Remembering Dewey Martin, Ticketmaster Sucks, and Sir McCartney on Video Games

Buffalo Springfield drummer Dewey Martin has died at age 68. According to RollingStone.com, he passed away January 31st of unknown causes. Martin, who was born Walter Milton Dwayne Midkiff, started out in Nashville performing with Patsy Kline, Roy Orbison and the Everly Brothers. He became part of Buffalo Springfield in 1966, along with Neil Young, Jim Messina, Stephen Stills, Bruce Palmer and Richie Furay. Young recalled Martin's band audition in his biography, noting, "He was a sensitive drummer. You get harder, he hits harder. You pull back, he hits back. He can feel the music -- you don't have to tell him." During the group's short-lived career, Martin sang "Good Time Boy" and provided backing vocals on the group's hit "For What It's Worth."

After Buffalo Springfield broke up in 1968, Martin tried to continue on as the "New Buffalo Springfield." But he faced a legal battle with his former bandmates. During the 1980s, he briefly worked with a few bands and also played with Buffalo Springfield Revisited, the act formed by original bass player, Palmer. During the early 1990s, Martin revived the "Buffalo Springfield" name again to do some live gigs, but retired soon afterward. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

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Bruce Springsteen received an apology from Ticketmaster shortly after posting an open letter blasting the company for the way it handled sales earlier this week. The Boss and his manager were upset after Ticketmaster started directing fans to its secondary site, TicketsNow, which resells concert tickets at higher prices, even though there were still tickets at the regular price available. According to Billboard.com, Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff says fans were only redirected when their specific ticket request could not be met. He admits that the situation could have been handled better, explaining, "While we were genuinely trying to do the right thing for fans in providing more choices when the tickets they requested from the primary on-sale were not available, we clearly missed the mark." He added, "Fans are confused and angry, which is the opposite of what we hoped to accomplish. We sincerely apologize to Bruce, his organization and, above all, his fans."

Ticketmaster has taken down all the links redirecting fans from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow. Azoff says, "We recognize that we need to change our course." The company is refunding ticket buyers the difference between the face value and resale value for any fan that "inadvertently purchased tickets in the resale marketplace believing in error they were purchasing from the initial on-sale."

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Paul McCartney says he gets a kick out of watching people playing the game Rock Band and is excited about the upcoming Beatles video game from the same company. Sir Paul tells EW, "Well, I see people playing it and they look . . . completely funny. But I like the idea that it introduces kids to music. It's a great thing to be immersed in." McCartney added that he was sold on the concept for the Beatles video game because it's a journey through the band's different musical periods, saying "you get early days, Liverpool, then psychedelic, and on from there."