Allbutforgottenoldies.net Music News Digest: Week Of February 18, 2018

February 26, 2018 by Amy Gold

During the week of February 18, 2018, fans bade a final farewell to Barbara Ann Alston (December 29, 1943 - February 16, 2018) of The Crystals who was one of the group's co-founders and the original lead singer. She can be heard on such hits as "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" (1961) and "Uptown" (1962).

Also that week, Neil Sedaka announced his retirement from touring beginning next year.

Todd Rundgren has re-formed his band Utopia for its first tour in 32 years which begins April 18, 2018 in Jim Thorpe, PA and ends June 5 in Riverside, CA. Stephen Stills and Judy Collins will launch a North American tour as a duo beginning May 1 in Vancouver, BC, Canada, with 22 dates confirmed so far running through June 30 in Washington, D.C. KC & The Sunshine Band are among the many featured performers at the 2018 edition of Florida's SunFest to take place May 3-6 in West Palm Beach. Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz announced their first-ever joint tour dubbed "The Monkees Present: The Mike & Micky Show" which begins June 1 in Chandler, AZ and ends June 25 in Red Bank, NJ. Also, The Eagles added five new show dates to their 2018 tour beginning September 15 in Inglewood, CA, with stops in Chicago, Detroit, Newark, NJ, and NYC.

The lineup for the 2019 Flower Power Cruise has been announced and will feature such oldies greats as The Beach Boys, Big Brother & The Holding Company, The Box Tops, The Ides Of March, Tommy James & The Shondells, Jefferson Starship, The Lovin' Spoonful, Melanie, Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, and The Yardbirds. This seafaring music extravaganza will take place March 30-April 6, 2019.

An expanded and remastered reissue of Pete Townshend's 1972 debut solo album, "Who Came First," will be coming out on April 20, 2018. Neil Young will release a new vinyl archival album on April 21 titled "Roxy -- Tonight's The Night Live" that features highlights of three shows from September 1973 at this famous West Hollywood venue. A new live CD/DVD collection, "Foreigner With The 21st Century Symphony Orchestra & Chorus," which captures a performance by the band from May 2017 in Lucerne, Switzerland, will be coming out on April 27. Also, Toto will release a new vinyl box set on October 12 titled "All In" in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary. This massive collection includes every studio album released by Toto since its 1978 self-titled debut through "Mindfields" (1999), plus "Toto XX" (1998), "Old Is New" (2018), and a previously unreleased live EP from 1980.

(For more information about the above news items, please see below for a list of sources with links.)

The Doors give an extended performance of "Light My Fire" at the Isle of Wight Festival (1970).