Ghost Cult welcomes in guest contributor, podcaster and Pink Floyd expert Nik Cameron of The Glacially Musical Pouredcast to wax on about Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, which turned 50 years old today (March 1st, 2023).
The Dark Side of the Moon, 50 Years Later
As we sit here, author and reader, what could be arguably called the greatest prog rock album of all time, The Dark Side of the Moon, by Pink Floyd, has aged fifty years. At the time of this writing when I attempt some words about this massive achievement, I am 47 years old.Continue reading →
Christine McVie, the longtime vocalist and keyboardist of Fleetwood Mac, has died at the age of 79. Her family and the band broke the news on social media, which you can see in the posts below. Starting her career in the 1960s in the UK with the band Chicken Shack, McVie released her solo debut, Christine Perfect, in 1970. At the time, she was married to Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie, and later joined the band formally for 1971’s Future Games. After the band mergd with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham they had chart-topping million selling albums with 1975 self-titled album, 1977’s Rumours, and 1979’s Tusk. Those albums featured several notable songs written and sung by Christine McVie, including “Over My Head,” “Warm Ways, “Say You Love Me,” “Don’t Stop,” “Songbird,” and “Brown Eyes.” Amid the band’s prolific period, the McVies divorced in 1976. McVie stayed in the band until leaving in the late 1990s. McVie was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. She also won the 1980 Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Rumours. Christne will be remembered for her beautiful voice, classy compositions, and deft talent as a performer on piano. RIP.
In addition to the cool new series for Wednesday series on Netflix, based on the character Wednesday Addams from the popular series, films, and cartoons of The Addams Family, there was a cool music surprise. Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” can be heard, in its cover form by Apocalyptica during episode three of the acclaimed new show. This makes the second Netflix series bolstered by a Metallica this year with Stranger Things featuring “Master of Puppets” earlier this year. Other music on the soundtrack includes Danny Elfman and Chris Baker who did the score, Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, The Cramps, Dua Lipa, Edith Piaf, Beach House, and more! Created by Tim Burton, the series stars Jenna Ortega (Scream 2022, X) in the title role, alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, Gwendoline Christie, Christina Ricci and more — “is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy.” Continue reading →
Like a lot of us out there, the lockdowns during the pandemic gave Florence Welch a lot of spare time to kill. When reading about the UK during the middle ages, Welch discovered ‘choreomania’ or dancing to exhaustion or even death, and thus became the soul theme to the band’s fifth album Dance Fever (Polydor Records). Now, some thirteen years since the act’s debut album, Lungs, Florence and The Machine have become a household name, having headlined grand festivals such as Glastonbury, and the real question is where can the group go from here.
Legendary British producer Martin Birch, best known for engineering and producing albums by Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, Whitesnake, Blue Öyster Cult, died yesterday (Sunday, August 9th). He was 71. His passing was confirmed former Deep Purple/Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale, who tweeted: “It is with a very heavy heart I’ve just had verified my very dear friend & producer Martin Birch has passed away. “Martin was a huge part of my life…helping me from the first time we met through until Slide It In… “My thoughts & prayers to his family, friends & fans…Broken heart”Continue reading →
Rock Music legend Peter Green, co-founded Fleetwood Mac and led the band during their early years, has died. He was 73 years old. His family confirmed his death in a statement released by solicitors Swan Turton, who is acting on their behalf. “It is with great sadness that the family of Peter Green announce his death this weekend, peacefully in his sleep,” the statement reads. “A further statement will be provided in the coming days.”Continue reading →
Evanescence has shared their brand new music video for their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s all-time classic song ‘The Chain’. Directed by frequent collaborator, P.R. Brown (My Chemical Romance, John Mayer, Green Day), the piece blends powerful, epic performance visuals with footage from the launch trailer for Xbox Game Studios’ Gears 5 from the massively popular Gears of War franchise. To emulate the aesthetic of Gears 5, a miniature set was constructed for the music video that parallels the dystopian environment of the game. Watch the clip here!
Evanescence has released their cover of Fleetwood Mac‘s classic 1970s rock song ‘The Chain’! The song comes from the soundtrack to the game Gears of War 5, from XBOX’s popular “Gears Of War” franchise. The band is in the studio working on a new album for 2020 and has booked a world tour with Within Temptation. Check out the track right now!Continue reading →
Forbes has released their annual list of the worlds highest-paid celebrities and on the strength of their massive grossing world tours, Metallica and Guns n Roses made the list. Metallica is back on the list after missing in 2018, ranked No. 21 this year with $65 million. GNR also failed to make the list last year but landed at No. 71 in 2019 with $44 million. The annual Celebrity 100 ranks the world’s highest-paid celebrities in music, sports, and entertainment according to what they made over the last 12 months. Sadly, Taylor Swift is still the highest-paid celebrity in the world, earning $185 million over the past year. Music industry trade magazine Pollstar recently named Metallica one of the top-earning hard rock and metal tours of the “2019 Midyear” reporting period, which covered the six-month range from November 22, 2018, to May 22, 2019. The ongoing “WorldWired” trek continued to be a hot ticket, as the group’s 21 North American arena shows during the reporting period grossed a total of $41.7 million, good for an average per-show gross of $1.99 million. With an average attendance of more than 16,000, the band moved nearly 350,000 tickets altogether. Guns’ “Not In This Lifetime” tour is believed to be the second-highest-grossing tour of all time, having generated more than $500 million since it began three years ago. The trek began in April 2016, and after 159 shows in 41 countries, it played its last date at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 8, 2018. Continue reading →
Ghost Cult caught up with up and coming Texan band Blacktop Mojo last fall at Rock Allegiance Festival in Camden, New Jersey. Speaking to Matt James and Ryan Kiefer right after they performed, we chatted about the festival, their upcoming new record, crowdfunding with Pledge Music, building a close relationship with fans, what good publicity does for underground bands, their famous cover songs like Aerosmith’s ‘Dream On’ and Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’, how much Stevie Nicks rules, natural disasters, and more! Their current album Burn The Ships is out now via Cuhmon Records! Interview conducted by Keefy with Omar Cordy of OJC Photography. Continue reading →
