Elmo Shropshire has been sued for breach of contract by the Fred Rappoport Co. of California claiming Shropshire
interfered in a nearly $2 million deal by sending cease-and-desist letters to companies that sell musical trucks,
bobble-head dolls, snow globes and cookie jars featuring characters from the 2000 animated holiday program based
on Elmo & Patsy's 1984 hit "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer." A settlement was reached in 2004
over a previous lawsuit filed by Shropshire. Rappoport claims that the previous settlement gave him specific rights
to use the song for product featuring the program's characters. Meanwhile, the-north-pole.com was sent a cease
and desist order in November (for having the music and lyrics to the song displayed on the site) by Elmo Publishing
representative ICG/Evergreen.
Benny Mardones is recovering well from the car accident he was in October that tore ligaments and muscles in his
neck, shoulder, left arm and left leg. The singer has been undergoing physical therapy and makes his performance
return on Dec. 8th at the Turning Stone Casino & Resort in Verona, New York.
According to the curator of her MySpace page, Danielle Dax is healing from health issues that forced the cancellation
of scheduled shows in January and had her receiving hospital treatment most of the year. She is expected to recover
but there is not much more information available.
Scorpions guitarist Rudolf Schenker was injured during the band's performance on Nov. 30th in Clermont Ferrand,
France, where he tore a muscle in his foot around the third song. He continued playing but stayed stationary near
the back of the stage. An online apology was posted on their official Web site and he has consulted and receiving
treatment from Germany's best sports medicine physician. He doesn't expect this to affect upcoming performances
by the Scorpions in Portugal and India in the next few weeks.
Edwyn Collins has won the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award for best musician. The singer/songwriter has been
very active in his recovery from a near-fatal double brain haemorrhage and has begun rehearsing with the band again
for upcoming shows.
According to police reports, they believe that Quiet Riot vocalist Kevin DuBrow may have been dead for about 6
days before being discovered. The band's former bassist Kelli Garni was alerted to a problem when he couldn't reach
DuBrow and his voicemail had been full. After contacting drummer Frankie Banali, both of them talked two of friends.
One, former girlfriend Lark Williams, asked a paramedic friend to check in on him. The paramedic saw DuBrow's keys
were still on the counter, through a window, and broke into the building which lead to the discovery of the singer's
body on his own bed. After a cause of death is determined, DuBrow is expected to be buried this Sunday in Corona
del Mar, California, next to his father.
Morrissey has filed a defamation lawsuit against U.K. music magazine NME for printing an article in which the singer
discussed his views on immigration in Britain. The magazine was critical of the singer's comments saying that he
would not move back to the country as it had lost its identity as a result of higher levels of immigration than
other European countries. A spokesman for NME has confirmed that they have received two writs from Morrissey's
legal representatives pertaining to the magazine and editor Conor McNicholas. The singer's representatives have
issued a statement that has been posted at True-To-You.net. Meanwhile, Polydor/Decca have signed Morrissey in the
U.K. to a new record deal will cover the new studio album he has plans to release next year. The deal does not
cover the U.S. where he had recently had a deal with Sanctuary's Attack imprint.
Blue Tiger were recently named winners of the Glam Album Of The Year award for their latest album, Untamed Spirit,
at the 5th Annual All Access Magazine Music Awards.
Anton Corbijn's film Control won awards for best movie, best director, most promising newcomer and best supporting
actor at the 10th annual British Independent Film Awards. A best documentary award was given to Julien Temple's
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten.
A 7-CD compilation celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Grammy Awards is on the way Nov. 27th entitled Ultimate
Grammy Collection. The discs are separated into the genres of Pop, R&B, Country and Rock featuring the best
songs throughout the history of the awards.
Garth Brooks' The Ultimate Hits climbed a spot to #4 on the Billboard 200 album chart on sales of 192,000 copies.
The Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden also jumped up a spot to #5 selling 184,000. Celine Dion's Taking Chances fell
5 places to #8 selling 128,000 copies. Led Zeppelin's Mothership fell 9 spots to #16 and Reba McEntire's Reba Duets
falls to #20.
Kylie Minogue's X debuted at #4 on the U.K. Album chart followed by the Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden (#5), Led
Zeppelin's Mothership (#6), Whitney Houston's The Ultimate Collection (#10) and Celine Dion's Taking Chances (#16).
