ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus has won his appeal against
the
Swedish national tax authority's decision to increase the amount of his
income it considered taxable. The court's decision has
returned nearly $12 million to the musician.
Men At Work are part of a copyright lawsuit in which publishing company
Larrikin Music have claimed that the band ripped off part of the
popular Australian song "Kookaburra" in their massive 1981 hit "Down
Under." Marion Sinclair wrote the Kookaburra Song in 1932 and
debuted in 1934. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Sony DADC
Australia, EMI Songs Australia and EMI Music Publishing are named in
the lawsuit including songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert.
The Federal Court is set to hear the case in November.
Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie have released a short joint statement
on Wednesday saying that they "have agreed to divorce after
seven-and-a-half years of marriage. They have both requested
that the media maintain respect for their family at this difficult
time. The main concern for Madonna and Guy are their children
-- the security of their children in all senses of the word and the
wellbeing of their children." According to a report by The
Daily Mail, Ritchie could potentially leave the relationship with a
£150million divorce settlement (seeing as they didn't sign a
pre-nuptial agreement.)
Janet Jackson returned to her Rock Witchu tour on Wednesday after two
weeks of canceled shows due to bout of migraine-associated vertigo
which is characterized by dizziness, imbalance and other
symptoms. According to her manager, Kenneth Crear, "She's a
world-class entertainer and needs to be at the top of her game to give
her fans the show they expect."
Deborah Harry will be honored with the Icon award on Oct. 24th at
Billboard's third annual Women in Music breakfast in New
York. The award is given to a woman whose art and career have
blazed trails for successive generations.
The nominees for the 2008 American Music Awards have been
announced. Reba McEntire is up for Favorite Female Artist -
Country Music. Mamma Mia! has been nominated for Favorite
Album - Soundtrack. The Eagles are up for Artist of the Year,
Favorite Band, Duo or Group - Pop or Rock Music, Favorite Artist -
Adult Contemporary Music and their album Long Road Out Of Eden is up
for Favorite Album - Pop or Rock Music. Garth Brooks is
nominated for Favorite Male Artist - Country Music and his The Ultimate
Hits is up for Favorite Album - Country Music. Voting for the
award is done online via ABC.com's American Music Awards Web
site. The award ceremony will be held on Nov. 23rd in Los
Angeles and aired on ABC.
Metallica's Death Magnetic climbed 3 places to #2 on the Billboard 200
albums chart on sales of 66,000 copies. Bob Dylan's Tell Tale
Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 debuted at #6 selling 50,000
copies. James Taylor's Covers fell 6 spots to #10 on sales of
44,000 copies. Sarah McLachlan's Closer: The Best Of Sarah
McLachlan debuted at #11 selling 40,000 copies. The Mamma
Mia! soundtrack fell a spot to #25. The Pretenders' Break Up
The Concrete debuted at #32. Tesla's Forever More debuted at
#33. New Kids On The Block's The Block dropped 10 spots to
#38.
The RIAA has announced that Journey's latest album, Revelation, has
sold 500,000 units. As it contains two audio discs, this
doubles the unit number to 1 million units giving it Platinum status...
their first since 1996's Trial By Fire.
Bette Midler's The Best Bette gained one spot to #7 on the U.K. Albums
chart. Bob Dylan's Tell Tale Signs: Bootleg Series Vol. 8
debuted at #9. Metallica's Death Magnetic fell 6 places to
#17. David Gilmour's Live In Gdansk dropped 5 spots to
#18. ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits fell 2 places to
#27. Stevie Wonder's The Definitive Collection dropped 6
spots to #29. The Clash's Live At Shea Stadium debuted at
#31. ABBA's 18 Hits fell 8 places to #32. The Mamma
Mia! soundtrack gained a spot to #33. Queen's Greatest Hits
re-entered the chart at #37.
New Model Army plan to release their live album, F**k Texas, Sing For
Us, on Nov. 17th at retail and their online store. The title
comes from an audience chant prior to their encore in New Orleans and
the 17-track album was recorded during their High tour of
2007/2008. Meanwhile, Justin Sullivan has worked on the
backing music for Joolz new collection of spoken word tracks, Spirit
Stories, due out Oct. 20th.
Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare's collaboration with Detroit soul
artist Amp Fiddler, Inspiration Information, has been released via
Strut Records.
Reba McEntire's 50 Greatest Hits will be released on Oct.
28th. Reba is currently working on a new studio album to be
released next year. Meanwhile, she was honored with ASCAP's
Golden Note award during the 46th Annual ASCAP Country Music Awards.
Frank Stallone will be appearing on the Oct. 18th episode of the new
CMT series Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling.
Dave Alvin will see the release of, The Best Of The Hightone Years, a
double-CD 18-track collection of hand-picked songs remastered from the
original tapes on Oct. 21st via Shout! Factory.
It seems that although originally planned to be a double-CD, The Cure's
13th studio album, 4:13 Dream, will contain 13-tracks when released on
Oct. 28th via Suretone/Geffen.
Bjork releases her new single, "Nattura," via One Little Indian on Oct.
20th. All proceeds will go towards the Nattura
campaign. The single was composed specifically to encourage
active support for the Nattura campaign, which aims at collating and
providing sustainable and eco-friendly options suitable for Iceland,
and generating alternative ways to utilize it’s natural
resources.
Crazy, the film bio of guitar legend Hank Garland, begins screening on
Oct. 17th. Steve Vai was an executive producer on the project
and makes a cameo appearance as Hank Williams.
Hydra Productions have released a CD single containing 8 mixes of "Dust
Off And Dance." The song is taken from their Liquid album and
features vocals by Tiffany.
Former Danger Danger vocalist Ted Poley will release his debut studio
album with guitarist Vic Rivera, Only Human, on Nov. 10th via Angelmilk
Records.
Motown plan to celebrate their 50th anniversary by collecting their
biggest hits in a 191-track 10-disc box set, Motown: The Complete No.
1's, due out Dec. 9th.
The White Zombie 4-CD/1-DVD retrospective box set, Let Sleeping Corpses
Lie, will be released via Geffen/UMe on Nov. 25th. The set
includes all 64 original studio recordings they released from 1985 to
1996 (including many of their early EPs released via their own Silent
Explosion label.)
Elton John has reportedly been writing a film musical for Ben Stiller
about a man on Broadway who is gay, has HIV and AIDS and has to go back
and face his wife and his kids that he left.
Lorelei Shellist has written a new memoir, Runway Runaway, in which she
talks about her struggle with addiction and about her former boyfriend,
late Def Leppard guitarist Steve Clark. Autopsy results
indicated that Clark, 30, died from a lethal mixture of
anti-depressants, painkillers and alcohol at his home in 1991.
Vern Gosdin will see the release of, 40 Years Of The Voice, a new 4-CD
collection in November that will include 14 previously-unreleased songs.
Best Buy has placed Guns N' Roses long-awaited album, Chinese
Democracy, up on their site for for pre-sale. It currently
says "Coming Soon" and has a release date of Nov. 25th (a store date
has been verified for Nov. 23rd) with a sticker price of
$13.99. Also worth noting is another listing for a CD version
with a different cover and two vinyl versions. It
has been reported that a third cover may also be made for both
versions. We find it interesting that there are already 38
reviews on an album that hasn't been released yet.
ZZ Top plan to release their Live From Texas CD on Nov. 4th via Eagle
Records. The disc is a 15-track soundtrack to the DVD of the
same name that they released in June. A package containing
the CD and DVD will be released the same day.
k.d. lang plans to release a DVD of her February performance at St.
Luke's Church in London with the BBC Concert Orchestra. The
show was filmed for a TV special set to air next month followed by the
DVD.
