2011+ and beyond – Gen X Playlist

‘Pee-Wee Herman’ Actor Paul Reubens Hid Terminal Cancer from Documentary Director Until His Death

‘Pee-Wee Herman’ Actor Paul Reubens Hid Terminal Cancer from Documentary Director Until His Death

I was in high school in the 1980s when “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” was aired on Saturday mornings. I looked forward to it every week.

Yes, I knew it was for little kids, but it was so fun, amusing and entertaining.

Back at that time, we didn’t have the internet. I didn’t have many friends (I was very, very shy, and my family moved frequently), so I usually spent my Saturday mornings (even as a teenager!) watching Saturday morning programming, including shows for kids.

My favorite part of “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” were the “Penny” animation shorts. I also liked the “word of the day” routine. That was fun.

One of the strange and sad things about aging is seeing all the celebrities I saw on TV in the 1970s and 1980s aging or reading about their passing. The older I get, the more I realize that 60 or 70 years of age is not really “old.” Time seems to fly by as I get older.

‘Pee-wee Herman’ actor Paul Reubens hid terminal cancer from documentary director until his death

Matt Wolf conducted over 40 hours of interviews with the comedian for ‘Pee-wee as Himself’

By Stephanie Nolasco Fox News
Published May 27, 2025

Paul Reubens did not tell his director, Matt Wolf, that he was dying from cancer.

Paul Reubens as Pee Wee Herman The actor and comedian, who famously starred as Pee-wee Herman in the 1980s, passed away in 2023 at age 70. Before his death, he gave over 40 hours of interviews on camera about his life and career for a two-part documentary, “Pee-wee as Himself,” now streaming on HBO Max.

“I was scheduled to do a final interview with him the week after Paul Reubens passed away, and we had a conversation a week before he died,” Wolf told Forbes on Monday.

“I could tell something was up with his health, but I didn’t understand the gravity of it,” the filmmaker shared. “I had no reason to believe he was terminally ill, but we had a meaningful private conversation that gave me the assurances I needed to move forward with this film.”

“I left that conversation feeling like it was intense but not thinking too much about it,” Wolf continued. “I found out on Instagram that he [had] died, along with the rest of the world; only a very small group of close friends were aware that he was dying.”

According to Wolf, they spoke about everything — Reubens’ childhood, his complicated relationship with fame, his ambitions, his commitment to his alter-ego, his sexuality, his arrest — except the fact that he had been battling cancer for the past six years.

Wolf told the outlet that from the beginning, Reubens was eager to tell his story.

Continue reading “‘Pee-Wee Herman’ Actor Paul Reubens Hid Terminal Cancer from Documentary Director Until His Death”

Brian Setzer Says He ‘Cannot Play Guitar’ Anymore Following Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis (2025)

Brian Setzer Says He ‘Cannot Play Guitar’ Anymore Following Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis (2025)

“I cannot play guitar.” Rockabilly legend Brian Setzer reveals he has an auto-immune disease that prevents him from playing guitar

Setzer said the effects of his illness became apparent during the Stray Cats’ 2024 summer tour, the group’s first road stint in five years

“I’m getting better day by day”: Stray Cats’ Brian Setzer shares health update after auto-immune disease left him unable to play the guitar

March 21, 2025

Brian Setzer is on the mend. After revealing earlier this year that an autoimmune disease had robbed him of his ability to play guitar, the rockabilly icon now says he’s making “excellent” progress and remains hopeful for a return to performing.

Stray Cats frontman Brian Setzer’s autoimmune disease has left him unable to play guitar

The Grammy award-winner announced he has an autoimmune disease on his social media

By Elizabeth Stanton
Fox News
Published February 17, 2025

Brian Setzer, the guitarist and singer for the Stray Cats and the Brian Setzer Orchestra, has revealed he has been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

In a recent post to Instagram, Setzer shared close-up pictures of his hands playing guitar, explaining, “Towards the end of the last Stray Cats tour I noticed that my hands were cramping up. I’ve since discovered that I have an auto-immune disease. I cannot play guitar.”

