of rock music and raising the bar as to what can be done onstage, along with the band’s continued commitment to playing live, we think Rush are uniquely deserving of this award,” said Ray Waddell, Billboard’s executive director of content and programming, touring and live entertainment. “From the early days in the bars and clubs of Toronto to stadiums, amphitheaters and arenas around the world, Rush have epitomized professionalism and the spirit of live rock ’n’ roll, and they boast some of the most passionate and loyal fans in rock.”

Giants fans can take a breath, close their eyes for a moment… and pay homage to one of the great moments in baseball history. It was on this day in 1954 that Willie Mays made one of the most remarkable plays ever caught on film, the over-the-shoulder catch of a Vic Wertz drive in Game One of the World Series.  The Polo Grounds had a cavernous center field… and it’s estimated that the ball traveled at least 440, maybe 450 feet.  That’s a home run in any other park, including Yosemite.  The Giants went on to win the Series in ’54…. their last championship…. ever.  By the way, a young player had a 21 game hitting streak that year… Willie Mays.  Let’s see.. didn’t someone else have a 21 game hitting streak this year?  Oh yeah… Buster Posey.  I’m just tryin’ to connect the dots.

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