Plus: Enuff’s Not Enough; Crowdfunding Kath
“Disturbed frontman David Draiman has slammed ‘the mainstream media’ for its ‘biased, libelous, and often erroneous portrayal of Israel’ in the current conflict in Gaza and has accused a number of the world’s biggest news organizations of ‘set[ting] the stage for a new Holocaust,'” Blabbermouth reports.
“Draiman – who has extensive family in Israel, including his brother, Jerusalem-based folk rock and ambient musician Ben Draiman, as well as his grandmother – took to his Twitter account on Friday (August 8) to write: ‘The mainstream media’s biased, libelous, and often erroneous portrayal of Israel in the current conflict has fueled a wave of anti-Semitism, the likes of which I have not witnessed in my lifetime. Well done, CNN, BBC, Reuters [and] MSNBC, you’ve set the stage for a new Holocaust. Maybe you’d be happy/satisfied when the extremist nutbags you defend so much, who eagerly martyr their own children who chant for the death of all Jews, not just the Israeli’s, and whose ethics, morals and values stand diametrically opposed to your own liberal views of freedom of religion, gay marriage, pro choice, and even democracy itself, strip the region of the only bastion of true liberty that exists in the region. Well, guess what? Never again. Jews aren’t so easy to fuck with anymore.'”
Enuff Not Enough
“Chicago rockers Enuff Z’nuff have compiled various cover tunes that they have recorded over the past 30-years for a new album, Covered In Gold, which will be released in North America on August 19th,” Anti-Music reports.
“Many of the covers on the album will be familiar to long-times fans as they have appeared on various albums and compilations including their versions of Cheap Trick’s ‘Everything Works If You Let It,’ Queen’s ‘Stone Cold Crazy,’ Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ ‘Tears of a Clown’ and John Lennon’s ‘Imagine,’ which was a staple of their live shows in the 1990s.”
Deacon Blues
Charges in shooting death of Eric “Guitar” Davis.
Crowdfunding Kath
“The daughter of former Chicago guitarist Terry Kath has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to complete a documentary about her father, who died from an accidental gunshot wound in 1978,” Anti-Music reports.
“Terry Kath was the larger-than-life lead guitarist, vocalist and founding member of Illinois jazz-rockers Chicago. Kath played on the group’s early hits ’25 or 6 to 4′ and ‘Saturday In The Park’ and blazed a trail on albums such as 1969’s Chicago Transit Authority and ’71s Chicago III.
“Such was Terry Kath’s musical prowess that Jimi Hendrix declared him ‘better than me.’ However, tragedy struck in January 1978, when he shot himself with a pistol.”
Remembering Kimball Paul
“Kimball Paul stood out on the dance floors at the punk and new wave bars that dotted the North Side of Chicago in the 1980s,” the Sun-Times reports.
It wasn’t just his mustache, as luxuriant as Freddy Mercury’s.
Or his shaved head.
Or the muscle packed on his 6-foot-3-inch frame.
It wasn’t just his flowing robes. Or the way he danced, with sweeping movements rooted in his study of tai chi.
It was the martial arts sword – sometimes, two at a time – he brandished as he swirled on the dance floor, especially when he heard Roxy Music. He couldn’t resist the velvety vibrato of Bryan Ferry.
Dancing was a break in his workday.
Mr. Paul was a sword-carrying bouncer at Neo, Exit, Avalon and Metro. And when he wasn’t raising an eyebrow at fake IDs, breaking up fights and disarming particularly rowdy customers, he was out there, in the words of Billy Idol, “Dancing with Myself.”
Mr. Paul, 56, a Bridgeport resident, died Tuesday night of liver disease at Rush University Medical Center.
A celebration of his life is in the works.
An Elmhurst Rock Opera
“Alexander Kariotis’ self-titled debut, out now on Sony/Red, profiles a life set to music,” the Sun-Times reports.
From growing up in Elmhurst under the tutelage of his older rock-star brother to becoming one of the brightest stars in the grandiose rock opera tradition, it’s all laid out in 10 original tracks, including collaborations with jazz purveyor David Sanborn and Run-DMC’s Darryl McDaniels.
While there are songs about the time Kariotis’ father ran away with his piano teacher (“Home”) and, years later, meeting the love of his life in Germany (“Lucky in Love”), the multilingual record is eclipsed with moving stories about the singer’s late brother.
“This is kind of Tony and Alex’s album,” says Kariotis, explaining how the Steve-Perry-meets-Pavarotti style mirrors the intersection of their two worlds. Tony Kariotis was once the frontman for the melodic rock band Gambler, formed in Chicago in the ’70s in the era of Cheap Trick and REO Speedwagon. When the band needed an opener, Tony would often slate his kid brother’s high school group, the Nodes, to join the bill.
Kariotis plays Friday at the Hard Rock.
Eye Of Survivor
“Legendary rock band Survivor, featuring original guitarist Frankie Sullivan, and orginal lead vocalist Dave Bickler and Jimi Jamison, will perform Friday at Hard Rock Live in Northfield and Sunday at Horseshoe Casino in Cincinnati,” the Norwalk Reflector reports.
Sullivan couldn’t “Hold Back” any longer and has reunited four early members of Survivor, Bickler and Jamison.
Survivor was formed in the cold Chicago winter of 1977 by Sullivan and Jim Peterik and signed to a record deal with Scotti Bros. Records the following year. The artistic success of their first album, the self-titled Survivor, including the single “Somewhere in America,” did moderately well and started to build a loyal base of fans.
Their breakout came in 1982 when Sylvester Stallone invited them to write and perform the title song for Rocky III. This was the now-classic “Eye of the Tiger,” and brought the band national attention. “Eye of The Tiger” spent seven weeks at the #1 spot on the U.S. charts. The song won a Grammy, an Oscar nomination and was voted ‘Best New Song” by the People’s Choice Awards.
The band also once collaborated with Eddie Money.
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Posted on August 14, 2014