Procol Harum founding member Gary Brooker won his appeal over the royalty rights to their 1967 hit song, "A
Whiter Shade Of Pale," in London's High Court on Apr. 4th. In 2006, London's High Court awarded the band's
former keyboardist Matthew Fisher 40% of the copyright of the song (which is estimated to have sold 10 million
copies worldwide) after arguing that he wrote the organ music. The judge ruled that Fisher should still be credited
with co-authorship but that he shouldn't benefit financially after he "stood by and acquiesced in the defendant's
commercial exploitation of the work for 38 years."
The family of Sean Levert are urging the FBI to look into the R&B artist's death after a medical emergency
while in jail. A spokesman for the agency has said that an agent will meet with Levert's family. A toxicology report
is expected in the next week.
Morrissey has accepted a public apology at London's High Court from the publishers of the U.K. monthly Word Magazine
over a suggestion buy writer David Quantick that he was a racist and a hypocrite. The singer is currently pursuing
a separate claim against the weekly NME music newspaper where the statements first surfaced.
Amy Grant has been nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year at the 39th GMA Dove Awards set to air live on Apr.
23rd on the Gospel Music Channel. The Clark Sisters are nominated for Group of the Year, Artist of the Year and
Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the Year (for "Blessed & Highly Favored.") Ricky Skaggs And
The Whites are for Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year for "Love Will Be Enough" and "Salt Of The
Earth" and Bluegrass Album of the Year (for Salt Of The Earth.) The Belamy Brothers' "Drug Problem"
is nominated for Country Recorded Song of the Year. Alabama's Songs Of Inspiration II and The Belamy Brothers'
Jesus Is Coming are nominated for Country Album of the Year. Patti Labelle's The Gospel According To Patti Labelle
and The Clark Sisters' Live - One Last Time are up for Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year. Special Event Album
of the Year nominees include Songs 4 Worship: Country and the Evan Almighty soundtrack.
Nick Cave has been awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the Caulfield Campus of Monash University. Usually these
honors are given as a noble gesture to the artist for their achievements in and out of music but Cave actually
was a student at the university. He dropped out during the 70s to start the band Boys Next Door which evolved into
The Birthday Party.
The B-52s' Funplex debuted at #11 on the Billboard 200 album chart selling 30,000 copies. Alan Jackson's Good Time
fell one place to #15. Janet Jackson's Discipline dropped 13 spots to #30. NOW That's What I Call The 80s fell
13 places to #36. Garth Brooks' The Ultimate Hits climbed 4 spots to #40.
Topping other Billboard charts this week are Garth Brooks' The Ultimate Hits (Top Independent Albums), Michael
Jackson's Thriller 25 (Top Pop Catalog) and Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters (Top Contemporary Jazz.)
Madonna's "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake has soared up the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart 65
places to #3. The song also becomes her 37th top 10 hit on the chart surpassing Elvis Presley on the list of most
top 10s in the rock era. (Although, Elvis also had 12 top 10 hits on the Best Sellers in Stores chart prior to
the Billboard Hot 100 being established.) Meanwhile, a cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" by Fall Out
Boy is the top debut this week at #22.
Erin Hamilton's electronic dance remake of Cheap Trick's 1988 hit "The Flame" entitled "The Flame
08" has taken the top spot on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Shirley Bassey's remake of "Get
This Party Started" retains the #3 spot. Janet Jackson's "Feedback" fell 3 places to #8.
R.E.M.'s Accelerate debuted at #1 on the U.K. Albums chart. Michael Jackson's Thriller 25 climbed 5 places to #9.
"4 Minutes" by Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake fell 3 places to #8 on the U.K. Singles chart.
Bryan Adams' new studio album, 11, has fallen from the #1 spot last week to #3 on the Canadian Albums chart. Anne
Murray's Duets, Friends & Legends surged 42 places to #10. Michael Jackson's Thriller 25 dropped 5 spots to
#11.
The Canadian Singles chart has seen a juggernaut of sorts in the form of Nine Inch Nails' "Everyday Is Exactly
The Same." The song climbed 3 places to the #18 spot this week and has been on the chart... 104 weeks (yes,
two years.)
Motley Crue and Sixx: A.M. bassist Nikki Sixx has been named the president of Eleven Seven Records. Meanwhile,
work on the new Motley Crue album has been going very well and fans may start hearing some tracks surface as early
as June.
