Mag Wheel Records has announced that guitarist/vocalist Alex
Soria, 38, of the legendary Montreal band The Nils was hit and killed by a train in an apparent suicide early on
the evening of Dec. 13th. After leaving the Nils, Soria worked in many bands including Los Pados, Black Sox and
recently Chino.
Former Crown Heights Affair vocalist and tenor saxophonist Burt Reid, 48, died of lung cancer on Dec. 12th at St.
Vincent's Hospital in New York. Reid was with Crown Heights Affair from their 1975 debut until 1983's Struck Gold
but left to pursue a career in production and songwriting (for which he did work on several top 10 dancefloor hits.)
An arrest warrant was issued on Thursday for Vince Neil for allegedly attacking soundman Michael Talbert and knocking
him unconscious during his Oct. 30th performance at Gilley's Dallas. The maximum penalty of one year in prison
is possible.
Erasure vocalist Andy Bell was recently interviewed for a newspaper in which he talked about his health. Essentially,
Bell found out that he did not have A.I.D.S. but was H.I.V. positive in June of 1998 when he came down with pneumonia.
Since then, he has been taking combination therapy and claims to be feeling better than he has in a long time.
Andy Bell's longtime partner Paul has written a book detailing the whole experience which is due out next year.
Many people have been writing messages of support for Andy and Paul at the www.erasureinfo.com forum. Andy is also
recovering well from his successful hip replacement surgery and expects to be ready for touring soon. As well as
releasing Nightbird next year, Erasure have recorded an acoustic album of all the songs from their previous albums
that they felt should have been singles for future release. They have also been working on an album of lullabies/nursery
rhymes.
Whitney Houston has been charged with misdemeanor failure to yield for rear-ending an Alpharetta, Georgia, city
bus while making a left turn. No one was hurt in the accident.
California Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville has denied defense lawyers for Michael Jackson a 6 week delay
of the start of the child molestation trial although they claimed that prosecutors have "sandbagged"
the defense by giving incorrect and misspelled witness names. Meanwhile, Jackson invited some 200 children to play
and meet Santa Claus on Friday at his Neverland Valley Ranch
James Brown's prostate cancer surgery went well and his prognosis is good. Brown was able to walk out of Atlanta's
Midtown Urology Surgical Center later that day and a full recovery is expected.
Some Christian concert promoters in Mexico and a few bands have launched a website (www.stryper-pay-back.tk) to
bring light to Stryper's allegedly questionable business practices. They claim the band agreed to perform a show
for $35,000 but later asked for $100,000 to do the show (which they reluctantly agreed to.) They also claim that
the band is holding onto $56,500 paid in advance even though they didn't perform. The band have dedicated the front
of their web site to this issue alleging the "promoters" breached the contract by not having the mandated
work visas on time. Meanwhile, the band have announced that they are recording their first new studio album since
1991.
Kylie Minogue twisted her ankle during a performance of her new single, "I Believe In You," on the German
television show Wettan Das. She did recover from the injury in time to take part in the Top Of The Pops Christmas
Party.
The Rod Stewart concert-goer at the Hollywood Bowl who got hit in the head by a soccer ball kicked by Stewart on
Aug. 31st has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming personal injuries, physical disability and
physical and emotional distress, pain and suffering. His wife has also filed claiming loss of her husband's companionship.
The song "Old Habits Die Hard" written by Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics has been nominated
for a Golden Globe award. Meanwhile, Jagger's production company is working on a new A&E cable series titled
Being. The show will profile a single celebrity in an up-close look at what it's like to be them not much unlike
Jagger's 2001 documentary, Being Mick.
Journey are scheduled to receive their star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame during a morning ceremony on Jan. 21st.
No word on which vocalists will be attending.
Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster has been named Best Documentary of 2004 by the Broadcast Film Critics Association.
Band Aid 20's version of "Do They Know It's Christmas" has been confirmed as the U.K.s Christmas #1 single.
This makes it the first time a song has been remade twice and all three have been the #1 single during the holidays.
Morrissey's latest single, "I Have Forgiven Jesus," debuted at #10. Patsy Kensit (who had a Top 10 U.K.
hit in 1988 fronting her band, Eighth Wonder, on "I'm Not Scared") shares a #5 hit with Avid Merrion
and Davina McCall on a cover of "I Got You Babe."
