Friday, November 08, 2002

Don't Forget: Tonight! DJ MC Hesher @ EL Rey's Fiesta Plana! 7-10 pm. @ National Product (1845 Market near Gurrero, in beautiful San Francisco, CA).! Art, cheap drinks and good grooves! Holla at a player if you stop by!

• Report:Sharon Osbourne Gets TV Deal
  The matriarch of "The Osbournes" may get a talk show of her very own. My prediction: it will be like the tough love of Dr. Phil or Judge Judy, but with more swearing. A lot more swearing.
  
  
• Fans Riot After Guns N' Roses Tour Kickoff Canceled: Kurt Loder Reports
  Can Guns n' Roses ever cancel a gig in Canada without starting a riot? On August 8, 1992 at the Stade Du Parc Olympique in Montreal, Canada, GN'R were forced to take the stage early after Metallica's set is cut short when their singer, James Hetfield, was burned by pyrotechnics. They left abruptly when Axl got upset over monitor problems and the fans started a huge riot. Last night, Axl was stuck in transit on the way to a Vancouver show and the promoters cancelled the show before even letting anyone in the arena. A riot *still* ensued-- with the cops busting many heads. It's almost like G'n'R never went away.
  
  My browser just crashed and a lot of the stories I wanted to post went with it. I don't have the energy today to go find 'em, 'cos I gotta rest up for my big gig tonight. One wuick summary, though- I'm glad to see that AC/DC, Elvis Costello, The Police, The Clash and The Righteous Brothersare gonna be inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame.
  

posted by Randy on 12:37 PM | permanent link to this entry

Thursday, November 07, 2002

Don't Forget: DJ MC Hesher @ EL Rey's Fiesta Plana this Friday! 7-10 pm. @ National Product (1845 Market near Gurrero, in beautiful San Francisco, CA). Art, cheap drinks and good grooves! Holla at a player if you stop by!


• Joe Strummer Defends Letting Jaguar Use "London Calling"
  Scroll down abit, but it is in there. "We get hundreds of requests for that and turn 'em all down. But I just thought Jaguar…yeah. If you're in a group and you make it together, then everyone deserves something. Especially twenty-odd years after the fact. It just seems churlish for a writer to refuse to have their music used on an advert and so I figured out, only advertise the things you think are cool. That's why we dissed Coors and Miller. We've turned down loads of money. Millions over the years. But sometimes you have to earn a bit, so everybody gets some."
  
  
• Run-D.M.C. Announces Retirement
  Something they should've done years ago? Perhaps. But still, the right thing to do. Also the right thing to do-- pick up Run-D.M.C.'s Greatest Hits.
  The Rev. Run speaks: "Run-D.M.C. is officially retired. I can't get out in front of my fans with a new DJ. Some rock bands can replace the drummer. People say that to me: 'Are you the original three members?' I say, 'I don't know any other way but to be the three original members,' and that's all I can say--is that we're retired. Does anybody have a job out there?"
  
  
• Tony Danza Releases CD
  In addition to releasing an album of standards ("I'll Be Seeing You," "Pennies From Heaven") entitled The House I Live In, Danza says he is shopping around an old fashioned variety show. "I think that kind of pure, positive entertainment would be interesting," he says. You youngsters may not remember the days of variety shows-- lemme tell you, there's a reason they don't exist any more. Cornball sub-vaudville comedy sketches, cheesy celebs (the kind who currently do "Hollywood Squares") and Vegas renditions of the days hits. The thought of a Tony Danza Good Time Happy Variety Hour should give you the fear. To get a feel for how bad this got, pick up either The Pink Lady and Jeff Boxed Set or The Brady Bunch Variety Hour from Amazon.
  
  
• Alanis Prepares 'Feast' Of Unreleased Material
  Alanis Morissette will release Feast on Scraps, a combined CD-and-DVD package featuring a live concert video and a selection of unreleased recordings from the Under Rug Swept sessions, on Dec. 10. Pre-order it from Amazon by clicking here.
  
  
• Mandy Moore Tipped For 'Summer' Remake
  Teen-pop-queen Mandy Moore is being courted to star in a Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds produced remake of the 1959 film "A Summer Place." I can only hope that we'll get "Theme From A Summer Place 2K3" out of this. Produced by The Neptunes, with gurst vocals by Kelis and a rap by The Clipse. A boy can dream.
  

posted by Randy on 12:58 PM | permanent link to this entry

Wednesday, November 06, 2002

• Howard Stern To Remake 'Rock'N'Roll' High School
  Howard Stern has partnered with former Dimension Films executive Dan Gross and his newly launched independent film production company Arclight Films to acquire remake rights to the classic comedies "Rock'N'Roll High School" and "Porky's." Both Stern and Gross cited the original films as two of their all-time favorites. At this early stage, the band to replace The Ramones in "Rock'N'Roll High School" hasn't been selected.
  
