Superior Court Judge James R. Dunn has rejected the motion by Beach Boys' vocalist Mike Love to rule in favor
of his lawsuit against former bandmate Al Jardine. The judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence for the matter
to go to trial. No trial date was set but lawyers for both sides are expected to get in touch with the judge at
the end of the month to report on the dispute status. Love and Jardine have been battling over Jardine's use of
variations of the Beach Boys name (which Love has rights to perform under) to promote performances.
Tomi Rae Hynie has filed a petition in Aiken County, South Carolina, probate court claiming she is the surviving
spouse of singer James Brown, is entitled to part of his estate and wants to be allowed back into the home she
was locked out of after the singer's death. She also is asking to be allowed to return to the estate to retrieve
"personal possessions" that belong to her and their 5 year-old son.
Apple announced today that they have settled the trademark issues with the Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd. over use of
the name "Apple" and apple logos. This replaces the deal the two companies made in 1991 over the trademarks
related to "Apple." It is believed that this settlement will enable iTunes to soon start selling Beatles
music in a digital form.
Whitney Houston has reportedly asked the court to speed up the proceedings of her divorce from estranged husband
Bobby Brown.
John Mellencamp's new studio album, Freedom's Road, has become his highest debut on the album charts in his entire
career landing at #5.
The Beautiful South have announced at their official Web site that the band "have split up due to musical
similarities. The band would like to thank everyone for their 19 wonderful years in music." The group plan
a 'Celebratory Wake' in London later this month in which they will invite music industry allies, supporters and
a small group of close friends.
Duran Duran are currently in a London studio working on the final recording sessions for their forthcoming album.
Dexy's Midnight Runners have been working on their 4th studio album with plans to release it this year. Singer/songwriter
Kevin Rowland has posted a sample of the new work entitled "It's OK Johanna" at their official MySpace
site.
Belinda Carlisle will release her 7th solo studio album, Voila, this week. The vocals are entirely in French on
all 11 tracks and a limited edition double-CD set will also be released via Rykodisc.
Nine Inch Nails have announced that their new studio album, Year Zero, will be released on Apr. 17th. A video for
the song, "Survivalism," is being worked on with the possibility that it may be the first single. They
also plan to add clips from their upcoming DVD, Beside You In Time, each week at halo22.nin.com.
Due to a spinal disc injury suffered by drummer Jeff Plate in Nashville, Metal Church has been forced to cancel
up to 6 shows pending a prognosis.
Didn't get enough of Billy Joel after his performance of the National Anthem prior to Super Bowl XLI? The singer
has a new single on the way, "All My Life," which will premiere at People.com on Feb. 7th prior to it
heading for an exclusive iTunes run from Feb. 20th to Mar. 6th. A commercial CD version will be released but no
date has been announced.
Erasure's new studio album, Light At The End Of The World, will be released as standard 10-track CD and special
12-track deluxe limited edition CD versions. The bonus tracks on the limited edition version are titled "Be
My Baby" and "I Don't Know Why."
Lou Reed plans on releasing, Hudson River Wind Meditations, his first-ever album of non-vocal electronic music
for meditation, Body work and Tai Chi due out Apr. 1st via Sounds True Records.
George Strait's "The Seashores of Old Mexico" has been nominated for video of the year at the 2007 CMT
Music Awards to be held on Apr. 16th. Strait's song and Alan Jackson's "Like Red on A Rose" are nominated
for male video of the year. Reba McEntire's "Love Needs A Holiday" is nominated for female video of the
year. Van Zant's "Things I Miss The Most" is up for duo video of the year. Jimmy Buffett's "Bama
Breeze", Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down," Willie Nelson's "You Don't Know Me,"
Shooter Jennings' "Gone To Carolina" and Sheryl Crow and Sting's "Always On Your Side" are
up for Wide Open country video of the year. The 8 nominees in each category will be cut in half by Feb. 28th.
Former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman has been working on a new instrumental album entitled Loudspeaker. Steve
Vai, John Petrucci, Mick Karn and Billy Sheehan guest on the album which is due out Mar. 13th.
Pam Tillis will release, Rhinestoned, her first new studio album since, It's All Relative, her 2002 tribute to
father Mel Tillis on Apr. 17th via her own Stellar Cat imprint.
KMFDM's Sascha has announced that new KMFDM material will be released later this year, reissues via Metropolis
Records/KMFDM Records will continue and that a tour is in the works.
Crosby, Still & Nash's upcoming Australian tour has been postponed until December due to David Crosby having
medical issues.
The Cowboy Junkies will release their new studio album, At The End Of Paths Taken, via Zoe/Rounder on Apr. 24th.
A CD/DVD celebrating the 20th anniversary of their classic The Trinity Session will be released in the fall.
