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After spending this past summer touring all across the U.S., Jack Hues and Nick Feldman of Wang Chung will be back for a couple of more dates. To mark the release of their next downloadable EP package, Rent Free (available September 20th), the band will be playing five shows in September. The new single, Rent Free, stands up nicely alongside their classic hits and features the memorable line “You’ve been living rent free in my head for far too long”.

here are the September dates and locations:

02-Sep-10 Key Club, West Hollywood, CA
04-Sep-10 the Monte Carlo Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
09-Sep-10 Infinity Husic Hall, Norfolk, CT
10-Sep-10 The Vibe Lounge, Rockville Centre, NY
11-Sep-10 Oyster Fest, Veterans Park, Norwalk, CT

head over to the official website to get the latest on Wang Chung as well as download their new releases.

Well, this is a bit of a surprise. The guys from Wang Chung are back from 80′s oblivion with a new two-CD set AND a summer tour! OK, I’m exaggerating a bit about “oblivion” since Nick Feldman and Jack Hues appeared as Wang Chung in last year’s edition of the Regeneration Tour (along with ABC, Berlin and Cutting Crew). But this time around, it appears that they’ll be hitting the road on their own instead of part of a package tour.

As for the new release “Abducted By The 80′s”, it’ll be a mix of their hits, re-recordings and new material. No word yet on a release date.

Anyway, here are Wang Chung’s 2010 tour dates:
Thu 06/10/10 San Diego, CA Anthology
Fri 06/11/10 Santa Ana, CA Galaxy Concert Theatre
Sat 06/12/10 Redondo Beach, CA Brixton
Sun 06/13/10 Woodland Hills, CA Bredlow Pavillion Band Shell
Wed 06/16/10 Peoria, AZ Skye Fine Dining & Live Entertainment
Thu 06/17/10 San Diego, CA Anthology
Fri 06/18/10 San Francisco, CA Slim’s
Sat 06/19/10 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
Mon 06/21/10 Seattle, WA El Corazon
Thu 06/24/10 Oshkosh, WI Leach Amphitheater – Waterfest
Fri 06/25/10 Chicago, IL Cans Bar and Canteen – ChicagoFest
Sat 06/26/10 Milwaukee, WI Henry Maier Festival Park – Summerfest
Sun 06/27/10 Ferndale, MI The Magic Bag
Mon 06/28/10 Pittsburgh, PA Rex Theater
Wed 06/30/10 Akron, OH Musica
Thu 07/01/10 Irving, NY Sunset Bay Beach Club
Fri 07/02/10 Kokomo, IN Haynes Apperson Festival Grounds
Sat 07/03/10 Cleveland, OH The Winchester
Wed 07/07/10 New York, NY B.B. King Blues Club
Thu 07/08/10 Uncasville, CT Wolf Den
Fri 07/09/10 Foxboro, MA Showcase Live
Sat 07/10/10 Sellersville, PA Sellersville Theater

(more…)

The Producers Series is where I get to feature the work of a favorite music producer. To kick off the series here on RetroBlog is none other than Peter Wolf. no, not the lead singer of the J. Geils Band. The Peter Wolf responsible (or the one to blame, depending on your point of view) for unleashing Starship’s biggest 80′s hit “We Built This City (on Rock and Roll!!!)” onto the world. back at the height of his popularity as a producer in the mid-eighties, he was behind the recording console for hits like “Nightshift” by the Commodores, “King of Wishful Thinking” by Go West, “On My Own” by Patti Labelle and of course “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” by Wang Chung. OK, OK, so the man is responsible for some cheezy 80′s songs but even so, I like the guy’s sound. he definitely has a signature sound. it’s this sort of slick, ultra clean almost sterile type sound especially with the drums. in the majority of his productions, he ends up playing the keyboards and so you tend to hear the same type of synth sounds on a lot of his recordings. you also often hear backing vocals performed by a pseudo gospel choir which I personally like. Although I enjoy listening to his production work, I’ve noticed that a lot of the bands he worked with in the past are no longer around. hhhmmmmm… could Peter Wolf be a Career Killer?????

I’ll take this time to present some evidence and you be the judge…

1) in 1988 Peter Wolf produced Big Country‘s album Peace In Our Time to the surprise of many BC fans. Wolf stamped his signature slick pop sound all over the band’s album and subsequently the band got dropped from the record label.
-Listen to Big Country’s Time for Leaving.

2) Wolf produced two albums for Wang Chung – Mosaic and the Other Side of Cool. He was so heavily involved with the albums you could probably say that he’s an unofficial member of the group. Wolf co-wrote the bulk of the songs, played keyboards on every track and even helped with backing vocals. it was more like Peter Wolf’s album with Wang Chung as guests. and in terms of career killer? well…. where’s Wang Chung now????
-Listen to Wang Chung’s Let’s Go.

3) Around 1993 Chicago worked with Peter Wolf on their Stone of Sisyphus album. you say you never heard of an album called Stones of Sisyphus by Chicago? That’s because after listening to the final product, Chicago’s record label refused to put it out. That’s right. The album is locked away somewhere and has never been released. The record label ended up dropping Chicago and the group had to start releasing albums independently from then on.
-Listen to Stone of Sisyphus by Chicago.

4) Bourgeois Tagg had a hit in the late eighties titled “I Don’t Mind at All”. To record a follow-up, the group went in to do some tracks with who? that’s right. Peter Wolf. …and? you guess it. the group imploded while recording the initial tracks and never completed the album. years later, bassist/vocalist Larry Tagg eventually included some of the tracks from the Wolf sessions on his solo album which was released on a small independent label.
-Listen to 1/2 yes 1/2 no by Larry Tagg.

5) OK, how about Go West. yup, their big hits, King of Wishful Thinking and Faithful were both produced by Peter Wolf. and after being with the Wolf? nada. nunca. nothing. the group vanished off the charts.
-Listen to Faithful by Go West

makes ya wonder, eh? …so, indeed, beware the Wolf!!