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EHM Halloween Party 09 @ Southampton Publick House

2009-11-02T11:24:00.000-08:00

Another year, another great party at the Southampton Publick House... Check out some of the pics below... and again, thanks to everyone who came and the staff at the Publick House for a great time!!!

No Where Boy Trailer

2009-10-30T14:14:00.001-07:00

The Spit Ball

2009-10-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Lost some respect for Mariano today... I don't like cheaters...

I love it when opposite worlds collide

2009-10-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

Great video of Robert Trujillo joining Rodrigo y Gabriela on stage for a version of Metallica's Orion...

Enjoy!!

Oasis... Taking it to the streets

2009-10-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

What an interesting Film... Only 18 minutes long, its all about NYC Subway performers covering 4 new Oasis Songs.

Enjoy!!!

Have Yourself a Merry DYLAN Christmas...

2009-10-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

From Rolling Stone-

Sincerity – that’s Bob Dylan’s present to you on his first-ever Christmas album. Based on a preview of six tracks from Christmas in the Heart – a set of traditional hymns and popular holiday songs to be released October 13th – held at the Sony Music offices this week, Dylan truly means it when he gets to the famous closing line of “The Christmas Song.” co-written by singer Mel Tormé and first cut in 1946 by Nat King Cole: “Although it’s been said many times many ways, Merry Christmas to you.” Against a restrained country-saloon-band arrangement, Dylan’s dirt-road larynx smooths out into a low warming tenor wishing you the top o’ the season.

Dylan produced the album under his pseudonym Jack Frost (very appropriate this time around) and recorded it with his touring band and some guests, including male and female chorales and Los Lobos accordionist David Hidalgo, who played all over Dylan’s last album, Together Through Life. The accordion is, in fact, the driving instrument on “Must Be Santa,” which Dylan takes at hyper-polka speed, with a spiked-eggnog exuberance in the backing vocals. “The Little Drummer Boy” combines the dusted-roots quality of Together Through Life and the haunted flair of his 1989 album, Oh Mercy, with prominent drum rolls and a wall of singing angels behind him. The Jordanaires-like male harmonies in “Here Comes Santa Claus” add some holiday Elvis to the barn-dance gait. A long Hawaiian steel-guitar flourish starts the palm trees swaying in “Christmas Island,” and Dylan puts extra church in “O Come All Ye Faithful” by singing the first verse in the original Latin (”Adeste fideles . . .”).

Dylan, who opens a fall U.S. tour October 4 in Seattle, recently completed a video for “Must Be Santa” and is hoping Christmas in the Heart will be a gift that keeps on giving. He has pledged all of his American royalties from the record, now and forever, to Feeding America, a program that provides meals for the hungry. Proceeds from overseas sales will go to international charities.

THE BEATLES SELL 2.25 MILLION ALBUMS IN FIVE DAYS

2009-09-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

40 years after splitting up, the Beatles have sold an astounding 2.25 million records in only five days. The Associated Press reported that the sales are tallied from the group's three biggest markets; North America, Japan and the U.K. In the States, the Beatles dominated the Billboard Pop Catalog chart, holding down 16 spots in the Top 50, which included 14 re-mastered CD's and the box sets featuring both their stereo and mono catalogues.

With America -- and the world -- once again being invaded by the "Fab Four," Paul McCartney recalled the scene as the Beatles landed in America on February 7th, 1964 at New York's JFK International Airport: "There were millions of kids at the airport, which nobody expected. And we heard about it mid-air, as I recall, you know, 'cause there were journalists on the plane, and the pilot can ring ahead. And he said, 'Oh, you know, tell the boys there's a big crowd waiting for 'em there.' So we went, 'Wow, God, you know, this is just...Wow, we really made it."

World sales data courtesy of the Beatles' label Capitol/EMI:

United States: During the first five days of release, consumers purchased more than one million copies of remastered Beatles titles, and the individual CD and boxed sets debuted strongly across multiple Billboard charts. On Billboard's Comprehensive Albums chart, which lists the most popular album releases in the U.S., including current and catalogue titles, The Beatles set a new record for the most simultaneous titles by a single artist (18), including five of the Top 10 and nine of the Top 20.

United Kingdom: In last week's chart, The Beatles had four titles in the Top 10, seven in the Top 40 and 16 in the Top 75, including both the stereo and mono boxes, as well as 2000's Beatles 1 compilation. This set a new record for the most simultaneous albums in the UK charts according to the UK Official Charts Company. In this week's UK chart, the Beatles have 13 albums in the top 75. A further 84,000 CD's were sold last week, bringing their total sales of the remasters to more than 354,000 in 11 days and their total UK sales this decade to 6,755,000.

Japan: All 14 remastered titles and boxed sets debuted in the Top 25 of the international chart, including seven of the Top 10, led by the stereo boxed set at Number Two, the mono boxed set at number three, Abbey Road at four and Let It Be at six. Across all titles and box sets, more than 840,000 albums were purchased by consumers in Japan in the first three days of sales.

Canada: The Beatles have 15 of the Top 20 catalogue titles including all of the Top 11. The stereo boxed set is a new entry in the current albums chart at Number Four, the highest debut for a boxed set in Canada since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales. Cumulative sales across all titles were just under 160,000 over the counter.

France: All 14 of the remastered titles and boxed sets entered the latest album chart, including three in the Top 10, led by Abbey Road at number four -- a new record for the most original studio albums in the French album chart in one week.

Italy: The Beatles have 17 titles in the current chart -- all 14 remastered titles, the two boxed sets, plus the Beatles 1 compilation -- a record for the most simultaneous entries in the album chart.

Belgium: With 17 entries in the current chart -- the 14 remastered titles, two boxed sets and the Beatles 1 compilation - - the Beatles have set a new record for the most simultaneous albums in the Belgian chart as confirmed by chart compiler Ultrapop.

Sweden: The Beatles have 16 titles simultaneously in the Top 60, led by Abbey Road at Number Six. Local industry body IFPI have confirmed that this is a record for the Swedish charts.

Argentina: Seven of the current Top 10 albums are Beatles remasters, led by Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at Number Two, Abbey Road at number three and The Beatles -- better known as "The White Album" -- at Number Four. All 14 re-mastered titles are in the Top 20 and the boxed sets are at numbers 73 and 74 in the chart.

Spain: Three Beatles albums plus both boxed sets debuted in the latest chart, a record for a single artist. The combined sales of the boxed sets places them at Number Four in the chart.

Poland: All 14 remastered albums and two boxed sets debuted in the current Top 100, led by Abbey Road at Six. This is a record for the highest number of simultaneous entries in the Polish chart.

Switzerland: 14 Beatles titles, including the stereo boxed set, debuted in the most recent album chart, a record for the most simultaneous titles in the album chart.

Denmark: The latest album chart includes 15 remastered Beatles titles, plus the Beatles 1 compilation, including four of the Top 20.

Australia: The Beatles have 14 titles in the current chart, including the Beatles 1 compilation.

Germany: The combined sales of the stereo and mono boxed sets, with one boxed set counted as one unit sale, places them as the Number Three best seller in the latest chart.

Austria: The current Top 75 contains 12 remastered titles plus the stereo boxed set.

Portugal: The remastered titles occupy 11 places in the current Top 30 album chart, including three of the Top 10.

Norway: The combined stereo and mono boxed sets debut at Number Three with a further 12 remastered titles in the Top 100.

Colombia: Half of the current Top 10 albums are Beatles remasters titles.

Korea: During the first sales week, the Beatles occupied 16 of the Top 17 spots in Korea's Hottracks album chart.

Gotta Laugh Mets Fans

2009-07-29T14:10:00.001-07:00

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Top 15 America Songs

2009-07-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

Rolling Stone readers poll has placed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "American Girl" at Number One of their Top 15 "American" songs." The only prerequisite was that that the picks had to have the word "American" in them -- and did not have to be performed by Americans, be about the U.S., or politics at all.

The list features a diverse group of acts, including David Bowie, Ray Charles, Green Day, Neil Diamond, James Brown, the Clash, and others

The Rolling Stone Top 15 "American" Songs:
1. "American Girl" - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
2. "American Pie" - Don McLean
3. "American Woman" - the Guess Who
4. "America" - Simon & Garfunkel
5. "Born In The U.S.A." - Bruce Springsteen
6. "Living In America" - James Brown
7. "We're An American Band" - Grand Funk Railroad
8. "I'm Afraid of Americans" - David Bowie
9. "Young Americans" - David Bowie
10. "American Idiot" - Green Day
11. "I'm So Bored With The U.S.A." - the Clash
12. "America" - Neil Diamond
13. "Ashes Of American Flags" - Wilco
14. "Little America" - R.E.M.
15. "America The Beautiful" - Ray Charles

Let me know what YOU think... email anthony@wehm.com

MJ latest rehearsal pics

2009-06-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

Click here for pictures of Micheal Jackson during his last rehearsal.

Dave is a weirdo... but he just might be a genious

2009-06-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

DMB GPS

2009-06-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

This is hilarious! Good Job by Jimmy Fallon!

Live and Local

2009-06-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Join me tonight at 7:20pm for a very special EHM Local. We starting a new series every Thursday called "EHM Live and Local. We'll have some of the best local acts on Long Island in the studio to hang with me for a bit and perform for you guys (and gals) live!!

Tonight we start off the series with Mick Hargreaves and special guest Gene Casey and the Lone Sharks.

Click here For more Mick!

I wonder if Mick has ever tasted the Anthony Sangwich... I think we may find out tonight!

Has Queen gone Quazy?

2009-05-26T07:39:00.000-07:00

With all the press that American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert is receiving after his four-minute spot singing "We Are The Champions" with Brian May and Roger Taylor, you would almost think he landed the gig as Queen's new frontman. Brian May for one isn't completely ruling it out, telling Rolling Stone, "There wasn't really a quiet moment to talk, but (Roger) and I are definitely hoping to have a meaningful conversation with him at some point. It's not like we, as Queen, would rush into coalescing with another singer just like that. It isn't that easy. But I'd certainly like to work with Adam. That is one amazing instrument he has there."

May, who along with Taylor parted ways with recent Queen frontman Paul Rodgers, added, "I've not always been positive about shows like (American Idol), but there is no doubt that it offers a door to some real genuine talent along the way. . . I'm confident Adam will make great use of this wonderful opportunity. I hope I'm there to see it."

Mayor Anthony

2009-05-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Click here to read the article about me running for mayor

John Lennon: The New York Years

2009-05-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

I'm getting a lot of calls and E-mails about my EHM Daily Music Note from yesterday... So I figured I'd post some more information for everyone to check out regarding the new Lenon Exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Manhattan Annex.

Here's the link for the Annex.

And here's a pretty good article from the New York Times.

I realize I rip them from time to time on the show, but they did a good job with this one.

Bob and Paul

2009-05-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Bob Dylan has been igniting the interest of rock fans everywhere when in his latest Rolling Stone interview he said that he'd be up for collaborating with Paul McCartney, saying, "That'd be exciting to do something with Paul! But, ya know, your paths have to cross for something like that to make sense."

Examiner.com reported that while performing in Liverpool, England, Dylan paid a visit to John Lennon's boyhood home called "Mendips." According to one of the guides in the National Trust house, Dylan visited the residence in the late afternoon and allegedly commented that the unheated bathroom reminded him of his own childhood home in Minnesota.

While performing at the Liverpool Echo Arena on May 1st, Dylan paid tribute to good friend George Harrison by performing late Beatle's signature song "Something."

Are Musicians that much different from Kindergardeners??

2009-05-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

Mick Jagger and Joss Stone are teaming up once again for a duet for an upcoming charity album. Thesun.co.uk reported that the duo are working with Bob Marley's sons Damian and Stephen Marley, along with Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack composer A.R. Rahman and rapper Nas. Bono is also involved in the project which is being released on September 21st in honor of the United Nation's International Day Of Peace.

According to an insider's report, there was tension between Jagger and Damian Marley over their recording schedule, with Jagger preferring to record during the day: "It's incredibly challenging to get so many figures in the studio at a time that's agreeable to everyone. Damian's a night owl whereas Mick likes to hit the studio in the morning. They eventually reached a compromise where by they will record from 5 p.m. to midnight every day."

The Smithereens covering The Who

2009-05-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE TO HEAR

Really? Again???

2009-05-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

Coldplay is being accused of plagiarism yet again. The latest accusation comes from 1970s rocker Yusef Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens. He's claiming the British rockers ripped off his song, "Foreigner Suite" in their hit "Viva La Vida." Islam tells Britain's Sun tabloid that the song's melody resembles his own 1973 tune. The band also already faced legal action from guitarist Joe Satriani who had a similar complaint about "Viva La Vida." Now Islam says, "There's been this argument about Coldplay stealing this melody from Joe Satriani, but, if you listen to it, it's mine! It's the 'Foreigner Suite.'"

More on this @ 5:15 today During the EHM Daily Music Notes...

Happy Birthday Pete!!!

2009-05-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from last nights show

Celebrating 90 years...

The Boss

Dave Matthews

Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Tao Rodriquez, and Pete Seeger

Tonight on the Island

2009-05-04T06:43:00.000-07:00

Bruce Springsteen's shows have once again evolved into fan request extravaganzas -- except now it's turning into a case of "stump the band." In addition to the dozens of fan signs requesting their favorite Springsteen classics and deep cuts, some enterprising fans are now requesting other bands songs as well. At recent shows the E Street Band has launched into such cover fan requests as the Dovells' "You Can't Sit Down," Question Mark and the Mysterians' "96 Tears," the Troggs' "Wild Thing," the Clash's "London Calling," the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated," ZZ Top's "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide," and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary."

Among the recent fan requests from within the Springsteen catalogue are: "I'm On Fire," "I'm A Rocker," "Sherry Darling," "The Fever" "I'm Goin' Down," "The E Street Shuffle," and "Fire."

Bruce Springsteen and the boys perform tonight in Uniondale, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The New Dylan Album... The coolest of '09 so far

2009-04-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

Bob Dylan is confident that his new-found collaboration with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter will carry on past their recent work together. Hunter, who was Jerry Garcia's lyricist for nearly 30 years, cowrote the majority of lyrics on Dylan's newly-released album Together Through Life.

Dylan told Rolling Stone that the pair definitely share a unique chemistry, saying, "We could probably write a hundred songs together if we thought it was important or the right reasons were there. He's got a way with words and I do too. We both write a different type of song than what passes today for songwriting."

Need to mellow at work?

2009-04-29T11:38:00.001-07:00

Hey all,

I'm just hanging at the station before the show starts. Checking out different things on the net. Since we've been talking a lot about Warren Haynes, I found this great video of him just tearing it up with DMB on Neil Young's, Cortez the Killer....

Enjoy!

Rosie... Will You Marry Me?

2009-04-24T05:59:00.001-07:00

Bruce Springsteen is legendary for having guest stars pop up on stage during various stops on the road, usually they're performing -- not popping the question! At Springsteen's Wednesday night (April 21st) gig in Boston, local musician Tim Brennan of the Dropkick Murphy's took the stage to propose to his now-fiancee. In celebration, the E Street Band then launched into the late-1974 Born To Run outtake "So Young And In Love." Brennan was joined by a couple of his bandmates afterwards for a rendition of Springsteen's traditional closer, "American Land."

Although Springsteen's shows are featuring more cool fan requests such as the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated," it seems to be coming at the expense of tunes from his latest album Working On A Dream. Wednesday's Boston show only featured a measly three tracks from the new album -- including only the title track, "Outlaw Pete," and "Kingdom Of Days."

Some Quick Hits...

2009-04-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

Rod Stewart reunited with former bandleader Jeff Beck for a couple of songs on Tuesday night (April 22nd) during Beck's show at L.A.'s El Rey Theatre. The pair reprised their 1985 cover of the Impressions' "People Get Ready," before launching into a particularly hot rendition of Willie Dixon's "I Ain't Superstitious" -- which they had originally recorded in 1968 on the Jeff Beck Group's 1968 debut album, Truth.

Bruce Springsteen announced during Tuesday night's show in Boston that Patti Scialfa will be missing a few E Street Band dates after she "took a spill" while horseback riding over the weekend. Backstreets.com, posted that Springsteen described the injuries to the crowd, and joked, "She wasn't riding with Madonna, it wasn't a Madonna-like spill." "The Boss" went on to joke that his wife suffered "multiple contusions, bruised ribs . . . and whiplash, from me driving her to the hospital."

Scialfa should be back on the road after missing only a few shows.

New Tore Books

2009-04-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

The Dead are offering fans a one-of-a kind opportunity to create their own scrapbooks to all 17 stops on their spring tour. Mediabistro.com reported that 72 hours after each Dead gig, fans can buy the specialty made books featuring shots from the evening show.

The publishers of the new book published a statement on blog.blurb.com saying, "Not only can you buy the concert book from your Dead show, but you can add your own personal photo to the front cover. Whether it's a shot of you and your friends dancing on the lawn, or Phil Lesh signing your shirt, you can bring the cover to life with your photography to commemorate your Dead show in a personal way."

