A settlement agreement has been reached between the 3 surviving original members of the Beach Boys (Brian Wilson,
Mike Love and Al Jardine) after two days of talks mediated by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. The terms of
the deal have not been disclosed but lawyers for the musicians made light suggestions to the settlement paving
the way to a long awaited reunion. The group are nearing their 50th anniversary.
Bassist Mike Kaufmann of thrash metal act Defiance was robbed at gunpoint by six men at the West Oakland BART (Bay
Area Rapid Transit) station on Mar. 14th. According to Kaufmann, "I was barely able to escape and I'm very
lucky to be alive. It was their intent to take everything I had and then kill me. The Oakland police caught them
about an hour later and I made a positive identification." The band reformed in 2005 and plan to have work
on a new album finished by April.
Often called the "Garth Brooks of Texas" and "the king of Tejano music," Grammy Award-winning
singer Emilio Navaira, 45, suffered serious head injuries in a bus crash near Houston on Sunday. He was on the
bus when it collided with two vehicles. "Navaira underwent two hours of emergency surgery to relieve a large
blood clot on the surface of his brain underneath the skull, and he has been put into a chemically induced coma,"
said Dr. Alex Valadka. "There is a chance he may not make it."
UB40 keyboardist Michael Virtue has announced that he is resigning from the band. "I can no longer work with
the management team and I am joining Ali Campbell in his investigation into the handling of the band's business
affairs. I am very upset to be leaving the band who have been like family for the last 30 years, but feel under
the circumstances that this was the only option left open to me." Virtue has also said, "It certainly
can not be said that I am leaving to pursue a solo career and neither did Ali. Suffice to say, I am extremely disappointed."
Campbell left UB40 in January.
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry is recovering in the hospital following a successful total knee replacement surgery.
It is believed that he put off the operation for 2 years in order to fulfill the group's live commitments. Perry
is expected to end his hospital stay shortly and convalesce at home for the rest of the year.
Alan Jackson's Good Time has fallen from the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart to #5 with sales of 53,000 copies.
Janet Jackson's Discipline dropped 5 spots to #8 selling 38,000. The various artist compilation Now That's What
I Call 80's came in at #11. Garth Brooks' The Ultimate Hits fell 11 places to #38. Randy Jackson's Randy Jackson's
Music Club: Vol. 1 debuted at #50 selling 13,000 copies.
Bryan Adams' new studio album, 11, debuted at #6 on the U.K. Albums chart. Van Morrison's Keep It Simple debuted
at #10. Michael Jackson's Thriller 25 fell 7 places to #14.
Madonna's new single, "4 Minutes," featuring Justin Timberlake has debuted at #7 on the U.K. Singles
chart. Meanwhile, European owners of Vodafone cell phones will be able to download Madonna's new album, Hard Candy,
a week before the album release.
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' Raising Sand has been certified platinum by the RIAA. The Rounder Records release
debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at #2 (the highest chart position obtained at the label.)
Alice Cooper has been named as the recipient of the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award and Slash is up for the MusiCares
From The Heart Award for his work for the organization. Both are expected to perform at the ceremony which takes
place on May 9th at the Music Box in Hollywood.
Not only did REO Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin appear on a recent American Idol episode, he recently taped an
episode of Don't Forget The Lyrics. According to a post by the singer, "I can't really disclose how things
went on the show, (it's a legal thing), but we had a blast, and won a pile of cash for the MusiCares charity. That
episode airs on Apr. 3rd. The group also have an episode of Soundstage awaiting an air date (they are hoping for
June.) The band's "Can't Fight This Feeling" (performed by Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnet and
many more) appears in the film Horton Hears A Who! currently in theaters.
Tangerine Dream will release their new studio album, Views From A Red Train, a new Cupdisc entitled Purple Diluvial
and a vintage compilation, The Anthology Decades, via East Gate Music Shop on Apr. 14th.
Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles will reunite with Matthew Sweet for Under The Covers Vol. 2. Fans have been told that
they can send her questions about the project (at returnpost.yuku.com/topic/3529) that will be answered next month
on her personal page at the official Bangles Web site.
The Dead Kennedys have lost their second replacement vocalist Jeff Penalty in what he calls a "not amicable
split." According to a post on his MySpace page blog, "I thought about quitting numerous times over the
past year, but I officially did so on Thanksgiving when I found out that the band had been recruiting a new singer
behind my back and had even played a secret show with one at a bar in my neighborhood." The band have hired
Skip from the Wynona Riders to take over the spot for an upcoming tour but drummer D.H. Peligro will be taking
some personal time off.
Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond and Andrew Lloyd Webber have been named as celebrity mentors during the current season
of American Idol.
Queen + Paul Rodgers plan to head out on tour in Europe this fall in support of their currently-untitled new studio
album due out in the U.K. on Sept. 1st. A release date for the U.S. has not been announced yet by Hollywood Records.
Dirty Looks have released their new studio album, Superdeluxe, at CDBaby. The album can be purchased and sampled
at the site (http://cdbaby.com/cd/dirtylooks2).
Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora has co-written a song, "Sorry Is Just Too Late," that will appear on
Australian artist Shannon Noll's third album, Turn It Up.
George Michael has plans for a European and U.S. tour following the Apr. 1st release of his new album Twenty-Five
(which features a duet with Paul McCartney.) Michael sees the tour as closing out his previous recording era. He
hopes to release more new music in the future and suspects that it will be offered to fans for free as a way to
keep his artistic freedom. An autobiography is in the works and he continues to make brief cameo appearances on
ABC's Eli Stone.
