Country Life UK October 07, 2020

Known for the huge hit "American Pie", which earned him the number one American for four weeks in 1972 and in other English-speaking countries, the composer Don McLean (born Donald McLean III in New Rochelle, New York, on October 2, 1945) saw his songs covered by Elvis Presley and Madonna.

Distortion: 1989-2019, a chronicle of the solo career of Bob Mould and his band Sugar released on the 2nd October 2020. Presented as a 12″ x 12″ hardbound book, this massive anthology compiles — for the first time — Bob Mould’s recorded work from 1989 onwards: 18 studio albums, plus 4 live albums and 2 albums of rarities and collaborations. Assembled with Bob Mould’s full involvement, featuring new sleeve notes from UK music critic Keith Cameron, and exclusive new artwork by Simon Marchner, this is the definitive portrayal of an American rock icon.

It's been a long time since that late May, 2013 week in Luleå, Sweden, where pianist Django Bates and his Belovèd Trio first collaborated with the renowned Norrbotten Big Band. Fully documented in the All About Jazz article Django Bates: From Zero to Sixty in Five Days, Bates, bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Peter Bruun, along with other non-Norrbotteners, including guitarist Markus Pesonen, tubaist Daniel Herskedal and trombonist/vocalist Ashley Slater, made the lengthy trek to this small coastal town, located just 100 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle (and already experiencing 22 hours of daylight), to collaborate with Norrbotten for an appearance at the first edition of Luleå's New Music Festival. The objective was for Bates and his band mates to bring a brand new book of music to life, the pianist largely expanding arrangements of Belovèd's existing repertoire, but also including a commissioned new work from the festival.

Frost* are back in action once more, with their fourth studio album ‘Day And Age’. Formed in 2004 by keyboard player Jem Godfrey, the band have so far released 3 studio albums, and most recently the career-spanning ’13 Winters’ collection. Now the band have returned as the 3-piece of Godfrey alongside longtime collaborators John Mitchell & Nathan King.

"If Not For You" is the debut studio album by Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released in November 1971 by Festival Records. The album was released on the Pye International label in the UK as "Olivia Newton-John", with slightly different covers. As a covers album, "If Not For You" features mostly songs previously recorded from contemporary artists of 1960s and early 1970s. She made several performances to promote "If Not For You" and her follow-up album, "Olivia", including an international tour with British singer Cliff Richard. It was her first album released by Festival Records, which would release all her albums in Australia until its dissolution in 2005. It also has Newton-John's first works with her long-time musical partner, John Farrar.

NOW Music is pleased to announce the latest addition to the numbered series – NOW That’s What I Call Music! 117 – Released on April 5th. 50 Huge Tracks across 2 CDs – the hottest hits from the Sales and Airplay Charts. Kicking off with the massive #1 ‘Stick Season’ from Noah Kahan and huge hits ‘Beautiful Things’ by Benson Boone and ‘Lose Control’ from Teddy Swims. Global smashes from Ariana Grande with ‘yes, and?’, and Tate McCrae with ‘greedy’. Poignant songs from Miley Cyrus and Lewis Capaldi follow before huge tracks from Tyla, Doja Cat, Ella Henderson feat. Rudimental and Zara Larsson & David Guetta. Pet Shop Boys are back with ‘Loneliness’ and closing the first disc the timeless ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ from Sophie Ellis-Bexter, reaching #2 in 2024, just as it did 22 years ago!

"They Don't Make Them Like They Used To" is the 19th studio album by country superstar Kenny Rogers. The album's title cut was used as the theme tune to the box office hit movie Tough Guys. The song "You're My Love" was written by Prince under the pseudonym "Joey Coco" and features El DeBarge on backing vocals. The album was a top 20 success on the country charts (and crossed over into the pop Billboard 200) with the single "Twenty Years Ago" peaking at #2. Two singles came from the album. The title cut, released at the end of 1986, only made #53 in the country charts although it did well by hitting #10 on the contemporary charts. When RCA released "Twenty Years Ago" in 1987, however, Rogers returned to the top five at #2, matching this feat in Canada as well.