Ticketmaster Entertainment has reached a
national
settlement with New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram in which the
company has agreed to alter some of their business practices (linking
customers to their secondary ticketing site, TicketsNow, for at least a
year) and pay $350,000 to cover fees associated with the
investigation. The investigation came after fans trying to
purchase Bruce Springsteen tickets were redirected to their TicketsNow
site while standard-priced tickets were still available at their parent
company.
Plimsouls frontman Peter Case underwent emergency open heart surgery on
Jan. 15th. The surgery was successful and Case is expected to
fully recover. Friends and fellow artists have created the
Hidden Love Medical Relief Fund to help with his medical bills and are
planning the Hidden Love Benefit Concert. Fans that would
like to help are urged to visit www.HiddenLoveMedicalRelief.com.
Morrissey has been forced to call off the first 4 dates of his U.S.
tour (starting Feb. 28th) due to illness. According to a post
at his official Web site, "Morrissey hopes to be fit and back out on
the road again soon." Refunds for those shows are available
at the point of purchase and dates will resume on Mar. 6th in Myrtle
Beach, South Carolina.
John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston have established the Jett Travolta
Foundation in honor of their late son. The foundation will
assist and provide relief to children with vision, hearing, mobility,
communication, behavioral and learning impairments or other special
medical, environmental, health, or education needs. Those
wishing to donate can visit www.travolta.com for more information.
Fuse TV will air the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
on their network on Apr. 4th 8PM ET/PT.
Charlie Wilson's Uncle Charlie was the biggest debut of the week on the
Billboard 200 album chart at #2 on sales of 58,000 copies.
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' Raising Sand fell 7 spots to #9
on sales of 32,000 copies. Morrissey's Years Of Refusal
debuted at #11. Bruce Springsteen's Working On A Dream
dropped 7 places to #13. The Twilight soundtrack climbed 3
spots to #17. The various artist compilation Grammy Nominees
2009 fell 11 places to #20. Annie Lennox's The Annie Lennox
Collection debuted at #34.
Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent's "Crack A Bottle" fell 2 places to
#5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Morrissey's Years Of Refusal debuted at #3 on the U.K. Albums
chart. Bette Midler's The Best Bette fell 5 places to
#11. Roger Whittaker's The Golden Age Of Roger Whittaker: 50
Years Of Classic Hits dropped 3 spots to #18. The Pet Shop
Boys have seen their 2003 collection, PopArt: The Hits, re-enter the
chart at #19. Bruce Springsteen's Working On A Dream fell 17
places to #24. Luther Vandross' Lovesongs dropped 22 spots to
#26. UB40's Love Songs fell 24 places to #27.
Luciano Pavarotti's The Duets dropped 22 spots to #32. ABBA's
Gold: Greatest Hits climbed 3 places to #34.
Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent's "Crack A Bottle" fell 5 places on
the U.K. Singles chart to #9. U2's "Get On Your Boots" debuts
at #12.
Depeche Mode will be the first recording artist to issue an iTunes
Season Pass. The "subscription" will run $18.99 and initially
get fans the trio's new single, "Wrong," as well as a remixed version
of "Oh, Well." Those subscribers will receive a variety of
new music and exclusive videos from now until the Apr. 21st release of
their new album, Sounds Of The Universe, as well as some additional
content to be released later.
New Kids On The Block have exclusively premiered the video for their
latest single, "Two In The Morning," at Music.AOL.com.
The Cowboy Junkies have been writing new material and road-testing
songs. They hope to have the new album out later this year or
early in 2010. The group are considering alternative methods
of distributing their material and plan to launch their new Web site
next month.
Styx and REO Speedwagon have teamed up to record a new single, "Can't
Stop Rockin'," which heads to radio in March and will be available as a
digital download. The song was co-written by Kevin Cronin and
Tommy Shaw and will be released in time for their 2009 Can't Stop
Rockin' tour together with 38 Special.
The Pet Shop Boys are working on a ballet based on a Hans Christian
Anderson story featuring electronics and strings to open in the London
theatre in 2011.
