Missing Persons vocalist Dale Bozzio has posted
bail
on 3 animal cruelty charges and is expected to face more when she
appears in court in December. Police had entered Bozzio's
Ossipee, New Hampshire, home after neighbors reported not seeing her
visit for nearly a week and discovering pets inside. They
found the house filled with cats in poor condition and
deceased. 12 of the felines were put down by veterinarians
who feared they might be carrying a highly contagious form of
leukemia. Bozzio's lawyer Dennis O'Connor has said that she
planned to be away and had asked someone to care for the cats, but that
person never showed up. He has also said, "She's an extremely
kind person. She's a positive person. She's an
animal rights advocate."
Daryl Hall and John Oates have filed a lawsuit in Manhattan's state
Supreme Court against their music publisher Warner/Chappell Music Inc.
claiming they failed to protect their rights to their 1982 hit
"Maneater." The duo allege that they learned in April 2007
that an unidentified singer/songwriter had used the song in a 2006
recording and are seeking unspecified monetary damages and a
termination of their agreement with the music publisher. In
2006 the song was sampled for the Ying Yang Twins song "Dangerous"
(featuring Wyclef and Collipark) and Nelly Furtado released a single of
the same name and mentioned the hit was an influence during the writing
and recording of the song but the song in question has not been
identified.
A judge has awarded video editor Ian C. Lewis $58,000 in a judgment
against Prince who it was determined failed to pay him for work and
unreturned equipment. Lewis originally was seeking $1 million.
Loudness drummer Munetaka Higuchi has been receiving medical treatment
for liver cancer since April. So far, he has received 2
rounds of chemotherapy and an operation removing part of his
liver. He was sent home for further medical treatment but is
expected to be re-admitted to the hospital to undergo another round of
chemotherapy.
According to a statement released on his site, "Merle [Haggard] has
undergone the removal of a cancerous growth in his right
lung. Merle is recuperating from the surgery and doing better
and better each day. I would like to personally thank all of
you who took the time to send your love, support, care, concern, and
most of all, all of your prayers!"
Sir Paul McCartney was presented with the ultimate legend award by Bono
at the MTV Europe Music Awards on Oct. 6th. Bono told the
crowd, "This is the man who invented my job." During the same
ceremony, Rick Astley was honored as the best act ever following a
viral Internet campaign.
The BPI announced that the recipient of their prestigious Outstanding
Contribution to Music Award will go to the Pet Shop Boys. The
ceremony will take place during the BRIT Awards on Feb. 18th.
AC/DC have held on to the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart on
sales of 271,000 copies (with sales of over 1 million units in 2
weeks.) Celine Dion's My Love: Essential Collection debuted
at #8 on sales of 57,000 copies. Metallica's Death Magnetic
fell 7 places to #12. The Cure's 4:13 Dream debuted at #16
(becoming their 18th charting album.) James Taylor's Covers
dropped 11 spots to #27. The Mamma Mia! soundtrack fell 10
places to #38.
Michael Jackson's Thriller has climbed from #41 to #1 during the week
on the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums chart after selling 31,000
copies. The album is the top-selling catalog album of 2008
after selling 688,000 copies. Jackson is not the biggest
selling artist on the chart for 2008. AC/DC's albums have
sold over 5.1 million copies this year beating out The Beatles.
AC/DC's Black Ice fell 2 places to #3 on the U.K. Albums
chart. Celine Dion's My Love: The Essential Collection
debuted at #5. Bette Midler's The Best Bette dropped 6 spots
to #18. Michael Jackson's King Of Pop fell 15 places to
#29. The Cure's 4:13 Dream debuted at #33.
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" has returned to the U.K. Singles chart at
#35 due to airplay and renewed interest during Halloween.
Richard Marx has made his two new studio albums, Emotional Remains and
Sundown, available for pre-order at his RichardMarx.com
store. Sundown includes a duet with Vince Gill and a few
cover songs. Emotional Remains is described by Marx, "This is
the most straight ahead, modern rock album I've made in my career thus
far." Digital downloads of both albums are available now at
his site.
It might not have been the most innocent hint at a reunion but the
YouTube video of bassist Chris Cross playing "Passing Strangers" at
home while refusing to answer a question from the videographer as to an
Ultravox reunion has been confirmed by the band. Cross,
drummer Warren Cann, violinist/keyboardist Billy Currie and
guitarist/vocalist Midge Ure have announced 14 U.K. dates.
This would be this incarnation of the band's first performance since
1985's Live Aid.
