ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS

ROCK 'N' ROLL NEWS

It was a totally awesome wedding, we’re sure. Stevie Nicks got married at her home on L.A.’s Sunset Boulevard on January 29th. The groom wasn’t a stuffed teddy bear, but Stevie’s long-time friend, Kim Anderson. Wedding guests included fellow Fleetwood Mac members Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood, as well as Don Henley and Kenny Loggins. One spokesperson described the whole affair as “cosmic contemporary.” Fer sure.. .

Marshall Crenshaw has enlisted. Steve Lillywhite to co-produce his second LP, scheduled for release this spring. Lillywhite has produced records for (J2, XTC,Peter Gabriel and the Psychedelic Furs, so it looks like the happy popster really does intend to go a bit psychedelic on this release.

Told ya we didn’t believe it. There is no truth to stories that Keith Richards has been “converted” to Christianity. The rumor, reported in last month’s Rock ’N’ Roll News, was supposedly started by Keith’s future brother-in-law, Navy Chaplain Rodney Hansen, although Hansen vehemently , denies he ever said it. Said Keith: “I haven’t found God yet. I wasn’t even looking for him. If I do find him, I wilj let you all know.” On a more tragic note, Keith’s marriage to Patti Hansen has been

delayed due to her father’s death following a brief illness. The couple are now planning to tie the knot in April:

Eddie Van Halen and Ted Templeman are currently in the studio producing a solo LP for former Soft Machine guitarist Allan Holdsworth. It’s Holdsworth’s first record for a major label since his brief stint with the band U.K.

At presstime, the English Beat were scheduled to perform a benefit concert for the Alliance For Survival on March 8th at the 2,000-seat Hollywood Palace. The concert is scheduled to take place the day before the U.S. Congress votes on a bill that would put a freeze on nuclear weapons. The bill failed by only two votes the last time around, and the Beat are hoping to make young people aware of the issue’s importance. The band is also hoping to get some special guests to appear, and names mentioned include Elvis Costello, Smokey Robinson, Sting and Grandmaster Flash. More details next month after the event takes place...

The Pretenders have announced the addition of two new members to replace bassist Chris Farndon and the late James HoneymanScott. The new Pretenders are guitarist Robbie Macintosh, formerly of the group Night and bassist Malcolm Foster, formerly of the Foster Brothers Meanwhile^ the band’s latest single “Back On The Chain Gang” will join material by the Clash for inclusion on the soundtrack to King Of Comedy, Martin Scorsese’s latest film. The LP should be in the stores any day now.

Watch for a forthcoming biodocumentary on the life and times of the late reggae king Bob Mariey!

Patrons of New York’s Lorie Star Cafe were more than a little surprised when Bob Dylan made an unexpected appearance at a show by Rick Danko and Levon Helm in mid-February. The troubadour, who was reportedly a bit “boisterous, drunk and obnoxious” (perhaps his “bom again” phase has passed?), joined the duo onstage for the majority of both shows. The audience, needless to say, were thrilled.

Danko and Helm, of course, were members of the Band, Dylan’s famous back-up group for many moons.

He probably could care less at this late date, but there’s been a bit of a^ backlash lately as far as John Lennon memorials are concerned. First, Lennon’s memory was to be preserved in ^Strawberry Fields, a section of Central Park directly across the street from the Dakota where Lennon lived and died. But now ' some people who live near the site are afraid that planned memorial would bring fans from all over the world and create more traffic than the park can bear. Secondly, the 'Lennon statue that stood in front of Los Angeles’ City Hall until recently has been retired to a warehouse. Seems that numerous people complained that the statue was too expensive to devote to a man who “glorified sex and drugs.”

Get out your earplugs!! It seems that ex-members of Deep Purple, one of the best and loudest original heavy metal units, have been offered a million dollars to reform for an American tour. Since all members are free, with the exception of JOB Lord who plays keyboards for Whhesnake, they are seriously considering the offer.

The band’s line-up would feature all members from their successful Machine Head period, including RitchieBlackmore (guitar), Ian Gillan (vocals), Roger Glover (bass), lanPaice (drums) and Lord on keyboards. Here’s hoping that it pans out!

The next Blasters LP will feature Dave Alvin’s tribute to Hank Williams called “Long White Cadillac.”

Speaking of Ron Wood and the “poor” Rolling Stones, seems Woody got tired of having his New York apartment neighbors complaining about his all-night parties and loud music. So when. the same neighbors threatened to have Woody evicted, the rooster crowned guitarist decided to buy the entire apartment building. Ah, the price of success!

