New Music Releases - July 27, 2010

36 Crazyfists - Collisions & Castaways
Art of Noise - Influence: Best of Art of Noise

Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare Buy Avenged Sevenfold Here

Best Coast - Crazy for You [vinyl]
Billy Squire - Don't Say No (Remastered plus 2 live bonus tracks)
Blood, Sweat & Tears - Mirror Image / New City (2 CDs)
Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose
Brutal Truth - No Need to Control Re-Release
Buck Owens - Buck Owens: All Time Greatest Hits
Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey / Garvey's Ghost
Butcher Holler - Butcher Holler: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn
Cactus - Ultra Sonic Boogie: Live 1971
Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin - Love Devotion Surrender (Vinyl)
Charlie Louvin - Hickory Wind: Live at the Gram Parsons Guitar Pull
Charlotte - Medusa Groove
Chipmunks - Chipmunks: All Time Greatest Hits
Christopher Willits - Tiger Flower Circle Sun
Clyde McPhatter - Lover Please: The Complete MGM & Mercury Singles
Cruel Hand - Lock & Key
Cut Chemist - Sound Of The Police [vinyl]
Dave Mason - Mariposa De Oro / Old Crest on a New Wave
David Bromberg - Wanted Dead Or Alive / Midnight on the Water
Dean & Britta - 13 Most Beautiful… Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests
Decrepit Birth - Polarity
Delaney & Bonnie - On Tour with Eric Clapton (4 CDs) (Rhino Handmade Exclusive Release)
Die Antwoord - 5 EP
Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis (box set)
Dru Hill - Indrupendence Day
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - High Voltage (2 CDs)
Eminem - Recovery [vinyl]
Eric Carmen - Eric Carmen / Boats Against the Current / Change of He
Eric Gales - Relentless
everyBoy - The Last Lala's
Fat Joe - Dark Side
Foreigner - Can't Slow Down (2 LPs)
Futurebirds - Hampton's Lullaby
George Thorogood & the Destroyers - Live in Boston 1982
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five - Kings of The Streets: Definitive Collection (2 CDs)
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five - The Message (Expanded Edition)
Heart - WTF (Single)
Insidious Disease - Shadowcast
Jaill - That's How We Burn [mp3] [vinyl]
Jerry Castle - Don't Even Ask
Jesca Hoop - Hunting My Dress
Jesu - Lifeline EP [vinyl]
Jimmy Edgar - XXX
Journey - Look Into The Future / Next
Judy Collins - Bread & Roses
Judy Collins - Christmas at the Biltmore
Judy Collins - Fifth Album
Judy Collins - Home Again
Judy Collins - In My Life
Judy Collins - Running For My Life
Judy Collins - Times of Our Lives
Judy Collins - True Stories & Other Dreams
Judy Collins - Whales & Nightingales
Kate & Anna McGarrigle - The McGarrigle Hour [vinyl]
Kimberly Caldwell [American Idol] - Without Regret
King Crimson - Collectable King Crimson, Volume 5
King James - The Fall Re-Release
Kinks - Give the People What They Want (reissue)
Kinks - Low Budget (reissue)
Kinks - Misfits (reissue)
Kinks - One for the Road (reissue)
Kinks - Schoolboys in Disgrace (reissue)
Kinks - Sleepwalker (reissue)
Kinks - Soap Opera (reissue)
Kinks - State of Confusion (reissue)
Kinks - Word of Mouth (reissue)
Lachi - Lachi
Loudness - Best of Loudness 8688: Atlantic Years
Loudon Wainwright III - 10 Songs for the New Depression
Madlib - Medicine Show No. 7: High Jazz (Yesterday's New Quintet) [vinyl]
Magic Slim - Legend of the Blues, Vol. 1 & 2
Major Lazer - Lazers Never Die EP
Manhattans - Black Tie / Love Talk
Mark Olson - Many Colored Kite [vinyl]
Masada String Trio - Zorn: Haborym: The Book of Angels Vol 16
Matt Pond PA - The Dark Leaves [vinyl ]
Melissa Manchester - Melissa / Better Days & Happy Endings
Melvin Van Peebles - Brer Soul
Menomena - Double Seven Inch [vinyl]
Menomena - Mines
Merle Haggard - Amber Waves of Grain / Kern River
Michael Sarver - Michael Sarver
Miniature Tigers - Fortress [mp3] [vinyl
Mystery Jets - Serotonin [vinyl]
Pete Seeger - Tomorrow's Children
Proghma-C - Bar-do Travel
Propaganda - Secret Wish: 25th Anniversary (2 CDs)
RPA & United Nations Of Sound [The Verve's Richard Ashcroft] - RPA & United Nations Of Sound
Raydio - Raydio / Rock On
Red Wanting Blues - These Magnificent Miles
Renaissance - Scheherazade & Other Stories (CD) + Filmed At Mill House & Bray Studios 1979 (DVD)
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band - Live at the Greek Theatre 2008
Robert Cray Band - Cookin' in Mobile (CD/DVD)
Robert Randolph & The Family Band - We Walk This Road [vinyl]
Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs [vinyl reissue]
Savannah Jo Lack - Knitting Songs
Seu Jorge - Seu Jorge And Almaz [vinyl]
Shimmies - To All Beloved Enemies
Sky Sailing - An Airplane Carried Me to Bed
Slum Village - Villa Manifesto
Social Studies - Wind Up Wooden Heart
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand the Weather (remastered with bonus disc)
Sugarhill Gang - 30th Anniversary (2 CDs)
Sugarhill Gang - Rhythm & Rhymes- Definitve Collection (2 CDs)
The Robert Cray Band - Cookin' in Memphis
Tim Easton - Live at Water Canyon
Tom Jones - Praise and Blame
Tony Da Gartorra vs. Gruff Rhys -The Terror Of Cosmic Loneliness
Various Artists - Babylon Central (soundtrack)
Various Artists - Beginners Guide to Cumbia
Various Artists - Get Low (soundtrack)
Various Artists - Let Me Tell You About The Blues: West Coast (3 CDs)
Various Artists - Sugar Hill Rap Classics: Pioneers of Hip-Hop (2 CDs)
Various Artists - This Is Southern Rock
Young Galaxy - Invisible Republic