He continued, “There is no pain, but it feels like I am wearing a pair of gloves when I try to play. I have seen some progress in that I can hold a pen and tie my shoes. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I was at a point where I couldn’t even do that.”

Continue reading “Brian Setzer Says He ‘Cannot Play Guitar’ Anymore Following Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis (2025)”

Houdini by Dua Lipa – Music Suggestion for Generation X

Houdini by Dua Lipa – Music Suggestion for Generation X

I recommended several pop songs by Dua Lipa in a previous post.

Dua Lipa is releasing a new album in a few months, and she’s released a song off that new album already.

The song is called “Houdini,” and in my opinion, it has a fairly catchy melody.

It’s also my view that out of all the current pop singers under the age of 40 that Dua Lipa is the only one putting out music that is consistently on par (or that’s similar to) 1980s era music (which is to say, much of her music is catchy and good quality), unlike the other current singers under age 45 – 40, each of whom have 3 or 4 decent songs, but the rest of their catalog consists of very bland or under-whelming songs.

I hope there are many other good songs on her upcoming album.

Dua Lipa’s ‘Houdini’ Unlocks No. 1 Debut on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart

The song also sparks her highest career Billboard Hot 100 debut.

by Gary Trust
November 20, 2023

Dua Lipa works her magic on multiple Billboard charts dated Nov. 25 with her new single, “Houdini.” Among other entrances, it begins as her first No. 1 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

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Next Big Thing by West Rose – Music Suggestion for Gen X

Next Big Thing by West Rose – Music Suggestion for Gen X

There is very little information about this singer online. Here is one of the pages I found:

West Rose

West Rose is a Canadian musician and songwriter.

Her song “Next Big Thing” is featured in the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law episode Ribbit and Rip It.

I’ve never watched “She-Hulk,” and I don’t remember where I first heard the song.

Continue reading “Next Big Thing by West Rose – Music Suggestion for Gen X”

Belinda Carlisle Shares “Big Big Love,” Her First New Pop Song in Over 25 Years: Stream

Belinda Carlisle Shares “Big Big Love,” Her First New Pop Song in Over 25 Years: Stream

Off her upcoming EP titled Kismet
March 16, 2023
by Eddie Fu

Belinda Carlisle has returned with “Big Big Love,” her first new pop single since 1997. A collaboration with legendary hitmaking songwriter Diane Warren, it will appear on her upcoming EP, Kismet, out May 12th via RAF/BMG. It also comes ahead of a string of US tour dates…

belindaCarlisle …Carlisle and Warren have a long history of working together after first collaborating on Carlisle’s seminal 1987 album, Heaven on Earth, featuring the classic title track. In a statement, the pop icon spoke about how their chance reunion led to the new project.

Continue reading “Belinda Carlisle Shares “Big Big Love,” Her First New Pop Song in Over 25 Years: Stream”

Vinyl Album Sales Surpass Music CDs in 2021

Vinyl Album Sales Surpass Music CDs in 2021

1 Out of Every 3 Albums Sold in the US in 2021 Were Vinyl LPs – (paywall)

Indie retailers sold almost half of all vinyl LPs, while Taylor Swift was the format’s top-selling artist — accounting for 2.6% of total sales.

Vinyl Records Reach Highest Sales Numbers In Last 30 Years

In 2021, vinyl albums constituted more than 25% of physical album sales in the UK.

Driven by Adele, vinyl and CD sales both went up in 2021, data says

January 11, 2022

Streaming has been dominating the music industry for years now, but 2021 saw a notable rise in sales of physical albums, thanks in part to the success of Adele’s latest album.

Both CDs and vinyl experienced high sales in 2021, according to an annual year-end music data report from MRC Data, released this week.

….”In recent years, I notice customers preferring to physically own music, other than streaming, usually in its best form (vinyl),” said Tobago Benito, owner of record store DBS Sounds, in MRC’s data roundup.

He attributes that rise both to the inclusion of record players in movies and television, but also to the joy people get from digging for a certain vinyl in a record store, one that may “bring back wonderful memories,” he said.

The rise in vinyl sales is also a significant jump from just one year ago, in 2020, when vinyls made up 27.5 million of physical music sales, about 40% of all total sales. To now make up just about half of total sales is significant.

