George Michael, 45, was arrested in a public
restroom in Hampstead Heath on Sept. 19th for possession of crack
cocaine and cannabis, according to the Sunday People
newspaper. Michael issued a statement apologizing to fans two
days later. "I want to apologize to my fans for screwing up
again, and to promise them I'll sort myself out. And to say
sorry to everybody else, just for boring them." The singer
was reportedly let off with an official caution after his arrest which
has angered some anti-drug campaigners.
Steven Tyler filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in Los Angeles against some
unknown bloggers who the Aerosmith singer claims impersonated him on
the Web, writing about the death of his mother and other "intimate
details" from his life. The lawsuit alleges the bloggers
publicly disclosed private facts, made false statements and
misappropriated his likeness. An injunction against the
defendants is also being sought to end impersonations of him online or
elsewhere. The Blogspot.com posts are currently unavailable
for viewing and show the statement, "This blog is under review due to
possible blogger terms of service violations."
UPI reports, millionaire fitness center chain owner Christian Tarantino
of Dix Hills, New York, was arrested Wednesday on charges of
orchestrating 3 slayings according to authorities. One
alleged victim in 2003 was Vincent Gargiulo, 34, the brother-in-law of
Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. Prosecutors claim that
Garguilo had an incriminating tape recording of Tarantino discussing
the first two slayings.
Run-D.M.C., Metallica, the Stooges, Jeff Beck, Chic, War and Bobby
Womack are up for induction next year into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame. The list will be narrowed to 5 before the ceremony on
Apr. 4th.
Metallica's Death Magnetic retains the #1 spot on the Billboard 200
album chart on sales of 337,000 copies. The Mamma Mia!
soundtrack fell 3 places to #13. New Kids On The Block's The
Block dropped 11 spots to #27. LL Cool J's Exit 13 fell 24
places to #33. Natalie Cole's Still Unforgettable dropped 18
spots to #37. Journey's Revelation fell 5 places to #40.
Metallica's Death Magnetic also retains the #1 spot on the U.K. Albums
chart. Queen + Paul Rodgers' The Cosmos Rocks debuted at
#5. Stevie Wonder's The Definitive Collection climbed 3
places to #11. ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits fell 5 spots to
#14. ABBA's 18 Hits climbed 15 places to #15.
Michael Jackson's King Of Pop dropped 9 places to #17. The
Mamma Mia! soundtrack fell 8 spots to #8. David Essex's All
The Fun Of The Fair debuts at #23. Madonna's Hard Candy
climbed 6 places to #29. Queen's Greatest Hits re-entered the
chart
at #31.
Forbes Magazine has named The Police as the highest-earning musicians
of the past year with $115 million. Madonna tied with Celine
Dion at #5 with $40 million. Van Halen came in at #8 with $35
million. Genesis landed at #9 with $31 million.
Duran Duran's John Taylor has confirmed that he will be making a guest
appearance on an upcoming episode of the ABC comedy Samantha
Who. Meanwhile, Duran Duran's "Rio" was recently voted
Greatest Music Video of All Time in an online poll.
Sananda Maitreya has released a new 21-track live album via his
official Web site. The set is attributed to Sananda &
The Nudge Nudge and titled Lovers & Fighters: The Nudge-Field
Live 2008.
AC/DC still don't plan on making their music available via
iTunes. According to Angus Young, "We don't make singles, we
make albums. If we were on iTunes, we know a certain
percentage of people would download two or three songs from the
album. We don't think that represents us
musically." He has also said that since the rise of iTunes,
their back catalogue sales have surged without being on the music
retail site.
Johnette Napolitano has been working in the studio on her second solo
album which is due out next year. She is also expected to
release the third installment in her Sketchbook online CD series via
CDBaby.com in December.
Naked Eyes have announced the release of a new 3-track EP entitled
Movies I Dream for sale at their live shows. The title track
joins 2008 versions of "(What) In The Name Of Love" and "Voices In My
Head" (all of which were originally penned by Pete Byrne and the late
Rob Fisher.) "Movies I Dream" is expected to be featured on
the new Naked Eyes album, Piccadilly, due out in the spring.
R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck's previously-reported prized Rickenbacker
guitar (that was stolen in Helsinki, Finland, on Sept. 9th) was
returned to him over the weekend.
According to Janet Jackson's publicist, Island Def Jam have agreed to
dissolve their relationship with Jackson at her request after 14 months
with the label.
Former Housemartins/Beautiful South singer/songwriter Paul Heaton
releases his second solo album, The Cross Eyed Rambler, in the U.S.
this week. The first single from the album is "Mermaids And
Slaves."
Yes vocalist Jon Anderson has expressed his displeasure on his Web site
about his bandmates touring with a replacement singer until his 6
months recuperating from acute respiratory failure has ended.
"(I am) disappointed that, with the exception of one phone call from
Alan, none of the guys have been in touch since my illness, just to
find out how I am doing, and how we will foresee the future of
Yes. And disappointed that they were not willing to wait till
2009 when I'm fully recovered. And I feel very disrespected,
having spent most of this year creating songs and constant ideas for
the band. Of course I wish the guys all the best in their
'solo' work, but I just wish this could have been done in a more
gentlemanly fashion. After all, Yes is a precious musical
band. This is not Yes on tour..."