Buy All Your New Vinyl Here:





Upcoming New Jazz Releases - July 27, 2010

Adrian Iaies Trio - Child's Smile
Al Cohn - Four Classic Albums
Al Di Meola - Splendido Hotel/Electric Rendevous
Anita O'Day - Anita Sings The Most/The Lady Is A Tramp
Anja Lechner W / Metrop / Dino Saluzzi - El Encuentro
Antonio Sanchez - Live In New York At Jazz Standard
Big Town Playboys - Roll The Dice
Blossom Dearie - Four Classic LPS
Bwana If - 31
Cab Calloway - We Cats Can Hep You
Cafe Bossa - Cafe Bossa Vol. 3-Cafe Bossa
Chico Hamilton - Chico Hamilton Quintet/In Hi-Fi/Chico Hamilton Trio
Chie Sugiyama - Meets Benny Green
Chris Dean - Once Upon A Time
Cleo Laine & John Dankworth - Three Early LP's & More
Courtney Pine - Journey To The Urge Within
Dizzy Gillespie - Four Classic Albums
Eartha Kitt - Four Classic Albums
Ella Fitzgerald - One Side Of Me
Evelyn Laye - Queen Of Musical Comedy
Food - Quiet Inlet
Freddy Gardner - Essential Collection
Fusion Flavours-20th Anniversary Edition - Fusion Flavours-20th Anniversary Edition
Gabor Szabo - Jazz Raga
Gen Ken Montgomery - Birds & Machines
Gerry Hemingway - Old Dogs
Gerry Mulligan - Three Classic Albums Plus
Gilberto Gil - Fe Na Festa
Glenn Miller - We're Still In Love
Henry "Red" Allen - Four Classic Albums Plus
Incognito - Transatlantic RPM
Instroville-Hits & Rarities From The Golden Age Of - Instroville-Hits & Rarities From The Golden Age Of
Janko Nilovic - Rythmes Contemporains
Jeff Steinberg - Romance In Tuscany
Jessica Walker - A Quiet Girl
Jimmy Giuffre - Jimmy Giuffre/Jimmy Giuffre 3/Tangents In Jazz/Historic Jazz
John Coltrane - Bags & Trane
John Lewis & The Modern Jazz Quartet - Lewis,John & The Modern Jazz Quartet Vol. 2four Classic Albums
Johnny Dankworth & His Orchestra - Too Cool For The Blues
Lena Horne - Performance
Les Baxter - African Jazz/Jungle Jazz
Lionel Hampton - Three Classic LPS
Marcus Johnson - This Is How I Rock
Matthew Shipp - Creation Out Of Nothing: Live In Moscow
Mike Phillips - MP3
Miles Davis - Miles In The Movies
Modern Jazz Quartet - Modern Jazz Quartet/Django/Fontessa
Mop Mop - Ritual Of The Savage
Mose Allison - Way Of World
Muggsy Spanier - Essential Collection
Nat "King" Cole - Essential Collection
Nat Gonella - Confessin
Norfolk & Western - Dinero Severo
Ornette Coleman - Something Else
Pat Kirkwood - Unforgettable Pat Kirkwood
Rachel Pennell - Bare 'N' Blue
Ralph Alessi - Cognitive Dissonance
Rpa & The United Nations Of So - United Nations Of Sound
Rpa & The United Nations Of Sound - United Nations Of Sound
Sam Levine - Smooth Worship
Scott Colley - Empire
Sidney Bechet - Essential Collection
Soft Machine - Softs
Sonny Rollins - Bridge
Sonny Rollins - Four Classic Albums
Stan Getz - Three Classic LPS
Syd Orchestra Lawrence - Re: Generation
Syd Orchestra Lawrence - Strictly Big Band
Syd Orchestra Lawrence - Salute To Glenn Miller
Teddy Sexte Charles - On Campus
Thelonious Monk - Four Classic Albums
Tommy Dorsey - Irish American Trombone