…But one surprise from last year was the uptick in CD sales in the U.S., which went up by 1.1% — from 40.2 million sales in 2020 to 40.6 million in 2021. CD sales have been in steady decline for years, so the fact that they did not actively decline last year could be significant.

One reason for the bump in sales was the release of Adele’s “30” and Taylor Swift’s “Red (Taylor’s Version).”

The Target CD version of “30,” which contained three bonus tracks, helped the CD version of the album sell 378,000 copies in its first week — the biggest CD sales week of 2021, MRC said. Just a week prior, “Red (Taylor’s Version)” sold 146,700 copies.

The Official Top 40 best-selling vinyl albums and singles of 2021

The top vinyl list includes popular releases by Lana Del Rey, Adele and ABBA.

Vinyl outsold CDs in the US for the first time in decades – (paywall)

Vinyl Earns Biggest Sales Week Since 1991

by Brad Callas, Dec. 29, 2021

Vinyl just had its best sales week in three decades.

Americans bought 2.11 million copies of vinyl records in the week ending on Dec. 23, marking the biggest sales week for vinyls since MRC Data began tracking music sales back in 1991, Billboard reports. It’s a 45% increase from the week prior (1.46 million), suggesting the spike can be attributed to the holiday shopping season.

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Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon reflects on the ‘Future Past’ (released October 2021)

Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon reflects on the ‘Future Past’ (released October 2021)

Visit Duran Duran’s Official You Tube Channel

Out Now: Duran Duran Marches Forward with a Familiar, Fresh Approach on New Album ‘Future Past’ (Listen)

Duran Duran Keep Their Feet on the Dance Floor With “Future Past”

More than 40 years after first forming, the famed and influential British rock band are still tight-knit. When the four members—singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor—get together in a room, as they did during a recent visit to New York to promote their forthcoming album, Future Past, the camaraderie and joking among them is more what you’d expect more from best friends than workmates.

Duran Duran’s 15th studio album ‘Future Past’

NPR’s former Weekend Edition host Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes about the band’s new album, “Future Past.”

Falling for Duran Duran’s “Future Past,” which reflects the band’s signature ingenuity and sentiment

The new “Future Past,” Duran Duran’s 15th studio album, naturally reflects this accumulated growth and sophistication. Like the best Duran Duran albums, the full-length is an immersive, cohesive statement with a meticulous sequence that takes listeners on a journey.

Yet the guiding principle of “Future Past” remains the same as it’s been for nearly every Duran Duran album: explore the kind of new sounds and ideas that can send the band tumbling toward the future.

Over the years, Duran Duran have achieved this goal by consistently working with collaborators fond of reshaping pop music — to name a few, producers like Colin Thurston, Nile Rodgers and Mark Ronson, and musicians such as Justin Timberlake and Janelle Monae.

“Future Past” is no exception.

In the studio, Duran Duran recorded with guitarist Graham Coxon, who cut his teeth in Britpop shapeshifters Blur and is known for adventurous solo work. Coxon is a good match for Duran Duran:
He’s a cerebral player who knows his way around both jagged discord and beautiful melody, meaning he can conjure up razor-sharp accents on “Invisible” or add more delicate shading on the soft-glow title track.

Future Past is a Great New Album by an Old Band

That has changed. Duran Duran’s new record Future Past is a great album—and I do mean album, as in a suite songs that forms a vision, has a personality and takes you on a spiritual journey.

While artists like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande strive to produce records of “all killer no filler,” which translates into an hour of hook-filled singles about love, resentment and self-empowerment, Duran Duran are after something greater.

This record takes chances and asks the listener for a commitment. It can be a challenging. It’s also brimming with passion, which is different from sex.

It’s a wonderful irony—Duran Duran, the collective that was all about slick videos and shiny surfaces, has made a record of genuine soul and feeling.

REVIEW: Duran Duran travels between musical eras on ‘Future Past’

For the release of the band’s 15th studio album, Future Past, Duran Duran looked to fuse old and new, and no more is that present than on opening track “Invisible.”