Ringo Starr's management have released a statement, "Ringo Starr
recently put a video update on his official Web site asking people not
to continue to send fan mail to be signed after October 20. This was in
direct response to an inordinate amount of items which have recently
appeared for sale on eBay, and to those that repeatedly send cards and
items to be signed. This message was not aimed at "real fans"
and after over 45 years of signing we know they will understand. Ringo
has always signed items and is in fact the only Beatle to have been
doing so. Ringo also feels strongly that it is a waste of
paper and we all should be mindful of our carbon footprint. At the end
of the day Ringo wanted to make a message that was clear and to the
point and is confident his real fans understand that. That said, the
recent response from the media has prompted him to clarify that
video. 'How amazed am I to the reaction to my video update. I
hope this statement gets as much. Please read this in a mellow way.
Peace and love, Ringo.'"
The Indigo Girls have been working with producer Mitchell Froom on
their next studio album due out in February. The 10 track set
was recorded with their band and then recorded again live in the studio
as a duo. They hope to release both together. An
extra song may be included on the acoustic CD and released
independently.
Former Mr. Big vocalist Eric Martin will release a new solo album, Mr.
Vocalist, exclusively in Japan on Nov. 26th. The album is
similar to a standards album like Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow's
recent outings except it will contain classic Japanese songs translated
into English.
Columbia records plan to release a new Celine Dion 17-track collection
entitled My Love Essential Collection on Oct. 28th. A
26-track double-CD edition entitled My Love Ultimate Essential
Collection will be released the same day.
Eddy Grant, Leee John, Jazzy B, David Grant and are among the recording
artists that are working on a new project telling the story of the U.K.
black music revolution. The documentary, Flashback, "will
compile recent interviews from Leee John, artists and relevant people
(fashion/DJs/producers etc) from that era, intercut with Hits from the
1975-85 glorious decade."
Guitarist Don Mancuso has said that the Lou Gramm Band CD has been
completed and is just awaiting artwork and pressing. The
album is expected to be released via Spectra Records.
Barry Manilow returns to the hits on Nov. 25th with the release of The
Greatest Songs of the Eighties. A tentative track list has
been announced for the 12-track collection which includes a duet of
"Islands In The Stream" with Reba McEntire.
Amazon.com shows that the release date of Rush's Retrospective 3 has
moved back from Dec. 9th to Jan. 27th.
Dr. Dre will make a guest appearance on 50 Cent's new studio album,
Before I Self Destruct, due out on Dec. 9th via
Shady/Aftermath/Interscope.
AC/DC's new album, Black Ice, is featured on VH1's The Leak
(www.vh1.com/music/the_leak/) allowing fans to preview the disc before
it goes on sale at Wal-Mart on Monday. Meanwhile, it seems
Australian stores just couldn't wait to sell the album as they broke
with the street date and started selling it early.
Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs, Jr., 72, died today (Oct. 17th) in
his Detroit home after a long series of illnesses that included cancer
and a stroke (which forced his retirement from performing in
2000.) His passing leaves Abdul "Duke" Fakir as the only
living member from the original quartet that formed in 1954.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and
scored 7 hit singles from 1981 to 1988. Stubbs did spend some
time doing vocal work in the late 1980s voicing Audrey II in the 1986
film version of the musical "Little Shop Of Horrors" and Mother Brain
in the animated television series "Captain N: The Game Master" in 1989.
Vocalist Frank Kerr [a.k.a. Frankie Venom] of Canadian punk rock act
Teenage Head, 51, lost his battle with throat cancer on Oct.
15th. Kerr released 6 albums with the band from 1979 to 1986
before being replaced by original vocalist Dave Desroches.
Reggae pioneer and "Godfather of Rocksteady" Alton Ellis, 70, lost his
fight with lymphatic cancer on Oct. 10th at Hammersmith
hospital. Ellis started his career in the late 1950s and
would release 13 solo albums (8 during the 80s.) In a
statement released by Olivia 'Babsy' Grange (Jamaica's Minister of
Information, Culture, Youth and Sports), "We will be eternally grateful
to Alton who along with keyboardist Jackie Mittoo invented the
Rocksteady beat in the mid-1960s. He popularized that era of Jamaican
music and remained a celebrated performer for several
decades." She also said, "Even as we mourn the great Alton
Ellis, we must give thanks for his monumental contribution to
development of Jamaica's popular music."