Quick Takes: Motley Crue, Paul Stanley, AC/DC, Myles Kennedy & James Hetfield
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Motley Crue is promising a major announcement this morning (Thursday, October 20th), which many are expecting to be news about the band’s 2023 plans. Multiple sources are reporting the rumor that guitarist John 5 might be subbing for Mickey Mars, who’s been battling health issues over the years.
John 5 has posted online that his replacing Mars is “just a rumor.” (MetalWani)
Paul Stanley had some pointed words for both Chris Cuomo and Kanye West. The Kiss frontman tweeted a response to the troubled rapper’s antisemitic remarks on the NewsNation program Cuomo. Stanley posted: “If you saw someone on the street who was clearly disturbed, speaking nonsensically and spewing hate speech WOULD YOU INTERVIEW THEM ON TV?? This is a dangerous, self-serving version of click bait that legitimizes the ravings of someone who’s mentally ill. We all deserve better.”
Stanley went on to write: “Let Me Be Clear. I don’t advocate ‘silencing’ views. Everyone has the right to speak their opinion but not everything that happens or is said deserves the same coverage. Televising or putting in print someone’s views needs to take into account the credibility of the speaker.”
Brian Johnson recalled the one-and-only time he crossed paths with AC/DC‘s Bon Scott — the man he would replace in 1980. In his new memoir, The Lives Of Brian, set for release on October 25th, Johnson writes about how in the early-1970’s, his band Geordie was playing on the same bill as Scott’s pre-fame band Fang, who were the opening act: “He was one of the wildest-looking cats that I’d ever seen. Coconut-bob hair. Abe Lincoln beard. He looked like an elf. But, f*** me, the guy could sing. What he was singing wasn’t rock ‘n’ roll though. It was more like. . . prog-folk. Along the lines of Jethro Tull‘s Living In The Past. Only proggier. And folkier. At one point, he even whipped out a wooden recorder and started to play in a way that would have brought tears to the eyes of Mrs. Patterson, my old teacher.”
Johnson went on to wrote, “I never saw Bon again, I’m very sorry to say. But it’s so strange to me that our fates entwined on that one night on the Torquay seafront in the freezing cold. I wish that I could have got to know him better.” (Ultimate Classic Rock)
During a chat with Music Radar, Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy sang the praised of Metallica‘s James Hetfield. Kennedy who also sings and plays guitar, remains awestruck at the Metallica leader’s prowess at handling two major duties for his band at the same time: “That’s the thing that amazes me; I watch a guy like James Hetfield and it’s amazing how he can come up with those very rhythmic riffs and then sing over the top the way he does. I find that very inspiring. I find that occasionally, there will be something that will stump me, but with enough time, if I just put in the time and keep practicing and doing it over and over and over, I’ll generally be able to land on my feet.” (MusicRadar)