To check out the process blurb.com/thedead.

Think you're Peter Parker???

2009-04-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

The upcoming Broadway musical based on the comic book character Spider-Man, with songs by U2 frontman Bono and guitarist The Edge, will hold open casting calls in major cities around the U.S. starting next week. According to Sci-Fi Wire, the show, officially called Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, is looking for performers with "dynamic rock/pop voices, including those with experience in bands and as solo performers," although no prior experience is necessary.

The show is looking for performers who can either play or understudy for the lead roles of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson, in addition to a "lead female villain" who is not named but described as "Sinead O'Connor with a Middle Eastern/Bulgarian/Greek twist."

Auditions will be held in Orlando, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago and Austin. The show is scheduled to open on February 18th, 2010, with previews beginning on January 16th.

More info can be found at http://spidermanonbroadway.marvel.com.

Warren Haynes on Double Duty

2009-04-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Dead surprised some lucky fans on Monday (March 30th) night by playing not one but three New York City venues. Rolling Stone reported that later in the day after Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Warren Haynes appeared on ABC's The View, the band set up for their gig at New York's Angel Orensanz Theatre, where Weir joked, "It's just like playing a three-hour show, but it's broken up by cab rides." The band had originally wanted to play a larger open air free show in the city but got bogged down with red tape.

The pared-down trio kicked off the first gig of the night at Angel Orensanz -- a former synagogue on the Lower East Side -- and focused mainly on acoustic-based material from Workingman's Dead, American Beauty and other earlier sets, including such Dead favorites as "Dire Wolf," "Cumberland Blues," "Casey Jones," and an extended 20-minute version of the Jerry Garcia classic "Bird Song."

The 8 p.m. show at the Gramercy Theatre featured the Dead's drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, as well as keyboardist Jeff Chimenti for an hour-long electric set which included such Dead classics as "Good Lovin,'" "The Wheel," and "Franklin's Tower," along with several extended jams. As with past Dead shows, Haynes has taken most of the leads associated with the previously sung Garcia material.

The third and final gig of the night kicked off at 11 p.m. at the 3,000 capacity club Roseland. The band tackled tracks from throughout their career, including "Althea," the Weir classic "Cassidy," "Eyes Of The World," "St. Stephen," and "Sugar Magnolia," among others.
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The Allman Brothers Band have announced 26 tour dates kicking off on May 19th at L.A.'s Greek Theatre and running through mid-October. Along the way, the Allmans will be sharing the bill at select shows with the Doobie Brothers, the Dead, and Widespread Panic. The Allmans often play new songs in concert, and singer-guitarist Warren Haynes says that the band has always been careful to never let new material take precedent over fan favorites: "We don't wanna give them too many new songs in a night, or the show may suffer a little bit, from an energy perspective. So if you do a new song, and then follow it up with 'Midnight Rider,' or something like that, you know, then you're doing OK. Then three songs later, do another new song, and follow that up with another classic, and try and pepper 'em in there to the extent that the show doesn't suffer."

August 27 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon At Jones Beach Theater

Last month the band wrapped up their "March Madness" residency at New York City's Beacon Theatre where they welcomed such guests as Eric Clapton, the Dead's Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, Levon Helm, Billy Gibbons, Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell of Phish, Sheryl Crow, and Kid Rock.

Dead View

2009-03-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

The Dead's Bob Weir and Phil Lesh were joined by touring bandmember Warren Haynes yesterday (March 30th) for their appearance on ABC's The View.

Weir explained that rather than let the 1995 death of bandleader Jerry Garcia sink in, he took solace in hitting the road and making music: "Well, that was a body-blow for sure. I, I know that I personally just went on the road and stayed on the road. That was my grieving process. Y'know, 'cause he was a dear, dear, friend a brother, all that kind of stuff. A loss like is tough to. . . So like I said I went on the road and stayed on the road. (Joy Behar): You just kept moving. (Bob Weir): Yeah."

The scaled down Dead performed one of Garcia's best-loved songs from the group's 1971 American Beauty album -- "Friend Of The Devil."

E-Who-Dead

2009-03-30T07:23:00.000-07:00

Bruce Springsteen fans heaved a sigh of relief last week when Max Weinberg's temporary replacement took the stage with the band in Asbury Park for a handful of songs during their rehearsal shows. It eased things slightly that Weinberg's 18-year-old son Jay had already rocked Giants Stadium last summer during the "The Boss's" New Jersey run. By all accounts Jay had the chops to hold his own with the mighty E Street Band.

Max, who'll be missing some of the band's European dates due to scheduling conflicts with the new Conan O'Brien Tonight Show kickoff, recalled to Rolling Stone how Jay ended up with one of the most coveted gigs in all of rock: "(Bruce called) he wanted to talk to Jay. He said to him, 'Jay, this is Bruce. You may have heard I have a band. In that band I have the world's greatest drummer, who has a scheduling conflict. He gave me your name and number and suggested that I call you to see if you'd be interested in playing with me and the E Street Band.'"

Max added that, "The torch has been passed to a new generation, so to speak. Temporarily, I might add. Because I'm not giving up my job yet."
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Pete Townshend isn't making any promises, but when he wraps up his current writing cycle, there might be some new material perfectly suited for the Who.

Townshend, who's currently on tour with the band Down Under, told Australia's The Daily Telegraph that he doesn't try to pigeon hole his work into specific projects, explaining, "I don't write for something we call 'The Who,' with all its cumbersome history and theatrical stage songs. I just write music, or poems, or lyrics, or songs. If they work for Roger (Daltrey), or for me, we will record them. I may never manage to write such a song again, but as Endless Wire featured some of the most recent and least anthemic songs I've ever written. . . there's a good chance we'll find something when I'm done doing whatever I do in the summer of 2009."

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Bob Weir says that the Dead is hard at work getting the band in shape for their upcoming tour, and digging deep into its back catalogue for the band's first extended trek in five years.

Weir explained that they have been working on material(approximately 150 songs) that hasn't been performed live by the band since around the time of their Wake Of The Flood album...

Are you a Bob Dylan fan about to get married???

2009-03-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well if you are consider this...

Bob Dylan's luxurious mansion and estate in the Highlands of Scotland is available for parties and weddings for as low as $3,000, according to twentyfourbit.com. The Edwardian mansion sits on 25 acres, and features "views of the Cairngorms mountain range" (with) 10 bedrooms, and two separate cottages -- which are also available to rent for about $600.

Dylan and his younger brother David Zimmerman purchased the property together back in 2006, and Dylan has reportedly spent very little time on the grounds.

Check out the mansion at theaultmorehouse.com.

Dylan will release his 33rd studio set Together Through Life on April 28th.

(U) 2 (Grateful) Big tours!

2009-03-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

U2 has confirmed the opening acts and dates for the fall North American leg of the band's world stadium tour, according to Ticketnews.com. Muse, Snow Patrol, and Black Eyed Peas will support the Irish quartet on various stops along the tour route, which begins on September 12th in Chicago and now encompasses 16 cities. Tickets for the shows in Chicago, Toronto, Boston, and New York go on sale this coming Monday (March 30th) with the rest to be made available shortly.
Tickets for the European leg of the trek are selling in record time, with the 11 gigs put up for sale so far already sold out. Most sold out in under an hour, with second nights in Paris and London already scheduled.

The tour, which features an enormous solid steel stage set called "the Claw" and features the band playing in the round, kicks off on June 30th in Barcelona, Spain.

According to U2's manager, 85 percent of tickets for the tour cost under $95, with general admission floor tickets priced at $55 and at least 10,000 at each date set aside at $30 each.

U2 hits our area on September 24 at Giants Stadium!
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In an effort to curb outlandish scalpers' prices, the Dead are putting some of the better seats to their opening night gig of their upcoming tour up for auction to benefit charity. The Associated Press reported that tickets for third row, center-stage-right for the tour's opening show on April 12 in Greensboro, North Carolina are up for grabs with the online bidding starting at $250 at charityfolks.com.

The band hopes to raise $250,000 for such Dead-supported charities as the Rex Foundation for the arts; the Further Foundation, which works for environmental and social causes; the Unbroken Chain Foundation, which supports community service projects; and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which is dedicated to protecting oceans and marine life.

Bob Weir explained why the charitable element is so important to the band: "Needless to say, like any charity these days, their revenues are down right now. They're hurting. We want to do what we can to keep these folks up and running and in business."

I couldn't come up with a clever tittle today

2009-03-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

Crosby, Stills, & Nash have announced the first leg of their upcoming North American tour, which kicks off on June 3rd in St. Louis and wraps on June 14th in Boston. A second leg, running August through September, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Coinciding with the tour will be the release of Crosby, Stills, & Nash: Demos on June 2nd. The single-disc release features 1968 and 1969 demos of such group and solo classics as "Marrakesh Express," "My Love Is A Gentle Thing," "Almost Cut My Hair," "Chicago," "Long Time Gone," "Guinevere" and "Wooden Ships," among others.

Crosby, Stills, & Nash tour dates (subject to change):
June 3 - St. Louis, MO - Chaifetz Arena
June 4 - Chicago, IL - Charter One Pavillion at Northerly Island
June 6 - Rochester, MI - Meadow Brook Music Festival
June 7 - Toledo, OH - Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre
June 12 - Cooperstown, NY - Doubleday Field
June 13 - Mashantucket, CT - Foxwoods Resort Casino
June 14 -Boston, MA - Bank Of America Pavilion

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Following the recent success of John Mellencamp and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello has teamed up with producer T-Bone Burnett for the upcoming acoustic Americana album The Secret, The Profane, And Sugar Cane, according to Billboard. The album, which marks Costello's first collaboration with Burnett since 1989's Spike, will be his debut release for the Hear Music label.

Ten of the album's tracks are new Costello compositions, including two written with Burnett. One song, "I Felt The Chill," was co-written by Costello with Loretta Lynn, with two of the album's tracks -- "Hidden Same" and "Boom Chicka Boom" -- were originally written by Costello for Johnny Cash.

Boss rehearsals, Little Stevie sheds some light on rock and roll

2009-03-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off the first of their two rehearsal shows at New Jersey's Asbury Park Convention Hall last night (March 23rd). According to fan reports, the band was augmented with two backup singers, Curtis King and Cindy Mizelle, who both toured with Springsteen in 2006 as part of the Seeger Sessions Band. Springsteen played a total of 24 songs, premiering six tracks from his new Working On A Dream album. Last night's gig also featured the E Street Band's debut performance of Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally."

Last night's Asbury Park setlist: "Outlaw Pete," "My Lucky Day,"
"Night," "Out In The Street," "Working On A Dream," "Johnny 99," "I Ain't Got No Home" (Woody Guthrie song); "Good Eye," "Radio Nowhere," "Candy's Room," "Because The Night," "Mary's Place," "The Wrestler," "This Life," "Long Walk Home," "Surprise, Surprise," "Badlands," and "No Surrender."

ENCORES: "Hard Times Come Again No More Again" (Stephen Foster song), "Mustang Sally" (Wilson Pickett song); "Thunder Road," "Born To Run," "American Land," and "Seven Nights To Rock" (Moon Mullican song)

Springsteen performs again tonight (March 24th) at the Convention Hall for the second E Street Band rehearsal show.

Backstreets.com reported that Springsteen hopped onstage Saturday night (March 21st) in Long Branch, New Jersey at the Ocean Palace Resort at a fundraiser for the Ranney School -- where his youngest children Jessica and Sam both attend.

Playing an off-white Fender Telecaster, "The Boss" joined house band the Panther Club and tore through a three-song set consisting of Wilson Pickett's "634-5789," and "Mustang Sally" before wrapping things up with the Isley Brothers' "Twist And Shout."

Steven Van Zandt was a guest speaker on Friday (March 20th) at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas and delivered a powerful lecture on the state of rock and roll.

Van Zandt spelled out the key problems regarding the continued growth of rock, saying in part: "Rock n' roll is the working class art form. Real rock n' roll . . . is equal opportunity, regardless of race, education or how much money you got, since the working class don't think too much about what is art and what is not. Mostly because they're too busy working. They spend their time on their craft, the practical useful stuff. So let's get back to basics for a moment, what is our craft?"

Van Zandt went on to say: "Rock n' roll had always been a two-part craft, performance and record-making, and that turned into a three-part craft for bands, when songwriting was added after the Beatles changed the world."

He went on to say, "The crisis in performance is, I believe, based on one simple fact. When it started, rock n' roll was dance music. One day we stopped dancing to it and started listening to it and it's been downhill ever since. We had a purpose . . . we made people dance or we did not work, we didn't not get paid, we were fired, we were homeless. That requires a very different energy. To compel people to get out of their chairs and dance, it's a working-class energy, not an artistic, intellectual, waiting-around-for-inspiration energy. It's a get-up, go-to-work-and-kill energy. Rip it up, or die trying."

To read Van Zandt's chat in full, log on to: blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/03/22/sxsw-day-three-little-steven-and-rocks-crisis-in-craft/

Quick hits to get your week started

2009-03-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

CNN reports that Simon & Garfunkel may be kicking off their first tour in five years in June in Kiwiland, New Zealand. According to sources, the duo will begin rehearsals in May in New York City. It's believed that following the New Zealand shows, the pair will carry on with dates in Australia and Japan. None of the overseas dates have been officially announced, nor have any North American shows been mentioned.

Last month Simon & Garfunkel reunited for a three-song set in New York City during Paul Simon's concert marking the reopening of the Beacon Theatre.
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Bruce Springsteen issued a statement on his official website (brucespringsteen.net) shedding light on Max Weinberg's son Jay stepping in for his dad for a handful of E Street Band shows. Max is busy helping Conan O'Brien kick off his new stint as host of NBC's The Tonight Show.

The statement read in full: "In response to the many questions concerning the upcoming tour, the drummer on the small number of shows that Max Weinberg won't be able to appear at will be a brilliant young drummer from New Jersey named Jay Weinberg. Commenting on the situation, Bruce said: 'Once again, I want to express my appreciation to Conan O'Brian, and everyone on his team, for making it possible for Max to continue to do double duty for both us and for him. We promise to return him in one piece.'"

Boss adds two, Behind The Music returns!!!

2009-03-20T05:15:00.000-07:00

Bruce Springsteen has announced two pre-tour rehearsal shows for Monday and Tuesday night (March 23rd and 24th) at the Asbury Park Convention Hall. Backstreets.com reported that tickets go on sale today (Friday, March 20th) at 12 noon ET through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone only. Tickets are $100 with a two-ticket limit.

Last night (March 19th) Springsteen appeared on Comedy Central's The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and performed an acoustic version of the title track to his new album Working On A Dream.

Seemingly confirming rumors that Max Weinberg would be missing portions of the E Street Band's European tour due to commitments to Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show -- Weinberg's son, Jay Weinberg, was sitting in with the band on Monday and Tuesday's rehearsals at the Convention Hall, with his dad on hand. There has been no official word naming Jay Weinberg as his father's temporary replacement.
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Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland will star in a new episode of Behind The Music, the popular VH1 series that is being revived by the network three years after it stopped producing new installments. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 10 new episodes have been ordered by the channel, with Weiland and rapper Lil Wayne the only subjects confirmed so far. VH1 executive VP of original programming Jeff Olde said about the show's return, "It felt like the time is right. There's all sorts of new artists on the scene who have emerged and have these great stories. And there's other artists that we always wanted to do the first time around."
Behind The Music aired regularly between 1997 and 2002, with only a few new episodes produced until 2006.

Music News Update for Thursday...

2009-03-19T13:54:00.001-07:00

New details are emerging about the May 3rd Pete Seeger 90th birthday celebration at New York's Madison Square Garden. Backstreets.com reported that despite earlier reports, Bob Dylan will not be participating. As previously reported, the lineup includes Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Eddie Vedder, Dave Matthews, and Emmylou Harris -- along with new additions Ani DiFranco, Arlo Guthrie, Billy Bragg, Bruce Cockburn, Michael Franti, Tom Chapin, and many more.
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An ambitious plan to license the music of Nirvana and its late singer/songwriter, Kurt Cobain, appears to have backfired, according to Portfolio.com. A company called Primary Wave Music Publishing bought a 50 percent stake in Cobain's catalog for a reported $50 million from his widow, Courtney Love, who was nearly out of money at the time. However, Primary Wave has had little success with placing Nirvana songs in TV commercials, video games and ad campaigns, with the company earning just slightly more than $2.3 million on its investment so far.

Love claimed to have had just $4,000 in her bank account three years ago when she made the deal with Primary Wave. Fans criticized Love for allowing Cobain's music to be used in the kind of commercial enterprises that he blasted up until his 1994 suicide.

Nirvana's rebellious stance and image could be one reason why the music has not been licensed more. Sony/ATV Music Publishing chairman and CEO Martin Bandier explained, "Nirvana was so revolutionary that it's very difficult to match different projects, and there are tons of iconic groups that allow their music to be utilized."

