Friday, February 07, 2003

• A Tribe Called Quest Plot Possible Reunion
  Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with sugar on top? The above linked article says the ball is rolling but nothing is set in concrete (how's about that for mixed metaphors?). You youngstas who don't know what's what need to start your education in preperation for the second coming of ATCQ. Start with their Anthology and work your way around from there. The Low End Theory is probably your next best stop.
  
  
• P.Diddy Inks Universal Deal, Won't Sell Label
  P. Diddy has signed a marketing/distribution deal with Universal Records, which means he doesn't have to sell his company and can retain his master recordings. That's great news for Diddy, but probably not so great for those signed to his label. Do you think Diddy is gonna let them own their masters? It's a three year deal with a big cash award to Diddy if it turns out to be fruitful.
  
  
• Incubus Sues To Break Free From Contract
  Rememebr when we thought The Dixie Chicks were gonna take the industry all the way to court to get out of their deal and strike a blow for recording artists signed to unreasonable contracts? Turns out they were just using hardball contract negotiation tatics. Boy, did we look silly. And remember when we thought we saw the fire in Courtney Love's belly to take this particular ball all the way to the hoop? Man, was their a lot of egg on our faces. Note to Incubus: We won't get fooled again.
  
  
• Uneasy Listening
  The NME says that gangsta rap icon Dr. Dre has sent some beats to schmaltzy-songwriting legend Burt Bacharach to colaborate on. Will w we get Nate Dogg crooning "I Save A Little Chronic For You?" or perhaps Snoop Dogg's "Do You Know The Way To The L.B.C."? Would you believe 'What The World Needs Now Is Shady And Dre" featuring . Eminem?
  
  
• Village People To 'Feud' With Disco Divas All Next Week
  Check your local listings for broadcast times! It's disco "Family Feud", featuring The Village People vs.an all diva team consisting of Thelma Houston ("Don't Leave Me This Way"), Freda Payne ("Band of Gold"-- which Frenchie and the other thick girl killed on "American Idol" a couple of shows ago), Evelyn "Champagne" King ("Shame", "Love Come Down"), Martha Wash of the Weather Girls ("It's Raining Men", plus she was the female voice of Black Box and C&C Music Factory), and Janice-Marie of A Taste Of Honey ("Boogie Oogie Oogie").
  
  
• Eminem Eyes Estate - Far North of 8 Mile
  Who can blame him, really? He'll need to stop reppin' for Detroit on record, though. I grew up in the neighborhoods near where his new house is-- and it's about as hardcore as a mouse peeing on a cotton ball. He's moving into the former house of former Kmart Corp. Chief Executive Chuck Conaway. His new neighbors seem to look forward to have him around. "8 Mile" is coming out DVD on March 18, by the way. Pre-order it by clicking here!
  

posted by Randy on 12:01 PM | permanent link to this entry

Thursday, February 06, 2003

• Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Metallica To Launch Joint Tour
  The line-up for the Summer Sanitarium 20003 Tour is now locked down. Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Mudvayne will hit stadiums across the U.S. this summer. I went to the first one in 2001 and had a pretty good time, though the line-up was much better in my book: Metallica, Korn, Kid Rock and System of a Down (Korn was the only weak link in that line-up, but I'm not a huge fan of theirs to begin with.). Intrestingly enough, Metallica and Limp Bizkit are both still without a full band, as Limp Bizkit is still sans guitarist and Metallica is without a permanent bassist. Both groups say the slots will be filled by the time the tour starts.
  
  
• Lollapalooza 2003 Set To Go?
  Yes-- so says The Scout.Net, but I haven't seen any other official confirmation from a more reliable source. According to their report, the line up will be Jane's Addiction, Audioslave, Incubus, and Queens of The Stone Age. The insiders at The Velvet Rope also say that Interpol and Jurassic 5 are on the bill. I await official confirmation.
  
  
• Common To Launch Tour With Gang Starr, Talib Kweli, Floetry
  It's almost like an alt-rap Lollapalooza! Tour starts in Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club on 2/26 and wraps up in Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium on 3/23.
  
  
• Judge Rules Truth Hurts' Album Must Be Pulled Or Stickered
  Indian composer Bappi Lahiri has won a court injunction halting the sale of Dr. Dre protégé Truth Hurts' Truthfully Speaking and "Addictive" single based on claims that the hit song "Addictive" sampled one of his compositions without credit. Lahiri is seeking compensatory damages in excess of $1 million as a result of the failure to give credit and the loss of his ability to properly promote his music in the United States.
  