Guitar legend Steve Vai is scheduled to release his new solo studio album, Real Illusions Reflections, via Epic
Records on Feb. 22nd.
Barry Manilow has signed a deal with the Las Vegas Hilton hotel to perform 5 nights a week for 24 weeks from Feb.
25th into 2006. The 90-minute show will be called Manilow: Music And Passion and songs will change every night.
The hotel is now renovating their theater to hold about 1,700 people.
If you missed the Dec. 14th premiere of the Duran Duran VH1 Special: The Set, you may be in luck. An encore of
the presentation will air on Saturday at 2 a.m. P.S.T.
Rob Halford's first new studio album with Judas Priest since 1990's Painkiller will be titled Angel Of Retribution.
The album is expected to be released on Mar. 1st and limited edition copies of the album will include a concert
DVD filmed in a bullring in Valencia, Spain. Currently, the first single expected from the album is "Revolution"
although that could change.
Former Cutting Crew frontman and songwriter Nick Van Eede has finished work on his new 12-track album, Capture,
with his new band Grinning Souls. It has now been made available for purchase at www.grinningsouls.com.
According to a recent interview with L.A.'s 103.1 Chaos Radio Show, Danzig has finished recording of Black Aria
II and that it is now in the mixing phase with a release in late spring or early summer expected.
A pair of sweaty socks worn by Bryan Adams before his Children In Need performance last month in Wrexham have sold
on eBay for £551.
Capitol plan to release a new DVD featuring most of Megadeth's promotional videos for their singles under the title
Video Hits on Jan. 11th.
Camper Van Beethoven will record a cover of Sublime's "Garden Grove" for a special Sublime tribute album.
The band see it as a fitting payback since the late Brad Nowell recorded a solo acoustic cover of their "Eye
Of Fatima" previously.
An unoccupied 5-room cabin with a tin roof in the Athens area that is believed to have inspired the B-52's 1989
hit "Love Shack" was gutted by fire on Monday. Fire inspectors haven't ruled out arson.
A presentation of the 27th Annual Kennedy Center Honors is scheduled to air on Tuesday on CBS. Elton John is among
the honorees and will receive a special performance of "Benny And The Jets" by former tourmate Billy
Joel.
AC/DC have plans to release a double-DVD in April which will include material from their previously released video
collections as well as many extras.
Dinosaur Jr.'s first three albums (1985's Dinosaur, 1987's You're Living All Over Me and 1988's Bug) will be reissued
with bonus tracks as well as liner notes by Mike Watt, Thurston Moore and Robert Pollard.
Honeymoon Suite plan to release a live CD and DVD entitled HMS Live on Feb. 21st which was recorded during their
2002 tour.
Dionne Warwick has been working on a duets album she that has been recording for release next year. The double-CD,
My Friends And Me, will include duets with Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Patti LaBelle and Gladys
Knight among others.
Bassist Terrence "Geezer" Butler of Black Sabbath fame is tentatively-scheduled to release his new solo
studio effort, Ohmwork, on Apr. 19th.
Roberta Flack has plans to turn two abandoned buildings in Harlem into a music school. The facility, due to open
next fall, will offer free liberal arts classes for talented students. Flack is seeking an additional $2 million
in donations and private investments to add to her $1 million investment.
New Order bassist Peter Hook will release a live album from his side project Revenge early next year entitled No
Pain No Gain.
Tom Waits has taken a small role in the film, Domino, which is currently filming in Las Vegas and based on the
true story of Domino Harvey who gives up modeling to become a bounty hunter. Waits has also been cast in A Prairie
Home Companion which will also include Lyle Lovett.
Testament will release their first official DVD, Seen Between The Lines, on Mar. 8th. The video was released on
DVD in 1991but is now fully remastered.
Soul Sirkus plan to film and record their Jan. 13th performance at The Fillmore in San Francisco for a video for
the song, "Coming Home," which will be dedicated to the troops in Iraq. Their debut album, World Play,
has now been made available at their www.soulsirkus.com Web site.
Cinderella, Ratt, Quiet Riot and Firehouse have been named for the upcoming Rock Never Stops 2005 tour.
Matt Goss of Bros is expected to release his autobiography, More Than You Know, on Mar. 14th.