A source told Portfolio that one deal to license a number of Nirvana songs for a special episode of CSI: Miami, that would be written around the music, collapsed when Love, the publisher and former members of Nirvana asked for "twice the industry standard" in licensing fees, leading CBS-TV to back off.

Allman Bros. w/ Sheryl Crow on Can't Find My Way Home

2009-03-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

Pretty awesome!!!

Check out this amazing guitar playing by John Butler

2009-03-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

I just talked about this on the show... John Butler is one of the most amazing guitar players ever. Check out this clip... at the 2 minute mark, he really kicks it in to over drive.

Only bad thing is the music isn't exactly matched up with the video... that's cause Youtube sucks!

Enjoy!

Dylan's new album, McCartney's new record!

2009-03-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

Bob Dylan will release his new studio album Together Through Life on April 28th. Dylan posted a new interview on his official website bobdylan.com, and explained that the legendary Chess and Sun Records 1950s singles shaped the sound of the new collection, saying, "I like the mood of those records -- the intensity. The sound is uncluttered. There's power and suspense. The whole vibration feels like it could be coming from inside your mind. It's alive. It's right there. 'Kind of sticks in your head like a toothache.'"

Although the album's final setlist has yet to be announced, last month Dylan previewed seven tracks to Columbia label heads in New York and London. Billboard reported that the tracks previewed were "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'," "Life Is Hard," "My Wife's Hometown," "Forgetful Heart," "Shake Shake Mama," "I Feel A Change Coming On," and "It's All Good."

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Paul McCartney has set a new world record for his upcoming gig at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The former Beatle sold out all 4,000 seats for the show in only seven seconds. The Macca Report posted that tickets for the April 19th show at the new 4,000-set New Joint venue sold at a rate of about 600 seats per second.

The Hollywood Reporter posted that the new John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy will be distributed by The Weinstein Co., who has acquired the U.S., Latin American, and German distribution rights to the film.

Nowhere Boy focuses on Lennon's pre-teen family life, with Kristin Scott Thomas portraying Lennon's maternal aunt and guardian Mimi Smith. Nowhere Boy is due out next year.

Daltrey Makes a lot of sense, Re-working old U2, Remembering Alan Livingston

2009-03-16T05:34:00.000-07:00

Roger Daltrey has taken a swipe against animal rights activists saying that cancer research should take precedence when it comes to charity. Daltrey, whose is a patron of Britain's Teenage Cancer Trust charity, told ITN.co.uk, "It is a blot on our society when, if these teenagers had four legs and fur or feathers we would raise the money in one year. It's tragic and it makes me want to fight even harder."

He explained that the British government is "no help whatsoever" for the teenage cancer patients, adding, "this charity is all they've got and we're fighting for every unit we get . . . Teenagers are the hardest age group to talk to and they tend to withdraw within themselves. . . . Cancer is the number one killer of teenagers and they get the most aggressive and the rarest forms, and because they're growing so fast and they're doing sports and things, late diagnosis is quite common."

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U2 singer Bono told a crowd in Somerville, Massachusetts that the band would like to re-record some of its early work, according to Reuters. Playing a private set of five songs for 950 fans and taking questions afterward, Bono said about the band's 1980 debut Boy, "I would love to sing that album again and finish that," adding that back in those days, they "couldn't afford another hour" in the studio. Bono also said about the band's first few records, "There's some beautiful songs that feel a little bit unfinished to us."

The vocalist did not indicate whether the Irish supergroup had any plans to actually undertake such a project.

Guitarist The Edge added to possible speculation about re-recordings when asked if there are any U2 songs he never wanted to play again, saying, "There are so many U2 songs that I am quite happy not to play. But the thing is we still want to rewrite some of them, and who knows, we may at some point re-release a few of our early albums with a few changes."
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Former Capitol Records president Alan Livingston, the man who signed the Beatles to their American label, died at 91 of age-related causes on Friday (March 13th) at his home in Beverly Hills, The Associated Press reports.

In 1963, despite heavy pressure from Capitol's parent company, the British owned EMI Records, Livingston originally passed on signing the Fab Four deeming their music unsuitable for the American market. Later that year, after rejecting the Beatles' first album Please Please Me -- along with their first four singles "Love Me Do," "Please Please Me," "From Me To You," and "She Loves You" -- Livingston finally signed the group for U.S. distribution and released their groundbreaking single "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and their American album debut Meet The Beatles.

Meet The Beatles, which topped the album charts for 11 weeks, collected tracks from their second UK album With The Beatles along with assorted single tracks.

Beatles fans have long criticized Capitol for altering the group's British albums for their American release. Renowned Beatles author Bruce Spizer, who wrote the liner notes for the group's The Capitol Albums box sets, told us that the label has gotten a bad rap over the years when it comes to the Beatles' early '60s albums: "The old party line of 'Capitol butchered the Beatles' is really not true. Capitol marketed the Beatles, they had a feel of what would sell well in America and they knew that you needed hit singles on the albums to sell the albums. So, they would deliberately pull a song off to save it as a single such as 'Eight Days A Week,' or 'Nowhere Man.' And this was their strategy and it worked really well."

Alan Livingston began his career at Capitol in the creative department, writing and producing children's albums for the label, including creating the legendary "Bozo the Clown" character for the 1946 album Bozo At The Circus. During his tenure as head of Capitol, he signed such legendary acts as Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, the Steve Miller Band, Nat "King" Cole, Al Martino, among many others. Livingston is survived by his wife, a son, a daughter and a stepdaughter.

REM Trib, Police Wine, and Bruce in 3D

2009-03-13T07:44:00.001-07:00

R.E.M. took the stage at their own tribute show Wednesday night (March 11th) at New York City's Carnegie Hall. According to Billboard.com, the band made a surprise performance at the concert, which featured 20 different artists doing songs from R.E.M.'s catalog. To close out the show, R.E.M. played "E-Bow The Letter" off 1996's New Adventures In Hi-Fi. Patti Smith joined Michael Stipe on vocals, while R.E.M's Peter Buck and Mike Mills played in the background.

Other performers included Marshall Crenshaw, Guster, Calexico, Bob Mould and others. The tribute show is part of a series that helps raise money for various organizations.
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Sting has plans to sell wine from his very own country estate in Tuscany, Italy. According to the Associated Press, the Police frontman plans to produce 30,000 bottles of wine which will go on sale in the United States and Britain. Although the name of the wine hasn't been revealed, it's expected to be a 2007 vintage based on the Sangiovese grape with hints of Cabernet and Merlot.

Sting bought the 16th-century villa in 1997 and has since turned about 860 acres of its acres into an organic farm that also produces honey, olive oil, fruit, vegetables and Tuscan salami. The 57-year-old singer says he initially just wanted to feed his family, explaining, "I also wanted to use agriculture with practices that would nourish the land and not deplete the land, and so we went to traditional methods with farming, we got rid of pesticides, we shunned mono culture, and it works. The farm is also a garden."

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Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band started tour rehearsals this week at the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, New Jersey. According to LiveDaily.com, Springsteen went over a batch of songs from the new Working On A Dream album, including the title track, "Outlaw Pete," "My Lucky Day," "What Love Can Do" and "This Life." Springsteen's tour launches April 1st in San Jose, California.

Meanwhile, director Bruce Hendricks, who produced 3D feature films for pop acts the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus, is setting his sights on the Boss. He tells MTV.com he'd love to produce a 3D concert film starring Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, explaining, "I saw Springsteen at the Super Bowl. I'd love to do him....[I'd love to do it] in 3D. He'd be great." Hendricks hasn't approached Springsteen yet about his idea, adding, "But I think concert films in 3D are going to catch on, so we are going to see a lot of artists do them."

Nirvana's Novoselic

2009-03-11T14:12:00.001-07:00

Former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic told DailyWorld.com in a new interview that fans should not expect to hear any music from the band emerging from the vaults. But while previously unreleased music may be scarce, Novoselic added, "What there is, is video. There's a lot of video. There's not going to be any new Nirvana records." Novoselic was interviewed when he participated in an oral history for the Washington State Legacy Project, which is dedicated to profiling influential residents of the state who have helped shape its history.

Novoselic did not indicate what kind of video footage is in the band's archives, nor did he say whether it will ever see the light of day.
The last Nirvana studio song released was "You Know You're Right," issued in 2002 as part of a boxed set. The track's release was held up for years by a legal battle that pitted Novoselic and Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl against Courtney Love, widow of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. The tune was recorded in January of 1994, three months before Cobain committed suicide.
Asked if he was now on good terms with Love, Novoselic said, "It's not bad terms."
Nirvana was crucial in bringing mainstream attention to both the Seattle music scene and alternative music in general.
The bassist told DailyWorld.com that he wished he had done more to stop Cobain from killing himself, saying, "There's regrets. I was angry. It's just a waste . . . Kurt called me the first time he did heroin and he told me he did it. And I told him, 'Don't do it man. You're playing with dynamite.'"
Novoselic has continued a low-key music career since Nirvana's demise, playing in Eyes Adrift, Sweet 75 and punk act Flipper. He is also active in local Washington politics and has his own show on a community radio station.

Bruce Exhibit, Allmans kick of bacon... uh I mean Beacon

2009-03-09T07:23:00.000-07:00

A special Bruce Springsteen exhibit will open at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, Ohio on April 1st. The display, called "From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen," will include various memorabilia from the Boss, including the Fender Esquire guitar that appears on the cover of Born To Run, the outfit he wore on the cover of Born In The U.S.A., as well as handwritten lyric manuscripts, posters, handbills and various awards. The exhibit will be open through spring 2010. Springsteen's manager Jon Landau tells Billboard.com, "Once (Bruce) knew this was real, that it would really happen, he wanted it to have as much depth as it could possibly have. He is fully behind this exhibition and the effort the museum has made to really get things right." Landau says Springsteen will likely visit the exhibit after the official opening.
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The Allman Brothers Band kick off their "March Madness" run at New York City's Beacon Theater tonight (Monday, March 9th). This year, the band has extended the residency to 15 shows, wrapping on March 28th. The Allmans plan to bring on special guests, as well as perform some new material. Each three-hour concert will pay tribute to late lead singer Duane Allman, who died in 1971.

They were forced to cancel the annual concerts last year while Gregg Allman underwent difficult treatment for Hepatitis C. He tells us about coping with the side effects of the medication he had to take: "I've never done that. Had it not been a total emergency I wouldn't have done it this time, but I just flat couldn't make it. When you take this stuff, you might as well plan on staying home."

For the first time, the Allmans will be streaming the shows online at Moogis.com. There's a $125 fee to view the shows. Allman says he has recovered fully from Hepatitis C.

This year marks the band's 40th anniversary.

U2 Should Top, Beatles Are Officially a Rock Band

2009-03-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

U2 is likely to land the seventh Number One album of its career when its newly released, 12th studio effort, No Line On The Horizon, debuts on the Billboard 200 chart next week. Early sales figures and industry tracking suggest that the disc could sell more than 400,000 copies in its first week on shelves. That's a far cry from the 840,000 copies moved by the band's last CD, 2004's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, but still healthy enough in the current industry climate.

Billboard's sales tracking estimates were based on reports from seven retailers responsible for about 60 percent of all U.S. record sales, including Best Buy, iTunes, Starbucks, Borders, and Target.
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The Beatles will have their own Rock Band video game. Due out September 9th, The Beatles: Rock Band will be available for the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. There's expected to be three releases this fall -- software featuring the Beatles' music; standalone guitars; and a limited edition package that will likely include the game and special instruments. According to a statement, the game will feature "an unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of the Beatles." It will also included a limited number of "new peripherals" modeled after instruments used by the Beatles throughout their career. The game only will retail for $59.99, while a standalone guitar bundle will be priced at $99.99, and the limited edition premium bundle will sell for $249.99.

According to RollingStone.com, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison are in support of the game.

This will mark the first Rock Band game specifically branded to a specific music group.

Music News Updates!

2009-03-05T04:19:00.000-08:00

U2 has revealed more details about its proposed follow-up to its just-released new album, No Line On The Horizon, in a new interview with Rolling Stone. Lead singer Bono told the magazine that the record, tentatively titled Songs Of Ascent, would be comprised of material that didn't fit onto the current release, calling it, "a sister release to No Line On The Horizon, a Zooropa to its Achtung Baby." He described the companion record as "a kind of heartbreaker, a meditative, reflective piece of work, but not indulgent."

Bono added that a track called "Every Breaking Wave," which was left off No Line On The Horizon, should be the first single from Songs Of Ascent. The album could be released in 2010.
Rolling Stone also got a preview of tunes from Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the upcoming stage musical based on the comic book character for which Bono and U2 guitarist The Edge have written the songs. Bono said that if the music was released as an official U2 album, "It'll be a monster, 'cause it's the most accessible music we've probably ever written. It could be our Tommy. We could do it with guest stars and everything."

U2 will perform for the fourth straight night on Thursday's (March 5th) edition of CBS-TV's Late Show With David Letterman, where the band has taken up a weeklong residence.

In honor of the group's stay in New York this week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg temporarily renamed a portion of West 53rd Street "U2 Way."
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Surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will headline a benefit show on April 4th at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. The show, dubbed Charity Begins Within, will benefit the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. Also on the bill will be Sheryl Crow, Donovan, Eddie Vedder, Moby, My Morning Jacket's Jim James and Ben Harper. The upcoming gig marks the first time McCartney and Starr will perform together since a tribute show to the late George Harrison in 2002.The David Lynch Foundation teaches children how to meditate so they can better overcome stress and violence and promote peace and success in their lives. McCartney is a big supporter of the cause, saying, "In moments of madness, it has helped me find moments of serenity. I would like to think that it would help provide them a quiet haven in a not-so-quiet world." According to RollingStone.com, Starr added, "It gives me great pleasure to be part of this evening. I feel the aims of this charity are wonderful."

Tickets for the show go on sale March 9th via Ticketmaster.

My 2nd Christmas

2009-03-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

March 4th is a pretty significant day in the life of your ol' pal Anthony... And believe it or not it has nothing to do with music... or food. I know, its shocking. But it actually comes from my third love. Hockey!

Today is the trading deadline in the National Hockey League and nothing is more exciting for me. Now you may be asking yourself why...

Well I'm a die hard Islanders fan. So there isn't much else for me to be excited about. And the new U2 record came out yesterday, so that excitement is over with. With nothing going on in the music world, my complete focus is on the NHL today.

I couldn't even explain to you why I love trades, but there is just something so exciting about seeing a player fight for one team, get moved and have to fight for another team. And it brings me and my friends together, texting and calling all day long to try and be the first person that hears of a deal and passes it on to everyone else.

So while you guys are working today, I'll be in front of a TV and the computer, scanning millions of websites to see not only what my favorite team is doing to improve itself but also to see the superstars of this wonderful game move their entire life to a new location.

Obviously if you're one of the many that visits this blog everyday you might think this is a weird post. Or that I'm the only one that goes this crazy over an insignificant event. Well check out Islanders Point Blank. Its a blog run by my former employer, Chris Botta, who was the GOD of the Public Relations department for the New York Islanders for a long time. There you'll find a rich community of Long Islanders, and people across the country that just thirst for information about their favorite team. And Chris, does an incredible job and delivering that information.

We will definitely return to music news tomorrow, and if anything breaks here today I'll be sure to post it as soon as it happens, but for today, while I've gotten you to read this far let me mention this as a closing argument.

I believe that we are in jeopardy of losing our only professional franchise here on Long Island. The Islanders need the Lighthouse Project to be approved desperately in order to keep them here. Even if you're not a fan of the Islanders or hockey, this still should appeal to you if you're a Long Islander. I'm a proud Long Islander and I don't want to see my only pro franchise leave because our local government was too stupid to let them go.

Please visit the Lighthouse Project website and pledge your support. It only takes two minutes.

Thanks guys and gals! As always, us passionate music fanatical Long Islanders must stick together!

And in closing, because I hate to lose ANY listeners.... Connecticut rules!

U2 dishes 12th Studio Album

2009-03-03T08:19:00.000-08:00

U2 releases its 12th studio album on Today in the U.S., titled No Line On The Horizon. The disc is the band's first since 2004's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and has already gathered a considerable amount of critical acclaim, with some reviews calling it the Irish group's best effort since 1991's Achtung Baby. Some rock critics, however, have said that lead singer Bono's work as a political and social activist interferes with the band's music. Washington Post critic J. Freedom du Lac wrote that the album was "at times magnificent," but added, "It's becoming increasingly difficult to hear U2's music without filtering it through your feelings about the other Bono, that strident, sanctimonious swirl of idealism, agenda and ego."

Bono has worked tirelessly to reduce poverty, hunger, and AIDS in Africa and other parts of the globe, and was even nominated for a Nobel Prize in 2005 for his efforts. U2 guitarist The Edge told us at the time that the band has never worried about Bono's activist efforts alienating its audience: "There are, I'm sure, people who'd rather that there were less direct references to politics in the show, or that Bono wouldn't end up on TV talking about his work for Africa, but we're fine with that, you know. We think that it's really important, and the small downside that comes with it is far outweighed in every respect by the positives."