Evelyn "Champagne" King has recorded lead vocals on the song "Happy
Feelings" which will appear on, Feelin' It, the upcoming album by her
husband Freddie Fox due out Oct. 9th.
Bob Dylan's Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 Rare And
Unreleased 1989-2006 will be released in 3 unique editions on Oct.
7th. When ordered through iTunes, fans will get an exclusive
live version of "Love Sick."
German rock act Mad Max celebrated their 25th anniversary in the
studio with friends that include Joe Lynn Turner, Jeff Scott Soto,
Krokus' Marc Storace, Michael Schenker and many others co-writing their
new album, Here We Are, due out on Oct. 1st.
Former Soundgarden/Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell has co-written the
first single, "Light On," for American Idol winner David
Cook. The song debuted on AOL on Wednesday and heads to
iTunes on Sept. 30th.
T'Pau's Carol Decker has announced that she has booked studio time in
the next few weeks to start what may be her next album.
Zoe Vision/Anthem Entertainment have announced that they will release
Rush's Snakes & Arrows Live on Nov. 25th as a 3-DVD set and
Blu-ray disc.
Remember our mentioning of a Smiths retrospective that was unapproved
by Morrissey. It seems that a new Smiths collection, The
Sound Of The Smiths, containing rarities, live tracks and singles (in
single and double-CD versions) has his and guitarist Johnny Marr's
approval and input. Marr supervised the mastering of the
album and Morrissey came up with the title for the set due out in
November.
The Flaming Lips will release their long-awaited film Christmas On Mars
on DVD on Oct. 28th via Warner Bros. The film will be
released in a standard version and a version containing the original
score on CD with the DVD.
According to a recent post by vocalist Jimi Jamison, there were some
songs that were left off of his new solo album, Crossroads Moment, that
he is saving for a country CD.
Fans expecting a reunion tour by the Kinks need to keep their eyes on
Dave Davies message board. It seems that every year or so
brother and former bandmate Ray Davies gets asked about a possible
reunion and fans are left all excited. It happened again
during a BBC Radio 4 interview during which Ray said, "The stumbling
block is my brother because he was seriously ill recently and whether
he feels ready to do it." A clear response to the
'newsworthy' article surfaced in lyrical form at the message board
(http://www.davedavies.com/messageboard/index.php) stating "No more
looking back, no more living in the past. Yesterdays gone,
thats a fact, now theres no more looking back."
Retrospect Records has reissued FX's 1987 album, In Motion, and 1991's
In The Sky via their RetrospectRecords.com Web site.
Taylor Dayne has released "My Heart Can't Change" to iTunes as her
latest single from her album, Satisfied.
RollingStone.com reports that Guns N' Roses' long-awaited new studio
album, Chinese Democracy, is rumored to be released exclusively through
Best Buy on Nov. 25th. The site also confirmed that a new
song, "If The World," from the album will appear in the end credits of
the upcoming film Body Of Lies, heading to theaters on Oct.
10th. Meanwhile, the Recording Industry Association of
America have certified that their 1987 album, Appetite For Destruction,
has sold over 18 million copies.
Elton John will release his The Red Piano DVD/CD collection via an
exclusive deal with Best Buy. The set will come as a standard
double-DVD/double-CD version, a Blu-ray DVD/double-CD set or a 3-LP
premium vinyl set. John is also reportedly planning to
release a Christmas single he will record with Keane entitled "Joseph,
Better You Than Me" with proceeds going to charity.
Eagle Vision will release a new Happy Mondays live DVD entitled Call
The Cops on Oct. 21st which was filmed during their first tour of the
U.S. in 1990.
Enya has plans to release her 10-track holiday album, And Winter Came,
on Nov. 11th via Warner Bros. The first single, "Trains And
Winter Rains," heads to radio next week.
Meliah Rage have been working in the studio with their original
vocalist Mike Munro. Munro will be laying down vocals in the
next few weeks. The music is officially done, mixing and
mastering starts in October and a release is expected early next year.
Queen are expected to launch their European tour this month after the
successful release of their new studio album, The Cosmos
Rocks. A U.S. release is scheduled for Oct. 28th.
Polish death metal act Dragon will see the remastered re-issue of their
1988 album, Horde Of Gog, and 1991's Sacrifice in a limited-edition run
on Oct. 13th
A limited edition 55-track 6-CD box set of entirely unreleased live
Marillion material entitled Early Stages: The Official Bootleg Box Set
1982-1987 is due out shortly.
Sarah Brightman plans to release a holiday album, A Winter Symphony, on
Nov. 4th via Manhattan/EMI.
Chris Connelly has released his 9th solo album, Forgiveness And Exile,
his follow-up to 2007's The Episodes, via JnanaRecords.com.
Supporting him on the album are his former Finitribe bandmate David
Miller and Current 93's David Tibet.
The Pretenders release their 9th studio album, Break Up The Concrete,
as a limited-edition run in ecologically-friendly packaging made of
seed paper on Oct. 7th. The paper can be planted and, with
care, may sprout in 1 to 4 weeks. Later runs of the CD will
not be plantable.