The cast of the upcoming third movie in the Star Trek franchise reboot Star Trek Beyond created a short video tribute to Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in the original series and passed away February 27, 2015. In the new video, Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the new franchise, encourages fans to give to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, one of Nimoy’s favorite charities.
Quinto also explains that if you give to a charitable campaign featuring nine charities selected by cast members and Nimoy’s widow Susan Nimoy, you can win a role in Star Trek Beyond, directed by Justin Lin. Go to the Omaze website or watch the video below for the Leonard Nimoy tribute and more information.
Star Trek Beyond, which has been filming in Vancouver recently, hits theaters on July 8, 2016. The movie’s screenplay was written by Doug Jung and Simon Pegg, who plays Scottie.
An upcoming album — called If I Can Dream — repackages some classic Elvis Presley recordings into new versions backed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Priscilla Presley is the executive producer of the album, explaining in Rolling Stone that the new release likely is an album that Elvis would have wanted to make. The first single is a re-working of the classic “If I Can Dream” from his “1968 Comeback Special.”
We have heard some reworkings of Elvis recordings in recent years with some success like “A Little Less Conversation,” which became a 2002 hit as a remix by Junkie XL. So it is not too surprising to see some other attempts along those lines. The original “If I Can Dream” already featured some orchestra instruments, so it is not too far of a leap to add a little more. So the song does not sound radically different, merely building on what was already there so you can imagine Elvis reworking his catalog with new recordings along these lines. Check it out.
The new album will feature both beloved classics and lesser-known songs. So alongside songs like “Love Me Tender,” “American Trilogy,” and “Burning Love,” we will hear reworkings of “Steamroller Blues,” “Anything That’s Part of You,” and “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind.” There is also a duet with Michael Bublé on “Fever.”
Priscilla explains that the album’s goal is to keep Elvis current by staying true to his voice. She is already thinking about songs for a second volume. Of course, she knew Elvis and I did not, but listening to “If I Can Dream,” it seems like a tasteful way to keep the King relevant in the new century. If I Can Dream: Elvis Presley With the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will hit stores on October 30.
What do you think of the plans for the album: consistent with Elvis’s work or just a money grab? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Steve Earle, no stranger to taking on social justice and political issues in his songs, recently performed a new song about Mississippi’s flag and the Confederate flag controversy. In “Mississippi, It’s Time,” he tells the Magnolia state it is time to take the Confederate battle flag out of the state’s flag (pictured above).
Below is his first public performance of the song at the New Glasgow Riverfront Jubilee in August 2015. “You can’t move ahead if you’re looking behind.”
September 10, 2015 Update: Steve Earle is officially releasing “Mississippi, It’s Time,” with the track hitting stores on September 11. Proceeds from the sale of the song will go to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Listen to the official recording of “Mississippi, It’s Time” by Steve Earle & The Dukes below.
The year 1974 was an odd year for music, with a number of unusual hit pop songs that you rarely hear today. The year featured acts like Bob Dylan returning to touring for the first time in eight years. Queen played its first North American concert. And the Ramones made their first appearance at CBGB. Yet, some of the biggest hit songs of the year were Carl Douglas’s “Kung Fu Fighting” and Blue Suede’s reworking of BJ Thomas’s 1968 release “Hooked on a Feeling,” adding ooga-chaka’s. And two odd 1974 pop hits with a link to each other were Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods’ “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” and Paper Lace‘s “The Night Chicago Died.”
“The Night Chicago Died”
“The Night Chicago Died” hit number one on the charts on August 17, 1974. If you were around in those days, you probably can sing along to “The Night Chicago Died.” But if you were born after that date, it is quite possible you have never heard of the song.
“The Night Chicago Died” is a story song about a 1930s battle between Al Copone’s men and the Chicago police. Songwriters Peter Callander and Mitch Murray tell a Prohibition-era story that is largely inaccurate in both historical events and city geography.
But perhaps what made the song a hit was the part about the songwriter watching his momma cry while waiting to see if her policeman husband would come home alive. Spoiler alert: The father-husband returns safely.
At the end, the singer recalls that the door opened wide “And my daddy stepped inside,/ And he kissed my mama’s face, And he brushed her tears away.”
“The Night Chicago Died” was a huge hit. It sold more than three million copies.
The British band Paper Lace consisted of Philip Wright (drummer and lead singer on “The Night Chicago Died”), Cliff Fish, Phil Hendriks, and Dave Major. While Paper Lace had a number one hit with “The Night Chicago Died” in the U.S., the song only went to number two on the U.K. charts.