Despite the critical concerns, No Line On The Horizon is likely to be one of the biggest albums of 2009. The disc was awarded five stars by Rolling Stone, four stars by Mojo magazine, and five stars by Q magazine, which argued that it could even be better than the landmark Achtung Baby.

No Line On The Horizon was produced by the band with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, the same team responsible for 1984's The Unforgettable Fire and 1987's classic The Joshua Tree.

The quartet was scheduled to begin a week-long residency on CBS-TV's Late Show With David Letterman on Monday night (March 2nd), and also planned to play a special concert at New York's Fordham University on Friday (March 6th) for ABC's Good Morning America, with attendance limited to students at the school.

An intimate club show is also in the works for Boston on March 11th. The venue has not yet been revealed, but tickets for the gig will be given away by several radio stations in the area.

Full plans for a summer stadium tour are expected to be announced next week.

Bono also told Rolling Stone that U2 will release another album before the end of 2009 that will act as a "companion" to No Line On The Horizon. The disc, which the singer described as "more meditative and processional," could arrive in November.

Kind of sad, but is it true?

2009-03-02T14:07:00.001-08:00

Pete Townshend says that the Who stopped being an active working band in 1982, and that for the past quarter century has been paying tribute to its glory days rather than topping them. Townshend spoke in depth about his thoughts on the current touring version of the Who during an interview with The New Zealand Listener, saying, "I used to be in a band called the Who. It does not exist today except in your dreams. I am a songwriter and guitarist who -- if I create the right setting -- can walk on to a stage with my old buddy Roger Daltrey and evoke the old magic of the Who in the dreams of the audience."

He added that the Who's core fan base understand that the deaths of cofounders Keith Moon and John Entwistle in 1978 and 2002, respectively, have in essence turned the band into its own tribute group: "I think the audience can appreciate that the old Who will never function again as they once did. Roger and I know how to do what we have always done, but we are much more conscious of the process now, the device of letting our audience live out their own wish while we play the old songs."

Looks like Bono's not so Bono

2009-02-27T05:45:00.000-08:00

Two organizations concerned with reducing national debt and poverty accused U2 of moving its money into tax shelters in other countries in order to avoid paying higher taxes in its home country of Ireland, according to Yahoo News U.K.. The band's official company, U2 Ltd., moved to a finance house in Holland in 2006 after the Irish government scrapped an income tax exemption plan for artists. Nessa Ni Chasaide of the Debt and Development Coalition of Ireland said, "We wanted to raise our concern that while (U2 singer) Bono has championed the cause of fighting poverty and injustice in the impoverished world, the fact is that his band has moved part of its business to a tax shelter in the Netherlands."

Chasaide added, "Tax avoidance and tax evasion costs the impoverished world at least $160 million every year. This is money urgently required to bring people out of poverty." Spokesperson Andy Storey from the justice group Afri also spoke out, saying, "There are trillions of dollars stashed in tax havens. If that money was taxed in the countries where it was earned, governments would have their own resources to improve the lives of their people."

U2 manager Paul McGuinness responded in the Belfast Telegraph, saying, "At least 95 percent of U2's business -- including record and ticket sales -- takes place outside of Ireland and as a result the band pays many different kinds of taxes all over the world." He added, "They continue to remain Ireland-based and are personal investors and employers in the country."

The accusations of financial hypocrisy come just days before the March 3rd release of the quartet's twelfth studio album, No Line On The Horizon.

Tonight Show messing with the Boss

2009-02-25T10:12:00.000-08:00

Steve Van Zandt has hinted that Max Weinberg may be sitting out some of the upcoming Bruce Springsteen shows. Weinberg has yet to announce whether he'll be on hand during Springsteen's European shows which kick off two nights before Conan O'Brien starts his new stint as the host of The Tonight Show in L.A. Van Zandt told Rolling Stone, "We're still figuring that out. We'll see. I think Max will be there for most of it. I just got home from Europe, so I haven't even talked to Max to see what the latest news is. I know he was very much trying to figure it out."

He went on to explain, "Max will be fine until the beginning of the show on June 2nd. After that, we'll see. I'm sure Max will be there for most, if not all of the tour. He's as dedicated as it gets. I used to have to fly home every day off and film The Sopranos. He may have to do something like that. Conan, it must be said, has been tremendous. Once that second banana (former sidekick Andy Richter) split, I started to get concerned. I was like 'Uh-oh. Now Max is not only the music director, he's also the second banana.' That's a huge role to play."

When pressed as to whether Springsteen and Weinberg have considered who would fill in for Weinberg should he sit out various shows -- or even legs of the tour -- Van Zandt said, "No names have come up yet. I don't know if it's quite at that stage."
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One of the most eagerly awaited tracks of unreleased Beatles music has leaked online. The nearly 11-minute outtake of 1968's "Revolution 1" as featured on the band's "White Album" -- which served as the bridge between the "slow" album version of the song and John Lennon and Yoko Ono's experimental aural sound collage "Revolution 9" -- has been leaked online and on YouTube.

The song, subtitled "Remix 1 of Take 20" was recorded on June 4th, 1968, and begins with Lennon saying, "Take your knickers off and let's go."

Although most of the YouTube links have been ordered to be taken down featuring the full 11-minute version, you can find a two-part version of the song posted by user KatMak21 or by searching under the words "Beatles Revolution 20."

Why didn't I just post it up here? Because Anthony's in enough trouble and I don't want to be sued. Happy Hunting...

We're in trouble folks

2009-02-24T06:25:00.001-08:00

Ticketmaster Entertainment has reached a national settlement with the New Jersey Attorney General over its ticketing practices following the outcry over a controversial Bruce Springsteen ticket sale earlier this month, according to Billboard.biz. The ticketing giant has agreed to change some of the ways in which it does business, most notably by saying it will stop directing customers to its ticket resale site, TicketsNow, for at least one year, with any linking following that to be approved by the office of Attorney General Anne Milgram.

In addition, all tickets that Ticketmaster receives for general sales to the public will not be sold or offered on TicketsNow before the official sale begins. The company will also refrain from using Internet advertising that directs customers doing a search for Ticketmaster to TicketsNow.

Springsteen and his manager Jon Landau issued a withering statement on February 4th expressing outrage over Ticketmaster's problem-plagued sale of tickets to his upcoming tour two days earlier (February 2nd). Many fans were instantly shut out of buying tickets and redirected to TicketsNow, where prices are often jacked up by hundreds of dollars.
Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff issued an open letter of apology to Springsteen, but the incident prompted an investigation in New Jersey.

Milgram also announced that Ticketmaster will make 2,000 tickets for Springsteen's upcoming May concerts in New Jersey available for face value through a lottery, with all the usual Ticketmaster fees and service charges to be waived.

Ticketmaster has also agreed to refund customers who were redirected to buy tickets through TicketsNow at a higher price in the first five hours of the Springsteen sale, and will complete transactions for those customers whose credit cards were charged but never received their tickets due to technical problems at the Ticketmaster website.
Milgram said in a statement, "Everyone deserves an equal chance to buy tickets on a primary ticket selling website and shouldn't be steered to a re-selling website where the prices can be substantially higher."

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster's proposed merger with Live Nation, which would create a virtual monopoly over ticket sales, merchandising, corporate sponsorships and recorded music, will face scrutiny on Tuesday (February 24th) from the Senate Judiciary Committee's "Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights." The hearing is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET and is expected to address antitrust concerns regarding the proposed consolidation of the two behemoths.

Fleetwood Mac, 3/13 at Nassau Coliseum

2009-02-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

Stevie Nicks says that Fleetwood Mac is a fully-functioning ensemble minus longtime member Christie McVie, who quit the band long before their last album and tour.

Nicks was asked how she feels fronting what she's often called a "boys club" without McVie sharing the stage with her: "Being the only girl in Fleetwood Mac? You have to understand, I've been the only girl in Fleetwood Mac now since 1998 and it's 2009. I'm used to it now. I miss Christine every day because she was my best buddy. She was my best friend. And I probably spent more time on the road with Fleetwood Mac than anywhere. I've spent more time with these people than I have with my own family. So the loss of Christine as one of my best girlfriends was horrific for me. But she's been gone a long, long, time now. There's not a day that I don't wish that she'd call up and say 'I'm back!' -- but she's not going to. So we've all kind've accepted that now."

Nicks says that on their upcoming tour the band will be incorporating more of McVie's Mac classics into the setlist. On Fleetwood Mac's 2003-2004 Say You Will tour they only performed "Don't Stop," ignoring such McVie standards as "You Make Loving Fun," "Hold Me," "Say You Love Me," "Everywhere," among others.

Fleetwood Mac kicks off its 40-date Unleashed tour on March 1st in Pittsburgh.

In conjunction with the tour, the band's 1977 album Rumours will be re-released as part of a special CD/DVD boxed set including previously unreleased tracks recorded during the making of the album, along with a DVD component with never-before-seen footage of the band. There's been no release date announced for the Rumours box set.

Simon & Garfunkel and Vodka??

2009-02-20T07:16:00.000-08:00

Art Garfunkel says that he and Paul Simon are planning their first tour in five years -- but isn't revealing too much else about it. Garfunkel cryptically told BBC News, "Our plan to work together, is coming together but it doesn't go through England this time." Garfunkel, who joined Simon onstage last week for a three-song set of Simon & Garfunkel classics during Simon's reopening of New York City's Beacon Theatre, called the ecstatic crowd response "extraordinary." He went on to say, "I said to the audience, 'You don't have a right to expect -- and we didn't expect -- that the interest in us would last and you would still care right to today and I'm touched.'"

Simon's manager Jeff Kramer shed light on the duo's plans, telling, Rolling Stone, "Yes there have been conversations taking place, but nothing has been confirmed."

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Experience Hendrix, the company that controls the estate of the late Jimi Hendrix, was awarded $3.2 million after a federal judge deemed that the company promoting "Hendrix Electric" vodka infringed on the legend's name and likeness. The company producing the liquor is headed up by Seattle businessman Craig Dieffenbach whose partner is Jimi's younger half-brother Leon Hendrix, who was written out of the $80 million estate by his late father Al Hendrix.

The Associated Press reported that both parties decided to settle out of court before the case headed to trial. U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly entered a judgment for that amount last week and ordered Dieffenbach, his business partners and his companies "to stop selling and marketing the vodka or any other products branded with the Hendrix name."

Little Steven needs Little Rehearsal

2009-02-19T07:41:00.000-08:00

Steve Van Zandt says that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band need less than a week's worth of rehearsals to gear up for their North American tour, which kicks off on April 1st in San Jose. Van Zandt explained to Billboard, "This will take, I'm going to guess, five or six rehearsals, only because we have a new album. We need to relearn or rearrange the new songs for the live versions. We'll fool around with that stuff for maybe a week, and out we go."

He went on to joke, "I have fun learning on the road. Every tour you spend the first month or two relearning the songs as you play them. I'm still learning the chords for 'Born To Run!'"

He shed light on Springsteen's recent Super Bowl appearance by saying, "(We rehearsed) more than the last two tours combined. The technical stuff was absolutely fascinating, to see how they did that staging. It was just amazing to me. They had the thing up in four minutes!"

Van Zandt remained noncommittal on whether Springsteen and the band would start tackling full albums in the concert setlists the way they did last May. At a Red Bank, New Jersey benefit, the group performed both the Born To Run and Darkness On The Edge Of Town albums in their entirety. Van Zandt said: "That was so much fun. It might be a fun way to do something different. Maybe we'll be able to fit that in somewhere, but we have a whole new album to do as well."

At a pre-Super Bowl press conference earlier this month, Van Zandt said that the members of the E Street Band continue to perform for the exact same reasons as they did when they were teenagers: "I think one of the things we're kind of proud of is that I think there is a certain inspirational quality to what we do. And that's because when we grew up, we had very high standards in the '60s, y'know? We're trying to attain that kind of greatness that we grew up with lookin' at the Beatles and the Rolling Stones -- people like that, Bob Dylan. So, we'll always be 16 as Bruce said, and we're always trying to attain that greatness that we grew up with, which also gives us that extra motivation. We get on stage and I think that helps communicate a little bit of inspiration."

The long-delayed 30th anniversary box set celebrating the 1978 Darkness On The Edge Of Town album is nearing completion. No release date has been announced yet.

Townshend answers questions

2009-02-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

Pete Townshend took time out to answer fans' questions and post his responses on thewho.com. Townshend, as usual, was honest and blunt when talking about his work and career, yet didn't hold back in telling fans when he thought they had crossed the line into his personal life.

He was asked about his "perspective on the current economic meltdown" to which he said, "The people I am most concerned about are the blue-collar guys and families who depend on the house market being buoyant. Many of these hard-working decent people are our fans, and I hate to see them struggling. I have no idea how it happened."

Townshend was called to task about saying back in the mid-'80s that "hope and optimism" were two "filthy and disgusting words." He was asked if he's changed his opinion now that President Barack Obama has inspired millions with those same words. Townshend responded: "I was probably being ironic. Hope and optimism had been thrashed out of we British by (former Prime Minister) Margaret Thatcher. The words had been devalued I suppose. As for (President) Obama, I'm in music not politics and I think he's a pretty good dancer."

When asked about his musical relationship with Track Records labelmate Jimi Hendrix -- as well as Hendrix's spiritual beliefs, Townshend explained, "I knew Jimi only slightly. I helped him with his amplifiers when he first came to London. I jammed with him backstage a few times. Back then I wasn't keen on jamming and I'm not mad about it today. I have no idea what he believed in. I think reincarnation is a possibility, but it isn't useful to worry about it because it can't be proved."

A fan asked him if maybe composing someplace away from home might spur him on to recording and releasing more music, Townshend snapped: "I am doing fine. I don't need advice or help, but thanks. I have a feeling that retreating to a warm island would not help me compose another 'WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN.'"

He shed light on the meaning behind the title to the Who By Numbers classic "Blue Red & Grey," explaining, "This song is about the difference between me and most other musicians of my era. They tended to stay up all night. I had children pretty early in my life, and I wanted to be their father not an absent rock 'n' roll ghost, and didn't live that way. The colors mentioned are those of the sunset, sunrise and grey gloom of the early hours in this country."

When asked about his "kind decision" to perform the Who's 1975 classic "Slip Kid" during their Christmas London shows ending a 32-year moratorium on the tune, Townshend joked, "I don't know about fans, but Roger (Daltrey) has asked to play 'Slip Kid' in every rehearsal for the last thirty years. I just gave in, but you're right, I made a very kind decision."

A pair of reunions and Dylans new record expected...

2009-02-17T07:23:00.000-08:00

The David Lynch Foundation website has listed Ringo Starr as one of the stars who will join Paul McCartney onstage on April 4th at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. The performance is a fundraiser for the Foundation's initiative for Transcendental Meditation -- or TM -- education. Other acts already on the bill are Donovan, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, Moby, and renowned jazz flutist Paul Horn.

Longtime TM practitioner Beach Boy Mike Love is heavily rumored to appear. Love, along with the Beatles, Donovan and Paul Horn, all studied TM under the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh, India in 1968.

The usually reliable Beatles news site Examiner.com reported the first concrete and exclusive ticket information for the event, saying, "The premium ticket packages will be offered first, then the general admission. The highest premium package will be $100,000 and include 14 seats, plus soundcheck, rehearsal and backstage access, though there's no confirmation those paying this money will have access to either Ringo or Paul."

Neither Ringo nor McCartney have announced the Radio City date on their official websites.
Although Ringo has performed numerous times at Radio City with his All Starr Band, the April gig marks McCartney's first appearance at the venue.

The Radio City show will be the first time Ringo and McCartney have shared a stage since the George Harrison tribute show The Concert For George on November 29th, 2002 at London's Royal Albert Hall.
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Simon And Garfunkel reunited for a brief three-song set on Friday night (February 13th) in New York City, according to Billboard. Art Garfunkel took the stage toward the end of Paul Simon's concert that reopened the Beacon Theatre after a seven-month break for renovations.

The duo, who have only played together three times since their 2004 reunion tour, performed acoustic versions of their classics "The Sound of Silence," "The Boxer" and "Old Friends" during the encore portion of the show. Among the heavyweights in the audience were Paul McCartney, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jon Bon Jovi and Jimmy Fallon.

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Bob Dylan's followup to 2006's Grammy Award-winning album Modern Times may be released as soon as April, according to the usually reliable Dylan fan magazine Isis. The majority of the upcoming set was recorded in California last October with Dylan squaring off the album's post production and sequencing last month. The still-unnamed album will have ten new tracks and may feature both his touring band as well as additional musicians .

U2 and Letterman, Top Moneymakers, Who uses Shure?

2009-02-13T06:52:00.001-08:00

U2 will perform for five nights in a row on CBS-TV's Late Show With David Letterman, beginning on Monday, March 2nd and ending on Friday, March 6th, according to Billboard.biz. The unprecedented stand will coincide with the release of the Irish band's new album, No Line On The Horizon, which arrives on Tuesday, March 3rd. This will also mark U2's first performance on the show in seven years. They last played in 2001, while singer Bono and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. were interviewed in 1997.

