Allbutforgottenoldies.net Music News Digest: Week Of October 20, 2019

October 28, 2019 by Amy Gold

During the week of October 20, 2019, Cream's 1968 smash hit, "White Room," debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart in the wake of the recent premiere of "Joker" in which this psychedelic rock classic is used as part of the soundtrack. In addition, Gary Glitter's 1972 hit, "Rock and Roll Part 2," which is also featured in the movie soundtrack, made its Hot Rock Songs chart debut at No. 16.

Also that week, The O'Jays and disco great Evelyn "Champagne" King were among those inducted into the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame. The awards ceremonies, which took place October 22, 2019, can be viewed at the official Facebook page of the Philadelphia Music Alliance.

Soul legend Mavis Staples is among the featured performers at the 2019 Tipping Point, a benefit concert for Tulane University taking place November 1, 2019 at The Fillmore New Orleans. The Doobie Brothers have joined the lineup of Joe Walsh's third annual benefit concert for VetsAid to be held November 10 at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX. Also, Lynyrd Skynyrd will ring in the New Year in Dallas, TX when the band headlines a special concert at the city's American Airlines Center as part of a week-long celebration taking place in conjunction with the 2020 NHL Winter Classic hockey game.

The 2020 edition of the Happy Together Tour, the annual multi-performer oldies trek headlined by The Turtles, will take place beginning June 3 in Melbourne, FL, with 42 dates confirmed so far ending August 31 in Grand Island, NE, covering many states across the country. Featured artists will include The Association, The Cowsills, The Vogues, Ron Dante of The Archies, Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & The Raiders, and Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night.

With Halloween just around the corner (mwa ha ha ha ha ha ...!), Alice Cooper has put together a 15-song playlist of scary hard rock classics which is available via streaming services. Among the tracks are Black Sabbath's "Iron Man," Iron Maiden's "The Number Of The Beast," The Zombie's "Living Dead Girl," and Cooper's own "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "Welcome To My Nightmare."

Also that week, it was announced that Patti LaBelle and Nile Rodgers of Chic are among the featured performers in an upcoming TV special to premiere November 9, 2019 on HBO and November 17 on PBS that will commemorate the 50th anniversary of "Sesame Street." The special will kick off this show's 50th season which debuts November 16 on HBO.

Finally, Neil Diamond will be honored at the 24th annual Power of Love gala in Las Vegas taking place March 7, 2020 at the city's MGM Grand Garden Arena. This event is held each year by Keep Memory Alive, a charity that supports the Cleveland Clinic's Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. The center works to cure and raise awareness of diseases such as Parkinson's, which Diamond was diagnosed with in 2018.

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