Slumgullion

A well respected achievement. Congratulations to The Kinks on their 60th Anniversary. You can  celebrate by purchasing the Kinks The Journey Part 1 album, which came out today. The songs were chosen by Ray and Dave Davies and Mick Avory, and the album is available in double LP and 2-CD formats. Really ambitious Kinks fans can submit their own version of “You Really Got Me” via social media with the hashtag #thekinksthecovers.

Depending on what time you read this, you can catch Michael Steven Cohen performing selections from the Vintage Songs And Stories From The American Songbook this evening at the Tuscan Market and Wine Shop in Arlington Heights.

Congratulations to Yo Lo Tengo on their sold out show at Metro tonight. No doubt they’ll showcasing songs from their latest album This Stupid World.

 

Who’s doing what? A Special Gala Evening Of Music With Roger Daltry, will take place at Royal Albert Hall in London this Sunday, March 26. Richard Ashcroft, the Far From Saints band and Joan Armatrading will also perform, and surprise guests are expected. The charity event will benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust. Pete Townshend’s new solo single “Can’t Outrun The Truth,” became available today, and as noted on Townshend’s official Facebook page, “At least 10p from each download to go to the Teenage Cancer Trust.”

Tickets for The Who’s Tommy at the Goodman Theatre in downtown Chicago went on sale today. The musical, with book by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff, and directed by McAnuff, will run from June 13 to July 23.

Susanna Hoffs has announced the dates for her upcoming This Bird Has Flown book tour. Some are virtual, such as April 4 via Premiere Collectibles, April 18 via Indigo, and April 26 via Crowdcast. The in-person stops include New York, San Diego, Los Angeles, and an April 13 event at the Chicago Humanities Festival. 

POP Cats Chicago will take place next weekend (March 25 and 26) at Artifact Events, 4325 N. Ravenswood Avenue. The event promises “a fun-packed festival fueled by the spirit of cats, pop, and art!” Some of profits will benefit cat organizations taking part in the event.

Congratulations to The Zombies on being awarded the Career Act Grulke Prize at this year’s SXSW Film & Music Festival in Austin, TX. A recent Facebook post noted this is their 10th anniversary of performing at the festival. The band donated their prize to the OxFam Foundation in support of the fight against world poverty & injustice. SXSW 2023 also featured the premiere of Hung Up On A Dream, director/musician Robert Schwartzman’s documentary about The Zombies. On March 31, They‘ll release a new album titled Different Game.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo has a concert on March 25 at The Old Town School Of Folk Music.

Tickets will go on sale soon for the Chicago Critic Film Festival being held May 5 – 11 at the Music Box Theatre on the city’s north side. In related news, Chicago-based filmmaker Michael Smith’s short film Paper Planes will have its premiere on the weekend of April 15 and 16 at the After Image Film Festival in St. Charles, IL.

Graham Nash will have a Question and Answer session regarding his new album Now on the Talk Shop Live’s Rock And Roll channel  on April 4 at 7:00 pm EST. He’ll be selling autographed copies of his album as part of the event. 

Allan Clarke’s upcoming album I’ll Never Forget has been getting airplay on Little Steven’s Underground Garage and other independent rock stations. The former Hollies lead vocalist has also been racking up interviews on podcasts about this latest solo effort, which finds Clarke’s former fellow Hollie Graham Nash contributing songs and helping out on vocals. I’ll Never Forget is due on April 7.

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical runs through April 2 at the James M. Nederlander Theatre in downtown Chicago.

Personality Crisis: One Night Only, Martin Scorsese’s new documentary about David Johansen’s tenure with The New York Dolls, will have its premiere on Showtime on April 14.

The music venue Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights will present The Cellar - Cultural Zenith Of Arlington Heights on April 25. The Cellar, a teen club back in the 1960s, booked the best local rock bands, as well as The Who, The Yardbirds, Cream, The Byrds, MC5, Buffalo Springfield, and other world-famous acts. “This show will tell the story of the rise and fall of the Cellar,” the website explains. “with pictures, witnesses, recordings made live at the Cellar, and a group of great young musicians playing live many of the songs that rocked The Cellar in its heyday.” Tickets range from $40 to $15, and Hey Nonny has already slapped a Low Ticket Alert! on the Cabaret and Premier options.

Songs Of Surrender - The Reimagined Album, arrived last Friday, offering 40 previously released U2 songs presented in new, more intimate settings. U2 hooked up with 40 filmmakers, described as ‘creators’ on the website, to visualize the message of their chosen songs via short, imaginative clips.

KB Productions’ two-week run of Samuel Beckett’s absurdist play Happy Days runs through April 2 at City Lit Theater on Chicago’s north side. Jon Dambacher is the director and Kayla Boye is its star.

Paul Rock’s Wild Honey Foundation has staged several multi-artists concerts that benefit worthy causes, and on May 19, the Foundation will join forces with writer/producer Lenny Kaye and Rhino Records to present Nuggets - 1965 – 68 The Autism Benefit at Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA. Kaye, the force behind the iconic Nuggets various artists garage rock album, Rob Laufer, and Andrew Sandoval will lead the Wild Honey Orchestra. As with past Wild Honey events, well-known musicians are lining up to help out; including Peter Wolf, Elliot Easton, Darian Sahanaja, Debbie Shair, Evie Sands, Daryl Hooper, Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, and Peter Case. 

Describe The Night, a new time traveling thriller written by Rajiv Joseph continues its run at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago and will run through April 9. It’s being directed by Austin Pendleton, who like Joseph, is a Steppenwolf ensemble member.

Tickets are now on sale for the North American dates of Peter Gabriel’s i/o The Tour. He’ll be in Chicago at the United Center on September 30, and other stops include Toronto, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Power pop legends Power pop favs The Spongetones will be performing tomorrow night at Smokey Joe’s in their hometown of Charlotte, NC.

Joni Mitchell will receive this year’s Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song during a tribute concert in Washington, D.C. on March 31. The award honors artists who have had a positive influence on music. PBS stations will air the event.

The No Ones will release My Best Evil Friend, their first album in quite a while, on March 31.

Debbie Peterson of The Bangles is featured on the catchy, Paisley Underground sounding single “Phil Ochs Is Dead.” 

Those photo-snapping McCartneys. The Mary McCartney: Can We Have A Moment? photography exhibition runs through April 2 at Sotheby’s London. The Linda Retrospective, an exhibit of Linda McCartney’s photography, runs through August 5 at The Center For Creative Photography in Tucson, AZ. Paul McCartney’s 1964: Eyes Of The Storm book of photographs comes out in June, and will be featured at an exhibit running from June 28 through October 1 at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The Cure’s 2023 tour will bring them to the United Center in Chicago on June 10. Other dates include New Orleans, Houston, Phoenix, San Diego, Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Michael Rikfors, former lead vocalist for the late 1960s Swedish band Bamboo, and for a short time, The Hollies, has a live CD with some new songs coming out in April.

John Blaney, boss of the adventurous U.K. indie label Mega Dodo, is also an author and has a book titled A Howlin' Wind - Pub Rock And The Birth Of New Wave coming out on the label’s book imprint Paper Jukebox.

Paisley Underground pioneers The Three O’Clock are releasing a 40th Anniversary remastered, expanded edition of its debut EP Baroque Hoedown on May 12. It features the five original songs and four bonus tracks.