U2 has already made one television appearance in support of the record, playing the first single "Get On Your Boots" at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards last Sunday (February 8th). A video for "Get On Your Boots" was officially released late last week, after briefly leaking online.

U2 has yet to announce tour plans in support of the album.
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Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and the Police all trailed behind Madonna as the top concert earners on Billboard's list of Top 20 Moneymakers. The list compiles each act's touring revenue plus current and catalog album sales, along with the sale of other promotions and merchandise.

The Top 20 earners on Billboard's 2008 Moneymakers List are:
1. Madonna: $242,176,466
2. Bon Jovi: $157,177,766
3. Bruce Springsteen: $156,327,964
4. The Police: $109,976,894
5. Celine Dion: $99,171,237
6. Kenny Chesney: $90,823,990
7. Neil Diamond: $82,174,000
8. Rascall Flatts: $63,522,160
9. Jonas Brothers: $62,638,814
10. Coldplay: $62,175,555
11. The Eagles: $61,132,213
12. Lil Wayne: $57,441,334
13. AC/DC: $56,505,296
14. Michael Buble: $50,257,364
15. Miley Cyrus: $48,920,806
16. Taylor Swift: $45,588,730
17. Journey: $44,787,328
18. Billy Joel: $44,581,010
19. Mary J. Blige: $43,472,850
20. Kanye West: $42,552,402

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In a rare move, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey have joined the group of artists publicly endorsing Shure microphones. Over the years, the Who's members have often done separate endorsements for their instruments and road gear, but this marks the first time that the band has done an endorsement under the band's moniker. Shure mics have been the Who's primary microphones for the past four decades.

Other artists appearing in the print ads include the Black Crowes, Maroon 5, Brad Paisley, G. Love, and Martina McBride.

Terri Hartman, Shure's director of global brand communications, told lsionline.co.uk, "Performers all over the world start with Shure and then stay with Shure throughout their careers. Many of them say that they won't walk onstage unless there's a Shure microphone waiting for them. We're thrilled to be able to share their stories with aspiring performers worldwide."

DMB Grammy Snub, Bruce Blog

2009-02-12T07:35:00.000-08:00

The Recording Academy has addressed the many Dave Matthews Band fans who were upset that late saxophonist LeRoi Moore was left out of the Grammy Awards' Encore segment, paying tribute to musicians who died in the past year. Moore -- a founding member of Dave Matthews Band -- died last August from health complications following an ATV accident. But he wasn't on the long list of artists and industry veterans.

The Recording Academy released a statement trying to clear things up, noting, "Nearly 250 members of our music community have passed in the last year, and all of them have been listed in the program book for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, including LeRoi Moore. For the Encore segment of our annual Grammy Awards telecast, unfortunately we are unable to include all of the talented and wonderful people within the allotted timeframe. The Academy recognizes Moore's contributions to music and music education, and we are deeply saddened by his premature passing."

Moore and the rest of the Dave Matthews Band took home a Grammy in 1997 for the song "So Much to Say." The Grammys also didn't mention the recent deaths of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Billy Powell and Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton.

Meanwhile, Dave Matthews Band has been working on material for its new album, due out this year.
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Bruce Springsteen blogged about his recent Super Bowl half time appearance with the E Street Band on his official website brucespringsteen.net.

The post, which was written in the early morning hours after the game, chronicles the pre-game soundchecks, the moments leading up to the show and the half time appearance itself. The blog reads in part: "I'm somewhat nervous. It's not the usual pre-show jitters, not 'butterflies,' it's not wardrobe malfunction anticipation anxiety, I'm talking about five minutes to beach landing... (facing) one of the biggest television audiences since dinosaurs first screwed on Earth kind of semi-terror. It only lasts for a minute... I check my hair, spray it with something that turns it into concrete and I'm out the door."

Springsteen describes the lead up to his and the band's performance: "Suddenly an army of ants come from all sides of what seems like nowhere. Each rolling a piece of our lifeline, our earth onto the field. The cavalry has arrived. What takes us on a concert day eight hours to do is done in five minutes. Unbelievable. Everything in our world is there... we hope."

For the first time in his career, he describes his mindset as to what he's feeling while fronting the band, explaining, "I'm on top of the piano...I'm down. One... two... three, knee drop in front of the microphone and I'm bending back almost flat on the stage. I close my eyes for a moment and when I open them, I see nothing but blue night sky. No band, no crowd, no stadium. I hear and feel all of it in the form of a great siren like din surrounding me but with my back nearly flat against the stage I see nothing but beautiful night sky with a halo of a thousand stadium suns at its edges. I take several deep breaths and a calm comes over me."

He goes on to defend his choice to play such a vastly commercial gig as the Super Bowl after turning always the offers on a nearly annual basis: "The Super Bowl is going to help me sell a few new records, that's what I wanted because I want people to hear where we are today. It'll probably put a few extra fannies in the seats and that's fine. We live high around here and I like to do good business for my record company and concert promoters. But what it's really about is my band remains one of the mightiest in the land and I want you to know it, we want to show you... because we can."

Springsteen closed by writing, "By 3 am, I am back home, everyone in the house fast asleep and tucked in bed. I am sitting in the yard over an open fire, staring up again into that black night sky, my ears still ringing... 'Oh yeah, it's alright.'"

To read Springsteen's Super Bowl blog in its entirety, log on to brucespringsteen.net.

Buy the Big Apple!

2009-02-11T07:55:00.000-08:00

The former headquarters of the Beatles' company Apple Corps. is once again on the market, for a cool $36 million. The London townhouse at 3 Saville Row, which the group bought in 1968 for $725,000, housed the band's personal offices, Apple's basement studios where Let It Be was recorded, along with portions of George Harrison's Living In The Material World and Ringo Starr's Ringo albums, among others.

The Beatles' final performance on January 30th, 1969 took place on the roof of 3 Saville Row.

Apple moved from the Saville Row location in the mid-'70s, although Paul McCartney and brother Mike recorded in the Apple basement studio as late as 1977.

Leigh Thomas, a representative for Kier Property which owns the five-story building which was built in 1735, told telegraph.co.uk: "It's being marketed internationally. If someone wants a bit of heritage with a bit of history of the band, then this is the place. I still get goose bumps in here. It's the world's biggest piece of memorabilia."
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Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has earned high marks from former Beatle Paul McCartney for his work behind the drums during McCartney's performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night (February 8th). Asked backstage how the collaboration came out, McCartney told reporters that it was based on past experience: "Dave originally played with us in Liverpool, where I did a concert last year, and he played alongside my drummer Abe (Laboriel), but Abe wasn't available for this -- he's in Japan with Mr. (Eric) Clapton. So we rang Dave up and said, 'Can you do it?' He said, 'Yeaaah!' So it was great."

Ooooooh, someone's in trouble!!!

2009-02-10T07:57:00.000-08:00

The shutout of Bruce Springsteen fans being diverted to an official ticket scalping agency may lead to a federal probe of Ticketmaster, according to pollstar.com. Last Monday (February 2nd), many fans attempting to purchase tickets for the upcoming E Street Band tour were diverted online to TicketsNow -- a Ticketmaster-owned ticket agency which sells the same seats at an extremely marked up price. The problem was, primary tickets were still on sale when fans were being sent to the site which was selling seats for in some cases a 100 percent markup.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer is joining New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell in asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the ticketing mess, referencing several Springsteen's 1975 classics at a press conference, by saying, "We can't let the screen doors slam on die-hard Boss fans. Fans who thought they were going to the promised land of regular-priced tickets found themselves in the badlands of ticket scalpers." Why are politicians so corny... Why must they attempt to be funny? You don't see me trying to pass legislation on my show... So I don't want to see a politician attempting to be clever!

Schumer went on to add that the controversy reeked of being a classic "bait-and-switch" and said, "We don't have the tickets at $75, but maybe this site has them at $200' Guess what? The same people owned both sites."

Music mogul and Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff posted an open apology to Springsteen and his management for the fans' trouble.

Going as far back as his 1978 dates, Springsteen has always priced his tickets far below the top price of other A-list rockers.

Although "The Boss" is riding high following his recent Super Bowl appearance and new album Working On A Dream -- which tops the Billboard album charts this week -- he's still reaping the rewards of his last album. At Sunday night's Grammys (February 8th) Springsteen snagged the award for Best Rock Song for his Magic album standout "Girls In Their Summer Clothes."

Springsteen was asked how he accounts for the steady stream of new converts with every new album and tour: "We sort of skipped a generation somewhere in there, and then the last tour, we noticed a large influx of young people. I think for probably the same reasons that I went to check out, y'know, not just the (Rolling) Stones, but Chuck Berry, or the guys that came a generation or two before my age group. But I also think today. . . there was a time when music was intensely factionalized, it was very hard along generational lines, I think -- it might have something to do with the Internet or some other things -- that people are just taking their music where they can find it."

Here's something I wish I was at....

2009-02-09T07:23:00.000-08:00

A slew of stars came out on Friday (February 6th) to honor Neil Diamond at this year's MusicCares tribute event in Los Angeles, which recognized the singer's musical achievements and philanthropic efforts. According to People.com, Jennifer Hudson's version of Diamond's 1969 hit "Holly Holy" moved the crowd of more than 2,000 people. Kid Rock followed her up with "Thank the Lord for the Night Time." He joked, "I'm gonna kill whoever made me follow Jennifer Hudson. Thanks!"

Also making appearances were Josh Groban, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, as well as the Jonas Brothers, who sang "Forever in Blue Jeans." Adele performed "Cracklin' Rosie," Urge Overkill played "Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon," Coldplay performed "I'm a Believer," Chris Cornell sang "Kentucky Woman," and the Foo Fighters did "Delirious Love." Upon accepting the MusicCares Person of the Year award, Diamond said, "I want to thank my mom, who is here. I started taking guitar lessons when the Brooklyn Dodgers left Brooklyn. I decided to take some music lessons because I was really down [about it]." The 68-year-old singer said that his first guitar cost $10, and his parents paid it off at a dollar a week. He said, "It was a good investment, Mom. And you made a life for me. I thank you for that, Mom." Diamond performed several songs including, "Cherry, Cherry," "Love on the Rocks," "America" and "Sweet Caroline."

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

2009-02-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

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."

So Amazing...

2009-02-05T13:08:00.000-08:00

Closure on the Zep Tour, Bruce Tops, Allmans Webcast

2009-02-05T07:46:00.001-08:00

Bruce Springsteen has snagged the week's Number One album with his new release, Working on a Dream. Billboard.com reports that the set sold 224,000 copies in the United States during its first week out. The Boss is now tied with the Rolling Stones for the third most chart-topping albums.

Only the Beatles with 19, Elvis Presley with 10 and Jay-Z with 10 have more Number One albums than Springsteen and the Rolling Stones.
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The Allman Brothers Band will go live on the Internet this March. According to RollingStone.com, the group's entire New York City run at the Beacon Theater will stream live on Moogis.com, a website founded by the Allmans' Butch Trucks. But viewing the shows will cost you, with a subscription for the site costing $100. Trucks says, "At 15 nights, three hours per show, Moogis promises to play host to the longest continuous concert stream in the history of the Internet."
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Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant told London's Absolute Radio that he decided against a full reunion tour with the group out of fear that it could disappoint and disillusion fans. Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones, and drummer Jason Bonham played a massively publicized benefit show in December 2007 in London, fueling speculation that a full-blown reunion was on the way. Although the other three wanted to go forward, however, Plant abstained.

According to Gigwise.com, he said on Absolute Radio, "The disappointment that could be there once you commit to that and the comparisons to something that was basically fired by youth and a different kind of exuberance to now, it's very hard to go back and meet that head on and do it justice."

Remembering Holly, Vallens, and The Big Bopper

2009-02-03T06:40:00.000-08:00

It was 50 years ago today (February 3rd, 1959) that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died in a plane crash after a performance in Clear Lake, Iowa. The three had been performing along with Dion & The Belmonts as part of the Winter Dance Party Tour, which would cover 24 cities in a short three-week period from January 23rd to February 15th. Holly, who had parted ways with longtime backing group the Crickets the previous year, was backed up by a then-unknown Waylon Jennings on bass and Tommy Allsup on lead guitar.

Dion DiMucci says that although the shows were always hot, his favorite moments from the tour were jamming on the near freezing bus on the way to the next town: "Well, we used to play in the back of the bus -- Ritchie Valens, myself and Buddy Holly. The Big Bopper didn't join in, he sat in the front with his beer. But we would rock in the back of the bus. You talk about tapes -- I wish there was a tape going on."

Throughout the tour, the musicians' bus was either breaking down or often without heat. At one point, it was so cold that the tour's drummer developed frostbite, resulting in the Belmonts' Angelo D'Aleo -- as well as Valens -- serving double-duty by filling in on drums. When the tour finally arrived at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa on February 2nd, 1959, Holly had made plans to fly out to the next city directly after the show, rather than brave the unheated 430-mile bus trip to Moorhead, Minnesota. He had hoped to get to their next stop with time to rest and do his laundry.

Dion says that the time he spent with Holly has left a deep and lasting impression on him, and he remembers him as a man wise beyond his years: "I spent two weeks with him. And he was very mature for his age. I mean, I was 19 -- he was 22. He was a very decisive guy. I don't know if it was his upbringing, but I couldn't make decisions that fast. I mean... Well, he rented a plane! At 22 years old, 'O.K. listen' -- you know, he was recruiting people -- 'Let's fly out and we'll just split it.' But you think of a 22-year-old chartering a plane, that was his kind of personality."

Holly chartered a plane to fly him and his band to Fargo, North Dakota, near Moorhead. Jennings and Allsup gave up their seats to Richardson and Valens. Dion was supposed to be on the plane rather than Valens, but balked when he heard that his share would be a whopping $36 -- the exact amount of his parents' monthly rent back home in the Bronx. When Holly learned that Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said, "Well, I hope your old bus freezes up!" Jennings responded, "Well, I hope your plane crashes!" This friendly banter would haunt Jennings for years. Valens, who was sick, told Allsup, "I'll flip you for the remaining seat." On the toss of a coin, Allsup lost the seat -- but won the rest of his life.

The red Beechcraft Bonanza took off from Mason City, Iowa, ten miles east of Clear Lake, at around 1:50 a.m. on February 3rd, 1959. A cold wind immediately gave way to a snow which drastically reduced visibility. The ground was already blanketed in white. The pilot may have been inexperienced with the instrumentation.

The plane never made it to Minnesota.

Minutes after takeoff, one wing hit the ground and the small plane corkscrewed over and over. The three young stars and pilot Roger Peterson died immediately on impact. Over the years there has been speculation as to whether a gun was accidentally fired inside the plane, disabling or killing the pilot. The most logical explanation suggests that encased in a sea of white snow, with only white below, Peterson simply flew the plane into the ground.

At the time of the crash, Buddy Holly was 22 years old. Ritchie Valens was 17, and the Big Bopper was 28.

Check out photos from the legendary 1959 Winter Dance Party tour here

Bruce slides into the camera guy... priceless

2009-02-02T07:51:00.000-08:00

After years of turning the NFL down flat, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed an electrifying four-song medley during the half-time show at last night's (February 1st) Super Bowl in Tampa. Springsteen and the band -- who unlike nearly all the half-time acts in recent memory actually looked as though they were enjoying themselves -- were augmented by the Miami Horns on loan from their roadwork with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.

Bruce and the band tore through abbreviated versions of "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out," which in one of the many comical moments in the short set, saw Springsteen's signature knee slide across the stage land him straight into the cameraman who caught it all on tape -- including Springsteen cracking up at the bang-up; "Born To Run" which dropped the "Wendy let me in..." verse; the new "Working On A Dream" backed by the Inaugural Celebration Chorus, who first backed "The Boss" last month in Washington, D.C. at the Lincoln Memorial; and finally "Glory Days" with the baseball lyrics replaced with football terms including the no-brainer switch from "speedball" to "Hail Mary." Springsteen and right-hand man Steve Van Zandt had fun vamping as they brought the song to a close.

The highpoint for diehard fans was seeing Springsteen play his retired Fender hybrid Telecaster-Esquire guitar which has been completely absent from his live shows over the past few years. The guitar -- which has a Telecaster body and an Esquire neck -- was Springsteen's primary instrument from 1972 to 2000 and is pictured on the album covers of Born To Run, Live 1975-1985, Human Touch, Plugged, and Greatest Hits.

Nils Lofgren prior to the game explained the pros and cons of the band signing on for the half-time gig: "It goes way beyond a gig. First of all, TV is always never your favorite thing to do in a great band -- because it removes the three hour sweat fast, the day of prep, the whole ease into this incredible environment. But that being said -- it's... after 40 years on the road, it's without a doubt gonna be the best and greatest TV show opportunity any of us will ever have."

