Brian Wilson returns to Capitol Records/EMI, his original label home

New studio album, "That Lucky Old Sun," to be released on September 2 on CD, deluxe CD/DVD, limited edition vinyl and digitally

“You don’t have to climb the Capitol tower, or play the Hollywood Bowl, if there’s a roll in your heart, and a rock in your soul…” (lyrics from That Lucky Old Sun’s California Role)

Hollywood, California – May 19, 2008 - He is one of popular music’s most deeply revered figures, a legendary writer, producer, arranger and performer of some of the most cherished music in rock history. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to call Brian Wilson one of the most gifted and influential pop composers of the last 50 years. Today, Wilson announces his return to Capitol Records/EMI, his original label home. Wilson’s new studio recording, That Lucky Old Sun, will be released by Capitol/EMI on CD, CD/DVD, limited edition vinyl and digitally on September 2 (September 1 internationally).

Brian Wilson’s return to Capitol Records/EMI, where The Beach Boys caught their first hit wave with the 1962 classic, Surfin’ Safari/409, is a triumphant homecoming for one of the world’s most gifted and beloved musical talents.

“I’m thrilled to be back home with Capitol, and I’m looking forward to sharing That Lucky Old Sun with everyone,” says Brian Wilson. “This music is really special to me.”

"We are delighted to be working with Brian Wilson for his new album, That Lucky Old Sun,” says Guy Hands, Executive Chairman of EMI Music. “We all remember the feeling we got when we first heard The Beach Boys’ music. My particular favorite classic is Surfer Girl. It always reminds me of driving an open top car down the Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Barbara to Malibu. Brian Wilson is an iconic talent with enormous musical influence all over the world and we are very proud to be representing him.”

A musical love letter from Southern California, That Lucky Old Sun shimmers with sun-dappled choruses and arrangements that swell and swirl as if carried by the Pacific tides. One of the songs, Midnight’s Another Day, has been described by MOJO magazine as “glorious.” The album is narrated in transitional interludes spoken by Wilson as That Lucky Old Sun, the storyteller. The narratives, cameos on life and the heartbeat of Los Angeles, propel the album’s musical story.

Last summer, Wilson found himself singing the 1949 classic song, That Lucky Old Sun, which became the inspiration for a unique approach to what would become his next studio release. He bought Louis Armstrong’s version of the track and was inspired to collaborate lyrically with his band mate Scott Bennett, and with Van Dyke Parks, his old ‘sidekick,’ to create vibrant spoken narratives. Wilson debuted That Lucky Old Sun at London’s Royal Festival Hall in September 2007 in a series of six sold-out and critically-acclaimed concert performances celebrating the theatre’s restoration.

Wilson describes That Lucky Old Sun as an “interwoven series of ‘rounds’ with interspersed spoken word,” and as an autobiographical travelogue of sorts. The new studio album is produced by Wilson and was created with his acclaimed band at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, where he first recorded in 1962.

The new release is the dawning of a new California morning for Brian Wilson, continuing the awe-inspiring concept album journey that he first began four decades ago. Wilson’s songwriting, arranging and producing talents came together in harmonious glory for The Beach Boys’ 1966 classic, Pet Sounds, and have continued to evolve during his solo career, highlighted by his 2004 critically acclaimed Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE. Lyrically and in Wilson’s incomparably lush, evocative arrangements, That Lucky Old Sun adds a new chapter to Wilson’s conceptual presentations, reaching ever higher with his vibrant and moving autobiographical storytelling and intricate harmonies.

Following numerous nominations, Wilson won a well-deserved Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance (2004) for Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow and he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006. Last December, he was feted as a leading cultural icon by The Kennedy Center Honors alongside Diana Ross, Martin Scorsese, Steve Martin and Leon Fleisher.

Brian Wilson and his band will perform a number of his classic hits and compositions at select North American and UK concerts this summer.

Brian Wilson: That Lucky Old Sun
1. That Lucky Old Sun
2. Morning Beat
3. That Lucky Old Sun (narrative)
4. Good Kind Of Love
5. Forever My Surfer Girl
6. That Lucky Old Sun (narrative)
7. Live Let Live
8. Mexican Girl
9. That Lucky Old Sun (narrative)
10. California Role
11. That Lucky Old Sun (narrative)
12. Oxygen
13. Can’t Wait Too Long (vocal excerpt)
14. Midnight’s Another Day
15. Going Home
16. Southern California

Brian Wilson: Confirmed Concert Dates
June 28 London (UK) English Heritage Picnic Concerts
June 29 Ipswich (UK) Regent Theatre
July 1 London (UK) Royal Albert Hall
July 8 Niagara Falls, ON Niagara Fallsview Casino (Avalon Ballroom)
July 9 Ottawa, ON Ottawa Blues Fest
July 12 Highmount, NY Belleayre Mountain Ski Center
July 13 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
Sept. 12/13/14 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl

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Source: http://www.emigroup.com/Press/2008/press59.htm

Blondie album reissued with extras

Blondie breakthrough album reissued with extras

By Gary Graff

DETROIT (Billboard) - A super-sized reissue of Blondie's breakthrough album "Parallel Lines" to coincide with its 30th anniversary was not the band's idea, singer Debbie Harry says.

"It's really sort of traditional EMI behavior," she told Billboard.com with a laugh. "None of us really were counting the hours and the days or whatever."

The reissue will come out on June 24; Blondie will be on the road by then with a tour that begins June 5 in Baltimore.

The group -- which still includes founding members guitarist Chris Stein and drummer Clem Burke -- plans to play the album in its entirety.

"Parallel Lines," Blondie's third album, peaked at No. 6 during a 103-week run on the Billboard 200. The single "Heart of Glass," which Harry says she and guitarist Chris Stein wrote several years earlier, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "One Way or Another" made it to No. 24.

The album has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, but Harry was most pleased about its impact in the States.

"We'd had hits all over the world -- in Europe, in the U.K., in Australia," she says. "But having a hit at home after three years of being on the road was really, really important to us."

The reissue includes the 7-inch single version of "Heart of Glass," the French version of "Sunday Girl" and some remixes, as well as a DVD with promo videos and TV performances.

Reuters/Billboard

Green Day Issues Album As Foxboro Hot Tubs

By: Don Kaye

Green Day releases its new album on Tuesday (May 20th), except, of course, it's not under the name Green Day. Stop Drop and Roll arrives in stores as the debut disc from the Foxboro Hot Tubs, with the five-piece act consisting of the three core members of Green Day and two musician friends who have played on the punk trio's previous records. After months of rumors and the success of the unofficial single "Mother Mary," Green Day finally confirmed that they were the Hot Tubs last month, writing in an email to MTV, "We think that the only similarity (between the Hot Tubs and Green Day) is that we are the same band. That is basically the only similarity."

Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt plays in the Hot Tubs under his real name, Michael Pritchard, while drummer Tre Cool also uses his real name, Frank Edwin Wright III. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong is calling himself the Reverend Strychnine Twitch.

"The Pedestrian" is the latest single off Stop Drop and Roll. A vinyl version of the disc is scheduled for release on June 24th.

Green Day pulled this kind of stunt once before, releasing an album called Money Money 2020 in late 2003 under the name the Network.

There is no word on when Green Day will release the follow-up to its last official album, 2004's massively successful American Idiot.

The Foxboro Hot Tubs are currently on a brief tour that brings them to New Orleans on Tuesday night and finishes up on May 28th in Long Beach, California. The band is playing the entire new album live, along with some covers and a rare cut or two from Green Day and the Network.

Source: http://www.kbsradio.ca/news/music/87/721720