  
• Spiritual Memories Captured On 'Monterey Pop' DVD
  "Monterey Pop," the film documenting the legendary 1967 music festival, will finally be available on DVD in a 3 disc set on Nov. 12. Featuring performances by performances by artists like Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, The Who, Big Brother & the Holding Co. with Janis Joplin, and Simon & Garfunkel, the set will also include a 65-page historical booklet, interviews with director D.A. Pennebaker, festival producers Lou Adler and John Phillips, publicist Derek Taylor, and performers "Mama" Cass Elliot and David Crosby, as well as the original theatrical trailer and radio spots. A second disc contains documentaries "Jimi Plays Monterey" and "Shake! Otis at Monterey," along with commentaries by music historians Charles Shaar Murray and Peter Guralnick and an interview with Redding's manager, Phil Walden. The third disc offers two hours of outtakes featuring perforemances by artists like The Association, The Blues Project, The Byrds, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Al Kooper, Laura Nyro, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Tiny Tim. Click here to order this extraordinary set from Amazon.com
  
  
• Haggard Questions Medical Procedure
  Federal authorities are investigating whether Dr. Chae Moon, director of cardiology at Redding Medical Center, and Dr. Fidel Realyvasquez Jr., chairman of the center's cardiac surgery program, ordered costly surgeries for healthy patients and then billed Medicare. Country music legend Merle Haggard may be one of the people who got un-needed surgery after Dr. Moon convinced him he needed heart stents in order to live-- and this was after he had bypass surgery in the 90s.
  
  
• The Last Dayz: One On One With Hit Man
  He was all over Dr. Dre's 2001, so what ever happened to Hit Man's solo joint? Read the above linked interview (from the always amazing Tha Formula.Com) to find out his take on it. My take, after reading the interview is that between Rakim and Eminem, it was hard for Dr. Dre to make Hit Man a priority so he had to drop him from the label. Still, Hit Man seems to hold no grudges-- he's doing some writing for Dr. Dre's upcoming Detox album.
  
  
• Elton John Criticizes Music Biz
  A wee bit of crabby-old-man-ism here, but still pretty sound: "It was all about the song. Nowadays it's so much more about the packaging and the visual aspect of it, the videos. And the songwriting aspect has gone out of the window a bit." His advice to young artists: "Save your money, make sure you're getting your money, put it in the bank because you are just a commodity to these people."
  
  
• Neptunes Help Sugar Ray Find Fresh Sound On New LP
  My first thought is "Lord love a duck." But then I remember that The Neptunes brought out some awesome New Wave sounds for No Doubt on "Hella Good," so I'm holding back judgement for the minute. Choice quote from Mark McGrath that I offer without comment: "I think Madonna set the bar pretty high for changing yourself and metamorphosing and staying current. And we're in that position now. We've been in the same area for five years, so we're gonna pull the trigger and do something different this time."
  

posted by Randy on 12:45 PM | permanent link to this entry

Tuesday, November 05, 2002

• U.S. Investigates Vivendi Universal
  Vivendi Universal, already under investigation for shady financial dealings by French prosecutors, said Monday it is being investigated for similar mis-deeds by officials in New York and Florida. I won't rest any hopes on it, but I'd certainly be happy if prosecuters follow one lead to another and then another and expose he shadier sides of music industry contracts and accounting. Again, don't hold your breath.
  
  
• Friends and Fans Mourn Slain Rap D.J. at Wake
  The above New York Times gets the story basically right, but they missed some of the flavor at Jam Master Jay's funeral. This AP story has my favorite detail-- "As [D.M.C] stood at the altar, he was surrounded by more than a dozen funeral wreaths — including one in the shape of twin turntables." In semi-related news, you can contribute to a fund to help Jay's family buy their home and give them some money to live day-to-day after the death of their main bread-winner. -- Mizell Children's Fund, c/o Terri Corley-Mizell, P.O. Box 3497, New Hyde Park, NY 11040.
  
  
• Justin Timberlake Speaking His Mind About His Gay Fans
  What he should've said: "I appericate support wherever I can get it. i'm very thankful." What he did say: lots of "uhs" and trying to straddle some sort of middle ground where he says exactly the above but looks like he's trying not to endorse the sexuality of his gay fans. Hasn't he read the 'N Sync slash fiction? Oh well. And if you must, pick up a copy of his solo album, Justified, by clicking here.
  