Springsteen spoke to The New York Times about his decision to finally play the Super Bowl, explaining, "It was sort of, well, if we don't do it now, what are we waiting for? I want to do it while I'm alive. At my age, it is tough to get word of your music out. If we weren't doing these big things, there's no middle things."

He added: "It was very challenging to try and get (the set to fit into) that exact 12 minutes. I found that in a funny way it was very freeing. OK, these are your boundaries, so put everything that you have into just this box. If you do it right, you should feel the tension of it wanting to spread beyond that time frame. But it can't."

Pretenders, Ziggy, and Bruce

2009-01-29T07:50:00.000-08:00

The Pretenders kick off their North American tour tonight (January 29th) in Albany. Chrissie Hynde says that the band plans to play a substantial portion of their latest album Break Up The Concrete, telling The Associated Press, "We'll be doing about eight or nine songs from the album. There's the chance of people going to the bar when you launch into a new song, but I can't do that greatest hits stuff anymore. We can play practically the whole album."

She was asked about whether after 30 years, her process in writing the new album was any different than when she wrote the Pretenders' biggest hits: "It's me alone with the guitar and a notebook. I don't use too many gadgets. My methods haven't changed."

Hynde says that although rock and roll is an incredibly important part of her life, being a full-time mother helps her keep things in perspective: "This is, like, my hobby. I mean, I take it seriously and everything, but you know, I just feel like a guy that goes out on the weekends to watch birds, you know? Take my binoculars away, you know, and it would break my heart. You know, I think a hobby is real important to people, if it's the thing you love the most. It can't take over your life. And I don't want to be glib about it, you know? I think this is fantastic, and I make my living out of it, and it's my life's work and everything, you know? But I have to keep it in perspective, 'cause I've got... you know, I'm like a responsible mother and stuff."
The Pretenders tour dates (subject to change):
January 29 - Albany, NY - Palace Theatre
January 30 - New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom
January 31 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa/Music Box
February 2 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
February 4 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
February 5 - Jim Thorpe, PA - Penn's Peak
February 6 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
February 7 - Mashantucket, CT - Fox Theatre
February 9 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater
February 10 - Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues
February 11 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre
February 13 - Cincinnati, OH - Taft Theatre
February 14 - Akron, OH - Akron Civic Center
February 15 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
February 17, 18 - Milwaukee, WI - Northern Lights Theater
February 20 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
February 21 - Kansas City, MO - Ameristar Hotel & Casino
February 22 - Tulsa, OK - Brady Theater
February 24 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
February 25 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up Aspen
February 27 - Dallas, TX - House Of Blues
February 28 - Houston, TX - House Of Blues
March 1 - Austin, TX - Stubb's Bar-B-Q / Waller Creek Amph.
March 4 - Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre
March 5 - San Diego, CA - House Of Blues
March 6 - Pala, CA - Pala Casino
March 7 - Las Vegas, NV - House Of Blues
March 8 - Anaheim, CA - Grove Of Anaheim
March 10 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
March 13 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
March 14 - Reno, NV - Silver Legacy Resort Casino

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A representative for David Bowie formally denied rumors that he posted via a Twitter account that he's recording new material in Berlin and will appear as Ziggy Stardust at this spring's Coachella Festival in Indio, California.

NME.com reported that the Bowie spokesperson posted on davidbowie.com: "The story goes that David Bowie was in talks to perform his Ziggy Stardust album at the festival this year, the rumor really took hold and the 'news' was reported online around the globe and in the English press. You may have already seen the denial over at NME.com, but I'm sure the majority of you saw this tale for what it was anyway: poppycock! However, we feel duty-bound to deny this particular story here too, lest members be fleeced of their hard-earned (money). While we're about it, David Bowie does not have a Twitter account."

Last year Bowie released Live In Santa Monica '72 featuring his October 22nd, 1972 final gig as the Ziggy persona featuring the Spiders From Mars. His last new studio set was 2003's Reality which peaked on the Billboard 200 chart at Number 29.
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Bruce Springsteen says the title track from his new album Working On A Dream reflects the change in America's values -- although that was hardly the intent of the song. Springsteen told Rolling Stone that the song was conceived with a far more general message, explaining, "That was just the simple idea of effort and that you can't give up. I write my songs. I go around the world to sing 'em about a particular place I have imagined, that I hope is real. I don't see that often... Then suddenly, election night, the place you've been singing about for years -- it shows its face. You look in the crowds, you saw people crying, people who lived and worked in the civil rights era, and you completely understood. It's real."

Springsteen's manager Jon Landau confirmed that the long-delayed 30th anniversary box set celebrating his 1978 Darkness On The Edge Of Town album is nearing completion. No release date has been announced yet.

Springsteen will perform at the Super Bowl XLIII halftime show on Sunday (February 1st) in Tampa, Florida.

McCartney and Bruce continue to rule the headlines

2009-01-28T07:56:00.000-08:00

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have announced a 26-date North American tour in support of the new album Working On A Dream. Tickets for most of the dates will go on sale on Monday, February 2nd, but select cities -- Greensboro, North Carolina; Toronto; Austin, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Houston, Texas -- will go on sale on Friday, February 6th. Additional shows, including the usual pre-tour "open rehearsals" in Asbury Park, New Jersey, will most likely to be announced in the coming weeks. Log on to backstreets.com for updates and time of sale for all the shows.

Nils Lofgren says that with 2007's Magic and now Working On A Dream, Springsteen is riding a crest of creativity he hasn't seen in many years: "This is certainly the closest two albums have come out in his history with the E Street Band. And that usually speaks to an excitement that is born of writing first. And he's as great a writer as there's ever been in history. So I think it reflects throughout the whole record. Yeah, great production, great musicianship, great singing -- but that's a given."

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tour dates (subject to change):
April 1 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion at San Jose
April 3 - Glendale, AZ - Jobing.com Center
April 5 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center
April 7 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
April 8 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
April 10 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Arena
April 15 - Los Angeles, CA - LA Memorial Sports Arena
April 21, 22 - Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden
April 24 - Hartford, CT - XL Center
April 26 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
April 28, 29 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum
May 2 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
May 4 - Hempstead, NY - Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
May 5 - Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
May 7 - Toronto, ONT - Air Canada Centre
May 8 - University Park, PA - Bryce Jordan Center
May 11 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
May 12 - Chicago, IL - United Center
May 14 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center
May 15 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium
May 18 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
May 19 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mellon Arena
May 21, 23 - East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center

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Paul McCartney will appear on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report tonight (January 28th) to promote his latest Fireman project, Electric Arguments. Maccareport.com reported that tonight's appearance will be McCartney's first and only scheduled U.S. late-night appearance. The Colbert Report airs on Comedy Central at 11:30 pm.

Working on a Dream hits stores today!!!

2009-01-27T07:03:00.000-08:00

Out today (Tuesday, January 27th) is Bruce Springsteen's 16th studio album, Working On A Dream. The album, which was born out of the sessions for his 2007 collection Magic, features tracks recorded during breaks on the E Street Band's last world tour, and includes the final sessions featuring late keyboardist Danny Federici.

Springsteen has also announced the initial dates of his U.S. tour, which will take place before the band heads over to Europe in July. So far, only four arena dates have been revealed, with the opening night set for April 1st in San Jose, California.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band U.S. tour dates (subject to change):
April 1 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion At San Jose
May 5 - Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
May 18 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
May 19 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mellon Arena
On Saturday (January 31st) at 11:00 p.m., VH1 will premiere a new 30-minute documentary called Bruce Springsteen: The Making Of 'Working On A Dream.' The special -- which features different footage than the bonus DVD sold with the album -- will be repeated through the week on VH1 Classic. Check your local listings for stations and times.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform at the Super Bowl XLIII halftime show on Sunday (February 1st) in Tampa, Florida.

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Paul McCartney will perform on next month's Grammy telecast with the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl on drums. Last June at McCartney's Liverpool concert, Grohl -- playing guitar -- joined the former Beatle onstage for the Wings hit "Band On The Run" before taking his place behind the drums for "I Saw Her Standing There."

Two tracks from McCartney's Amoeba's Secret EP have received Grammy nods -- "That Was Me" is up for Best Pop Male Vocal Performance and his version of "I Saw Her Standing There" is nominated for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.

The Grammy Awards will be broadcast Sunday, February 8th at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
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Stevie Nicks is prepping two new live sets as she gears up for Fleetwood Mac's upcoming tour which kicks off on March 1st in Pittsburgh. Rolling Stone reports that in March, Nicks will release The Soundstage Sessions from her appearance last year on the PBS show -- which features an orchestral version of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide."

A new DVD called Live In Chicago, features various Nicks and Mac classics alongside such covers as the Dave Matthews Band's "Crash Into Me." Nicks says she's proud of her reinterpretation of the '90s romantic hit, saying, "I think I did the song justice. I'd like to do a record where I take boys' songs and twist them into women's songs."

Stevie Nicks: Live In Chicago was originally issued last year and will be re-released on March 24th. No date has been announced for the Soundstage CD.

Blog returns after bout with Strep!!!

2009-01-26T07:48:00.000-08:00

Additional artists have been announced for Paul McCartney's April 4th concert at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. The gig, which the former Beatle will headline, is a fundraiser for the David Lynch Foundation's initiative for Transcendental Meditation (TM) education. Joining McCartney will be Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Sheryl Crow, Moby, Donovan, and renowned jazz flutist Paul Horn.

Both Horn and Donovan studied with McCartney and the Beatles under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India in 1968. For more information on the show, log on to davidlynchfoundation.org.

McCartney is rumored to make several festival appearances this spring and summer, including April's Coachella Festival in Indio, California, and the two-day Hard Rock Calling concert at London's Hyde Park in June. McCartney's reps haven't confirmed either appearance.

Renaming January, Springsteenuary

2009-01-16T06:18:00.000-08:00

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's upcoming album Working On A Dream, which comes out on January 27th, is by far the most stylistically varied set of Springsteen's career. Unlike typical Springsteen albums, the new collection features a heavy dose of pop/rock, including the title track, "My Lucky Day" -- and what might be the most infectious "Boss" song in a quarter decade -- "Surprise, Surprise."

Springsteen also builds upon the recent orchestral pop sound that he unleashed on 2007's Magic album, with the Beach Boys-meets-Roy Orbison standout "This Life." The band also updates its sound with a modern, urban-type beat that leads "What Love Can Do," and "Life Itself." Both "Good Eye" and "A Night With The Jersey Devil" mark the roughest, dirtiest blues Springsteen has ever released on an album.

He revisits the crooner-type vocals he rediscovered on Magic on the new tracks "Queen Of The Supermarket" and "Kingdom Of Days." The band also tackles a folk-based bluegrass sound on "Tomorrow Never Knows," and lends gospel-type vocal backing to Springsteen's acoustic tribute to late E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici. The song, which features Federici's son Jason on accordion, musically and lyrically recalls the 1973 track "Wild Billy's Circus Story," a signature song that featured Federici.

Springsteen will join Bono, Stevie Wonder, John Mellencamp, Sheryl Crow, James Taylor, and others at this Sunday's (January 18th) star-studded We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration At The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. President-Elect Barack Obama and his family are expected to attend the concert.

Hall of Fame Finally Gets It Right

2009-01-15T08:05:00.000-08:00

Jeff Beck, Metallica, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and Elvis Presley's original rhythm section, the late bassist Bill Black and D.J. Fontana, are among the inductees to the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Joining Black and Fontana in the sidemen category will be legendary Muscle Shoals session player Spooner Oldham, who played on such seminal rock and R&B classics as Percy Sledge's "When A Man Loves a Woman," Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally" and Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man."

Other inductees include R&B legend Bobby Womack, rappers Run-D.M.C., and country singer Wanda Jackson, who'll be inducted in the Early Influence category. The induction ceremony on April 4th will take place at Public Hall in Cleveland for the first time since 1997, and will be broadcast live on Fuse TV in a new three-year broadcast deal between the Hall's Foundation and Fuse.

Jeff Beck was asked why after a long and successful career, he still pushes the musical boundaries by going for broke with every live show:"Time's getting on, isn't it? People are dying, and (I) look 'round and go, 'What the hell's going on here,' you know? And I enjoy playing, and, you know, there's no real excuse for me not to be doing something. People seem to enjoy what I do."

"Little Anthony" Gourdine, who's best remembered for taking the lead on the Imperials' legendary '50s and '60s hits "Tears On My Pillow," "Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko Ko Bop," "Goin' Out Of My Head," and "Hurt So Bad" says that one of the group's crowning moments was appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show: "Oh man -- y'know that's live TV. That doesn't exist anymore. I'm going back in my brain then. I was very nervous, but I think my professionalism, being out as long as I had, I was prepared to do what I had to do. But I was intimidated when I met Mr. Sullivan and there it is. And y'know, you couldn't miss your mark, you couldn't miss nothin' -- it's live! we were (laughs) very blessed to get by on that show without something weird going down."

D.J. Fontana, who drummed on such legendary Elvis hits as "Blue Suede Shoes," "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Heartbreak Hotel," and "It's Now Or Never," among hundreds of others, still finds it hard to explain how he got his unique drum sound, which inspired numerous bands -- most importantly the Beatles: "The snare drum, I never changed it. It was probably in the engineering end of it. I never changed anything -- whatever was asked, I did. Talked to Paul (McCartney) about it, I met Paul a few years back, and he said, 'You know, you guys did it all, man. Before we was even thinking about playing anything, we listened to all you guys' records and that's where we learned from.'"

The Rock Hall induction ceremony will be supported by a weeklong series of events. And for the first time in the Hall's 24-year history, tickets to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be made available to the public.

Bruce is on top

2009-01-14T08:10:00.000-08:00

Bruce Springsteen will the leap into the musical video game universe when on January 27th his latest single "My Lucky Day" and his 1975 classic "Born To Run" will be added to the Guitar Hero DLC library. Gameinformer.com reported that, "the two-song track pack will be available to download via the Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Store and Nintendo Wii as singles."

The tunes will be available for free until February 5th when it will then sell for 320 Microsoft Points, 200 Wii Points per track, and for $3.99 on the PlayStation 3.

Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, said, "Bruce Springsteen has been a defining force in Rock 'n Roll and we are incredibly excited to have him make his video game debut with Guitar Hero World Tour."

Springsteen releases his latest album Working On A Dream on January 27th.

New Records A Comin'

2009-01-13T05:49:00.000-08:00

David Crosby says that Crosby, Stills, and Nash might be covering the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones for their upcoming album, to be produced by Rick Rubin. Crosby told uncut.com, "One of the interesting things was that they said they'd like to hear us do other people's songs that we wish we'd written. (Rubin) said, 'There's Joni (Mitchell), James (Taylor), the Beatles: contemporaries of yours who I know you admire. I'd like you to pick a bunch of songs.' So we've been going through that process with Rick, and he's pretty smart about songs."

Crosby added, "We're going to pick and learn some songs. I can't say which ones are going to make the final list, but we have about 30. There's all the people you might expect: some Jackson Browne... there's a whole s***load of records that we love and think are brilliant. I don't know how Rick works yet, but I certainly know how we work, so I'm presuming there'll be some pretty harmonies."

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Alison Krauss and Robert Plant have reunited to begin working on their second album together. A source tells us that the two started the recording process in a Nashville studio yesterday (Monday, January 12th), where they are expected to remain for the next few weeks.

Their first album, Raising Sand, was released in late 2007 and is nominated in five categories at the upcoming Grammy Awards on February 8th.

Boss is Boss and Globes

2009-01-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

Bruce Springsteen snagged the Golden Globe Award last night (January 11th) for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture for the theme to The Wrestler. Springsteen accepted the award in person at the ceremonies in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton.

In his acceptance speech, Springsteen, who beat out Beyonce, Peter Gabriel, Miley Cyrus, and Clint Eastwood, opened by joking: "This is the only time I'm gonna be in competition with Clint Eastwood, I know that for sure."

He went on to credit The Wrestler's star Mickey Rourke for getting him involved in writing the theme for the movie: "Mickey called me and he asked me for some music. He told me a little bit about the character. He said, 'Some people invest themselves in their pain, and they turn away from love and the things that strengthen and nurture their lives.' He said that this was a guy that hadn't figured that out. So I said, 'I know a couple of those guys."

Springsteen closed by thanking his family -- wife Patti Scialfa, kids Evan, Jessie, and Sam -- and wishing "The Big Man" Clarence Clemmons a happy birthday. Clemmons celebrated his 67th birthday last night (January 11th)

SIDE NOTES

Springsteen is planning a small scale 50 to 60 date E Street Band tour in support of his upcoming album Working On A Dream album, which will be released on January 27th. Rolling Stone quoted a source saying that the trek won't be a "total marathon" with the shows divided between Europe and the U.S. The most interesting aspect regarding the still-unannounced dates is that Springsteen is reportedly considering a revolving mini-set featuring one of his albums played in its entirety.