The Oysterband have been working on a new album project called Drifter which will be a collection of their classic
songs set to coincide with their 30th anniversary.
Original Alice Cooper drummer and Deadringer percussionist Neal Smith will release his new album Sexual Savior
from his new project KillSmith later this year via CDBaby, iTunes, eBay and Amazon.com.
Kylie Minogue will release her new studio album, X, to U.S. fans on Apr. 1st. The disc will include a bonus track,
"All I See," featuring New York rapper MIMS.
Fight will release a 4-disc collection, Into The Pit, on May 26th that will include remastered versions of War
Of Words, Mutations, A Small Deadly Space and a new DVD release, Live In Phoenix.
Elvis Costello has announced that his next solo studio effort, Momofuku, will be released on vinyl with a digital
download code (included in the package) on Apr. 22nd via Lost Highway.
Lita Ford has signed a deal with Coallier Entertainment (who list Twisted Sister, Foreigner, Lizzy Borden, Lillian
Axe, Great White, Loudness, Danger Danger and Sebastian Bach among their clients) for representation. She plans
to return after a long hiatus to perform on July 11th at Rocklahoma.
Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French has rewritten the group's classic hit, "I Wanna Rock," into "I
Want Barack" in support of the presidential candidate. The song is not recorded under the Twisted Sister moniker
(instead it's Jay Jay French And Friends) because the band are split when choosing a candidate.
ZZ Top have been in a Dallas studio working on new material which could wind up being part of their first new studio
album since 2003's Mescalero. The band will release a currently-untitled concert DVD via Eagle Rock prior to the
new album. Meanwhile, Billy Gibbons has filmed a return guest appearance for the May 16th season finale of Fox
TV's Bones. Gibbons had a previous cameo appearance in 2005 as the father of Angela Montenegro (portrayed by actress
Michaela Conlin) on the series.
Billy Bragg has released his new single, "I Keep Faith," as a 3-track EP (which includes the songs "Ash
Wednesday" and "Goodbye") at iTunes.
Rush's new concert disc, Snakes & Arrows Live, has been delayed a week and is expected out on Apr. 15th. The
first single from the disc will be "Working Them Angels."
Yes plan to celebrate their 40th anniversary with a new live album that could be released this summer. Rick Wakeman
has decided not to join the band on the tour but his son Oliver Wakeman will replace him.
Two tribute albums with the Cure as the focus are in the works. Just Like Heaven: A Tribute To The Cure will be
released early next year and include recordings by Tanya Donnelly and Frank Black's Grand Duchy project. Perfect
As Cats will be released on vinyl (in the near future) as a tribute and benefit album for the Ugandan youth charity
Invisible Children.
What's good for Neal Schon seems to be good enough for Randy Johnson. Johnson, the creator and director of the
musical production of It's Only Make Believe -- based on the music of Conway Twitty, will seriously consider auditions
for the show posted at their YouTube audition site if you can't make one of their three casting calls.
Psychic TV (PTV3) expect to perform on NPR's World Cafe show on Apr. 9th (the show's Web site says Apr. 2nd.) M.I.A.on
Mar. 28th and Gary Louris on Mar. 31st.
Frontiers Records has announced that Kip Winger will release From The Moon To The Sun in Europe on May 9th.
It seems there are two competing documentaries in the works based on Bob Marley's life. One (which has his widow
Rita Marley executive producing) could be released in late 2009 but the family of Bob Marley have refused to license
any of his music for the film. The family-owned Tuff Gong Pictures has its own documentary in the works with Martin
Scorsese for February 2010 (timed with his birthday) with son Ziggy Marley to executive produce. Discussions are
ongoing to resolve the impasse to a mutual benefit.
Tom Petty's pre-Heartbreakers group Mudcrutch will be releasing a 14-track self-titled album on Apr. 29th via Reprise.
This will be their first release.
Aimee Mann plans to release her 7th studio album, @#%&! Smilers, on June 3rd via her own SuperEgo Records.
For the album, she has brought in a Moog synthesizer and avoided the electric guitar. Fans will be able to hear
songs from the album at AimeeMann.com on Apr. 1st.
Los Angeles metal act Warrior have announced they have reunited with original vocalist Parramore McCarty and guitarist
Joe Floyd. They are currently recording what will be their fifth studio album.
Former Bonham lead singer Daniel MacMaster, 39, died on Mar. 16th from pneumonia (which was apparently worsened
when a strep infection entered his bloodstream.) MacMaster had last been working on new solo material and with
singer/songwriter Jimmy D of Emerald Monkey on a project called Monkey-MacMaster. He will be best known for his
work with Bonham on their successful single, "Wait For You," and their 1989 debut album, The Disregard
Of Time Keeping. They would release 1992's Mad Hatter before breaking up.
Zoogz Rift multi-instrumentalist Richie Hass, 55, lost his battle with multiple myeloma (a form of blood cancer)
on Mar. 20th. Hass had played with many other L.A. based bands and during the few years had kept as busy as possible
with shows and he apparently suffered a major relapse in his condition.
Reggae singer/producer/broadcaster Mikey Dread (born Mike Campbell) died on Mar. 15th in Connecticut from a brain
tumor. Dread released 8 albums just during the 1980s and last year released Life Is A Stage.