FLEETWOOD MAC: Stevie Nicks wants Fleetwood Mac tours to be events
Stevie Nicks has shed a little more light on why she's resisted a Fleetwood Mac tour the past few years, a decision which has annoyed her fellow bandmates.
Nicks tells Classic Rock magazine, "A big band like Fleetwood Mac needs to get out of the spotlight, so that’s what we’ve done. We should always be off the road for three years, because when we come back it’s an event. I think that’s very important." Fleetwood Mac's last tour wrapped up in the fall of 2015.
Nicks adds that a long break helps relations in the band. "And being away from each other for three years is good. It really sets you up for a good time because everything’s new and everybody’s got new stories and everybody’s been doing crazy, different things, so when you walk into rehearsal that first day everyone’s really happy to see each other. If we toured every other year it wouldn’t be like that."
Fleetwood Mac is expected to tour later this year.
QUINCY JONES: Michael Jackson's father fires back
Michael Jackson's father Joe Jackson is clapping back at Quincy Jones over criticisms the super-producer leveled at the late singer. The elder Jackson tells Page Six that Jones is “jealous of Michael because he’s never worked with someone with all of that talent.”
Disputing Jones' accusations that Michael stole several of his hit songs, he says, "[Quincy] was the producer on ["Billie Jean" and "State of Independence"], so if anybody is wrong it would be Quincy.”
The gossip page also quotes an unidentified Jackson family member explaining that Jones has a grudge against Michael that started with the 1982 Grammy awards for Thriller and ended in a royalties lawsuit that Jones filed and won.
THREE DOG NIGHT: Talking things old and new
One of the emotional high points of a Three Dog Night show isn't one of their classic late '60s or '70s hits.
Thursday night in New York, Danny Hutton and his bandmates performed "Prayer of the Children" right before their finale, "Joy to the World." The nearly a capella number, backed by just a steady keyboard note, offers a spiritual, humanistic message on the plight of the youngest victims of war and poverty.
Danny Hutton recently talked about their new song "Prayer of the Children":
"My son's friend turned me on [to it]. And we found the writer and that's how we worked with it. A part of the song was in Serbian. I wanted to reach a whole bunch of people and we kinda changed it all up and got a hold of him. He said, 'Yeah, OK, go ahead and do it."
Danny says "Prayer of the Children" is a great showcase for the current Three Dog Night lineup. They've already recorded that and several other songs for their next album, which should be a mix of live and studio material.
Danny says, "We have three things in the can already, with the new guys. So I'd like to either... if we have enough to do a whole album or do a live album and then do bonus tracks. We don't know. We'll work that out."