News

Guitarist Gerry Leonard has revealed that David Bowie could tour off the back of his forthcoming new album. "I would say that it's 50-50," he told Rolling Stone. "A couple of times, when we played back one of the more kick-ass tunes from the new record, he'd be like, 'This would be great live!' Of course, everyone was like, 'What? Did he just say that?' But other times he'd just roll his eyes if someone brought up playing live."

The official website for Iggy And The Stooges has announced plans to release a DVD of its 2011 tribute concert for band member Ron Asheton in April. Asheton died in 2009 of a heart attack. He was the Stooges' original guitarist, but moved to bass for Raw Power, a position he held through the band’s reunion.

Good Ol’ Freda, a documentary about former Beatles secretary Freda Kelly, has scaled the Everest of music licensing feats: it has licensed three Beatles songs.

Bob Dylan is reportedly releasing a 7” single as part of Record Store Day 2013, according to an online round up of this year’s planned releases. The 7” will comprise versions of “Wigwam” b/w “Thirsty Boots”, which may be taken from the forthcoming Bootleg Series Volume 10.

Kevin Ayers, one of Britain’s most gifted and idiosyncratic singer-songwriters, has died at the age of 68. Ayers was born in Kent in 1944. Though he spent his childhood in Malaysia – moving there with his mother and British district officer stepfather – he returned to London at 12, only to be told to leave the city by a magistrate five years later following a drug bust. Ayers always maintained the bust that sent him into exile (and more importantly, into Canterbury) was a set-up. Whether it was or wasn’t, it was certainly an act of fate.

Suede have announced details of a new single and intimate London show. The band will release the track 'It Starts And Ends With You' – which you can listen to below – to coincide with the release of their new album 'Bloodsports' on March 18. The track follows 'Barriers', which you can hear on Suede's official website. The band have also announced that they will play an intimate show at The Barfly in Camden on March 4 for XFM, which they will follow-up with a big London show at Alexandra Palace on March 30.

Jack White has been named the official ambassador for Record Store Day 2013. The former frontman of The White Stripes has been named as the figurehead of the celebration of independent record shops thanks to the fact that he not only makes records, but also owns a record store and a record label: his Nashville based Third Man Records.

Nick Cave has spoken about reforming Grinderman in order to play the Coachella Valley Festival of Music and Arts in California this April. Cave took to Twitter on Tuesday in order to answer questions from fans. When asked why Grinderman were getting back together after splitting in 2011, Cave responded: "Every other shitty band is doing it, why not someone who's actually good."

In his memoir, Prince Among Stones: That Business With The Rolling Stones And Other Adventures, which I’ve just reviewed for the next Uncut, Prince Rupert Loewenstein, who was the band’s financial adviser for nearly 40 years, reflects at one point about how time as he gets older has started, as they say, to fly. Thinking about this, he is reminded of a famous quote by the grand old thespian, John Gielgud, who wryly remarked that in his old age time had started to speed by at such a pace that it seemed like breakfast was being served every 10 minutes.

Bruce Springsteen has added a new date to the UK leg of his Wrecking Ball Tour. He will play at the brand new Leeds Arena on July 24, his first indoor UK performance since 2007. The Leeds date will be this tour’s fourth UK date Springsteen, immediately preceded by nights in London, Glasgow and Coventry all announced last year.