This summer's reunion tour of Return To Forever will be accompanied by a two-CD compilation, "The Anthology," being released May 27 by Concord. Disc will contain works released by the Columbia and Polydor labels during the band's most rock-oriented electric phase.In a twisted way, it's the fusion equivalent of the recent Pixies reunion, a chance for those who missed them the first time-around and a chance for fans of acts that RTF influenced to hear the original. From my perspective, when tackling solid material, few bassists are as exciting to watch as Stanley Clarke; the man knows how to up his game.    
"Anthology" runs from RTF's third album, 1973's groundbreaking "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy" through the hit "Romantic Warrior" of 1976. Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White  and Al Di Meola discuss the reunion.

Steve Mirkin made it out to STP's soiree and filed this report:
Add one more band to the parade of reunions: Stone Temple Pilots, who fell apart in the wake of lead singer Scott Weiland's drug-fueled unreliablity, announced they're getting back together for a summer tour,  only a week after  Weiland ankled Velvet Revolver...over allegations of drug fueled unreliability. The announcement came Monday night at a private show at the Houdini Estate in the Hollywood Hills, before an invited aud of 250 (mostly press and radio concert winners).
Weiland looked relaxed as he led STP through an enthusiastic if somewhat rusty seven song set, but couldn't resist taking a swipe at Slash and company.  He was excited to be back with STP because "they deal with their problems like men," and not by posting their grievances on line. Given their history, it will be interesting to see if Weiland and the band can keep up the good will over the 65-city trek, which opens on May 17 in Columbus, Ohio, and stops at the Hollywood Bowl on June 24.
The Set List:
Big Empty / Plush / Vasoline / Lady Picture Show / Big Bang Baby / Interstate Love Song / Trippin On A Hole In A Paper Heart

Yaz - Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet, aka the finest synthpop band ever - are reuniting  for six shows to help promote a four-CD box set that will be released in May.
Clarke and Moyet, reuniting for the first time in 25 years, will start “The Reconnected Tour” at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, Calif., on July 7 and close out July 16 and 17 at New York City’s Terminal 5. L.A. shows are July 10 and 12 at the Orpheum. Band will also play the Chicago Theater on July14.
Box set "In Your Room" will include remasters and 5.1 mixes of both Yaz albums ("Upstairs At Eric’s" and "You And Me Both"), b-sides and remixes plus a DVD featuring a new short film containing  interviews with Clarke and Moyet and the videos for “Don’t Go,” “The Other Side Of Love,” “Nobody’s Diary," “Situation (1990)” and “Only You (1999).”

Dave Davies, who founded the Kinks with his brother Ray and then spent decades feuding with him, has released a statement saying “To be honest, Ray and I haven’t even spoken in over 6 months, so not only hasn’t a tour been planned, it hasn’t even been discussed.  I am focused on my solo career right now and that’s all I’m concerned with at the moment”
Dave has recovered from his a stroke suffered 3-1/2  years ago, and recorded his first solo album in five years, "Fractured Mindz," which Koch released last year. 
He is working on a DVD film series tracing his life and spiritual journey,  titled "Mystical Journey."  Part I is scheduled to be released this year.

Over the weekend, while spinning side 1 of "Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1" on the ol' turntable, it struck me that regardless of how catchy an anthem "Lola" is, in this day and age, the hip radio DJs would glom onto "Strangers" and the kids would be much more in tune with "Apeman" - it's easy to repeat, it's sort of funny and the listener is not required to confront their feelings about transvestism.
Now what would be truly wonderful would be all three of those songs making into a set list by the Kinks if they do indeed re-form as the U.K.'s Mirror insists they will.
The paper says Ray Davies is bringing the original lineup - Dave Davies on guitar, Mick Avory on drums and Pete Quaife on bass - back together to tour in connection with a Kinks box set. The Kinks started changing lineups when Quaife departed in 1969 and Ray kept a revolving door on the band until calling it quits in 1996.
Davies, who originated the "Storyteller" concept of adding stories to a concert appearance, is apparently fully recovered from when he was attacked by a  gunman in New Orleans. His brother Dave, who suffered a stroke in 2004, is apparently well enough to tour; Quaife has kidney problems.
Two years ago at SXSW, Davies performed, debuted a film chronicling a U.S. tour and answered questions from the aud, one of which naturally concerned a reunion. He was actually hopeful about performing again with his brother; the two have one of the most storied feuds in rock history.
The Mirror referred to Davies' quote in Record Collector: "It would be great to get back together just to see what musical ideas we had and what would happen." Davies recently issued an album in the U.K.
The Kinks' catalog has been a bit of a mess for years. Their 1960s recordings that were licensed in the U.S. to Reprise only saw thorough reissues in the U.K.; Velvel, which Walter Yetnikoff founded and Koch purchased in 1999, snared many of the band's 1970s and '80s recordings for RCA and Arista; and with the exception of a few Rhino releases, compilations often appear dubious.
Idolator went the extra mile and dug up a cool clip of "All Day and All of the Night."

