Rose Tattoo guitarist and founding member Mick
Cocks
has been diagnosed with liver cancer and is now under the advice of
some Sydney's best doctors. "Treatment plans are underway and
Mick is in good spirits and ready for a fight." according to manager
Steve White. Rose Tattoo's other guitarist Pete Wells lost
his battle with prostate cancer in 2006.
The Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards were held on Tuesday at Club
Nokia in Los Angeles. Dave Mustaine was among the honored
guests and was presented with the "Golden God" award.
Mustaine's Megadeth performed three songs during the event which will
be broadcast on MTV2 as a one-hour special on May 2nd.
Vocalist Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers will be honored with
the Stevie Ray Vaughn Award at the 5th annual MusiCares MAP Fund
benefit to be held in Los Angeles on May 8th. The award
recognizes his contributions to the charity known for helping musicians
overcome substance abuse.
Prince and Bria Valente's LotusFlow3r/MPLSoUND/Elix3r debuted at #2 on
the Billboard 200 albums chart on sales of 168,000 copies.
The Twilight soundtrack fell 4 places to #7 on sales of 73,000
copies. U2's No Line On The Horizon dropped 6 spots to
#12. Queensryche's American Soldier debuted at #25.
Carrie Underwood featuring Randy Travis' "I Told You So" fell 8 places
to #33 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Eminem, Dr.
Dre & 50 Cent's "Crack A Bottle" dropped 8 spots to #36.
Annie Lennox's The Collection climbed 2 places to #3 on the U.K. Albums
chart. U2's No Line On The Horizon dropped 8 spots to
#17. Leonard Cohen's Live In London debuted at #19.
The Pet Shop Boys' Yes fell 17 places to #21. Lionel Richie
& The Commodores' The Definitive Collection dropped 3 spots to
#23. Bette Midler's The Best Bette fell 7 places to
#30. Lionel Richie's Just Go dropped 12 spots to
#31. U2's U218 Singles gained 2 spots to #36.
ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits fell a place to #38.
The Saturdays' cover of "Just Can't Get Enough" dropped 6 spots to #20
on the U.K. Singles chart.
The Nielsen SoundScan music DVD chart had a surprise entry this week
with a #2 appearance by Jeff Beck's Performing This Week...Live From
Ronnie Scott's. It didn't hurt that it was timed with his
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Aerosmith will be pushing back the release of their new studio album
until they finish their tour with ZZ Top which begins in
June. The band were beset by health issues recently starting
with the infection that set in after Joe Perry's knee replacement
surgery. They headed into the studio with hopes to get the
album finished before going on the road and then Steven Tyler came down
with pneumonia last month. During the downtime, Perry has
recorded about 12 songs for his next solo album.
Reba McEntire debuted her new single, "Strange," during her hosting
duties at the ACM Awards. The song is the first from a new
album due later this summer. Meanwhile, the upcoming special
George Strait: Artist of the Decade, will air on CBS on May 27th.
Duran Duran will see two releases head out on June 30th. A
DVD/CD entitled Duran Duran - Live In Hammersmith '82 includes their
performance as well as "Rio" era videos and two Top Of The Pops
performances. Also coming out is the Rio double-CD special
edition which includes the U.K. release of the album, the original U.S.
Harvest album remixes, Manchester Square demos, B-sides, remixes and
other goodies. (Digital-only extras include an instrumental
version of "My Own Way" and alternate remix of "Hold Back The Rain.")
Director Tamar Simon Hoffs has seen her latest film, Red Roses And
Petrol, open in Los Angeles, New York City, Boston, Chicago and Denver
with European and U.K. theatrical releases on the way. Her
daughter Susanna (of the Bangles) served as executive producer and lent
her voice to two songs (the traditional Irish ballad "The Water Is
Wide" and a cover of Donovan's "Catch The Wind") on the soundtrack
which is due out shortly.
Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records have announced the signing of a
worldwide deal with Ratt. The band plan to head into the
studio soon to start work on their first album of new material since
their 1999 self-titled album due out this fall.
Former Toto member Bobby Kimball has been working on some new music
(and posting it at his MySpace page) for his next solo album and a
project CD with his band.
dB's songwriters Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey will release, hERE
aND nOW, their first collaboration together in nearly two decades on
June 9th via Bar/None Records. The album includes two
appearances by saxophonist Branford Marsalis including the first
single, "Early In The Morning."
Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood has recorded about a dozen songs for,
More Good News, his first new solo album since 2001's Not For
Beginners. Eddie Vedder will make a guest appearance on one
track that will be produced by Bob Rock.
Thunder will release their 3CD collection, The Very Best Of Thunder, on
May 11th which will contain their hits, B-sides, album tracks, rarities
and some live tracks. The band begin their farewell U.K. tour
in July.
EricClapton.com have announced that the Eric Clapton & Steve
Winwood Live From Madison Square Garden set will be released on May
19th in double-CD, double-DVD and limited edition double-CD &
double-DVD versions.
According to his official Web site, Jimmy Sommerville will release his
new 11-track acoustic album, Suddenly Last Summer, this month as a
digital-only worldwide release.
Dave Alvin's musical journey took an side-road when his best friend,
and accordionist for his backing band The Guilty Men, Chris Gaffney
passed away early last year. In October 2008, he went on
stage at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival with an all-star,
all-female group that has since been dubbed The Guilty Women.
The self-titled debut by Dave Alvin And The Guilty Women is due out on
May 26th.
