The 80s Nuts
Chaka Khan and Chaka Khan Enterprises have issued an official statement about the recent unauthorized CD/DVD release
of Greatest Hits Live. "The current "Greatest Hits Live" DVD and audio CD currently being distributed
and sold by Cleopatra on sites such as Amazon.com has not been authorized for release by Chaka Khan nor her management.
This performance is by no means representative of Chaka Khan's stage presence and should not have been released.
We are currently seeking legal action against the illegal use and sale of these products and ask that consumers
not purchase them due to copyright infringement laws that are being violated. We thank you for your cooperation
in this matter." Cleopatra hasn't responded but calls the album "her first ever live album and should
prove to be a necessary addition to her entire fanbase."
Bjork's first major concert in China on Mar. 2nd may have been her last. During the performance of "Declare
Independence" (her closing song of the set) at Shanghai International Gymnastic Center, she began chanting
"Tibet" several times appearing to come out in favor of the nation's independence from China. According
to the Chinese Ministry of Culture, "We will further tighten controls on foreign artists performing in China
in order to prevent similar cases from happening in the future. We shall never tolerate any attempt to separate
Tibet from China and will no longer welcome any artists who deliberately do this. Some artist deliberately turned
a commercial show into a political performance, which not only broke Chinese law, but also hurt Chinese audiences'
feelings." China has ruled Tibet since 1951.
Ever heard of the musical Kristina From Duvemala? There's a reason. The musical about a 19th-century poor Swedish
family debuted in 1995 but went into litigation before it was due to open in Stockholm. ABBA members Benny Andersson
and Bjorn Ulvaeus have finally settled their legal dispute with Swedish playwright Carl-Johan Seth over who would
receive credit as the author of the musical. The trio have issued a joint statement saying they plan to end the
legal battle and that the credits for the story would be made clear when the musical is performed next.
The estate of Kurt Cobain has reportedly been the victim of identity theft to the tune of $72 million. According
to Courtney Love, 188 credit cards have been issued using her name and a $3.2 million home in New Jersey was purchased
with Cobain's social security number during the course of 5 years. Money has also been taken from the trust fund
set aside for their daughter Frances Bean.
According to a statement released by a representative, "Actor Patrick Swayze has been diagnosed with pancreatic
cancer and is currently undergoing treatment." His doctor has said that he has a very limited amount of the
disease and is responding well to treatment so far. Swayze, 55, was diagnosed in January and has been undergoing
chemotherapy. He does have a new movie, Powder Blue, due out soon.
Seven people were injured during riots that broke out during Iron Maiden's concert on Feb. 28th in Bogota, Colombia,
according to ElTiempo.com. An estimated 3,000 uniformed security personnel were provided for the date on the Somewhere
Back In Time - World Tour 08 attended by 42,000 fans. Illegal items including knives, liquor and drugs were seized
and 480 people are said to have been treated for headaches and other health conditions related substance abuse.
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry due to undergo knee surgery which will force the band to cancel some of their upcoming
tour dates.
Loretta Lynn, Desmond Child, Alan Menken, John Sebastian and Albert Hammond will be inducted into the Songwriters
Hall of Fame on June 19th in New York City.
Nominees have been announced for the 43rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards to be held on May 18th in Las
Vegas. George Strait is nominated for Entertainer Of The Year and Top Male Vocalist. The Eagles are nominated for
Top Vocal Group. Reba McEntire's duet with Kelly Clarkson "Because Of You," Kenny Chesney's duet with
George Strait "Shiftwork," Bon Jovi featuring LeAnn Rimes "Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore"
and Vince Gill with Sheryl Crow "What You Give Away" are nominated for Vocal Event Of The Year.
Phish will be given a lifetime achievement award at the annual Jammys awards on May 7th in New York. The show honors
the best in improvisational music.
Lionel Richie will be honored in April by ASCAP as they plan to give him their Lifetime Achievement Award.
Janet Jackson's new studio album, Discipline, has debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart with sales of
181,000 copies. The album is her sixth #1. Dolly Parton has had her highest debut ever with her new album, Backwoods
Barbie, opening at #17 with sales of 27,000 copies. Garth Brooks' The Ultimate Hits fell a spot to #23. Robert
Plant & Alison Krauss' Raising Sand dropped 2 places to #28. Lenny Kravitz's It Is Time For A Love Revolution
fell 9 spots to #34. The Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden dropped 8 places to #35. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni
Letters plunged 16 places to #38.
Janet Jackson's latest single, "Feedback," surged up the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart 34 spots to
#19 after 10 weeks on the chart. The song reportedly sold 81,000 downloads. Janet Jackson's book about her weight
issues which she is co-writing with her nutritionist, David Allen, is planned for publication later this year.
