Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Classic Rock Videos

Rush - Limelight

New Vinyl Releases

Acid Mothers Temple: Glorify Astrological Martyrdom (vinyl)
Anathallo: Canopy Glow (vinyl)
Andrew Dost: Columbus (vinyl)
Bardo Pond: Gazing at Shilla (vinyl)
Bloodkin: Baby, They Told Us We Would Rise Again (vinyl)
Brian Jonestown Massacre: Smoking Acid EP (vinyl)
Busta Rhymes: Back on My B.S. (vinyl)
Carolina Chocolate Drops: Dona Got A Ramblin' Mind (vinyl reissue)
Elizabeth & the Catapult: Taller Children (vinyl)
Eminem: Relapse (vinyl)
Flipper: Public Flipper Limited (vinyl reissue)
Flower-Corsano Duo: The Four Aims (vinyl)
A Hawk and a Hacksaw: Deliverance (vinyl)
Heartless Bastards: The Mountain (vinyl)
Juan Maclean: One Day EP (vinyl)
Lindstrom & Prins Thomas: Lindstrom & Prins Thomas II (vinyl)
Manic Street Preachers: Journal for Plague Lovers (vinyl)
MF Doom: Born Like This (vinyl)
Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens: What Have You Done, My Brother? (vinyl)
Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (vinyl)
Public Image Ltd.: The Flowers of Romance (vinyl reissue)
Public Image Limited: Second Edition (vinyl reissue)
Sir Richard Bishop: The Freak of Araby (vinyl)
Various Artists: Not Given Lightly: A Tribute to Giant Golden Book of New Zealand's Alternative Music Scene (vinyl)
Vincent Minor: Born in the Wrong Era EP

Music News & Notes

McCartney & Dylan Together?

According to England's Daily Express, a duet between Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan is may come to pass. The pair are planning to go into the studio sometime over the summer.

A source said, "Paul has a home in California not too far from Bob's so the idea is for the two to meet when Paul is in California over the summer. They'll obviously want to work in privacy and it's felt one of their homes will be the best bet.

“Getting these two together for any length of time is difficult schedule-wise but they both want this to work out. The music that comes out of this will be fascinating to hear."

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Suzi Quatro is planning on recording a new album with Mike Champan

Chapman recently said:

"I always got on well with Suzi Quatro and had a long and successful friendship and collaboration with her. Suzi was the first real female rock and roll player...

We're about to start on a new project and I've said to her, 'Let's go back to basics - let's make a kick-ass record that has the same attitude that we had in 1971-2'."

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For Those Who Like Their Rock!

Australians proved that they love their beloved AC/DC by purchasing 500,000 tickets forthe band's concerts that are scheduled for February and March of 2010. That translates to about one out of every 40 people in the country now holding a ticket for the shows.

The sales set a new record for amount in one day with, at one point, 3,400 tickets being sold a minute. Additional shows had to be added in Sydney and Melbourne after the first dates sold out in ten minutes. Perth sold out in seven. For the love of rock and roll!

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Back To The 80's Hair Bands!


After rocking clubs from Los Angeles to New York City for more than a decade, Twisted Sister made its bones in 1984 with the quintet’s second Atlantic Records release, a Top 20 album that stormed the charts with a string of hit singles and genre-bending videos. Rhino proudly wears a Twisted Sister pin on its uniform, celebrating the album’s multi-platinum success with a 25th Anniversary Edition that includes a bonus disc of unreleased outtakes and early demos from the original sessions, as well as a new track recorded especially for this collection by the 1984 lineup: Dee Snider, Jay Jay French, Eddie Ojeda, Mark Mendoza, and A.J. Pero. STAY HUNGRY 25th Anniversary Edition will be available June 30 from Rhino Records at all retail outlets, including www.rhino.com, for a suggested list price of $19.98 (CD), $12.99 (digital).

A limited edition pink vinyl package with the original “Stay Hungry” album art and bonus poster will also be released this summer at the suggested retail price of $24.98.