  
• FCC's Copps To Hold Two More Forums On Media Rules
  FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, said he will hold hearings in Seattle and Durham, North Carolina, next month to get greater public input on a pending decision that could shape the media landscape for years to come. The agency has held one public forum on the issue in New York, and plans others in Richmond, Virginia, and Los Angeles. Copps is also working on a way for media insiders who are worried about their jobs to testify anonymously. Peep the FCC site for full details as they are available
  
  
• Copyright Legislation Unlikely, Both Sides Say
  Thanks to the coming war and the ongoing troubles with the economy, it appears Congress won't have the time or energy to work on their proposed draconian additions to copyright law and laws covering digital rights management. Whew!
  
  
• Hip-Hop Group Urging Pepsi Boycott Over Ads
  Legendary hip-hop businessman Russell Simmons on Wednesday called on the rap community to start a boycott next week against PepsiCo Inc. in response to their hipocracy. This all comes from the fact that Pepsi dropped a commercial featuring funny but foul-mouthed Ludacris following an outcry by conservitive mouthpiece Bill O'Riley but then aired a high-profile of the equally (if not more) foul-mouthed and funny Osbourne family. Simmons and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) say they will vcontinue the boycott until Pepsi agrees to certain terms, such as issuing a public apology to Ludacris and the hip-hop community, making a $5 million charitable contribution to the Ludacris Foundation and reinstating the Ludacris Pepsi television commercial.
  
  For those down with the cause, a Pepsi Boycott means avoiding the products listed on page.
  
  
• Phil Spector: Mad Genius, By Kurt Loder
  A very nicely done piece. I love it when MTV News takes Kurt out of the deep freeze to explain rock's dinosaurs to the kiddies.
  
  
• Detroit Museum Opens Techno Exhibit
  The Detroit Historical Museum has opened an exhibit called exhibit "Techno: Detroit's Gift to the World". It details how techno grew over the past two decades from sounds heard at local clubs and parties to a global sensation while giving recognition to key local Detroit artists like Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. After the exhibit ends in June 2004, it will tour schools and museums worldwide.
  

posted by Randy on 12:20 PM | permanent link to this entry

Wednesday, February 05, 2003

I had actual work to do today, so no updates. But I'll be back tomorrow in full effect, I promise.
posted by Randy on 4:11 PM | permanent link to this entry

Tuesday, February 04, 2003

• Why Don't DJs Just Name That Tune?
  Very good article in the L.A. Times detailing the reasons why radio DJs don't "back-announce" (i.e. give identifying information about the song they just played) anymore. Short answer- the five seconds it takes to do that adds up after a while and staion owners figure that eliminating the back announcing equals more air time to sell to advertisers. This, of courde, is a good argument for satellite or internet radio, where the songs are almost always identified is not by the DJ then by the software/equipment.
  
  
• Courtney Love Arrested After Flight to London
  Memo to Courtney: Honey-darling, these days you've gotta be out of it something awful to cause a distrubance on a flight. One might hope that this is you "bottoming out" and getting help-- but somehow I doubt it.
  
  
• H Town Lead Singer Dies
  Keven A. Conner, better known to R&B fans as Dino, lead singer of the group H-Town, was killed in a car accident on Tuesday. In an interview with The Houston Chronicle, Shazam, Dino's twin brother and groupmate, said the trio had just finished an H-Town reunion album. I still listen to H-Town's classic "Knockin' The Boots" about once a week thanks to the miracle of random on the ol' Mp3 player. My fave H-Town song is their contribution to the now-out-of-print Christmas at Luke's Sex Shop (dude, it is so out of print it can't even be found on eBay or Half.com!) It was called "Knockin' Da Boots for Christmas" and was essentially "Knockin' Da Boots" with the word "Christmas" whispered after every time they sang the chorus. Anyway, R.I.P. Kevin A. Conner from all of us here at Rocktober.com. Show your love and pick up H Town's Fever For Da Flava by clicking here.
  
  
• Help "Freaks & Geeks" Get Released On DVD
  Sign the petition! Do it! If a legendary under-performer like Sports Night" can find an audience on DVD, than so can "Freaks & Geeks." This petition isn't even some fan-boy thing, it's from the creators of the show, who are trying to convince DreamWorks to do the right thing. The main bone of contention seems to be having to pay for the music used in the show.
  
  
• Underworld Leads Ultra Festival Lineup
  For 50 bucks, this is a pretty nice line-up: Underworld, Paul Oakenfold, Sasha, John Digweed, DJ Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, Junkie XL, Goldie, Roni Size, Timo Maas, and Josh Wink. Usually you pay 50 bones and get one or two of those guys plus a bunch of unknown scrubs. Mark your calendars and get your travel plans in order: March 22 at Miami's Bayfront Park. Here are some pics from last year's festival.
  
