English singer and songwriter Chris Norman was the original lead singer of the successful English (soft) rock band “Smokie,” which was so named because of his smoky voice. With many hits, including If You Think You Know How to Love me, It’s Your Life, and of course Living Next Door to Alice, Smokie was particularly popular in The UK and Europe.
In 2024 Chris Norman will return with a new album called “Junction 55” which follows his most recent album, 2021’s “Just a Man.” The new album will contain 12 brand new songs, all either written by Chris himself or in collaboration with others.
“Tell Her She Can” is the first single released from Chris Norman’s forthcoming album and is new this week on RadiJohan.
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” is a song by American rock band “Blue Öyster Cult” from the band’s 1976 album “Agents of Fortune.” This week in 1976 it became the band’s hit when it peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA. The song was rumored to be about suicide, but it actually deals with the inevitability of death, and the belief that we should not fear it. “The Reaper” made it to number 7 in Canada and also charted in The UK and Ireland.
The Beatles have released what is being described as their final new song together, called “Now and Then.”
It is the last of a series of songs written by John Lennon, and handed to Paul McCartney by Yoko Ono in demo form on cassette in 1994. The cassette also featured demos for “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.” Those two songs were completed and released as singles in 1995 and 1996. However, at that time the band struggled to complete a song from the demo of “Now and Then” and abandoned the attempt. McCartney explained the difficulties the band faced in 1995:
“On John’s demo tape, the piano was a little hard to hear. And in those days, of course, we didn’t have the technology to do the separation … we kind of ran out of steam a bit, and time. Now and Then just languished in a cupboard.”
However, during the making of The Beatles’ 2021 “Get Back” documentary, director Peter Jackson’s film company developed a piece of software that allowed them to “de-mix” muddled recordings of overlapping sounds. For “Now And Then,” the software was able to “lift” Lennon’s voice from the original cassette recording, removing the background hiss and the hum of the mains electricity that had hampered previous attempts to complete the song.
Paul McCartney re-recorded the piano parts Lennon played on the demo and added a guitar solo in the style of George Harrison, as well as the bass, percussion and harpsichord. Ringo Starr recorded new drum parts for it, while the late George Harrison features via rhythm guitar parts kept from the failed 1995 recordings. Strings have also been added, as well as some newly recorded background vocals. Some older background vocals have also been used, including some from the song “Eleanor Rigby.”
A short documentary which explains the creative process behind “Now and Then” has been released on Youtube.
“Now and Then by The Beatles is new this week on Radiohan.
British melodic rockers “Nitrate” recently released their fourth studio album, “Feel The Heat.” A melodic rock band formed in 2015 in Nottingham, England, Nitrate is overtly inspired by the ‘80’s rock scene and influenced by the likes of Def Leppard, Europe, Journey, and Bon Jovi. Nitrate exudes the eighties in everything. The band profiles itself with excellent melodic hard rock that sounds timeless, and their new album is a nostalgic ride for rockers who consciously experienced the 1980’s. This is melodic hard rock that sounds the way it should.
Nitrate’s new single, “All The Right Moves,” is new this week on RadiJohan.