The band is currently at work on a new album and a Broadway musical based on Twisted Christmas. Twisted Sister will headline the annual Rocklahoma music festival July 9-12 in Pryor, Oklahoma. Rock of Ages, Broadway’s latest musical hit with five Tony® nominations, features Twisted Sister prominently in its story line and with the band’s aforementioned iconic anthems, “I Wanna Rock” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

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Brooke Hogan’s Album Cover Art


Hogan has revealed her new album cover for her release 'The Redemption' and it is creating quite a buzz, some love it and some can't stand it. You be the judge....

Mr. Music

I am continuing our new feature: Ask "Mr. Music." Now in its 23rd year of syndication (1986-2008), Jerry Osborne's weekly Q&A feature will be a regular post every Wednesday from now on. Be sure to stop by Jerry's site (www.jerryosborne.com) for more Mr. Music archives, record price guides, anything Elvis, buy & sell collectibles, record appraisals and much more. I thank Jerry for allowing the reprints.


FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 18, 2009


DEAR JERRY: While in New York earlier this year we took in the most recent revival of “Grease.” Heading this cast was Max Crumm as Danny and Laura Osnes as Sandy.

While online researching the history of “Grease,” I found a Ral Donner biography with this interesting comment: “A classmate of Donner's [at Chicago's William Howard Taft High School] was Jim Casey, who wrote the original stage play for “Grease.”

Is this true? I have seen no mention of this anywhere else, not even in New York at the time of the show.

Can you tell this greaser more about Ral and a possible connection to Jim?
—Norman Parker, Carlisle, Pa.


DEAR NORMAN: There is more to this story than we have room for today, but here is the short version, as told to me by Donner.

About 30 years ago I produced an album featuring, among other acts, Ral Donner. For awhile in 1978 we were even business partners. At least one of our musical discussions centered on his days at Taft High, located in the Chicago community of Norwood Park where Ral was born.

There is one mistake in the comment you quote. Jim Casey is a combination of both “Grease” co-creators: Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. This duo created the book as well as all of the music used in the stage show.

“Grease” is set circa-1957, when Jacobs and Donner attended Taft. A decade later, he and New Yorker Warren Casey collaborated on a book and play based on Jim's high school memories. In 1971, “Grease” premiered in Chicago, then opened February 14, 1972 in Manhattan at the Eden Theatre.

Names used in the show vary from the real Tafties, but Ral, and his pal Michael Fee, revealed to me that each character and place in “Grease” is inspired by a real person or Norwood Park area location.

As for Ral Donner, he is depicted in “Grease” as Johnny Casino, played on Broadway for over 12 years by Alan Paul.

On April 6, 1984, Ral lost a four-year battle with lung cancer. At just 41, he died in his beloved Chicagoland.

DEAR JERRY: In 1955, Tennessee Ernie Ford hit No. 1 in the UK with “Give Me Your Word,” yet none of my reference books indicate this song made any of the U.S. charts. How unusual was it then for an American to have a No. 1 hit in the UK that failed to make any U.S. charts?
—Dennis Laudal, Grand Forks, N.D.


DEAR DENNIS: Ford's '50s feat is not common, but he is not unique in this regard.

To expand the parameters a bit, here is a chronological listing of ALL No. 1 UK hits for that decade that never appeared on any of the nationwide U.S. charts:

1953: “Broken Wings” (Stargazers); “(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window” (Lita Roza); “Look at That Girl” (Guy Mitchell); “Answer Me” (David Whitfield); “Answer Me” (Frankie Laine).

1954: “I See the Moon” (Stargazers); “Let's Have Another Party” (Winfred Atwell).

1955: “Finger of Suspicion” (Dickie Valentine); “Softly, Softly” (Ruby Murray); “Give Me Your Word” (Tennessee Ernie Ford); “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” (Eddie Calvert); “Unchained Melody” (Jimmy Young); “Dreamboat” (Alma Cogan); “The Man from Laramie” (Jimmy Young); “Hernando's Hideaway” (Johnson Brothers); “Christmas Alphabet” (Dickie Valentine).

