Judge Anthony Ferrara of Manhattan issued an arrest warrant for Boy George (a.k.a. George O'Dowd) on Friday
after the former Culture Club vocalist failed to appear in court to explain why he wants to change his sentence
for falsely reporting a burglary. The judge will hold a hearing on June 26th on whether George O'Dowd violated
the terms of his sentence. The judge was visably upset that the singer hadn't paid the $1,000 fine or reported
to the office that assigns community service work. Possible community service proposals listed by George's lawyer
Louis Freeman were ridiculed by the judge and included holding a fashion-and-makeup workshop, helping teens make
a public service announcement and serving as D.J. for an HIV/AIDS benefit. Meanwhile, the remaining members of
Culture Club have announced plans to reform with a new lead singer for a 2007 world tour and TV series.
According to the BBC, Judge Truong Vinh Thuy rejected Gary Glitter's appeal against a 3-year jail sentence for
child sex abuse in Vietnam, "We did not see enough evidence to reduce the penalty for the defendant."
Although Rolling Stones spokeswoman Fran Curtis has assured ticket holders for upcoming European performances by
the band that the tour will start as planned, guitarist Ron Wood has reportedly been admitted to a London alcohol
rehabilitation clinic.
Currently under investigation by the Tennessee Highway Patrol is the death of an unidentified man on June 16th
that was apparently leaving the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, TN. The man is believed to have jumped over
a chain-link fence on Interstate 24 and walked in front of the tour bus of Ricky Skaggs (who performed a 90-minute
set at the festival.) Early information reportedly indicates that the bus driver was not at fault.
It seems that the problem Queensryche had in the Netherlands with being arrested for "allegedly smuggling
illegal firearms" on June 11th had to with a replica Glock 45 fake handgun that is used on stage by Geoff
Tate during their tour in support of Operation: Mindcrime II.
A new law suit has been filed against Michael Jackson. Helen Harris-Scott has accused Jackson of tampering with
her food and water and threatening her life. The plaintiff alleges that she began sending cards and letters to
the singer in 1986 and that Jackson was shy and communicated with her through others and through his music. Harris-Scott
claims things got worse the following year as a GPS tracking device was secretly installed in her car, her tires
were flattened and brake system tampered with. Meanwhile, Jackson has canceled the release of his "What More
Can I Give" charity single for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina due to issues with royalties and publishing
rights.
Milwaukee union coordinator of musicians, actors and stage hands Paul Friday has called Bruce Springsteen's booking
at the non-union Bradley Center "bafflingly ironic and somewhat infuriating." Springsteen is currently
on tour promoting his latest album, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions which pays tribute to pro-union singer/songwriter
Pete Seeger. Show promoters have said that the venue was chosen to provide the capacity to offset production costs.
The performance on Wednesday night was met with rave reviews.
Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson will be inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk on Sunset Boulevard on July 6th.
Rodney Crowell (Song Of The Year and Album Of The Year), Marty Stuart (Artist Of The Year and Album Of The Year)
and Rosanne Cash (Artist Of The Year and Song Of The Year) each earned two nominations for the 5th annual Americana
Honors & Awards. Delbert McClinton (Album Of The Year) and Neil Young (Artist Of The Year) were also nominated.
Manifesto Records has released a Wedding Present compilation (11 tracks that have never been released in the U.S.)
under the title Search For Paradise available for download at iTunes and eMusic.
Tom Petty will release his new solo album, Highway Companion, via Warner Brothers Records on July 25th. The first
single from the album will be "Saving Grace." A link to preview the new single will be available at the
80sMusicCentral.com Web site later this week.
Bob Dylan's 44th album, Modern Times, will be released on Aug. 29th. Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese's 2005 documentary
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan won the art documentary prize and grand prize at the 27th Banff Rockie Awards.
Surviving members of the Beach Boys (Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine) made their first public appearance
together in a decade on Tuesday to celebrate their Sounds Of Summer hits collection going double-platinum. Mike
Love has insisted that a reunion performance could happen to coincide the planned reissue of their back catalog.
A double-DVD double-CD package is on the way Sept. 11th entitled Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey. The project contains
a specially made documentary covering Tovey's life and career up until his untimely death in 2002. The discs will
contain rare and unreleased tracks and live footage as well as his classic recordings.
Lionel Richie has written or co-written 9 of the 10 tracks that are expected to appear on his upcoming studio album,
Coming Home, due out on Sept. 12th. The first single, "I Call It Love," will be released to radio on
July 17th.