Springsteen dipped his foot in the water on May 7th during a benefit show for New Jersey's Count Basie Theatre, when for the first time he performed his 1978 album Darkness On The Edge Of Town and 1975's Born To Run back-to-back in their entirety.
Springsteen will perform on January 18th at the National Mall in Washington D.C., according to The Washington Post. The performance, which will be part of President-elect Obama's inauguration festivities, will be open free to the public. Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform on February 1st as part of the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIII (43) in Tampa, Florida.

Van the Man!! Happy Friday!

2009-01-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

Van Morrison will release the live CD Astral Weeks: Live At The Hollywood Bowl on February 10th. The set -- recorded live over two nights at the Hollywood Bowl this past November 7th and 8th -- is an in-concert performance of his 1968 gold-certified solo album. The project is also the first to be released on Morrison's new EMI-distributed label, Listen to the Lion Records. A DVD version of the title will be available later.

The concerts were the first time that Morrison performed the complete Astral Weeks live in an extended arrangement.

"These songs are timeless and as fresh today as the day they were written, actually even more so," Morrison said in a statement. "I was happy to perform them at the Hollywood Bowl and delighted to release a live album which really captures the essence of the original for today's audiences with every taste in music. It's got it all, jazz, blues, folk, classic. You name it."

Morrison will perform his special Astral Weeks show again when he comes to our area on February 27th and 28th at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Bruce and Barack... Plus no more Zep

2009-01-08T08:33:00.000-08:00

Bruce Springsteen will perform on January 18th at the National Mall in Washington D.C., according to The Washington Post. The performance, which will be part of President-elect Obama's inauguration festivities, will be open free to the public.

During the presidential campaign, Springsteen performed at Obama rallies in Ypsilanti, Michigan; Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio; Philadelphia, and with Billy Joel at a New York City benefit concert.

He'll release his latest album Working On A Dream on January 27th.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform on February 1st as part of the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIII (43) in Tampa, Florida.
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Completely negating what was said yesterday, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page's manager, Peter Mensch of Q Prime Management, told MusicRadar.com on Wednesday (January 7th) that Led Zeppelin and any related projects are officially done, stating, "Led Zeppelin are over! If you didn't see them in 2007 (when they played a one-off reunion at London's O2 Arena), you missed them. It's done. I can't be any clearer than that." As for reports that Page, bassist John Paul Jones, and drummer Jason Bonham planned to carry on with a new singer, Mensch said, "They tried out a few singers, but no one worked out. That was it. The whole thing is completely over now. There are absolutely no plans for them to continue. Zero. Frankly, I wish everybody would stop talking about it."

Led Zeppelin and The Guess Who

2009-01-07T06:44:00.000-08:00

Jimmy Page's manager today confirmed that Led Zeppelin are planning to tour and record a new album with a replacement singer for Robert Plant.

Plant confirmed in December that he wasn't interested in a full Led Zeppelin reunion, despite still remaining on good terms with his former bandmates.

In October, Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones hinted that the band were willing to continue with or without Plant.

Speaking about Led Zeppelin's future plans, Page's manager Peter Mensch confirmed that the band would indeed carry on - if they can find the right singer.

"Jimmy Page has been playing guitar professionally since he was 16 years old. Jimmy Page likes being a musician. That's what he does! He doesn't want to be a race car driver or a solicitor," Mensch told 6Music.

"So they [Page, Jones and drummer Jason Bonham] did the show [at London's O2 Arena in 2007] with Robert Plant; they had a really good time rehearsing, the three of them, before Robert showed up.

"And they decided that if they could find a singer that they thought would fit their bill – whatever their bill was at this stage in their career – that they'd make a record and go on tour.

Mensch said that he supported the trio's decision to carry on playing together, although he refused to comment on who Plant's replacement might be.

"John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page enjoy playing with each other, Jason Bonham is a really good drummer so why not? We just need to find a singer," he said.

While rumours of who Plant's replacement will be have included Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Mensch remained tight-lipped on the issue.

"It's gonna be a long and difficult process," he said. "And we're not soliciting people! So don't call me about it!"
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Roger Daltrey says that the Who's decade-long run with drummer Zak Starkey has provided the band with the same power and ingenuity as their days with the late Keith Moon. Daltrey sang the praises of the 43-year-old Starkey, who is the son of Ringo Starr, explaining to ultimate-guitar.com that "Zak is Keith Moon-trained; Keith bought Zak his first drum kit and Zak was taught by Keith. So, you know, it's totally organic, so it's almost like Keith is still there. Some nights it's eerie. Zak's now been in the band long enough, we can now throw things at him like we used to with Keith and he comes back with something like Keith would have come back with. Which is kinda even getting more scary."

After Moon's death in 1978, former Faces drummer Kenney Jones held down the drummer spot for nearly a decade before Daltrey forced him out of the band: "(Kenney's) a fantastic drummer, but he's a fantastic drummer for the Faces. In the Who, it was just totally wrong because the maths were wrong. And people didn't understand what I was saying at the time; they thought I was being personal, that it was something to do with Kenney. It wasn't; it was just the wrong wheel on the cart."

May the long sets continue in to the new year!!!

2008-12-31T15:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years My Fellow EHM Listeners!!!

I will see you in 2009... maybe...

: )

The Eliott Murphy Interview

2008-12-29T18:30:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one who doesn't want a Zep Reunion?

2008-12-23T07:03:00.000-08:00

Call me today starting at 3pm at 866-955-9290 and tell me if you really want a Zep Reunion...

Robert Plant is speaking up about his musical plans, and it doesn't sound like it's going to include the rest of Led Zeppelin. In October, bassist John Paul Jones announced he was teaming up with guitarist Jimmy Page and drummer Jason Bonham for a tour. They have been searching for a singer to replace Plant, who had decided not to be involved. Now, months later, Plant maintains that a complete Zeppelin tour probably won't happen, but does say he's still in touch with some of the guys.

According to NME.com, Plant told the BBC he's content to continue working with singer and Raising Sand partner Alison Krauss, explaining, "I'm doing very well with Alison and I'm enjoying that. I still see Jimmy quite a lot and he's very complimentary and supportive of what I'm doing. But we are in different places now and you have to go on to do different things." Meanwhile, Page, Jones and Bonham are reportedly looking for another singer. One of the possible contenders could be Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy.

I think if I had my way I'd prefer another Krauss Kolaboration now and a Zep tour 5 years from now....

Gimme your opions today on the EHM listener line @ 866-955-9290 or E-mail me: Anthony@wehm.com

Holy S*^# thats good cheesecake!

2008-12-22T15:33:00.000-08:00

Best Cheesecake... Holy Mosses Cheesecake

And my thanks to Kieran... good friend of the show who runs Preferred Telecom L.T.D. for bringing the cheesecake by... For his services call 516-791-1309 or E-mail him: Kieran@preferredtelecomltd.com

New for 2009

2008-12-22T06:16:00.000-08:00

U2 has set March 3rd, 2009 as the release date for its 12th studio album, with the title confirmed as No Line on the Horizon. The project was written and recorded in various locations, including Morocco, New York, London and the group's own studio in Dublin, Ireland. Production was handled by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who have previously collaborated on some of U2's most successful earlier albums. No Line on the Horizon follows up 2004's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

A video for the lead single, rumored to be called "Sexy Boots," was shot in London two weeks ago.

The album's release was delayed from this fall to early 2009 because the band wanted to add more songs to the record. Frontman Bono said last September, "I'm always the one who underestimates how easy it is to simply 'put out the songs now.' If it was just up to me they'd be out already!...We want 2009 to be our year, so we're going to start making an impression very early on."

According to Billboard.com, other songs expected to appear on the album include the title track, "Moment of Surrender" and "Unknown Caller." A source told Billboard that the music is "amazing and a little out there."
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A five-minute preview of Neil Young's long-awaited 10-disc set, Archives, Vol. 1: 1963-1972 has been posted on You Tube. The collection, which will be sold as both a DVD and Blu-Ray disc will be released on February 24th, and features 128 tracks -- including 43 unreleased recordings, dozens of high definition videos, along with a 236-page hardcover book.

Check it out...

Jagger, Jett, and more...

2008-12-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

Mick Jagger has teamed up with Ben Affleck to produce a new documentary short which will raise the awareness of Congolese families ripped apart and displaced by a decade of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Reuters reported that the film, called Gimme Shelter after the Rolling Stones' 1969 classic, sheds light on the estimated 1.3 million displaced people in Congo, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

Jagger said in a statement, "I hope this video will help highlight the plight of the... displaced people and also the thousands of innocent people who are needlessly losing their lives there."

Affleck, who directed the film and has traveled to central Africa four times since 2007, explained, "Too much of the world is indifferent or looking the other way. I'm urging people not to look the other way, not to turn off their TV when news of the violence in the DRC comes on."

The film will be distributed online at unhcr.org as well as on TV and the big screen.
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Joan Jett revealed that she owes large part of her career to the Who. Jett spoke to Rolling Stone and explained that the band believed in her material enough to set her up with free studio time at their Rampart Studios to record her debut album in 1980.

Jett explained, "We would not have been able to make that record if they hadn't helped us. They basically let us record what became Bad Reputation and (said), 'Pay us when you can.' (My manager) Kenny (Laguna) had been friends with the Who and Bill Curbishley, who was their manager for many years. They let us come into their place and do it."

Along with the classic title track, Jett's Bad Reputation album featured covers of "You Don't Own Me," "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)," "Shout," and "Wooly Bully."

CB is still going...

2008-12-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

The St. Louis house where Chuck Berry lived when he wrote such legendary rock and roll classics as "Johnny B. Goode," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Memphis, Tennessee," "Maybellene" and "Sweet Little Sixteen," among many others, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Associated Press reported that Berry and wife Toddy lived in the one-story house in the city's Ville neighborhood from 1950 to 1958.

George Thorogood has been a lifelong fan of Berry's and says that as far as rock artists go, Berry is a complete and unbeatable package, "With Chuck Berry, you've got the all-time four-star player. He's a great performer, a great writer, a great singer, and a great player. Not many people have that, all four things combined. Some can sing great, but they don't write. Some write, but they don't sing. Chuck Berry was the first of that. There's only a handful of them. John Fogerty is one, the Beatles... There's very few that have all that covered. And I'm talking about great writing and great performing. I'm not just talking about, 'Oh, he plays guitar pretty good or he writes pretty good.' (He's) up there on the top with all four things... Arguably, probably the greatest rock and roll star ever."

The National Register of Historic Places is the nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. The National Register is administered by the National Park Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Chuck Berry will next perform two New Year's Eve shows on December 31st in the heart of New York's City's Times Square at B.B. King's Blues Club.

Picture Book

2008-12-16T07:50:00.000-08:00

Newly released is the deluxe six-disc Kinks box set called Picture Book, which chronicles the band's four-decade career. The collection features over 100 tracks including all of the band's classic hits from the '60s, '70s and '80s.

Picture Book chronicles every era in the band's history and features numerous rare home demos, alternate mixes, live versions, and previously unreleased BBC TV and radio & sessions. Kinks leader Ray Davies had a hand in compiling the set.

Highlights on the Kinks' 138-track Picture Book box set include: "You Really Got Me," "Stop Your Sobbing," "All Day And All Of The Night," "Tired Of Waiting For You," "A Well Respected Man," "Till The End Of The Day," "Sunny Afternoon," "Village Green Sunny Afternoon," "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion," "Waterloo Sunset," "Death Of A Clown," "Picture Book," "The Village Green Preservation Society," "Arthur," "Lola," "Apeman," "Celluloid Heroes," "Father Christmas," "Catch Me Now I'm Falling," "Destroyer," "Come Dancing," "Do It Again," and many, many more.

Dave Davies says that although his guitar work and brother Ray's songs often receive the most credit for the band's success, original bandmates, drummer Mick Avory, and bassist Pete Quiafe, both greatly contributed to the band's legacy.

The Kinks, featuring only the Davies brothers from the original line-up, disbanded in 1996. In 1999 the original foursome took part in some studio sessions for a planned comeback, but none of the songs have been released to date. Ray Davies has expressed interest in reuniting the original lineup for a new album for 2009, but so far no announcement has been made on the Kinks reuniting.

Remember this commercial?

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U2 has filmed a video for the first single from its upcoming new album, according to a post at U2.com. The Irish group was in London last week to shoot the clip, with the post stating, "We are sworn to secrecy on the finer details of the shoot... but there may have been some marching girls involved. With their boots on." The last sentence could be a hint about the song's title, which is rumored to be "Sexy Boots." The new U2 record, tentatively called No Line on the Horizon, is due out sometime in the first half of 2009 after the band bumped it from a late 2008 arrival.

Cause great songs will carry you a long way

2008-12-11T05:53:00.000-08:00

John Fogerty is prepping a new studio album and concert DVD which also features a look back at his Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) past. Fogerty told Billboard that for the followup to his 2007 Grammy-nominated Revival album, he's recording a sequel to his 1973 one-man band debut The Blue Ridge Rangers. The album, which has become a cult favorite over the years, featured Fogerty tackling country standards from Hank Williams, George Jones, and Jimmy Rodgers.

Fogerty says that he definitely wanted the new collection, titled The Return Of The Blue Ridge Rangers, to appeal to the masses rather than be a vanity project, explaining, "I've known for years that if I ever did a Blue Ridge Rangers album again I sure didn't want to play all the instruments. I had long felt that was probably something that was wrong with the first album."

He says that making a commercial album was important to him: "My prerequisite was that I didn't want to get into the realm of trying to be really hip and obscure. I've seen people get really out there, and it's stuff nobody's heard of or maybe it's stuff nobody wants to hear of. For me it just had to be a good song, a great song, 'cause great songs will carry you a long way."
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Pearl Jam will reissue its classic 1991 debut album, Ten, on March 24th, in a deluxe edition that will be available in four different versions. Each version will include a remastered version of the original album along with a completely new remix of the set by longtime Pearl Jam producer Brendan O'Brien. Bassist Jeff Ament also supervised a revamped version of the album artwork. The remixed version of the CD contains six previously unreleased songs from the same period, including early versions of "Breath" and "State of Love and Trust," a vocal version of "Brother," plus "Just a Girl," "Evil Little Goat" and "2,000 Mile Blues."
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A human rights organization called Reprieve is launching a campaign called "Stop The Music Torture," aimed at ending the American practice of blasting music at loud levels while "interrogating" prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. According to U.K. publication The Guardian, music from heavy rock acts such as AC/DC, Rage Against The Machine, Metallica and Nine Inch Nails has been used, as well as less aggressive and somewhat more surprising selections from Britney Spears, David Gray, Eminem, Aerosmith, and even children's shows like Barney and Friends and Sesame Street.

Reprieve has listed these songs among the ones used most frequently by U.S. military interrogators:
Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
Drowning Pool - "Bodies"
AC/DC - "Shoot to Thrill" and "Hell's Bells"
Barney and Friends - "I Love You"
Bruce Springsteen - "Born in the USA"
Sesame Street - "Theme Song"
Nine Inch Nails - "March of the Pigs" and "Mr. Self-Destruct"
Queen - "We are The Champions"
Rage Against The Machine - "Killing in the Name Of"

Viva La Could Fly

2008-12-10T07:14:00.000-08:00

Coldplay's Chris Martin has told NME Radio that the similarities between their song 'Viva La Vida' and Joe Satriani's 'If I Could Fly' are entirely coincidental.

As previously reported on NME.COM, Satiani is suing Coldplay for plagiarism over the issue.

Martin said that Coldplay have been left feeling shocked by Satriani's claims.

He said: "When these things happen it's a coincidence and we're as surprised by it as anybody else."

Martin then explained that he hadn't stolen the song and could remember precisely how he wrote it.

"Oh, I know exactly where the song ['Viva La Vida'] came from. It came from in the middle of the night, on a piano. I just get embarrassed about having to talk about these things."

He also admitted feeling hurt by Satriani's allegations, saying: "I do feel a bit upset about it because I wrote the song. But, you know, these things happen. Whatever will be will be."

Despite admitting the band hadn't "had the best of days", due to the discussions about the plagiarism claim, Martin still had some positive words for Satriani, calling him an "amazing" musician.

Afternoon Show's back in the studio today on this rainy New Release Tuesday

2008-12-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

Pete Townshend says that the validation that he and Roger Daltrey received at Sunday night's (December 7th) Kennedy Center Honors, may underline the fact that their work on a social level may be done. The Who survivors received honors along with Barbra Streisand, Morgan Freeman, country music legend George Jones, and choreographer Twyla Tharp.

Townshend spoke with The Washington Post and explained that part of his original mission as the Who's songwriter was to give a voice to their social class, saying, "(The British working class) had never been heard. So we created our own language, which was rock and roll. And this honor is the establishment saying, 'We hear you.' And that's a strange thing, because if they can hear us, maybe we don't need to do this anymore. It's like somebody saying to Tupac Shakur, 'Ah, I understand what you're saying.' Well, you're not supposed to understand what he's saying. You're supposed to be f***ing scared."

