Weekly News Round-Up: Keith Richards, The 1975, Massive Attack and more

Wondering if you’ve missed out on any of the week’s top news stories? Well wonder no longer – here Live4ever looks back on ten of the biggest headlines we featured during the last seven days in British music.

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Keith Richards has been talking about how he was left unimpressed with both Led Zeppelin and The Who back in the day.

“I love Jimmy Page, but as a band, no, with John Bonham thundering down the highway in an uncontrolled 18-wheeler,” the veteran guitarist has told Rolling Stone. “He had cornered the market there. Jimmy is a brilliant player but I always felt there was something a little hollow about it, you know?”

Glastonbury’s standard weekend tickets for 2016 were greedily devoured on October 4th, though last year’s sales record wasn’t quite beaten.

The tickets went in 30 minutes last Sunday morning – just a touch more than the record time of 26 minutes set last year. “We have, once again, been staggered by the sheer number of people from around the world who hoped to come to the Festival, with demand significantly outstripping supply,” organisers responded in a statement.

Roger Waters has enlisted producer Nigel Gordich to help present his massively successful, re-imagined Wall tour as a live album on November 20th.

Launched in 2010, The Wall had become one of the highest grossing concert tours in history by the time it wrapped up around three years later as Waters used advances in both technology and production to finally realise his original vision of Pink Floyd‘s ultimately doomed 1980 tour.

The Smiths are one of the leading contenders for the 2016 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

The band is nominated for next year’s induction ceremony along with Chic, who have been up for the honour on ten different occasions in the past, and Chicago, Cheap Trick, Deep Purple, The Cars, Chaka Khan, The JB’s, Janet Jackson, Los Lobos, Steve Miller, NWA, Nine Inch Nails, The Spinners and Yes.

Manchester musician Jeff Wootton will release his debut single ‘The Eternal’ on November 6th.

Part of the track’s sound is borne out of Wootton’s stint in Mali as part of Damon Albarn‘s musical project The Africa Express, where one of its prominent instruments was laid down

The 1975 have now debuted their new single ‘Love Me‘, the first slice of fresh material from the band since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2013.

The track was given its first play by DJ Annie Mac on October 8th on BBC Radio 1. It follows one of 2013’s biggest breakthrough albums, which went to number one in the UK that year and sparked hugely popular mainstream singles such as ‘Chocolate‘ and ‘Sex‘.

Frontman Yannis Philippakis has been on Twitter apologising to fans and declaring himself ‘heartbroken’ after Foals were forced to cancel South American and Mexican live dates last week.

Gigs at the Hollywood Bowl, Chicago’s UIC Pavilion and Madison Square Garden are the first of a 25-date North American tour to be confirmed by The Cure.

Those shows take place on May 22nd, June 10th and June 18th respectively next year, and the complete itinerary is to be confirmed in January.

Massive Attack will embark on their first UK tour in five years early in 2016.

New music before the tour starts at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin on January 19th 2016 is also promised, paving the way for a follow-up to 2010’s ‘Heligoland‘.

Bloc Party have revealed their new album will be entitled ‘Hymns‘, and have premiered its lead single ‘The Love Within‘.

The news officially welcomes bassist Justin Harris and drummer Louise Bartle on board, replacing Gordon Moakes and Matt Tong who have both departed since the release of 2012’s ‘Four‘.

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