Sepultura have announced that their new studio album (based on A
Clockwork Orange) entitled A-Lex will be released on Jan. 27th in the
U.S. and Canada.
Lionel Richie plans to release, Just Go, his follow-up to 2006's Coming
Home on Feb. 17th via Island which features appearances by Akon and
Ne-Yo. The first single from the album, "Good Morning," can
be heard at urban AC stations. An extensive world tour is
expected to begin in March but Richie has already started promoting the
album on this week's Dancing With The Stars and will appear on Dick
Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
Perry Farrell's new song, "Go All The Way," from the Twilight
soundtrack was streamed online over a million times as of Halloween.
The Smithereens plan to head into the studio in December to work on
their first new album containing all-new original compositions in over
a decade with expectations to release it via Koch on Mar.
24th. The band also are planning to celebrate the 40th
anniversary of one of their favorite albums, The Who's Tommy, by
recording their interpretation of it in a single disc version due out
May 5th. The band will also release a full-length concert
DVD, Smithereens Live In Concert, on Jan. 27th.
CMT have announced the cast of their third season of Gone Country which
will include George Clinton, Sheila E., Taylor Dayne and Micky
Dolenz. The show is currently in production and expected to
premiere in January.
Erasure have announced that they will be releasing a new collection,
Total Pop! The First 40 Hits on Feb. 23rd in the U.K. and include a new
remix of "Always." The set will also be releasing a special
4-disc deluxe box set version containing Pop!, Pop2!, a live CD and a
DVD collecting their BBC performances from 1986-2005 and television
appearances.
Ricky Martin will release, 17, a greatest hits collection on Nov.
25th. The 17 tracks on the disc were hand-picked by Martin
and include 8 of his #1 hits. A DVD under the same title is
due out the same day.
Ray Davies has again mentioned a reunion of The Kinks and that he has
been writing new material with the other members. Brother and
former band guitarist Dave Davies has said that he will not participate.
The Vibrators have released their new 11-track album, No Direction, via
NicotineRecords.com in mainland Europe, Scandinavia and
Russia. U.K. and U.S. fans can order it at
www.myspace.com/nodirectionhq
According to Music Radar, George Michael is planning to spend $2
million on a 24 karat gold and diamond replica of his face after seeing
similar sculptures on the British television show The Dragons' Stories.
Bruce Springsteen is expected to release his new studio album around
the time of Barack Obama's presidential inauguration in
January. The collection would likely include the new song,
"Workin' On A Dream," that he debuted during a rally for the candidate
in Cleveland.
Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan has made another vocal guest appearance --
this time on "Visitor" from Fryars debut album, Dark Young Hearts.
According to his True To You Web site, Morrissey's new 12-track studio
album, Years Of Refusal, will be released on Feb. 23rd. The
first single preceding the album is expected to be "I'm Throwing My
Arms Around Paris."
A paperback photo book/DVD, He Came To Rock, focused on Pantera
guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott containing over 400 pictures and a
biography of his life is due out Nov. 18th.
Metal Mind Productions plans to re-release digitally remastered
versions of Tank's 1987 self-titled debut album and 1988's The Return
Of A Filth Hounds Live on Nov. 25th.
Former Descendents guitarist and founding member Frank Navetta passed
away on Halloween. Navetta named the band and co-wrote a lot
of their early material. In 1985, during work on their I
Don't Want To Grow Up album (on which he recorded several tracks)
Navetta left the band and moved to Oregon to become a full time
fisherman. He reunited with the original three-piece line-up
of the band in 2002.
Drummer/vocalist Jimmy Carl Black [born James Inkanish, Jr.], 70, lost
his battle with lung cancer on Halloween in Germany. Black is
best known as a member of Frank Zappa's Mothers Of Invention but
recorded albums with The Grandmothers, Arthur Brown and Jimmy Carl
Black and the Mannish Boys during the 1980s.
R&B vocalist Nathaniel Mayer, 64, passed away on Nov. 1st in
his Detroit hometown after a series of strokes. He has
suffered the strokes just a year after completing his first European
tour. Mayer is best known for his 1962 hit, "Village Of
Love," and disappeared from the music scene in the late 60s.
Mayer resurfaced in 1980 for the release of the single "Raise The
Curtain High" and vanished again until he began performing again in
2002. He would release two more studio albums (2004's I Just
Want To Be Held and 2007's Why Don't You Give It To Me?) and 2006's
Anthology: I Want Love And Affection in his return.