Several Steve Diggle songs are used in the recent Alan Parker film, Who
Killed Nancy, which has just been released on DVD.
Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the new Broadway musical based on the
Marvel comic book character, will open on Feb. 18th. Directed
by Julie Taymor with music and lyrics by U2's Bono and the Edge, the
production has a reported budget of $31 million. Meanwhile,
the band performed a surprise 4-song set on the roof of the BBC's
London office tower tonight as they promote next week's release of No
Line On The Horizon.
Deluxe editions of Def Leppard's 1983 album, Pyromania, and 1992's
Adremalize are in the works. In 2006, Island reissued their
1987 album, Hysteria, in a digitally remastered and expanded version.
Journey and Santana keyboardist Gregg Rolie is getting ready to release
a DVD of his 2007 concert at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally which was
filmed with 17 different cameras. Rolie will also be featured
on the PBS special Trini Lopez Presents The Legends of Latin Music to
be aired in March.
Rick Springfield is ready to release a follow-up to last year's Venus
In Overdrive. His newest release, My Precious Little One,
collects 10 of the lullabies he created for his own family.
The disc will be released exclusively on Amazon and AmazonMP3 on Mar.
10th. A retail release will head to stores and iTunes on May
5th.
Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian has recently said that the band are
currently in the studio mixing their new album, Worship Music, due out
this summer. He is also hosting Scott Ian's Home Game, an
exclusive online poker tournament that sees amateurs play against rock
stars and poker pros. Find out more information at
www.UltimateBet.com/poker-promotion/.
Duran Duran's collaboration with Mark Ronson on the live version of "A
View To A Kill" which was recorded in Paris last year will be made
available exclusively as a bonus download to anyone that buys the
European version of the War Child 'Heroes' album. To receive
the bonus track, place the European Heroes CD in your computer and
visit www.warchild.org.uk/bonus.
Dennis DeYoung's 2007 album, 100 Years From Now, will be released in
the U.S. on Apr. 14th and include two bonus tracks ("Private Jones" and
"There Was A Time.")
Eddie Money has been working on a few projects. His
autobiographical stage musical, Two Tickets To Paradise, is expected to
premiere in June. He also will return to the studio soon to
continue the work he started with John Ford Coley on country versions
of his hits. Vince Gill has recorded a guest appearance for
the set.
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds' 1984 album, From Her To Eternity, 1985's
The Firstborn Is Dead, 1986's Kicking Against The Pricks and 1986's
Your Funeral...My Trial will be the first to be digitally remastered
(with the B-sides from the singles) and remixed in 5.1 surround sound
on Mar. 30th.
James Taylors covers album, Covers, did so well that he plans to
release a 7-track sequel, Other Covers, that was recorded during the
January 2008 Covers sessions. Other Covers is due out Apr.
7th via Hear Music and a digital exclusive Covers: Deluxe Edition will
collect Covers and Other Covers.
Jane's Addiction will see the release of, A Cabinet Of Curiosities,
their long-awaited rarities collection on Apr. 21st via
Rhino. Containing 43 audio tracks (on 3 CDs) and an 11-song
DVD, the box set includes demos, live performances, non-album tracks,
little-heard compilation tracks and remixes. The set can be
purchased at Rhino.com and in stores for a suggested retail price of
$74.98.
The Dukes Of The Stratosphear will see their 1985 EP, 25 O'Clock, and
1987 album Psonic Psunspots reissued later this year via Andy
Partridge's label Ape House Records. The reissues by the XTC
side-project will include demos, unreleased material and bonus tracks.
INXS have issued a statement in response to vocalist JD Fortune's
assertion that he's been dumped by the band. "Not only are we
shocked by the claims, even the place the supposed incident was to have
taken place is a mystery." The group were reportedly
"horrified" by the interview. Their 'creative director and
global business strategist' CM Murphy added to that, "The band have
always stated to me that Fortune's services could potentially be
contracted again when INXS next tour. In fact, he was next on
my list to call regarding a very big recording project I am putting
together for INXS at present. I guess I have no reason to
call him now!" Technically, by winning Rock Star: INXS,
Fortune won the prize of recording one album and touring the album with
the band.
