MOTORCITYBLOG

4/4/24

THE ALARM Pays Homage to MUSIC TELEVISION with Album & Tour

Pays Homage to MUSIC TELEVISION

New Album Features Reimaginings of Classics
By The Buggles, Modern English, INXS and More

First Single/Video David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World”

More Dates Added to Live Today Love Tomorrow MMXXIV U.S.
feat. The Alarm, Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel and Belouis Some

The Alarm "The Man Who Sold The World"
Link/Embed: https://youtu.be/wuQvuV6mD18?si=SkFZeanmjf1MWmkp

MARCH 25, 2024 (Wales, UK) – “A.I. killed the rock and roll star,” sing Welsh alt-rock icons THE ALARM as they prepare for the release of brand new album MUSIC TELEVISION, a technicolor homage to the video explosion of the 1980s through a reinterpreted collection of MTV channel classics. Music Television will only be available on vinyl and CD at venues throughout the Live Today Love Tomorrow tour (info below) or online at TheAlarm.com.

Inspired by David Bowie’s 1973 album of glam-proto-punk cover versions Pin Ups, Music Television by The Alarm will step back into the future reinterpreting songs from some of rock’s most influential and defining moments in visual music. “The Alarm came of age in the MTV era” continues Peters, “So many of our longstanding fans grew up on MTV and saw The Alarm for the first time on MTV’s The Cutting Edge or via the historic ‘Spirit Of ‘’86 Live Global Broadcast’ concert, and have stayed with us ever since,”

Featuring 11 tracks celebrating both influential and underrated artists from Generation MTV that changed and influenced the lives of so many, the first single from Music Television is a psychedelic David Bowie-inspired / Nirvana-influenced acoustic cover of “The Man Who Sold The World.” which Peters attributes to his fascination with the groundbreaking MTV Unplugged acoustic performance series. “Unplugged was a series that redefined music as we knew it,” he says. “I remember watching in awe at some of the incredible stripped-down arrangements of classic songs and, at the same time envious that I had been denied the opportunity to appear on the show back in the day. [The Alarm appeared in the series’ first season but without Peters]. This is my chance to take back part of music television history and pay my respects to an era that changed everything.”

MUSIC TELEVISION
album art (hi-res)

PROGRAM ONE

Money For Nothing (Dire Straits)
Video Killed The Radio Star (The Buggles)
Live Today Love Tomorrow (The Blow Monkeys)
Imagination (Belouis Some)
Beat It (Michael Jackson)

PROGRAM TWO

Don’t Change (INXS)
In The Air Tonight (Phil Collins)
I Melt With You (Modern English)
Screaming For Emmalene (Gene Loves Jezebel)
The Man Who Sold The World (David Bowie)
MTV Theme

Music Television kicks off with a reimagining of the first ever song to be played on MTV back in 1981 – The Buggles “Video Killed The Radio Star” with a subtle lyric change that reflects the threat of A.I. and new technology on rock and roll as we now know it. Dire Straits MTV anthem “Money For Nothing” (the first song to be played on MTV Europe in 1987), is re-modeled into a garage rock harmonica-driven anthem in the electro-acoustic style of Neil Young’s Crazy Horse. Among other songs getting re-imaginings include INXS’ “Don’t Change,” The Blow Monkeys’ “Live Today Love Tomorrow,” Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” and Modern English’s classic “I Melt With You” (full track listing below).

A redrawing of Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight” embraces the original’s spacious atmospherics and injects raw electronic blues into the mix, centering it on Peters’ iconic vocals. “I was walking with my guitar in NYC’s Central Park when I came across a busker playing a stripped-back minor key version on a beat-up old guitar and I joined in,” recalls Peters about his chance encounter in 2023. “It was truly amazing to hear a song so familiar in unfamiliar surroundings. I asked him where he first heard the song, and he said ‘MTV, Man!’ and that gave me the inspiration for this version of the track.”

As an honor to their Live Today Love Tomorrow MMXXIV tour mates Belouis Some and Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel (both of whom had sizeable success across the MTV and US Radio Networks back in the mid-’80s), The Alarm pays tribute with covers of “Imagination” (that caused huge controversy at MTV with the first-ever full-naked video directed by Storm Thorgerson) and “Screaming For Emmalene” respectively.

Mike Peters of The Alarm
photo credit: Jules Peters (hi res)

The tour, which was announced earlier this year, has been extended coast to coast, with over 30 shows starting in New Orleans on May 1st and continuing through to July when the tour reaches Florida. The Alarm also features on the bill of the massive Cruel World Festival in California on May 11th, alongside Duran Duran, Simple Minds, Placebo and Interpol.

