Closer UK 05 August 2020

EXTRAORDINARY MORRISSEY BROADCAST FROM HIS MALADJUSTED TOUR After his solo-contract with EMI expired, Morrissey signed to RCA in 1995. On his new label he recorded his next album, Southpaw Grammar, at the Miraval Studios in southern France. It reached number 4 in the UK album charts, but made little impact compared to its two predecessors. In September 1995, Morrissey served as the support act for the European leg of David Bowie's Outside Tour. Backstage at the Aberdeen gig, Morrissey was taken ill and taken to hospital; he did not return for the rest of the tour. Later referring to the tour critically, he stated that when you become involved with Bowie, "you have to worship at the Temple of David". Morrissey returned on Island Records in 1997, releasing the single Alma Matters in July, followed by his next album Maladjusted in August. The album peaked at number 8 in the UK album charts. Its further two singles, Roy's Keen and Satan Rejected My Soul , both peaked outside the top 30 on the UK singles chart. The Maladjusted Tour began in Toronto on 12th September 97, and ended its first leg on 12th October at LA s Greek Theatre, where Moz and his band performed probably the finest show of the tour. Recorded for live broadcast on West Coast Radio, the gig remains previously unreleased but is now finally available on this new CD. Bonus tracks here come from an earlier broadcast made in the KROQ studio on 16th August 97, for the station s Modern Rock Live segment.

Die Prog-Rock-Giganten Emerson, Lake & Palmer schlossen sich 1970 zusammen und bestanden aus dem brillanten Keyboarder Keith Emerson, dem talentierten Sänger / Komponisten und Gitarristen Greg Lake, sowie dem dynamischen Drummer Cark Palmer. Nach ihrer Gründung erlangten sie schnell internationale Bekanntheit und spielten im Laufe ihrer Karriere in den wichtigsten und berühmtesten Venues rund um die Welt.

One of the greatest stars of the rock & roll era, Elton John exploded like a supernova in the early 1970s and sustained a career that kept him at the top of the charts for the next five decades. He had a Billboard Top 40 hit single every year between 1970 and 1996, a sign that he knew how to both change with the times and mold the times to fit him. John's earliest records were part of the moody, introspective post-'60s singer/songwriter movement, but once he had a hit with "Your Song," the pianist revealed he could also craft Beatles-like pop and pound out rockers with equal aplomb. As "Rocket Man," "Crocodile Rock," "Daniel," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," and "Bennie and the Jets" – songs John wrote with his lifelong collaborator Bernie Taupin – climbed into the Top Ten on either side of the Atlantic, John was inescapable during the first half of the '70s. His versatility, combined with his effortless melodic skills, and flamboyant stage shows, became his calling cards, sustaining him through shifts in fame and fortune. Eventually, John reached outside of pop music, writing songs for Disney's The Lion King and collaborating with Tim Rice on Aida, yet he never abandoned the form: during the 2010s and 2020s, he balanced fashionable collaborations with emerging stars with albums that hearkened back to his moody records of the early '70s. In 2024, he joined the elite group of EGOT winners after earning an Emmy Award for his concert special Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium.

English synth pop duo Pet Shop Boys have amassed a remarkably consistent and influential catalog, pairing wry cultural commentary with buoyant melodies and lush electronic arrangements that sound like no other. After first emerging in the mid-'80s with "West End Girls" and "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)," Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe quickly established themselves as hitmaking singles artists who were also able to craft emotionally resonant albums, like 1988's Introspective and 1990's Behaviour. The duo navigated the constantly shifting landscape of modern dance-pop with grace and intelligence, moving easily from disco to house music to thoughtful synth pop without losing their distinctive style in the process. Continuing to evolve artistically, Pet Shop Boys incorporated Latin music on 1996's Bilingual, expanded into theater and ballet, and eventually morphed into elder statesmen of electronic pop, producing an array of inventive late-period highlights like 2016's Super and 2024's Nonetheless.