Jackson Browne

The Secret Policeman's Third Ball took place at The London Palladium over four consecutive nights 26–29 March 1987. The show's format was retooled in an effort to take advantage of the growing number of rock musicians supporting Amnesty. Instead of it being primarily a comedy show with a few musical cameos, the event made a point of giving equal emphasis to comedy and music. The show's four nights were divided up into two nights of comedy and two nights of music.

More than a decade after launching her solo career, vocalist Monica Mancini is finally getting to do the album she's always wanted to. "This is my music", says Monica of I've Loved These Days, a gorgeously crafted collection of songs by artists who helped shape the soundtrack of her formative years, including Lennon & McCartney, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Jackson Browne, Harry Nilsson, Brian Wilson and Janis Ian. "This is the music that resonates more than anything else for me," she explains. "I love singing standards, and there is something that I respond to with all those wonderful old songs, but these songs are vital to me. These are my standards." Intriguingly, I've Loved These Days goes a step beyond mere reverence by actually incorporating many of Monica's musical heroes. Joining Monica on I've Loved These Days are original composers Jackson Browne offering guitar and vocal accompaniment on "These Days," Brian Wilson and the multi-Grammy winning vocal group Take 6 contributing vocals and arranging on "God Only Knows," Stevie Wonder harmonically dueting on "Blame It on the Sun," and the Rascals' Felix Cavaliere providing B-3 organ accompaniment on his classic "How Can I Be Sure." Says Monica, "It was thrilling that these guys came back to reconnect and rework songs that helped put them on the map as artists.

One of the most acute and savagely satiric songwriters of his era, Warren Zevon was born in Chicago on January 24, 1947. His formative years were as colorful as the scenarios played out in his music: his father was a professional gambler, a lifestyle which forced the family to move frequently, and Zevon spent most of his formative years in California and Arizona. He learned to play piano, focusing primarily on classical material before a disintegrating home life led him into pop music, as well as a few run-ins with the law; …