Motley Crue will make an appearance on the season finale of Fox's
series Bones on May 14th. They will perform their biggest
hit, 1989's "Dr. Feelgood," in "The Lab" Nightclub and interact with
some of the cast members in the episode.
The Del Lords will see their 1984 debut, Frontier Days, 1986's Johnny
Comes Marching Home and 1988's Based On A True Story reissued on CD by
American Beat Records through Collectors' Choice Music on May
26th. Pat Benatar (as well as Mojo Nixon, Kim Shattuck and
Syd Straw) make guest appearances on Based On A True Story while Neil
Giraldo
produced albums two and three. Plans are to reissue their
1989 album, Howlin' At The Halloween Moon, and 1990's Lovers Who Wander
later this year.
The new Bon Jovi documentary, When We Were Beautiful, which follows the
band on their 2008 Lost Highway tour will debut at the Tribeca Film
Festival on Apr. 29th. The film is still being called a work
in progress.
The Meat Puppets have signed a deal with Megaforce Records for the
release of their new album, Sewn Together, due out May 12th.
Since the 2002 death of DJ Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell, Run-DMC have
not performed together. But, backstage at the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and Joseph
"Run" Simmons have left the door open for making music together in the
future. McDaniels plans to release his next solo album,
Origins Of Block Music, later this year.
Nitzer Ebb's new release has been completed but has been postponed due
to what the band calls the financial situation. It seems that
they haven't found a satisfactory offer in a label partnership and are
considering self-releasing the material via their own label which would
take time and money to set up right.
Former Heart guitarist Howard Leese has a new album, Secret Weapon, on
the way. The disc will include guest vocals by Joe Lynn
Turner, Paul Rodgers, Paul Shortino and even former Rock Star INXS
contestant Deena Johnson.
When Rosanne Cash was 18 years old, her father Johnny made her a list
he called '100 Essential Country Songs' and told her that if she
learned the list, she would be truly educated. Cash has taken
those words to heart recently and has chosen 15 songs from those for
her upcoming album entitled The List.
The Lou Gramm Band's self-titled debut album will be released in Europe
on June 5th. Interestingly, the album includes an exclusive
bonus track for Europe entitled "It's Not Too Late." "Too
Late" was the title of the single and sole newly recorded track
(without Gramm) to appear last year on No End In Sight: The Very Best
Of Foreigner.
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult have finished work on their new
album, Death Threat. The album will be made available via
their own label Sleazebox as a download with a physical CD available
via their official merchandise store.
The Pet Shop Boys' 10th studio album, Yes, will be released via
Astralwerks in the U.S. on Apr. 21st. Meanwhile, the duo were
asked by animal rights group PETA to rename themselves the Rescue
Shelter Boys. They responded on their official Web site, "The
orgainsation PETA Europe, dedicated to establishing and protecting the
rights of all animals, has written to the Pet Shop Boys with a request
they are unable to agree to but nonetheless think raises an issue worth
thinking about."
Richard H. Kirk has revived the Cabaret Voltaire name. He
recently released a collection of 7 remixes of songs my New Zealand
reggae act Kora and plans an new Cabaret Voltaire release containing
original material and some live dates.
Brantera Music Group Inc. (headed by Frankie Beverly's song Anthony)
are producing, I Wanna Thank You...An All-Star Tribute To Maze
featuring Frankie Beverly. Plans are to release the first
single by Father's Day with the album following in August. A
special commemorative DVD is also in the works that will feature
interviews with the tribute participants, legendary artists and music
executives.
Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy will head to the Rock Band Music Store
on Apr. 14th. The album has sold 570,000 copies up til now
according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The Neon Judgement will release, Smack, their first new studio album
since 1998's Dazsoo on Apr. 28th.
Former Beach Boy Al Jardine has been recording a solo album that he
plans to release early this summer. The disc will mix
original songs and a couple Beach Boys standards supported by guest
appearances by Brian Wilson, Neil Young, Steve Miller, Glen Campbell,
Stephen Stills and Flea.
Killing Joke will release their new 4-CD boxed set, The Gathering 2008,
on May 18th via their own Killing Joke label. The release
documents the reunion of the group's original line-up for the first
time since 1982.
Billy Ocean has released, Because I Love You, his first new studio
album in 15 years in the U.K. The title track has been
released as the first single.
Sam Moore has plans to head into the studio later this year to record
some covers for a new album later this year.
Holy City Zoo, the debut album by Mob Research (formed by the late Paul
Raven and Mission U.K. guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite), is now available
for pre-order at http://tiny.cc/z7nVC
VH1 recently compiled and aired their new list of the 100 Greatest One
Hit Wonders Of The '80s. If you missed the countdown, check
out their site at http://tiny.cc/6Oiqm as it also includes some of
those videos.
Winans family patriarch David "Pop" Winans, Sr., 76, died on Wednesday
in a Nashville hospice, where he had been since January after suffering
a heart attack and stroke last October. Winans and wife
Delores (also known and Mom Winans) were nominated for a Grammy for
their 1989 album Mom & Pop Winans. His solo album,
Uncensored, would be nominated for a Grammy 10 years later.
David and Delores Winans had 10 children together many following the
success in Gospel music as their parents and others crossing over into
R&B.
Jazz flutist and alto saxophonist Bud Shank, 82, died of pulmonary
failure at his Tucson home on Thursday. During the 1980s he
recorded with Sergio Mendes, Linda Ronstadt, Charlie Byrd, Jimmy Webb,
Freddie Hubbard, The Treniers, Frank Morgan and many others.
In 2007, he formed the Bud Shank Big Band and was recording their next
album in San Diego the day before his passing.