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Details are slowly emerging about Bruce Springsteen's upcoming album, called Working On A Dream. Billboard reported that the album's opening track, "Outlaw Pete," runs eight minutes long. Other details on the E Street Band album show that a couple of the tracks -- "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "What Love Can Do" -- both fall below the three-minute mark.

The album features the final studio performances of late E Street organist Danny Federici, as well as contributions from his son Jason, who's also a keyboardist.

Working On A Dream, Springsteen's 16th studio set, will be available on January 27th as both a vinyl LP and a deluxe CD version, featuring a DVD with 38 minutes of behind-the-scenes studio footage taped during the album's recording sessions.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform during the half-time show at the Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida on February 1st, 2009. No other live dates have been announced yet. It's still up in the air whether Nils Lofgren, who's recovering from double hip replacement, will be able to make the Super Bowl gig.

This is our 100th post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-05T06:27:00.000-08:00

Just a quick thank you to everyone who has supported this blog!!! 100 posts would not have been possible without the continued support of the greatest listeners in the world visiting it every day. Let your friends know this is the #1 place for music news and the occasional video of a fat guy dancing in a bikini...

Now to the headlines...

Bruce Springsteen's standout track, "Girls In Their Summer Clothes," from last year's Magic album, snagged two Grammy nominations. In the Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance category, he'll battle it out against Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Eddie Vedder, and John Mayer. For the Best Rock Song Grammy, "The Boss" is up against newer bands Radiohead, Coldplay, Death Cab For Cutie, and Kings Of Leon.

At the time of its release, many fans and critics commented on the fact that the track -- and several others -- harkened back to Springsteen's River-era pop sound. Springsteen himself has commented that the tunes on Magic -- and the upcoming Working On A Dream album -- have a lighter, more power-pop approach to them.
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Voters for the 2009 Grammy's are facing a tough decision with two of rock's best documentaries going head-to-head in the Best Long Form Music Video. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' four hour Peter Bogdonavich documentary Runnin' Down A Dream is up against the critically acclaimed multidisc set Amazing Journey: The Story Of The Who.

Also up for the award is John Mayer's Where The Light Is: Live In Los Angeles, and Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad Live. The Grammy Awards ceremony will be held February 8th, 2009, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The presentation will be broadcast live on CBS-TV.
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James Taylor's recording of Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" from his new Covers album has been nominated for the Grammy for best pop male vocal performance. Taylor faces some stiff competition against Paul McCartney, who's also vying for the prize with the live version of his autobiographical songs "That Was Me" which was recorded at L.A.'s Amoeba Records last year.

Mac Attack is Back... and Grammy Noms

2008-12-04T06:27:00.000-08:00

Fleetwood Mac announced the initial dates for their first tour in five years, kicking off their Unleashed tour on March 1st at Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena. Tickets for the shows go on sale on December 15th.

The band, which features Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood, said in a joint statement: "We love our band and think the title of the tour 'UNLEASHED' perfectly describes how we all feel when we get on stage together -- especially in 2009. We're so happy to get back out on the road, perform everyone's favorite songs and see our fans."

In conjunction with the tour, the band's 1977 album Rumours will be re-released as part of a special CD/DVD boxed set including previously unreleased tracks recorded during the making of the album, along with a DVD component with never-before-seen footage of the band. There's been no release date announced for the Rumours box set.

No word on rumors heard earlier in the year about Sheryl Crow joining the band...

Fleetwood Mac tour dates:
March 1 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mellon Arena
March 3 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
March 5 - Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena
March 8 - Detroit, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills
March 10 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
March 11 - Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Arena
March 13 - Uniondale, NY - Nassau Coliseum
March 14 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
March 16 - Rochester, NY - Blue Cross Arena
March 17 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center
March 19 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
March 21 - East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
March 24 - Ottawa, ON - Scotiabank Place
March 25 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
March 26 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada

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Lil Wayne led the field of nominees for the 51st annual Grammy Award nominations, which were announced Wednesday, December 3rd, in Los Angeles. A portion of the nominations were announced during The Recording Academy's first-ever live nominations concert special, dubbed The Grammy Nominations Concert: Countdown to Music's Biggest Night, held at the Nokia Theater L.A. live in downtown Los Angeles.

Coldplay also racked up an impressive seven nominations for their work on the Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends CD. The band is mentioned in categories that include record, album and song of the year, best rock album, best rock song, and best pop performance by a group.

Other big nominations-grabbers were Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West who each earned six nods. Alison Krauss, John Mayer, Robert Plant, Radiohead, and Jazmine Sullivan received five nominations each, while Adele, Danger Mouse, Eagles, Lupe Fiasco, George Strait, and T.I. each received four nominations.

LL Cool J and Taylor Swift co-hosted the nominations special, which also featured performances by Celine Dion, Foo Fighters, Mariah Carey and B.B. King. The event was immediately followed by a concert by John Mayer.

The Grammy Awards ceremony will be held February 8th, 2009, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The presentation will be broadcast live on CBS-TV.

Pretenders Fan In Your Fam? Here's The Perfect Gift...

2008-12-03T06:26:00.000-08:00

The Pretenders have announced their first headlining tour in five years, kicking off on January 29th in Albany, New York. The band, which is playing a few select holiday shows this month, will be promoting their latest album, Break Up The Concrete.

Chrissie Hynde says that the new album wasn't spurred on by any great artistic vision that she needed to get out to the band's fans: "Well, I guess I just had a few songs. It just seemed like the time was right. I'm not any kind of a deadline or anything. These things kind of fall into place when the time's right. You can't really plan them... or I certainly don't. I'd been doing a lot of touring and you can't keep playing the old songs all the time 'cause it's just boring. So it just seemed like the time had come."

The Pretenders tour dates:
December 10 - Los Angeles, CA - Club Nokia
December 12 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
December 13 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
January 29 - Albany, NY - Palace Theatre
January 30 - New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom
January 31 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa/Music Box
February 2 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
February 4 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
February 5 - Jim Thorpe, PA - Penn's Peak
February 6 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
February 7 - Mashantucket, CT - Fox Theatre
February 9 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater
February 10 - Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues
February 11 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre
February 13 - Cincinnati, OH - Taft Theatre
February 14 - Akron, OH - Akron Civic Center
February 15 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
February 17, 18 - Milwaukee, WI - Northern Lights Theater
February 20 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
February 21 - Kansas City, MO - Ameristar Hotel & Casino
February 22 - Tulsa, OK - Brady Theater
February 24 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
February 25 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up Aspen
February 27 - Dallas, TX - House Of Blues
February 28 - Houston, TX - House Of Blues
March 1 - Austin, TX - Stubb's Bar-B-Q / Waller Creek Amph.
March 4 - Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre
March 5 - San Diego, CA - House Of Blues
March 6 - Pala, CA - Pala Casino
March 7 - Las Vegas, NV - House Of Blues
March 8 - Anaheim, CA - Grove Of Anaheim
March 10 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
March 13 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
March 14 - Reno, NV - Silver Legacy Resort Casino

The Pretenders have just issued their first E.P. of Christmas music. The four-track collection features the band's own holiday standard, "2000 Miles," along with yuletide evergreens "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "Blue Christmas," and "Blue Christmas Part 2."
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Paul McCartney has ruled out a major world tour -- but says that he may do some select gigs as part of the Fireman. McCartney's latest Fireman collaboration with producer Youth called Electric Arguments is out now and receiving mostly positive reviews. McCartney was asked if he and Youth have any intentions of taking the show on the road. The former Beatle told BBC News, "At the moment we haven't got any plans. But we're kind of anticipating it. Me and Youth have said we'll see how it goes. If suddenly there's a big demand for it, I'd like to try it. It would be quite challenging."

New Bruce Video

2008-12-02T07:54:00.000-08:00

Bruce Springsteen's latest single from his upcoming Working On A Dream album, called "My Lucky Day" is available as a digital download and a streaming video on amazon.com.

The video shows Springsteen working through the song with E Streeters Max Weinberg, Roy Bitten, and Garry Tallent. Also featured in the clip, which runs over six minutes long, is Steven Van Zandt, Patti Scialfa, Clarence Clemmons, and Nils Lofgren. Newer members Soozie Tyrell and Charlie Giordano are nowhere to be seen in the low-fi fly-on-the-wall clip.

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO HERE...

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Paul McCartney defended former bandmate Ringo Starr, who recently posted a message on his website (ringostarr.com) saying that he would no longer sign items from fans mailed to him. The message, which showed a slightly unnerved Ringo putting his foot down about signing items, put more than a few fans off. Ringo's representatives explained that the angry video message was due to the fact that numerous fans were selling the autographed items on eBay.

Gigwise.com reports that McCartney said, "Ringo's always been like that, God bless him. We love Ringo because he just says what he thinks. If he doesn't want to sign anything anymore then he doesn't have to. I don't mind that, I think it's really good; it's his life after all. And yeah, he gets in trouble occasionally, but as anyone who has known Ringo as long as I have knows that's what he's like. I think it's a good quality; it's called honesty actually."

This is too funny...

2008-12-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

So Beyonce has a new single out with quite the interesting video... Click below to see it, but even better than that is the re-enactment below by a large portly fella...

Enjoy!

Original Video

Hilarious Video

And don't forget to head on over to the EHM Outlet Store for some great discounts on this Cyber Monday...

Welcome back!

2008-12-01T07:13:00.000-08:00

Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant has confirmed that he won't be touring with the band any time soon, although he also indirectly seemed to give his blessing to the possibility of the other Zeppelin members going on the road with a different vocalist. According to the Robert Plant Newswire, Plant told the Birmingham Evening Mail that he'll begin work on a new album in January, which would prevent him from going on tour, although he added, "But I understand that everyone's got to eat." He also said about the new project, "They won't be calling it Led Zeppelin!"

Plant will be working with country singer Alison Krauss again on a follow-up to their successful Raising Sand album.

The other members of Zeppelin -- guitarist Jimmy Page, drummer Jason Bonham and bassist John Paul Jones -- have confirmed that they are thinking about hitting the road, possibly with Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy, although the project has not been officially announced yet.
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Bruce Springsteen has made a second song from his upcoming Working On A Dream album available as a digital download, according to backstreets.com. Beginning today, the new E Street Band track "Lucky Day," will be available as an exclusive download at amazon.com. Springsteen has already made the album's title track available as a paid download in the iTunes store exclusively through December 9th.
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The Who's new double DVD Live At Kilburn 1977 is Number One this week on the Billboard Top Video Charts. The two-disc set features the band's infamous Kilburn State Gaumont gig from December 15th, 1977 -- which was drummer Keith Moon's second-to-last performance with the band prior to his death the following year. The concert was filmed for use in the band's 1978 documentary The Kids Are Alright, but Pete Townshend has not allowed the footage to be released until now.

Today's Music Happenings...

2008-11-26T07:18:00.000-08:00

See you tonight at the Southampton Public House, 40 Bowden Square in Southampton Village, from 9-11 for the big THANKSGIVING EVE PARTY!!!!

We always have so much fun at the Publick House... Check out photo's from out Halloween Party at SPH to the right of this post...
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Neil Young says that he feels so comfortable with his current live band that he's able to tackle nearly all of his varied catalog with ease. Young's current tour is a much more "hit friendly" affair, with him tackling some of his most loved songs including, "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)," "Cinnamon Girl," "Old Man," "Heart Of Gold," among others.

Young told Rolling Stone that working with longtime friends and musicians certainly helps bring the classics to life, explaining, "I haven't done a tour like this in 15 years. With this band, there's no limit to what kind of music I can make. My other bands were always one thing or another. This band can handle anything."

On December 2nd, Young will release his latest archival concert set, called Sugar Mountain Live At Canterbury House 1968. The album was recorded on November 9th, 1968 at the Canterbury House at University of Michigan. Young, who had only left the Buffalo Springfield six months earlier, was still a year away from superstardom and was finding his way as a solo act.

Also in the pipeline is a Crazy Horse album called Toast which was left unreleased back in 2000, that Young has just remixed in 5.1 surround sound. He says that after relistening to it, the project makes sense to him: "I didn't like it when I first made it. It's a mind-blowing record, very moody, kind of jazzy. The whole thing has got a massive sound." There's been no release date set for Toast.
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Todd Rundgren will produce the upcoming New York Dolls album featuring group cofounders David Johansen and Syl Sylvain. Rundgren produced the band's classic 1973 self-titled debut, which went on to inspire the burgeoning New York City punk scene. The upcoming untitled album begins production in January, and will be released on the recently relaunched Atco Records. The New York Dolls will support the album with a world tour next year.

Johansen told blabbermouth.net that he's looking forward to the reunion with Rundgren, saying, "We're really excited to be working with Todd again. We're hoping to recapture the same magic on the forthcoming album."

For those who didn't know:

David Johansen and guitarist Syl Sylvain are the two surviving members of the Dolls. Bassist Arthur Kane died at age 55 in 2005 from complications related to leukemia, original drummer Billy Murcia died from substance abuse while on tour in England in 1972, guitarist Johnny Thunders from a drug overdose in 1991, and drummer Jerry Nolan, who replaced Murcia, died from a fatal stroke in 1992.

In 2006 the band reunited to record One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This. The album was produced by veteran producer Jack Douglas, best known for his work with Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and John Lennon. Douglas worked under Rundgren while engineering the Dolls' debut album.

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U2 and the Killers lead a list of top-level artists contributing exclusive songs to RED (WIRE), a new "digital magazine" launching on December 1st, World AIDS Day. According to Billboard.com, other acts slated to make contributions include Coldplay, the Dixie Chicks, John Legend, Elvis Costello, R.E.M. and Bob Dylan. The magazine is a publication of the activist organization (RED), a project of U2 singer Bono. All proceeds from subscriptions to (RED)WIRE, which cost five dollars, will benefit HIV-infected people living in Africa.
Subscribers will receive a new issue of the magazine every Wednesday, containing an exclusive song from a well-known artist, a track from an artist that (RED) wants to highlight, multi-media pieces and a look at how the proceeds are helping Africans. Subscribers will get the magazine in a custom player that's automatically loaded into iTunes.

Users can also send two free issues to friends and will receive prizes if any of them subscribe.
U2 recorded its track for (RED)WIRE last week, while the Killers' contribution will be their latest Christmas song, "Joseph, Better You Than Me," also featuring Elton John and the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant.

Additional songs and artists will be announced in the weeks ahead, along with other content.
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The original cover painting done for Metallica's classic 1986 album Master of Puppets, done by artist Don Brautigam, sold for a final price of $35,000 at an auction held by Christie's in New York City, according to RollingStone.com. The actual price was $28,000, with buyer's fees totaling another $7,000. The painting was one of many pieces of pop culture art that went up for bids on Monday (November 24th), with many of them coming from the punk and rock genres.

The sale, which also featured items from Nirvana, the Beatles, the Ramones and others, netted a total of $750,000.
Among the items which sold were:
- A ring worn by Elvis Presley during one of his final tours for $32,500
- A trumpet that belonged to Louis Armstrong for $27,500
- Original tapes from Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland sessions for
$47,500
- Proof of smallpox vaccination certificate for Paul McCartney for $5,000
- A postcard handwritten by Elvis for $7,250
Items that did not reach their reserve price and remained unsold included the original album art for the Beastie Boys' 1986 debut Licensed to Ill and Kurt Cobain's childhood bass.

Going Out of Business Sale...

2008-11-25T06:21:00.000-08:00

It was 32 Thanksgivings ago (November 25th, 1976) that the Band played its most famous concert. Billed as The Last Waltz, the show at Winterland in San Francisco featured the group, along with an all-star guest list, in what became the farewell performance of the original quintet.

Among the friends on the bill that night were Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Ron Wood, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Muddy Waters, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, and the Staple Singers.

Shortly before his death in 1999, singer-bassist Rick Danko spoke about the Band's decision to break up, "It seemed that it was time to bring it in. You know, it seemed like it was time to have a kinda going-out-of-business sale. I didn't really believe that we were putting it away like that... thought we'd maybe at least release a record a year, but we didn't."

Robbie Robertson also said that the intent of the show was not to break up the Band -- it was meant as a farewell to the road so the musicians could concentrate on recording projects, "What really happened was after The Last Waltz, people had some projects they'd been wanting to do for a while. Everybody was looking forward to the opportunity of just spreading their wings and experimenting in different areas. And everybody drifted off in these different directions, and what happened was... 'cause that wasn't the idea... what happened was everybody drifted off and never drifted back."

In 2002, remastered and expanded editions of The Last Waltz, overseen by Robertson, were released on CD, DVD, VHS, and as a theatrical film.

Who's coming out with a new album? Exactly. What? Second Base!

2008-11-24T14:23:00.000-08:00

Roger Daltrey is eager to hear Pete Townshend's latest work, and hopes that it may lead to the band recording a follow-up to 2006's Endless Wire. Daltrey talked to Rolling Stone and said that he's hopeful for the band's future, explaining, "I love what we're doing now. I always thought Pete's writing will just get better with age. It's that kind of brain. He usually gets inspiration from the road. We'll go back to England and who knows? He's been writing. But we never know what it is until it's done. It might be a book."