“Billy Don’t Be a Hero”
Paper Lace, who still tour, did have a number one hit in the U.K. prior to “The Night Chicago Died.” The band’s version of “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” — a story song about a woman telling her love not to get killed in the war — went to number one in the U.K earlier in 1974.
But before Paper Lace could release their version of “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” in the U.S., Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods claimed their one-hit-wonder status by releasing their version. The Bo Donaldson song went to number one in the U.S. in June 1974.
Like “The Night Chicago Died,” the song “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” was written by Callander and Murray. “Billy,” however, has a sadder ending, with the heroic Billy getting killed.
Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods reformed in the mid-1990s and still toured as of 2015. Mike Gibbons, the lead singer on “Billy Don’t Be a Hero,” did not tour with the band on the oldies circuit. And he passed away on April 2, 2016.
The song does not name the war where Billy is killed. From the lyrics (“the soldier blues”) most assume the song is set during the Civil War. But in 1974 any song mentioning war made one think of the Vietnam War.
I have barely heard “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” since the year it was released. It does make a delightful brief appearance in the background music in Walk Hard: The Dewy Cox Story (2007).
Yet, like “The Night Chicago Died,” I can still sing every word. That’s the power of pop.
In the Temptations classic “I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You),” the singer’s lover has just told him that she is leaving and he begs her to stay, pleading he could never love another. Many sources explain that the song, and in particular the line, “You’ve taken away my reason for livin’,” were based on a true story.
The story behind the song involves young Motown songwriter Rodger Penzabene, who co-wrote “I Could Never Love Another” and the similarly themed “I Wish It Would Rain” from the same album. On those songs, his co-writers were Norman Whitfieldand Barrett Strong. He also wrote other songs of heartbreak, including co-writing “Save Me From This Misery” for the Isley Brothers.
Penzabene and his wife had met as youths at Mumford High School. But sometimes love does not last forever.
Reportedly Penzabene had taken his wife back after she had an affair, but she ended up leaving him after all. As the album with “I Could Never Love Another” climbed the charts, Penzabene killed himself by gunshot on New Year’s Eve in 1967. He was 22.
Nothing makes the story more convincing than the anguished lead vocals on “I Could Never Love Another” by the great David Ruffin, who also died too soon from a tragic death. The way Ruffin sings the word “believe” in the first line immediately conveys the heartbreak and pain that permeates the entire song.
To the degree the backstory is true, though, we can never really know. Penzabene wrote the great song, and it seems he felt that heartbreak. But suicide is a complicated act. If everyone who is deeply heartbroken killed herself or himself, our species would have died out long ago. No doubt Penzabene’s feelings about his loss contributed to his final act, but one could probably point to other things too regarding the young father, like reportedly he was losing his sight at the time due to a head injury. So, I suspect there is more to the story than someone was heartbroken, wrote a sad song, and then killed himself.
Penzabene’s wife Helga Penzabene at the time was very young herself, caring for the couple’s two young sons, Rodger Jr. and 10-month-old Carl. Since then, she has tried to set the record straight by clarifying that Rodger did not kill himself over her. In 2012, she wrote in the comments to a post on Elvis Needs Boats that she was alive and well, living in Mount Clemens, Michigan. She has remarried twice, most recently divorced, and she still sang. She reported that she was working on a book about her life with Rodger.
That book was never written. Helga passed away in 2016 from cancer.
I suspect, though, that whatever might have been written in a book, many would still choose to believe the less complex heartbroken suicide version. We need tragic heroes, and the song is too good and the Temptations too awesome to believe that the songwriter did not kill himself after losing his reason for living.
Check out other posts in our series “The Story Behind the Song.” What is your favorite heartbreak song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
— repackages some classic Elvis Presley recordings into new versions backed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Priscilla Presley is the executive producer of the album, explaining in 
The year 1974 was an odd year for music, with a number of unusual hit pop songs that you rarely hear today. The year featured acts like Bob Dylan returning to touring for the first time in eight years. Queen played its first North American concert. And the Ramones made their first appearance at CBGB. Yet, some of the biggest hit songs of the year were Carl Douglas’s “Kung Fu Fighting” and Blue Suede’s reworking of BJ Thomas’s 1968 release “Hooked on a Feeling,” adding ooga-chaka’s. And two odd 1974 pop hits with a link to each other were Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods’ “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” and 