1956: “Poor People of Paris” (Winfred Atwell); “No Other Love” (Ronnie Hilton); “Singing the Blues” (Tommy Steele); “The Garden of Eden” (Frankie Vaughan); “Cumberland Gap” (Lonnie Donegan); “Puttin' on the Style-Gamblin' Man” (Lonnie Donegan).

1958: “The Story of My Life” (Michael Holiday); “Hoots Mon” (Lord Rockingham's XI).

1959: “As I Love You” (Shirley Bassey); “Side Saddle” (Russ Conway); “Roulette” (Russ Conway); “Travellin' Light” (Cliff Richard); “What Do You Want” (Adam Faith); “What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?” (Emil Ford). Improbably though it is, the complete Adam Faith title is also the first four words of Emil Ford's hit. They were Britain's last two No. 1 hits of the 1950s.

The three Americans in this crowd are: Guy Mitchell; Frankie Laine; and Tennessee Ernie Ford.

Besides these three, several U.S. artists did extremely well with originals and/or cover versions of the following from the list above:

“(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window” (Patti Page); “Unchained Melody” (Les Baxter; Al Hibbler; Roy Hamilton); “Hernando's Hideaway” (Archie Bleyer); “Poor People of Paris” (Les Baxter); “Singing the Blues” (Guy Mitchell; Marty Robbins); “The Garden of Eden” (Joe Valino); and “The Story of My Life” (Marty Robbins).

On the transatlantic flip side, Vera Lynn (1952: “Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart”) and Laurie London (1958: “He's Got the Whole World [In His Hands]”) are the only Brits to top the U.S. charts in the '50s.

IZ ZAT SO? Attending Taft High School at the same time as Ral Donner and Jim Jacobs is actress Donna Mills.

Another Taftie, about three years behind the Donner party, is Terry Kath.

Terry, co-founder, guitarist, and frequent lead singer of the group Chicago, accidentally killed himself (January 23, 1978) while playing with a gun.

Copyright 2009 Osbourne Enterprises- Reprinted By Permission

Album Cover Art

I find this to be very interesting, it may set a precedent that we, who adore album cover art, will not be happy with. See all those race car drivers with ads all over their jackets and cars? Will album covers be treated as 'billboards' for products in the future? Will the greed by the record companies taint album cover art? I can see this coming in the future, God, I hope not, but it will be very interesting to see how this unfolds:

ReverbNation: You download music for free and we’ll pay the band

by Jodie Andrefski

ReverbNation just announced their plan to have 1000 of their artists to start participating in a new Sponsored Songs program. This program will actually pay the bands $0.50 each time one of their songs is downloaded for free by a user. Yup, you get it free and the band gets paid.

Now, of course the question is where does the money to pay the band come from? You guessed it. Ads. A small branded ad will be placed within the album cover art of each download. The value to the advertiser is that it is passed along in the embedded work as the song is passed along by fans via P2P. They want you to share the song with as many people as you like.

Michael Doernberg, CEO of ReverbNation, says “Traditionally the music business has been synonymous with the record business where the lion’s share of revenue came from selling music. With reduced emphasis on music sales, the music business must develop new revenue streams that leverage the artist as a brand.” Thus, their latest idea.

The first campaign will start the middle of June and run for 90 days. ReverbNation’s Band Equity Score and the fan demographic profiles will be used to figure out which artists out of their almost 400,000 will be invited to participate. Those who are accepted will provide songs and use ReverbNation’s marketing tools to help promote the downloads.

Now, is $0.50 per download going to be enough to get over what many may consider a band “selling out?” (Statements I’ve already seen bouncing around in response to the new campaign). Will this give the RIAA a kick in the pants to realize something has to be done and things have to change with how they are now?

Granted, established bands and artists make the vast majority of their money off of concert tickets and sales at shows. And just having their music heard by whatever means, is a good thing for them. It promotes concert ticket sales. It brings in new fans. But, for the indie artist, they don’t have packed stadiums. They don’t have people following them city to city and state to state, paying $80 a ticket to see them. So, something like this just may help to get their music out there and get it known…to give them the boost they need to get them to that next level.

SOURCE: http://www.gadgetell.com