Aerosmith recently taped the first three-dimensional video in the history of rock V roll. The band’s recent concerts in Huntington,

West Virginia were shot using the new Optimax process which results In full-color 3-D when watched through special glasses. $o you should see Steven Tyler's pouting lips pulsating on your TV' screens before long.

A federal jury in Chicago recentlyS ruled that the Bee Gees lifted portions of the melody and rhythm for their hit “How Deep Is Your Love” from “Let It End," an j -unpublished song by Ronald Selle, a Chicago antique dealer. “Lies! I don’t believe it!” screamed Robin Gibb after the ruling was announced. The decision could make Selle a rich man, as the song appeared on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, the top-selling record of all time.

Hundreds of “bikies”—leather clad motorcycle gang members—turned opt to greet Joan Jett & The Blackheads when they recently touched down at the airport in Melbourne, Australia. In a scene reminiscent of The Wild One, the Hell’s Angels clones created a motorcade to escort Joan and her band to their hotel. Perhaps Joan’s next single will be a cover of “Blue’s Theme”?

Thin Lizzy will probably be defunct by the time you read this. The band completed a final British tour, as well as a farewell LP entitled Thunder And Lightning, scheduled for release later this year, before calling it quits. Said Thin Lizzy founder Phil Lynott: “There comes a time when we must all move on to other things. The standard of people who have worked and played with Lizzy was always the highest, so we can guarantee that this last album will be one of the best.”

Despite what we recently reported to the contrary, Mick Jagger has decided to hire a journalist to help him write his autobiography after . all. The job has gone to John Ryle deputy literary editor of The London Sunday Times who will probably make as much as $75,000 for his services. &

Singer Nick Heyward has left Haircut 100 after a disagreement with the rest of, the band. The remaining members say they’ll continue to record together with percussionist Mark Fox taking over as vocalist, and that they don’t see any change of direction necessitated by Heyward’s dcpaituie

The New York State legislature recently voted to declare January 8th as Elvis Presley Day in that state. The proclamation was the result of a petition signed by 15,000 fans of the laje rock singer, and Congress decided that while the big E*sdeath “may have been brought on by drug abuse, he was the Ring.”

Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has returned to the band to replace Vinay H Appice

Pete “Am I Too Old Yet” Townshend’s next solo LP will be an anthology of the Who leader’s various demo tapes made between the years 1964 and ’81. The album’s tentative title is Scoop.

Brian Setzer and the Stray Cats have been slapped with a $5 million lawsuit for adding the word “fuck” nu meroiis times to their cover version of Eddie Cochran’s “Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie.” The song’s publisher claims that extra ’‘obscene, indecent and offensive words” hurt the integrity of the tune. A_bit ironic, as the Stray:Cats have probably helped sell a few Cochran Records along the W(ay. V

Petula is a punk rocker?!? Petula Clark, one of the pep queens of themid-’60s with such hits as “Downtown,” “My Love” and “Don’tSleep In The Subway,” has added backing vocals to a song entitled “One-Two-Three-Four" on the forthcoming Ramones LP. So move over, Sheena!

THOSE ARE PEOPLE WHO DIED DEPT. You’ve probably heard by now, but we’re still sad to report the death of Karen Carpenter from a heart attack aggravated by anorexia nervosa on February 4th... Billy.Fury, one of England’s foremost “Elvis Presley clone” rock stars of the’50s and early’60s, succumbed to a heart attack on’ January 28th at the age of 41... Lamar Williams, former bassist for the Allman Brother Band and Sea Level, died of cancer in Los Angeles on January 21 st... Blues great Big Joe Williams, 83, was recently the victim of a fatal heart attack. Williams was probably most famous for his song “Baby, Please Don’t Go” which was covered by artists i? ranging from Muddy Waters,to -J Van Morrison & Them to Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes . .The family of artist Alberto Vargas recently' revealed his death of a heart attack on December 30th in L. A.

Although Vargas is most famous for his nude pinup drawings in Playboy and Esquire, he was also responsible for the memorable cover on the Cars’ Candy-O LP.

Nick Lowe’s latest, Abominable Snowman, is the first album the Basher didn’t produce himself, handing the job to his long-time engineering partner Roger Bechfarian instead.

Woody Allen once said that the nice thing about bisexuality is that it doubles your chance for a date on i Saturday night, which may or may not explain why the Culture Club’s Boy George received over 4,000 cards this last Valentine’s Day. And some of us are lucky to get even one from our moms...