Music Television by The Alarm will be released as a Limited Edition Yellow / Purple Vinyl press exclusively via the band’s website www.thealarm.com, and on CD at all US venues throughout the Live Today Love Tomorrow Tour.

* The Alarm only
** The Alarm / Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel only

PART ONE:

May 01	New Orleans, LA	House of Blues
May 02	Austin, TX	Emo's
May 03	Houston, TX	House of Blues
May 04	Ft. Worth, TX	Tannahill's
May 07	Kansas City, MO	Knuckleheads
May 08	Minneapolis, MN	TBA
May 09	Chicago, IL	Des Plaines Theatre
May 10	Detroit, MI	Magic Bag
May 11	Los Angeles. CA	Cruel World *
May 12	Pittsburgh, PA	Jergels
May 13	Toronto, ON	El Mocambo
May 14	Buffalo, NY	Asbury Hall
May 15	Cleveland, OH	Temple Live @ Masonic
May 16	Asbury Park, NJ	Asbury Lanes
May 17	Philadelphia, PA	Colonial Theater [Phoenixville)
May 18	Falls Church, VA	State Theater
May 19	Richmond, VA	The National
May 22	Huntington, NY	Paramount
May 23	Pawling, NY	Daryl's House **
May 24	New York, NY	Irving Plaza
May 25	Salisbury, MA	Blue Ocean Music Hall
May 26	New Haven, CT	Toad's Place
May 29	Boston, MA	Brighton Music Hall

PART TWO:

June 18	Seattle, WA	APEX Art and Cultural Center
June 20	San Francisco, CA	Bimbos 365
June 21	Sacramento, CA	Ace of Spades
June 25	Denver, CO	Oriental Theater
June 28	Louisville, KY	Mercury Ballroom
July 03	West Palm Beach, FL	Respectable Street
July 05	Mt Dora / Orlando, FL	Mt. Dora Music Hall
July 06	Clearwater, FL	Capitol Theater

4/3/24

True Devil - 'The Summoning' Launch Party

MOTORCITYBLOG was invited to an exclusive invite-only Launch Party for

TRUE DEVIL, the brand new hard rock Detroit band featuring:

Mark Stebleton on Vox, Brent Hall - Guitar, Dave Seymour - Guitar,

Dana Forrester - Bass, and James Trunko - Drums

Sponsored by Planted Provisioning and hosted by the cool as hell High Dive Club in Hamtramck,

this one-night-only incarnation of The Hellfire Club was a dark celebration of true Detroit rock and roll.

With VJ Strokenfold on the decks all night, and performances by Jennabelle Wingless, the evening felt like a perfectly intimate night out with your Friends that just happened to be at a packed

bar celebrating a new band. All the whos who was present throwing their devil horns in the air

as Stebleton's deep dark voice cracked the ceiling.

Thank you, Dana, for the invite and for the killer party!

To see all the images click here

4/2/24

THE EROTIC POETRY & MUSIC FESTIVAL - 35th ANNIVERSARY SHOW!

"An eclectic celebration of the erotic arts!"

This year the infamous “Erotic Poetry & Music Festival” celebrates its 35th Anniversary Show!

“An eclectic celebration of the erotic arts!” It features provocative poetry, dirty spoken word, erotic art, music, and dance performances by some of the city's top performers. It is an evening you won’t forget!

It is now Detroit's oldest community arts festival, from its humble beginnings in what was the Cass Corridor, it has continued every year except for a two year pandemic hiatus. Over the years the festival has donated a portion of the proceeds to various non-profits that included the Triangle Foundation to the current recipient the Michigan based Paws with a Cause who train and provide leader dogs for the disabled.

The show returns on Sat. April 6, 7pm doors and 7:30 showtime and 18 & over are welcome. Admission is $20 in advance thru Ticketweb.com and at the door.

The event will be held at THE LOVING TOUCH at 22634 Woodward in Ferndale. (248-820-5596) The 2023 show is sponsored by Tease by Noir Leather and Pure Romance by Stephanie Sage.

Featuring performances by:

Satori Circus

Konrad Lee

Carmel Liburdi

Divine Butterfly

Burlesque performances by:

Lushes LaMoan

Magenta DeMure

Swayze

Poetry & Spoken Word by:

Lisa Vicious

Dena Luckett

Brittany Kelly

Tara Ray

Scott Boman

Mike Kelly

The Impaler

Pearl

Heather Herron

Hosted by The Impaler & Peter Schorn

Live Painting by Jody Bauman

Sexy Stuff by Pure Romance by Stephanie

Hot prints and books by OOMM Studios