The classic lineup of Return to Forever will reunite for a summer tour next year. The band - keyboardist Chick Corea, bassist Stanley Clarke, guitarist Al Di Meola and drummer Lenny White - will play 40-50 gigs in the U.S. and Europe.
Shows will be their first performances together in more than 25 years.
RTF, along with Miles Davis, Weather Report and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, pioneered the use of electric instruments in a jazz-oriented setting that was ultimately labeled fusion.
A Return to Forever anthology featuring remixed and remastered tracks from the albums "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy," "Where Have I Known You Before," "No Mystery" and "Romantic Warrior" will be released to coincide with the tour.Those albums, released between 1973 and 1976, charted in the pop top 40 with the exception of "Hymn."
Ted Kurland Associates is the booking agency for the Return to Forever tour.
Corea founded RTF in 1971 with Clarke, flutist Joe Farrell, percussionist Airto and singer Flora Purim and played Latin-tinged jazz on the side from their main gig in Stan Getz's group.White joined in August 1973 and in 1974, Di Meola, then 19, entered the band.They broke up in 1976 after hitting their commercial peak with "Romantic Warrior."
While the band reuniting is the best known of the its various incarnations, Corea put a revolving door on RTF's lineup over the years, much as his Davis did with his bands. Among the musicians who have been members of RTF are: guitarists Bill Connors and Earl Klugh, drummers Steve Gadd and Gerry Brown, percussionist Mingo Lewis, singer Gayle Moran, trumpeters John Thomas and James Tinsley,and trombonists Jim Pugh, Ron Moss and Harold Garrett.
Corea, Clarke, DiMeola, and White did a reunion tour in 1983.

Can you still scream "Tin Roof"? How about lowering your body to the floor during the "down, down, down" portion of "Rock Lobster"? Remember when "Private Idaho" referenced only a song and a state of mind and not a crappy movie?
Those days good old days, which actually span from the late '70s to well into the '90s,  are abut to return.
The B-52's will perform material being recorded for their first album in 16 years at a show Nov. 16 at the Roxy in Los Angeles. Tickets go on sale Thursday. 

Dark, moody and brooding, Spain created some mightly slow and seductive rock music in the mid-1990s. It was centered and focused, a celebration of solid intonation and whole notes that was a thoroughly different way of communicating within the rock idiom. Josh Haden, the band's leader,  sent out a simple email today:

The return of Spain.
New shows
New songs
New album
Official announcement coming soon.

Led Zeppelin, with Jason Bonham replacing his late father John on drums, will  reunite for a one-night-only, $250-a-ticket concert in London to honor Ahmet Ertegun.
Band will perform Nov. 26 at the O2, a 20,000-seat venue .
The tribute to Ertegun, who founded Atlantic Records, the label for which Led Zep recorded, will feature Pete Townshend, Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings, Foreigner and Paolo Nutini.
Tickets will be sold via  a lottery method through  www.ahmettribute.com.
“During the Zeppelin years, Ahmet Ertegun was a major foundation of solidarity and accord. For us he was Atlantic Records and remained a close friend and conspirator - this performance stands alone as our tribute to the work and the life of our long standing friend,” Robert Plant, Led Zep's singer who also recorded solo works for Atlantic, said on Wednesday.
Plant said the show would be a one-off although rumors continue to swirl around that two U.S. concert promoters are negotiating to to get the reunion to turn into a world tour. Led Zeppelin, which brooke up 27 years ago and has not toured in 30 years, could play stadiums across the globe and potentially bring in close to $1 billion.
Concert will coincide with the release of a new greatest hits collection.

After a spate of contradictory statements, London's NME is reporting that Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones will perform at a charity event in November and bill themselves as Led Zeppelin.

Columbia Records has chosen to pit Bruce Springsteen against the return of Matchbox Twenty, Annie Lennox and Faith Hill's catalog rather than go up against the commercial juggernauts Rascal Flatts, James Blunt and the Foo Fighters.
But by choosing an Oct. 2 release date rather than Sept. 25, the first Springsteen and the E Street Band album in five years lands outside this year''s Grammy eligibility period. Even unheard, the album, with the rather dull title of "Magic," would be a prime contender for rock and general awards.
But I figure the Springsteen camp isn't about to let that happen.

We sticklers for accuracy realize there cannot be a true Led Zep reunion, but three of the four band members have apparently given the thumbs up to a London appearance at an Ahmet Ertegun tribute.  NME.com has its take. (You don't have to adjust your eyes: That's John Paul Jones on the left and Jimmy Page on the right).