  
• Universal Breathes New Life Into Crue Classics
  Devil horns up! Universal Music has signed a deal with glam-metal giants Motley Crue to reissue their entire catalog with bonus tracks-- even more bonus tracks than when the albums were re-released in 1999. April 1st is the date, metal-heads. Also hitting the stores that day: the Crue's infamous edition of "Behind The Music" on DVD.
  
  
• Concert Behemoth Clear Channel Accused of Not Playing Fair
  At this point, I think the point has been made, but you can never get the message out too much. This is a very excellent piece in The San Antonio Express News about Clear Channel's 400-pound gorilla tatics in the radio and concert promotion industries and the effects it has on business and culture.
  
  
• Jeff Stryker Is Working On A Country Album
  Yes, that Jeff Stryker. The link above will take you to a page that has some sample clips. For mature audiences only-- especially the most excellent "Pop You In The Pooper."
  

posted by Randy on 12:53 PM | permanent link to this entry

Monday, February 03, 2003

• Music Legend Arrested In Connection With Homicide
  Legendary producer Phil Spector allegedly shot a woman in his home and his now in custody. Tragic, but not completely unexpected considering that Spector has been off his rocker for years now. Death (or killing in this case) As A Career Move: Click here to pick up his awesome boxed set Back To Mono
  
  
• Urban Radio Rage: How Clear Channel Ruined KMEL
  Pretty on point article in the San Francisco Bay Guardian about how radio giant Clear Channel has basically eliminated politics and local artists from urban radio stations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Reading about the KYLD and KMEL battles made me misty eyed for the days of yore. Each station pusjed the other to new heights, but now no such competition exists.
  
  
• Embrace File-Sharing, or Die
  There's nothing in the above linked Salon article that is radically new, but it is good to hear it coming from someonle like John Snyder , president of Artist House Records (Which doesn't have a web-site! So much for Mr. Snyder net-savvyness!), a board member of The National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), and a 32-time Grammy nominee. What follows is my fave quote:
  
  "It could be argued that MP3s are the greatest marketing tool ever to come along for the music industry. If your music is not being downloaded, then you're in trouble. If you can't give it away, you certainly can't sell it. Daniel Bedingfieldrecently had a top 3 song on the radio, with "Gotta Get Thru This." However, his music was hardly available through any of the P2P networks. His record lasted on the Billboard Top 200 for less than a month, even though the single had been on radio playlists all over the country for several months. It's also been widely reported that the most downloaded album of all time was The Eminem Show by Eminem. It was downloaded so heavily that Interscope took the unusual step of releasing the album a week early due to the rampant online sharing of tracks from the album. Fast-forward to the end of 2002, and The Eminem Show is the best-selling album of the year. This seems to indicate the opposite of what the RIAA would have you believe. When people share MP3s, more music is sold, not less."
  
  
• RIAA's Statistics Don't Add Up to Piracy
  Shocked, I am, shocked that the R.I.A.A. would twist the numbers and mis-analyze and so on and so forth. Long piece and a bit egg-headed, but worth slogging through.
  
  
• Don't Sever a High-Tech Lifeline for Musicians
  Janis Ian writes in the L.A. Times that distrubitg her music via MP3 has been beneficial to her career, contrary to popular belief.
  
  
• Rapper 50 Cent's Album Release Pushed Up
  50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin will now hit store shelves on Thursday, Feb. 6 in an effort to blunt the effects of bootlegger and file-sharers. Judging by my referrer logs, which show me that a lot of folks have visited my humble little blog looking for 50 Cent tracklistings and MP3s, it is probably the right thing to do. You can pre order Get Rich or Die Tryin here and get a bonus DVD.
  
  
• Yahoo's Launch To Offer Subscription Radio Service
  For $3.99 per month or $35.99 per year beginning Wednesday, Launchcast Plus will carry commercial-free radio that will also offer the users the chance to customize their own Web stations and tune in to 24-hour programming on 50 niche channels devoted to everything from show tunes to one-hit wonders.
  
  
• Mandy Moore's Plans For 2003: Covers Record, Three Movies
  Ack. Though still in the process of being recorded, her cover album is likely to include performances of songs originally made famous by artists likes of Elton John, Cat Stevens, Joan Armatrading and The Waterboys(?!?!?!?). Mandy Moore, big 80s college rock fan-- who knew? Here's something else you might not have known-- Mandy Moore's "A Walk To Remember" did better at the box office than Britney Spears' "Crossroads"? It's true!
  
  
• Bone Thugs Say Bizzy Is Out For Good This Time
  Bizzy Bone is once again not a member of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. The above linked MTV News has a lot of the sorted details-- kudos to them for getting both sides of the story.
  

posted by Randy on 12:41 PM | permanent link to this entry