Guitarist John McLaughlin will release his follow-up to 2003's Thieves And Poets on Aug. 1st under the title Industrial
Zen.
The new 18-track Luther Vandross hits collection, The Ultimate Luther Vandross, will feature two previously-unreleased
tracks: "Shine" and "Got You Home."
Joe Satriani and George Thorogood's guest appearance at Steve Miller's September 2005 Mountain View, California,
performance will appear on a DVD celebrating the 30th anniversary of Miller's Fly Like An Eagle on June 27th. Miller
has also been working on a collaboration with the University of Southern California Jazz Band for an album to be
released early next year.
Blast First/Mute will reissure UT's classic 1988 album In Gut's House and 1989's Griller on Aug. 14th.
Ice Cube's first album to be released through his own Lench Mob imprint, Laugh Now, Cry Later, debuted at #4 on
the Billboard album chart.
Eric Clapton, Michael McDonald, Mark Knopfler, J.J. Cale and the late Waylon Jennings will make guest appearances
on the new studio album, Uncovered, by Southern singer/songwriter Tony Joe White due out Sept. 5th.
According to the band, Faster Pussycat have finished work on their first new studio album in 14 years, The Power
& The Glory Hole, with a release date as early as next month. Previews of some of the new album tracks can
be heard at their MySpace page.
Stevie Wonder and Janet Jackson have recorded guest appearances on Snoop Dogg's new studio album, Blue Carpet Treatment.
A Blue Carpet Treatment animated film is also in the works.
Sepultura officially announced the departure of drummer Igor Cavalera due to "musical incompatibility"
with the other band members. He will be replaced on the tour by Brazilian drummer Jean Dolabella.
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Vince Neil of Motley Crue plans to open a 2,200-square-foot tattoo shop
at the Flamingo replacing O'Shea's Irish pub. The shop is planning to open later this summer.
It started with a discussion about Journey frontman Steve Augeri lip synching (or using backing tapes to 'enhance'
his vocals) during recent performances at Melodicrock.com and became a blog (http://www.escape-to-tape.blogspot.com/).
Currently there is no official word from the band and they have been accused of pulling down online video of their
latest performances.
Rock Star: Supernova will begin airing on CBS on July 9th. They plan to air 3 episodes each week (2 on CBS and
one reality series-ish online at MSN.)
Australia's The Triffids are seeking fans that may have footage of the band over the course of their career for
an upcoming DVD. They are also planning to reissue remastered versions of their entire back catalogue with bonus
tracks.
The track-listing for Tony Bennett's upcoming album, Duets -- An American Classic, includes guest performances
with George Michael, Bono, Billy Joel, k.d. lang, Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Elton John, James
Taylor, Barbra Streisand and Sting. The 18-track collection will be released on Sept. 26th.
Kiss vocalist Paul Stanley's new solo studio album is expected to be released in September and a title has yet
to be mentioned.
The Leonard Cohen documentary, I'm Your Man, will hit theaters on July 14th. The soundtrack will include recordings
by Nick Cave and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker paying tribute to the singer/songwriter. A live recording of "Tower
Of Song" by U2 with Cohen finishes the album which hits stores on July 25th.
Frank Black's upcoming solo Nashville double album, Fastman/Raiderman, will be released on June 20th.
Expect to see a few new compilations coming by Scandal, Rick Springfield, Eddie Money and The Bangles under the
title We Are The 80's. These are DualDisc releases with a 'best of' and interview and film clips via Sony BMG starting
July 18th.
Audioslave will release their third studio album, Revelations, on Sept. 5th. The first single, "Original Fire,"
from the album heads to radio stations next month.
Chris Gaines part 2? Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and songwriter Kara DioGuardi hosted a screening last week
of a documentary about the band Platinum Weird (which Stewart supposedly formed in 1974 with Erin Grace who disappeared
before they hit it big.) The documentary includes interviews with Elton John, Mick Jagger, Ringo Starr, Stevie
Nicks, Bob Geldof and many others who 'recall what they remember' about the original band. Meanwhile, an actual
Platinum Weird self-titled album is due out on Aug. 22nd.
Gunnar Nelson has been working with Mark Slaughter and Night Ranger's Kelly Keagy on a new project called Scrap
Metal.
The final album completed by late African musician Ali Farka Toure, Savane, will be released on July 25th. Toure
died in March after a battle with bone cancer.
Nihilist founding guitarist Leif Cuzner recently passed away in Montreal, Canada. Cuzner played with another Swedish
death metal act named Rapture and relocated with them to Canada in 1990. Rapture would later change their name
to Lobotomy.