The Greatest Hits

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

David Bowie's Handwritten Lyrics Valued At Up To £100,000 At Auction

A handwritten lyric sheet by David Bowie is set to be auctioned this week and is expected to fetch up to 100,000 pounds.

The document contains Bowie's corrections, drafts and notes for the Ziggy Stardust tracks "Rock'n'Roll Suicide" and "Suffragette City." It will be displayed at the Omega Auctions showcase sale on November 28.

The letter of provenance reads, "The hand-written notes were given to the original owner personally by David Bowie at Trident Studio, with a few other pages of original lyrics, some of which didn't survive."

"They were needed so that the music publisher and management could prepare the lyric sheet, printed on the album's inner record bag,"it adds. "At the same time, for the person collecting, David alerted them to two songs he hadn't written that he had just decided would also feature on the album (It Ain't Easy and Round and Round - the names of which he quickly added at the foot of the page on the Suffragette City side), writing next to them: 'pub (publishing) you know these songs'."

The letter of provenance also says the sheet was purchased by the current owner in the early 1980s, and loaned to the V&A in 2013 for an exhibition.

Auction manager Dan Muscatelli-Hampson said, "These are two real cult favourites in the wonderful Bowie oeuvre and 'Suffragette City' has been described as one of his very best. It's an incredible artefact to have and to hold and it is sure to excite the many millions of Bowie fans around the world - just as the Starman lyrics did."

(Photo: Press)

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Foghat's 'Sonic Mojo' Debuts At No. 1 On Billboard's Blues Albums Chart

Foghat's Sonic Mojo has debuted atop Billboard's Blues Albums chart, giving the band its first No. 1 on the tally.

Foghat released the 12-track Sonic Mojo, their 17-th studio album, and the first new record in seven years, on November 10th via their own label, Foghat Records.

The album features original new tracks and iconic covers by some of their favorite musicians. Founding drummer Roger Earl, guitar virtuoso/engineer/co-producer Bryan Bassett, bass maestro Rodney O'Quinn and lead singer/guitarist extraordinaire Scott Holt have crafted an album that's a time capsule of their glory days.

The album's three singles, "Drivin' On," "She's a Little Bit of Everything" (co-written by the late Kim Simmonds from Savoy Brown) and "I Don't Appreciate You" are currently streaming on the band's official YouTube page.

The band, which began its journey in 1971, have eight gold records, one platinum record and one double platinum record so far.

(Photo: Jake Coughlin)

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Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong Discusses Return To Political Songwriting

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong has revealed the reason why the American pop-punk icons have returned to political songwriting with their upcoming album.

The band, comprised of Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool, recently announced their 14th studio album, Saviours, due out January 19, 2024. It's the band's first LP since 2020's Father of All Motherf****s.

The lead single from Saviors, "The American Dream Is Killing Me", topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart last week.

The band has described the upcoming album as one that "bridges the gap" between Dookie and American Idiot.

Speaking with 102.1 the Edge, Armstrong explained that "The American Dream Is Killing Me" is actually the oldest song on Saviors, as it was written several years ago when the band was working on Father of All Motherf***s.

"For Father of All, we didn't want to go political because it was so obvious, and it was such low-hanging fruit, because we had such terrible politics and terrible division in the United States," Armstrong said. "We got away from the politics for a while. we just didn't want to be, you know, another pundit on CNN finger-pointing."

"But this time, we brought it out and it felt like it was the perfect time for it," he added.

(Photo: Pamela Littky)

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Ozzy Osbourne On 'The Osbournes' Reboot: 'Never In A Million Years'

During a recent episode of "The Osbournes Podcast," a segment featuring the Osbournes discussing their MTV reality series "The Osbournes" saw the family saying that they would never want to revive the series.

When asked by Jack Osbourne whether the series, which ran from 2002 to 2005, had a "positive or negative effect on everyone's mental health," Kelly Osbourne said it had a "massive negative effect" on her mental health. "It made me so insecure," she added. Ozzy Osbourne said the show served as the "best diary" for future generations of the family. However, he added that the intrusive nature of the production didn't allow him to even "pick my nose and squeeze a zit" without the cameras filming him.

Sharon Osbourne said she felt the show was a great experience, but it was time for it to end when it did. Ozzy chimed in that the series started to get "unreal" when they were forced to go on fishing trips and engage in other activities that they didn't normally do in real life.

Jack then remarked, "That's why I don't think we'll ever do another season," to which Ozzy replied, "It won't happen again. Never in a million years."

Ozzy admitted that he was hurt by the way he was portrayed on "The Osbournes," telling Jack, "I remember you came home one day, and said, 'Dad, let me ask you a question. Do you like people laughing at you or with you? And I said something like, 'As long as they're laughing, I don't give a sh-t.' But in all honestly, it made my head think, 'They're laughing at me.'"

(Photo: Ross Halfin)

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