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Police- Zenyatta Mondatta 40th- Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers, Sting 9-28

With "Zenyatta Mondatta" the third album by The Police the title may have been nonsensical but everyone now understood the talent of Sting's songwriting and unique vocal styling, and Stewart Copeland and Andy Summer's  quirky rock/ reggae amalgam in "Don't Stand So Close to Me","When the World is Running Down", "Driven to Tears", and "De Doo Do Do,De Da Da Da". Stewart, Andy, and Sting are my guests for Zenyatta Mondatta 's fortieth anniversary here In the Studio  the week of September 28
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AC/DC- Back in Black 40th- Angus Young, Brian Johnson

Notably, like AC/DC "Back in Black"  forty years ago, several of the best-selling hard rock albums in history also have been made under the most dire of circumstances amidst tremendous tragedy and loss:
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Queen- The Game 40th Anniversary- Brian May, Roger Taylor

It was The Game that crowned Queen #1 worldwide, precisely because of the balance of hits "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Another One Bites the Dust", "Play the Game" with the blistering "Dragon Attack", "Rock It", and "Sail Away Sweet Sister". Brian May and Roger Taylor are suited up to play The Game  here In the Studio  for its fortieth anniversary.
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Pete Townshend- Empty Glass 40th Anniversary- Pete Townshend

By April 1980 we in the rock music world were beginning to miss Townshend's new music, which had been a pretty consistent mainstay of rock'n'roll for fifteen years prior but had been understandably MIA since the sudden death of madcap Who drummer Keith Moon in 1978. Townshend filled Empty Glass   with his grief over the loss of his friend, as well as very personal subjects including alcoholism, adult relationships, and his conflicted reaction to Punk Rock in the songs"Rough Boys","A Little is Enough","Gonna Get Ya", and pop spiritual"Let My Love Open the Door", a Top Five US hit.

In The Studio 30 Years Ago: REO Speedwagon-Hi Infidelity

In a lot of ways, REO Speedwagon was much like the Midwest region from which they sprang at the University of Illinois at Champaign: solid unassuming hard-charging musical journeymen determined to make it...