A title and publication details are expected soon.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' Dig Lazarus Dig has debuted at #4 on the U.K. Album chart. Michael Jackson's Thriller
25 climbed 2 places to #7. Billy Fury's His Wondrous Story: The Complete Billy Fury fell 3 spots to #13. Joe Brown's
The Very Best Of Joe Brown: 50th Anniversary jumped up 6 spots to #14. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' Raising
Sand climbed a spot to #17. Kylie Minogue's X gained 3 places to #19.
Kylie Minogue's latest single, "Wow," from her album, X, has climbed to the #11 spot on the U.K. Singles
chart.
Janet Jackson's "Feedback (remix)" has debuted at #2 on the Canadian singles chart. Her album, Discipline,
debuted at #3 there replacing her brother's Thriller 25 (which fell to #5.)
Julio Iglesias can be proud as his son Julio Iglesias Jr. has been named as the winner of the CMT reality series
Gone Country. His single, "The Way I Want You," will be shipped to country radio this week. Dee Snider
and Bobby Brown were among the contestants on the show. The closest Iglesias Sr. got to going country... his duet
with Willie Nelson.
Sonic Youth has brought their 1987 EP Master Dik to CD for the first time. The remastered release includes 8 tracks
and is available exclusively at their store at SonicYouth.com.
Warrant have announced that their original line-up have reunited. "We are stoked to be back together after
14 years! The best part will be playing live again for all the fans that never got to experience the original Warrant
party band from Hollywood, CA!" Plans are to tour with Cinderella in July after their appearance at the 4
day music festival that is...Rocklahoma. They will also release a live performance DVD later in the summer.
George Strait releases his new studio album, Troubadour, on Apr. 1st. The first single from the album, "I
Saw God Today," has been climbing the country singles charts. Meanwhile, his 50 Number Ones collection has
been certified by the RIAA as 7x platinum (having sold 7 million copies.)
Former State Of Play and Curve vocalist Toni Halliday is currently at work on her new project, Chatelaine, due
out this year. Two tracks are currently up at her MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/chatelainemusic).
The Pet Shop Boys have recorded a cover of the Passions' 1981 hit single "I'm In Love With A German Film Star"
that features vocalist Sam Taylor-Wood. The single will be made available via their official Web site. Meanwhile,
they plan early next year for their next studio release.
The Saints Of The Underground will release their debut album, Love The Sin, Hate The Sinner, on Apr. 22nd.
The Simple Minds have taken a break from preparing their new album to celebrate their 30th anniversary with a series
of 6 rare concerts during November and December. During the show, the band will perform the entirety of their multi-million
selling 1982 album, New Gold Dream. The second half of the concert will highlight some of their best known songs
chronologically. The Simple Minds played their first concert on Jan. 17th at the Satellite City Club in Glasgow,
as the support act to Steel Pulse. In that 30 years, they've scored more than twenty Top 20 hits and sold over
35 million albums.
Whitney Houston will release her first new studio album since 2002 later this year. Four tracks have been completed
for the album and a holiday release is expected.
Meat Beat Manifesto plan to release a digital single of "Guns And Lovers" at iTunes and other digital
stores on Mar. 18th (as a 4 track package containing the single and a remix of it as well as remixes of two other
tracks.) "Guns And Lovers" comes from their new album, Autoimmune, due out on Apr. 8th.
UB40 have made their Dub Sessions available for digital download purchases at MusicUp. A link to the area can be
found on their MySpace page.
Former Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna has plans to release a new album in the fall. Some U.K. dates have been
added in September for his Never Look Back 2008 tour.
The B-52's new studio album, Funplex, will be released on Mar. 25th. A limited edition CD package will be released
at Target stores that includes a bonus disc featuring 5 of their classic songs recorded live at the Roxy in L.A.
Pre-ordering at iTunes starting Mar. 11th will get you two live tracks "Private Idaho" and "Planet
Claire." The title track as also spawned a Remix EP containing remixes by CSS, Peaches and Scissor Sisters
that is now available on iTunes. The group are expected to anchor this summer's True Colors tour with Cyndi Lauper
starting May 31st which will include appearances by the Indigo Girls and Joan Jett.
Sarah McLachlan's duets with Bryan Adams, Cyndi Lauper and Emmylou Harris are expected to surface on her upcoming
collection, Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff, Volume 2, due out Apr. 29th via Arista. Volume 1 was released in
1996.
Whitesnake plan to release their first new studio album in over a decade, Good To Be Bad, via SPV on Apr. 22nd.