  
• CNN-ABC: Putting The Public Last
  Everything youj ever wanted to know about why the proposed ABC News/CNN merger shouldn't happen is very clearly spelled out in the above linked Tom Shales column. Some choice quotes: "A knowledgeable ABC News insider sarcastically assessed the proposal to a friend: "It's the perfect combination: We're corrupt and they're inept." Putting those two qualities together certainly has inspiring possibilities. But inspiring only to accountants; it's shocking how many journalists are writing about this hellishly obscene possibility strictly in financial terms, as if its effects on the American public were just minor, marginal, peripheral concerns." And lastly "It's big, big news and a big, big story -- even if none of the so-called news networks bothers to cover it." Read it and weep. Shales is also the author of a book that is high on my soon-to-read list: Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live
  
  
• NBC to Add New Content to Bravo
  So, NBC bought Bravo for $1.25 billion in cash and stock from Cablevision Systems Corp. and its minority partner, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. The above linked L.A. Times says that NBC currently plans to produce original contnet for the network and not use it as a dumping ground for NBC re-runs. Once the bean counters get in the mix, though, I bet these plans fly out the window and we start to see more NBC re-runs on Bravo than anywhere else. Anyone willing to bet me is welcome to contact me to make arrangements to lose their money.
  
  
• Letterman's 'Late Show' Will Be on Radio, Too
  Starting next Monday, The Late Show With David Letterman will be simulcast on CBS radio stations in 15 cities, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. How is Dave's highy visual humor going to translate on the radio? Who the hell is listening A.M. radio from 11:30-12:30? I guess this is why I'm not running a major multi-media conglomorate.
  
  
• MORE U.S. HOMES HAVE OUTHOUSES THAN TIVOS
  Great headline. Cracked me up. It's also true, which is sad.
  

posted by Randy on 1:28 PM | permanent link to this entry

Monday, November 04, 2002

• Why He Died Before He Got Old
  In a genius editorial move, The Observer has rock legend Pete Townsend review Kurt Cobain's Journals after it was revealed he wrote "'I hope I die before I become Pete Townshend." Townsend's take: "appear[s] to be the scribblings of a crazed and depressed drug-addict in the midst of what those of us who have been through drug rehab describe as 'stinking thinking'. That is, the resentful, childish, petulant and selfish desire to accuse, blame and berate the world for all its wrongs, to wish to escape, or overcome and, finally, to take no responsibility for any part of the ultimate downfall. Me? An expert? Of course. Been there, done that. Back to the academy." And the worst news for us rock history enthusiasts: "It's a pity the entries are not dated, and that no attempt has been made to provide a chronology." Another nice shot: I sometimes get letters from people who write and draw like Cobain. I put them in a file marked 'Loonies', just in case they try to sue me in the future for stealing their ideas. Be the judge yourself, pick up your copy of Journals by clicking here
  
  
• Five in British Court After Beckham Kidnap Arrests
  They were gonna try to snatch up Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham . Am I a bad person for thinking "Well, a kidnapping would probably be good for her career" when I first heard this news? Perhaps. "The five suspects were part of an initial group of nine arrested by a police special kidnap unit in London after a tip-off from a tabloid newspaper whose reporters infiltrated the gang in search of a story about the alleged selling of stolen antiques." Another instant bad thought-- "I realiaze the Spice Girls are old news-- but antiques?"
  
  
• 'Skiffle' King Lonnie Donegan Dies
  Lonnie Donegan died Sunday in Peterborough, central England, while on a tour of Britain, He was 71. Though little remembered in America, he led a skiffle revival in England in the early 50s which was a huge influence on all the Brithish Invasion artists. Check out his
  Anthology to hear one of rock n' roll's little-appericated baby daddys. R.I.P. from Rocktober.com.
  
  
• Survey: Online Music Sales Tumble
  comScore Networks has released the results of a study, indicating that "...online sales of recorded music have continued to decline sharply for three consecutive quarters. At the same time, millions of Internet users continue to use online file-sharing services even as some of these applications have vanished.". The comScore analysis isbased on the actual online activity of more than 1.5 million representative Internet users and shows that 2002 online music sales are down 25 percent from
  the same period last year. Poor Amazon.com. Good thing they sell a lot of other crap.
  
  
• 'Urban Cowboy' DVD, Musical Coming
  Previews begin Tuesday at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Fla for "Urban Cowboy: A New Musical." It is now official-- the whole movies-to-plays thing has gone too far. If you must get your Urban Cowboy fix, why not cop the DVD instead? It'll be much less painful than hearing a chorus of drama-school geeks belting out "Looking For Love" and "Lyin' Eyes" Which reminds me-- I had the Urban Cowboy Soundtrack back in the day, I should perhaps add it to the Pick That Up Again In A New Format list.
  

posted by Randy on 12:12 PM | permanent link to this entry