Dinosaur Jr. have signed a deal with Jagjaguwar for the release of
their second album since reuniting in 2005.
An expanded and remastered Collector's Edition of Rod Stewart's 1993
MTV Unplugged performance will be released on Mar. 10th under the title
Unplugged...And Seated containing two songs that didn't appear on the
original album and a DVD of the performance.
Sparks have announced that they will release their new single, "Lighten
Up, Morrissey," on Mar. 23rd as a limited-edition vinyl. The
song is the latest single off 2008's Exotic Creatures Of The Deep.
New Order bassist Peter Hook has collaborated with the Crystal Method
on two songs expected to appear on their new album, Divided By Night,
due out in late 2010.
Bjork plans to release a double-CD/DVD set, Voltaic, chronicling her
two-year tour in support of Volta, on Mar. 2nd via One Little Indian.
Motley Crue have announced plans to release a DVD, on Mar. 24th via
Universal, chronicling last year's Crue Fest.
Michelle Shocked will release her new 10-track studio album, Soul Of My
Soul, on May 12th via Mighty Sound.
Kiss guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley was on the Fox Business network's
Happy Hour on Thursday and said that the band were going to head into
the studio next week to work on their follow-up to 1998's Psycho
Circus. Stanley, Glen Hughes, Jorn Lande, Steve Stevens,
Alice Cooper, Keri Kelli, Eric Martin, Jeff Scott Soto, Graham Bonnet,
Steve Lukather, Joe Lynn Turner and Udo Dirkschneider have recorded
guest spots for Russian rock act Pushking's new album, Pushking Duets,
due out later this year. Meanwhile, Stanley and Gene Simmons
will release Kiss Kompendium, which collects all of their Kiss comics
on Oct. 27th via Collins Design. The series features the
band's 4 superhero characters fighting evil with Marvel comic book
icons the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men.
The Beastie Boys are finishing up work on their 8th studio album which
is expected out in the summer or fall. Tad Lock's Glasses is
one possible album title being discussed.
NOFX have been working on their 12th full-length studio album, Coaster,
which is due out on Apr. 28th. They will also release a DVD
compiling their Backstage Passport series on Mar. 17th.
If there was ever a time to pick up a copy of NME, it would be this
week as it includes the free exclusive CD of covers of songs by The
Cure to celebrate their being named Godlike Genius at their awards
show. Meanwhile, the band made good on a promise to cover the
cost of tickets after 500 fans purchased tickets through Trinity Street
which subsequently folded. New tickets were issued to the
fans for their O2 performance in London on Thursday.
Alias will release their new studio album, Never Say Never, on Mar.
3rd. The 17-track disc includes a live acoustic version of
Sheriff's "When I'm With You." After Sheriff disbanded in
1985, vocalist Freddy Curci and guitarist Steve DeMarchi formed Alias.
Church guitarist Marty Wilson-Piper will release, Nightjar, his first
solo album in 8 years this week.
The Lou Gramm Band will release their Christian-themed rock album in
May.
Pylon founding member/guitarist Randall Bewley, 53, died at Athens
Regional Medical Center on Wednesday. Bewley suffered a
heart attack while driving on Monday. His van drifted off the
road and tipped over. The guitarist was in a coma for two
days before he was removed from life support. Pylon have been
cited as an influence by local acts R.E.M. and the B-52's.
They released three albums together (1980's Gyrate, 1983's Chomp and
1990's Chain) and performed sporadic gigs. Gyrate was
reissued in 2007 and Chomp is scheduled to be reissued this year.
R&B singer and guitarist Ford 'Snooks' Eaglin, 72, died of a
heart attack on Feb. 18th. The blind musician fell ill and
was hospitalized the week before and was diagnosed with prostate cancer
the year earlier. Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt
and Robert Plant were fans of his unique style of picking strings with
his thumbnail and fingers. Eaglin released 1987's Baby, You
Can Get You Gun and 1989's Out Of Nowhere for Black Top Records during
the 1980s.