The song takes infectious guitar and bass riffs and lays them down with big beats and atmospheric layers.

Worth checking out is a companion film that accompanies the song; a collaboration with the artificial intelligence brain Huxley to create a visual. It’s that mindset that helped shaped the creation of the band’s latest effort.

Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon reflects on the ‘Future Past’

January 7, 2022

Duran Duran have always been looking forward while not forgetting their past. Their fifteenth studio album, appropriately titled Future Past, has all the signature sounds; bouncy synths, melodic hooks and the ageless voice of lead singer Simon Le Bon.

Continue reading “Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon reflects on the ‘Future Past’ (released October 2021)”

Tears For Fears Introduce New Album (October 2021)

Tears For Fears Introduce New Album (October 2021)

Tears for Fears Return for First Album in 17 Years

by Frank Ockenfels
Oct 7, 2021

Seventeen years after Tears for Fears last released an album of new music, the beloved band behind “Head Over Heels,” “Shout” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” will return in 2022 with The Tipping Point.

Ahead of the LP’s arrival on February 25th via Concord Records, Tears for Fears founding members Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith also shared the first single and title track “The Tipping Point,” which — like the album — was inspired by a series of professional and personal “tipping points” in the years following their last album, 2004’s Everybody Loves a Happy Ending.

For Orzabal, that point was influenced by the death of his wife Caroline in 2017. “It came at a time when my (late) wife was very ill. I was watching her become a ghost of her former self. So the song’s narrator is in a hospital ward looking at people about to cross the threshold that we call death,” Orzabal told Rolling Stone.

…Tears for Fears hadn’t intended to take such a long break between albums; “I would say life and geography got in the way,” Smith tells Rolling Stone, adding that while the band still toured frequently, they didn’t want to be “helicopter parents” to their then-young children.

When it finally came time to make a new album a few years ago, as the duo notes, they were encouraged by previous management to work with an army of “today’s hitmakers,” each of whom tried to “recreate a Tears for Fears classic.” The sessions were an epic disaster, the band admits, and another tipping point.

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Billy Idol Releases EP, ‘The Roadside’ (Sept. 2021)

Billy Idol Releases EP, ‘The Roadside’

Post Published on October 11, 2021

Out Now: Stream Billy Idol’s Gritty ‘The Roadside’ EP, Four New Songs with Steve Stevens and Producer Butch Walker

September. 17, 2021
by Rock Cellar Magazine Staff

Legendary English rock icon Billy Idol returned recently with “Bitter Taste,” a reflective new song and music video expressing some raw emotions and dark energy — visually referencing Idol’s near-fatal motorcycle accident in 1990.

The song was a preview of The Roadside EP, a new collection of songs produced by Butch Walker that serves as Idol’s first release since 2014’s Kings & Queens of the Underground.

…The new songs feature Idol’s longtime guitarist and collaborator Steve Stevens, with a news release noting that Roadside “was conceived, recorded, and mixed almost entirely under the shadow of the pandemic.”

Billy Idol revisits near-fatal motorcycle accident on new album: ‘I was a bit of a drug addict’

Sept. 16, 2021
by Melissa Ruggieri
USA TODAY

More than four decades into his career, Billy Idol is still learning.

But that he’s still here, creating music, feels like an even greater accomplishment.

Continue reading “Billy Idol Releases EP, ‘The Roadside’ (Sept. 2021)”

Rod Stewart is Back With A New Album, ‘Tears of Hercules’ (2021)

Rod Stewart is Back With a New Album, ‘Tears of Hercules’ (2021)

Rod Stewart Releases First Single From New ‘Tears of Hercules’ Album

Rod Stewart will release his 31st album, The Tears of Hercules, on Nov. 12. rodStewart80s

You can watch the video for the album’s first single, “One More Time,” …

“I’ve never said this before about any previous efforts,” Stewart said in a tweet announcing the new record, “but I believe this is by far my best album in many a year.”

The singer’s first album since 2018’s Blood Red Roses will include nine original tracks and three covers. Closing song “Touchline” is Stewart’s tribute to his father, Robert, “who taught him and his brothers to love football,” a press release explains.

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