Genesis will see the release of the David Mallet-directed DVD entitled When In Rome 2007 on May 26th. The show
recorded during their July 14th tour-concluding performance at Circo Massimo which drew an estimated 500,000 fans.
On May 20th, the trio plan to take questions in a special Q&A session that will be beamed via satellite live
into 20 Odeon cinemas across Britain.
Sony/BMG have released an 8-disc Toto box set, Collection, which features their first 7 albums (from their 1978
debut to 1988's The Seventh One) with their Greatest Hits Live & More DVD as an import. It can be purchased
online at Amazon.com.
A-ha vocalist Morten Harket plans to release his new solo album, Letter From Egypt, in Norway on May 19th.
After more than two decades since the release of their debut album, Love Me, Love My Dogma, St. Vitus Dance release
their second album, Glypotheque, this week. The band have launched a MySpace page (myspace.com/stvitusdancemusic)
and have reissued their debut album. Lead vocalist Noel Burke spent time in the late 80s/early 90s with Echo &
The Bunnymen and replaced Ian McCulloch on their album Reverberation.
An all-star list of guests including Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins, Gerald Albright, Larry Dunn and Ronnie Laws
will be featured on Brian Culbertson's new album, Bringing Back The Funk, due out Apr. 29th.
The New Kids On The Block will make their first comeback performance live on Today on May 16th with what will be
a set of old songs and new. The group gathered together for the first time in 14 years at the Today show plaza
and made the announcement that a new album is due this summer with a fall tour. Check out the video at: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23942736/
If that wasn't enough for you, check out People.com who they sat down with and gave an exclusive first look to
the reunion (people.com/nkotb).
Florence Italy's Rinf have released their new album, Chaosjugend Strasse, to record stores worldwide and at Goodfellas
Records Mail Order.
Kiki Dee's 1981 album, Perfect Timing, will be reissued in the U.K. on Apr. 7th featuring bonus material.
X's John Doe and Exene Cervenka have been working on new material for what would be their first studio effort since
1993's Hey Zeus! They are currently on tour celebrating their 31st anniversary with some of the shows being recorded
although there are no plans for a live release from the tour.
Rush are hoping to start work on a new studio album to be released next year. Until then, they will release Snakes
& Arrows Live on Apr. 15th and a live video from that tour will surface on DVD in late summer or early fall.
Peter Frampton has started writing new material for his next studio album. He expects to spend the rest of the
year writing and recording with a break during the summer and fall for a tour.
Elvis Costello and the Imposters will release their new studio album, Momofuku, on vinyl on Apr. 22nd and CD on
May 6th. He has also signed on to host a new Sundance Channel TV show entitled Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...
which will be produced in conjunction with Elton John's Rocket Pictures production company. 13 hour-long episodes
are planned which will also air on Canada's CTV and the U.K.'s Channel 4. A portion of the proceeds from the show's
income will be donated to the Global Fund's work on AIDS relief in Africa.
Dokken have announced that their new studio album, Lightning Strikes Again, will be released on May 13th via Rhino.
Meanwhile, the group are writing new material for an upcoming release.
The Replacements will see their Twin/Tone releases (1981's Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash, 1982's Stink,
1983's Hootenanny and 1984's Let It Be reissued in deluxe editions via Rhino on Apr. 22nd. Similar deluxe versions
of their Sire releases 1985's Tim, 1987's Pleased To Meet Me, 1989's Don't Tell A Soul and 1990's All Shook Down
are planned for later this year.
The Charlatans U.K. will release the physical CD and deluxe special edition double-disc version of You Cross My
Path (containing an extra disc of live and studio recordings) on May 12th.
Madonna's Hard Candy can now be pre-ordered at Amazon.com. Her 11th studio album will come out on Apr. 29th in
several flavors: the original 12-track disc, the digital 13-track download version (includes the bonus track "Ring
My Bell") and the deluxe download version containing the 13-track version as well as two remixes of "4
Minutes" and a "Secret Bonus (remix)."
From The Jam featuring Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler will release a new DVD entitled A First Class Return From
The Jam on June 9th via Invisible Hands Music. The performance was filmed in December 2007 in London.
Word is surfacing on an upcoming U.K. reality series featuring The Jacksons with suggestions that Michael, Janet,
Jermaine and their parents may make guest appearances. Expected to be a part of the show are Tito and his sons,
3T, who are working on an album. Of course, nothing has been officially confirmed at this time.