Also in the works are a remastered 3-disc set to mark the group's 30th anniversary and a live DVD.
Dave Vanian of the Damned has been working in Los Angeles on the score to the upcoming film, The Perfect Sleep.
Collectors' Choice Music imprint Hep Cat Records plan to reissue the Stray Cats' 1986 album, Rock Therapy, and
1989's Blast Off on Apr. 22nd.
Metallica hope to finish work on their new album in the next 6 weeks and release the album in September.
I guess, what happens in Vegas really doesn't stay there. Proof of that is that Journey's debut with new vocalist
Arnel Pineda has leaked. Audio for new songs "After All These Years," "Walk Away" and "Wildest
Dreams" can be heard at YouTube already. During the show, the band announced the new studio album will be
titled Revelations and available exclusively via Wal-mart in June.
Robyn Hitchcock has little sleep planned as he has a new DVD in the works, an album with the Venus 3, a box set
and a collaboration with XTC's Andy Partridge. The DVD, due out Mar. 25th, comes from the Sundance Channel/BBC
documentary Sex, Food, Death...and Insects, focusing on his creative process with the Venus 3. The Venus 3 album
could be out next year and some of the extra material could end up in the upcoming Jonathan Demme film Dancing
With Shiva (in which Hitchcock makes a brief appearance as a wedding singer.) The new box set is due out this summer
via Yep Rock that focuses on his 80s work with the Egyptians. The work with Partridge is in its early stages and
Partridge is also working on a solo album.
Steve Earle has been busy producing a new studio album for Joan Baez. The currently-untitled release is due out
late summer or early fall.
Def Leppard's Songs From The Sparkle Lounge will be released on Apr. 29th in North America. A limited edition Japanese
version will be released the following day with a bonus track.
Early word on Paula Abdul's first new album since 1995's Head Over Heels is that the currently untitled project
will include a host of new songs as well as remixes of her best-known hits. Her hopes are to have a follow-up single
to "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" out by the end of the American Idol season with the album out before
Christmas.
R.E.M. plan to debut their new studio album, Accelerate, in its entirety beginning Mar. 24th via the social networking
application iLike.
The upcoming musical It's Only Make Believe is in the works as a tribute to late country music legend Conway Twitty.
Dates haven't been announced but it is expected to tour across the country making stops at venues of all sizes.
The soundtrack to the BBC TV series Ashes To Ashes will be released in the U.K. on Mar. 17th and feature a collection
of material featured on the show which is set during the 1980s.
Trixter have announced that they will release their new CD, Alive In Japan, shortly and it can be pre-ordered at
their TrixterRocks.com Web site. Their new studio album is expected to follow its wake later this year.
A new Joy Division double-disc set, Best Of Joy Division, is due out on Mar. 24th The set has 14 tracks on disc
one and an assortment of live tracks, John Peel Show performances and an early interview with Ian Curtis and Stephen
Morris on disc two.
Former Wildlife and FM member Steve Overland plans to release his new solo album in Europe and Japan on May 21st
via Escape Music.
Boston fans looking for a little closure may be able to catch a new hour-long documentary, Remembering Brad Delp...With
A Little Help From His Friends, which includes performance highlights and interviews with his former bandmates,
fiancee and friends. The film debuts a year to the day that he was found dead in his Atkinson home. Delp had died
from carbon monoxide poisoning after locking himself in the bathroom and having lit two charcoal grills.
It seems the 2,500 ultra-deluxe editions of Nine Inch Nails Ghosts I-IV that were selling for $300 each... sold
out in 3 days and activity on the Web site servers (for downloads of the free tracks, purchases of the other versions
of the album) crashed its servers.
Previously we mentioned Olivia Newton-John and the Great Walk to Beijing 2008. What we didn't mention is that the
money raised in their "million steps in the fight against cancer" will go to building the Olivia Newton-John
Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia, and enable further vital research into the improved treatment and ultimately
a cure for cancer. Olivia will not be the only one walking. Feel like sponsoring an 80s artist during the walk
at GreatWalkToBeijing.com? As of now, seven teams have formed including Team U.K. (includes Sir Cliff Richard and
Toyah Willcox) and Australia Entertains (includes Jimmy Barnes and INXS' Kirk Pengilly) to take on stages of the
21-day 256 kilometer challenge (with some areas between 30 to 45 degree gradient) from Apr. 7th to 29th.
Berlin vocalist Terri Nunn will be a co-host with Danny Bonaduce's radio talk show at FREE FM 97.1 on the first
Thursday of every month. Mar. 6th was her debut and it can be heard online at www.971freefm.com.