Brian Wilson, Diana Ross and Steve Martin were among those recently honored at the Kennedy Center Honors. The two-hour
event, filmed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will air on Dec. 26th on CBS.
Former Midnight Oil vocalist Peter Garrett has been appointed the Environment Minister in the newly elected Australian
government.
Reba McEntire and Carole King are among the performers celebrating the beauty of family and the difference foster
care adoption can make in a child's life during the CBS special, A Home For The Holidays, airing on Dec. 21st.
Since its release over a month ago, AC/DC's career-spanning DVD box set of live performances, Plug Me In, has hit
#1 in sales in 12 different countries.
Chris Connelly's book, Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible & Fried: My Life As A Revolting Cock, has been published
in the U.K. by S.A.F. and can be found at Amazon.co.uk and a few other sites. A U.S. release could come as early
as January.
Joe Jackson will release his new 10-track studio album, Rain, on Jan. 29th (Jan. 28th in the U.K.) which will feature
a bonus DVD that includes live performances, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.
Queen + Paul Rodgers have recorded a new single, "Say It's Not True," which was made available as a free
download from the band's Web site on Dec. 1st. The song, the first studio collaboration between the band and Rodgers
was released on that date to commemorate World AIDS Day.
Alexander O'Neal will release a new collection, Love Songs, in January that is expected to include a remix of his
1985 hit, "Saturday Love." Early health issues have been set straight as the singer does require a hip
operation.
Former Megadeth guitarist Jeff Young has returned to his alma mater, MI's Guitar Institute of Technology, as an
instructor for the new year. Young joined the band two years after graduating. He is also working on his solo debut
album, Equilibrium, due out next year.
Carlos Santana plans to record a 3-CD set, The Father, Son And The Holy Ghost, with producer Bill Laswell to be
released next year. He plans to have a base trio to record the music with guests being incorporated.
They Might Be Giants plan to release their new kids album, Here Come The 123s, DVD and CD set in February. Pre-orders
of the album are being taken at Amazon.com.
It seems the damage to Axl Rose's home was minimized in part due to his own actions. According to his assistant,
Rose "was with the hose everywhere" after blazes hit his Malibu house. It seems most of the fire was
contained on the roof.
Erasure's performance at the Royal Albert Hall will be released on CD and DVD next year under the title Live At
The Royal Albert Hall. They can be pre-ordered at LiveHereNow.co.uk.
Trixter guitarist Steve Brown has been out promoting the new album, The Other Side, by his band Stereo Fallout
(available at iTunes and CDBaby.com.) He also has plans to regroup with Trixter for a 2008 tour.
Janet Jackson's currently-untitled follow-up to 2006's 20 Y.O. will be released in February via Island Def Jam.
The singer has also signed with the William Morris Agency for representation.
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers have signed on to perform on Feb. 3rd in Arizona during the Super Bowl halftime
show.
Beowulf mainman Dale Henderson has signed his interim project named Kool-Whip to Revell Records with plans to release
their album Dirty Movie on Dec. 18th.
A new Billy Joel song, "Christmas In Fallujah," has been released on iTunes. But don't look for it under
his name. The 'piano man' wrote the song for a singer named Cass Dillon that was inspired by letters he had received
from service personnel overseas.
Luther Vandross fans will have a chance to bid on over 1,000 items previously owned by the late singer during an
estate auction on Dec. 5th and 6th to be held by New Jersey-based auction house Dawson & Nye. The collection
is valued at between $600,000 and $800,000 and includes many personal items including handwritten lyrics to "Love
Forgot", thermoses he would sip hot tea out of during his concerts and the double platinum certification of
Dance With My Father.
Madness will release their new single, "NW5," on Jan. 14th in the U.K. on CD, DVD, 7" vinyl and
digital download. Most will include a cover of the Undertones' "Bittersweet" as a B-side and the DVD
will have the "NW5" video as well as 3 live performance videos.
Metallica reportedly have a deal Harmonix that reserves them the right to give the Rock Band video game the first
single for their upcoming new studio album.
Bjork will release, "Declare Independence," as a single on the first day of 2008. A video has already
been filmed and several remixes are being done of the track.
Producer/artist Daniel Lanois has plans to release his new album, Here Is What Is, digitally on Dec. 15th via RedFloorRecords.com.
The album is expected to be the first digital download that makes the files available as CD-quality WAV files.