Whitesnake's new studio album, Good To Be Bad, will be released in the U.S. and Canada on Apr. 22nd. The limited
edition version (coming in a special O-Card version) of the album will feature a bonus CD with seven live songs
and an enhanced video. A vinyl edition will also be released containing a bonus live track.
Aimee Mann has announced that the first single from her upcoming album, @#%&*! Smilers, will be "Freeway."
The album is due out June 3rd.
The first-ever full-length in-concert video to be authorized by the band, The Sex Pistols: There'll Always Be An
England, will head to U.K. stores in June (internationally in August.) The disc captures the band during their
5-night run at London's Brixton Academy in November celebrating the 30th anniversary of their debut album, Never
Mind The Bollocks.
Velvet Revolver founding members Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and Dave Kushner have released a statement confirming
that the group have parted ways with vocalist Scott Weiland. No further details were released as to how this affects
their plans to work on the follow-up to Libertad.
Mel Tillis' 1980 album, Me And Pepper, 1980's Your Body Is An Outlaw and 1981's Southern Rain will be re-released
on Apr. 29th.
How big of a Thompson Twins fan are you? A petition has been set up to show interest in a good rarities collection
at http://www.petitiononline.com/u3au4a1/petition.html of which Tom Bailey has said that he will help go through
the archives.
Former TNT vocalist Tony Harnell has been working on the debut album for his new band Starbreaker. It is currently
being mixed by Tommy Hansen and a title is expected to be announced soon.
Neil Young has announced that Toast, an album that he recorded with Crazy Horse in 2000 but didn't release, will
be surfacing soon.
The 4-disc Yazoo set, In Your Room, will be released on May 26th in the U.K. A limited edition 12" vinyl EP,
Nobody's Diary, will be released on May 12th (a digital download of the EP will also be available) containing a
remastered version of the original track as well as remixes (one by Andy Bell and JC.)
Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) will release his next album under the name Brighton Port Authority. The first
track from the project, "He's Frank," has already surfaced on the Heroes soundtrack and features Iggy
Pop on vocals. David Byrne is also expected to guest on the album.
Grammy Award-winning singer Alannah Myles will release her new studio album, Black Velvet, on Apr. 15th. The album
includes 10 new songs and a new version of her hit "Black Velvet." An autographed copy of the disc can
be pre-ordered at her AlannahMyles.com Web site. The new version of the song can be heard at her MySpace page.
Katrina And The Waves' Katrina Leskanich has a new single on the way entitled "They Don't Know" due out
on May 19th in the U.K. which is a collaboration with Sleazesisters. The song was originally written by Kirsty
MacColl and recorded in 1979 (going to #2 on the U.K. airplay chart.) In 1983, Tracey Ullman's version (which had
MacColl on background vocals) went to #8 on the U.S. charts and #2 in the U.K.
Eagle Rock Entertainment plans to release a live Ted Nugent CD entitled Sweden Rocks on May 13th. The show was
filmed during the 2006 Sweden Rock Festival and a DVD is expected on June 10th.
The Steve Miller Band will be releasing a 3-disc set, Steve Miller: Live From Chicago, via the Coming Home Studios
label in the U.K. on June 2nd. The set includes two DVDs and an audio CD.
Paul Weller will release his new single, "Echoes Round The Sun," (which he wrote with Oasis' Noel Gallagher)
in May. It has been reported that the single will be a double A-side with "Have You Made Up Your Mind."
Weller will release his double-CD, 22 Dreams, on June 2nd in the U.K.
Intuition Records plans to release a 'best of' collection entitled Memories for Italian electronic act Neon in
May. More information about the release (covering from 1980 to 1986) can be found at myspace.com/intuitionrecords
Club Nouveau, Young MC, Tone Loc, Klymaxx, Trinere, Lisa Lisa and Stevie B have signed on for the Freestyle Explosion
Tour 2008 which launches on June 13th. Meanwhile, Loc is planning to play shows at two Detroit area bars that were
swindled by a man posing as his manager. According to the Detroit Free Press, Loc will play shows on Apr. 11th
and 12th at the Red Dog Saloon in Milford and Bumpers in Westland.
Former Controlled Bleeding drummer Chris Moriarty passed away on Mar. 22nd. According to a post on the band's MySpace
page, band founder Paul Lemos had just started talking with Moriarty about restarting their Skin Chamber side-project.