Rhino Records plans to release a new 19-track single-disc Van Halen collection, Best Of (1978-1984), on Mar. 13th
containing remastered tracks from the David Lee Roth-led Van Halen era.
Kenny Loggins will release his new album, How About Now, on Feb. 25th. The title track is expected to be released
as a single and the disc features a new version of Loggins & Messina's "A Love Song." The disc will
be released exclusively at Target as part of their Spotlight Music Series. The retailer also has exclusives planned
with Stephen Bishop and David Cassidy as well as a compilation of remade hits and a new song by Carole King, Willie
Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Brian Wilson and Burt Bacharach.
According to vocalist Kevin Cronin, REO Speedwagon's new studio album, Everyone Loves A Happy Ending, will be released
on Mar. 26th.
Starbucks have worked in collaboration with KCRW for a new 15-track compilation, Sounds Eclectic: The Covers Project,
due out exclusively through the retailer starting Mar. 13th. The collection of cover songs include tracks by Paul
Weller, R.E.M., The Flaming Lips, Robert Plant, k.d. lang and many others.
Former Mott The Hoople frontman Ian Hunter will release, Shrunken Heads, his first new studio album since 2001's
Rant on May 15th via Yep Roc Records.
ESP (also known as the Eric Singer Project) has released a new DVD, Live At The Marquee, from their 2006 tour of
Japan and Australia.
A new version of the 1980 film Xanadu is heading to Broadway with previews beginning in May. The musical will include
many of the songs that sent the soundtrack to double-platinum status and will include additional songs and scoring
by ELO's Jeff Lynne and John Farrar.
A soundtrack to the new Joe Strummer documentary, The Future Is Unwritten, will head to stores on Apr. 3rd and
feature several solo and Clash tracks.
When Orchestral Manouevres In The Dark's Andy McLuskey, Paul Humphreys, Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper announced
that they'd be reuniting for a few performances, people expected just that. OMD have now announced that an album
of new material is on the way this year as well as performances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008
and a CD/DVD of the digitally remastered version of 1981's Architecture & Morality album on Apr. 30th.
CBS' reality series Armed & Famous was put on "hiatus" due to low ratings after 4 episodes. VH1 picked
up the unaired fifth episode to air last week as part of a marathon airing of the series and are open to showing
episodes 6 and 7 if they get filmed. La Toya Jackson is among the show stars.
Expect to see reissues of Slade's back-catalog as Union Square Music recently announce that they have acquired
an exclusive license to reissue all of their original studio albums and some compilations.
Randy Newman, whose song "Our Town" from the film Cars is nominated for an Academy Award, has started
work on his next studio album. He also is working on songs for Disney's animated film The Frog Princess and Leatherheads.
An official statement from representatives for Kylie Minogue and French boyfriend Oliver Martinez has confirmed
the couple have split in a "mutual and amicable" fashion.
A partnership between Kiss and comic book production company Platinum Studios has formed the new Kiss Comics Group.
The co-venture plans to publish new comics based on members of the band and expand those characters into print,
mobile, online, film, television and licensed merchandise. With an intent to create the largest comic book ever
published, the first product from the venture will be Kiss 4K (focusing on the band members transformation from
rock stars into world-protecting warrior spirits) as a 3-foot $50 comic. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are heavily
involved in the project.
The Quireboys have released their new live DVD, One More For The Road, is being made available exclusively via
their store at the www.quireboys.com Web site.
According to Don Henley, the Eagles will release their new studio album in the next 3 months so they can have it
out before the summer. This will be the first new studio album by the band since 1979's The Long Run.
Dennis DeYoung has announced the working title of his first new studio album since 1988 will be The Grand Pieces
Of Paradise.
The remastered editions of Depeche Mode's 1983 album Construction Time Again and 1986's Black Celebration are scheduled
for Mar. 26th.
X-perience will release "Personal Heaven" as the second single from their Lost In Paradise album. The
song is a cover of a track from Midge Ure's Internet-only CD, Little Orphans. Ure re-recorded his vocals for the
cover version.
Gerald Levert's posthumous album, In My Songs, will be released via Atlantic Records on Feb. 13th.
Western swing steel guitar great Tom "Wolf" Morrell, 68, died of emphysema on Tuesday in his Little Elm,
Texas home. Morrell was a session musician early in his career appearing on many albums including the 1986 Talking
Heads release True Stories. He earned a place in the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1988 and only started recording
solo in 1995. The 15th volume of his How The West Was Swung series with the Timewarp Tophands hits stores later
this month.
Vocalist Billy Henderson of the Spinners, 67, died on Friday in a Daytona Beach, Florida, health care facility
from complications from diabetes. Henderson was one of four original members of the band that performed together
until 2004 when he sued the group's corporation and business manager to obtain financial records. The group was
the second black music group to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and earned 6 Grammy Award nominations
during their career.