A retail version of the album is due out Mar. 18th as well as a Lanois documentary under the same name. Also in
the works is a multi-disc collection of unreleased material called the Omni Series.
Sixx: A.M. have exclusively debuted the music video for, "Accidents Can Happen," their second single
from their debut album at iLike.com. The band have also launched a weekly video diary at the site.
Mark Lanegan (of the Screaming Trees) and Greg Dulli have signed with Sub Pop for the release of their The Gutter
Twins album, Saturnalia, due out on Mar. 4th.
In 2006, it was the reunion of the original Asia line-up. Now, the band have signed a worldwide deal with Frontiers
Records for the release of an album of brand new all-original material due out in April. Recording is well underway
and artist Roger Dean will also return to provide another painting for the album cover art.
Kylie Minogue's new studio album, X, was released last week in the U.K. and a U.S. release is expected next year.
Her single, "2 Hearts," is #9 on the U.K. Singles chart. Minogue has also announced tour plans that will
start in May in Paris.
Aimee Mann is looking to release her new studio album, Smilers, next spring via her own Superego label. She has
described the album as sounding a bit like the Cars.
Rolling Stone have partnered with Somerset Entertainment for a series of music compilations to be sold exclusively
at Best Buy starting this month. Titles will have liner notes and include The Pioneers of Rock & Roll, 80s
Metal Rock, The Psychedlic Sounds of the 60s and 90s R&B.
Ronnie Milsap is reportedly assembling new material to take into the studio to record for his next album due out
early next year.
TNT vocalist Tony Harnell has been working on new demos for songs that may end up on his solo album. He has placed
a few at his MySpace page.
Did you miss out on Alabama's farewell tour? The band has released an exclusive 12-track disc of previously-unreleased
live recordings from the tour entitled Alabama: The Last Stand at Cracker Barrel stores.
Lee "Scratch" Perry has been working on his new studio album, Repentance, due out as early as May via
Narnack Records.
Bono recently told The Independent that U2 fans will "feel the difference" with the new material that
will make up their next album. "We have enough material for two albums but it has to be extraordinary. And
I think we've got that."
Joe Satriani has finished recording what will be his 12th studio album. An album title and release date are still
pending but a European tour debuting some of the songs is scheduled to begin in May.
How good of a singer are you? No, not in your car or shower. Saga is looking for a singer to video themselves singing
two songs ("Wind Him Up" and "On The Loose") that they recorded during a sound check in Germany.
According to the post on their SagaOnTour.ca Web site, they are looking for a new singer.
Work is underway on a new Gary Numan album, tentatively-titled Splinter, and a collection of previously-unreleased
material from his last 3 albums, tentatively-titled Resurrection.
Drummer Aynsley Dunbar has been recording music for his next studio album with Tom Savell. The currently-untitled
album is expected to be released next year by SPV Records in Europe and iTunes.
Despite issues with his record label over them hosting a remix site for his Year Zero album, Trent Reznor has launched
Remix.NIN.com.
Ever heard of The Myrmidons? Fans of Book Of Love should have as the group contains their former members Lauren
Johnson and Ted Ottaviano.
You probably remember my mentioning last week that Vince Neil was scheduled to perform the national anthem during
the Monday night football game when the Miami Dolphins visited the Pittsburgh Steelers. Well, if you watched ESPN
that evening you saw a 25-minute delay due to the weather. The anthem and team introductions were skipped after
the delay to get the game started.
Maybe you also remember the mention of My Bloody Valentine looking into a digital-only release for their new studio
album. Well, the group's manager is upset and claims, in an interview with Wired magazine, that he was misquoted
in the interview and that he stated the album will more than likely be self-released. He also says the band would
never plan to release an album exclusively in a digital format.
Van Halen have announced the release of 15 official ringers that can be found by searching "Van Halen"
on most major carriers or texting "VH" to 74466. AT&T Mobility is offering exclusive versions of
several of the ringtones and answer tones to their subscribers for the next 3 weeks. Meanwhile, the band have been
nominated for a People's Choice Award with The Police and Genesis for Best Reunion Tour.
Michael Jackson's Thriller celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and the BBC has a nearly 27 minute documentary
at http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/tx/documentaries/thriller.shtml about the record-breaking album. A 25th anniversary
edition of Thriller hits stores as a CD/DVD on Feb. 12th via Epic/Legacy Recordings.