Reissues
Hi-Lo's - Listen!
John Coltrane - Coltrane's Sound
Ornette Coleman - Tomorrow Is The Question!

Special thanks to http://www.allaboutjazz.com/  for New Release information. The Upcoming Release Center at allaboutjazz.com is the most comprehensive new release listing for jazz music on the internet. The information is updated biweekly by John Kelman

New releases put together from a variety of online sources by Robert Benson - http://collectingvinylrecords.blogspot.com/  

Have new music for the list? Email me at rbenson30@wi.rr.com  

Record collectors keep Valley's passion for vinyl alive

Special thanks to author Crystal Olvera of The Monitor (www.themonitor.com) for the exclusive rights and permission to reprint this interesting article.


As CD sales continue to fall and music giants like Tower Records are all but a memory, there’s an unexpected medium that is slowly rising from the dead: vinyl.

According to Nielsen Soundscan, vinyl sales sky-rocketed, surpassing sales of the previous year by a whopping 89 percent in. Although the pace slowed in 2009, Vinyl sales were still up 33 percent from the previous year.

Whether it’s people feeling a little nostalgic, or just a trend, vinyl’s return to popularity has brought longtime collectors out of the woodworks and into the business market.

Independent music shops are popping up in the Rio Grande Valley to help baby boomers rediscover their love for the old school and introduce a new generation to a music medium that’s been brought back to life.

FRANK’S RECORD SHOP

123 E. Jackson St., Harlingen | (956) 245-9777

Tony Ramirez sits at a wooden table on the third floor of what used to be the Palm Hotel in Downtown Harlingen, overlooking Jackson Street. The third floor is equipped with a pool table, a bar and a smorgasbord of pop culture memorabilia. With a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of Shiner Bock in the other, Ramirez talks about the significance of Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction,” how The Beatles’ mop tops changed rock ‘n’ roll and why he prefers the sound of a classic vinyl record over a CD any day.

“A CD is perfection,” said Ramirez as he takes a swig of his beer. “A record is used, scratched, and it takes you back to the club, back to the concert — because bands, musicians, they don’t play perfectly. A CD is pristine, but there’s nothing pristine in music.”

Having spent the past 50 years collecting records, Ramirez is a rock ‘n’ roll relic with expertise in classic rock that could arguably rival any modern music historian. He spent much of his life as an English instructor at the University of Texas at Brownsville, Texas A&I Kingsville and South Texas College, but also dabbled in disc jockeying and record collecting, finally retiring to open Frank’s Record Shop with his daughter Shannon.

“He’s the beauty, and I’m the brains,” Shannon jokes.

Ramirez and his wife June purchased the Palm Hotel nearly 20 years ago and converted the first floor into an antique shop and record store. They made the second and third floors their home.

Shannon recalls the slow metamorphosis of her father’s collection from merely a fun project into something out of control.

“He just wanted to sit around, listen to music and drink beer,” Shannon said. “It started off as just a hobby, but it turned into a monster.”

Tony’s shop is currently the largest vinyl shop in the Valley. He offers every popular musical genre you can think of along with CDs, cassettes, antique knives and coins. He began collecting records as a 12-year-old paperboy in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s.

“My first album was Big John,” said Ramirez. “I bought it for 39 cents because I couldn’t afford the full-length albums.”

With the advent of CD players and cassettes, he said he spent much of the ‘80s in flea markets buying up the vinyl albums many people were abandoning. But he doesn’t blame vinyl’s demise on new technology.

“Vinyl died because no one was selling record players,” said Ramirez. “They stopped selling them and stopped selling the parts to fix them.”

But Shannon begs to differ.

“The ‘80s was about keeping up with the Joneses,” said Shannon about people’s obsession with new technology. “But vinyl never died. People kept their vinyls and stuck them in closets or hid them under their beds.”

The father and daughter team have partnered with Victor Cantu of Valley Vinyls in McAllen. Both stores work together to help customers find whatever they’re looking for, be it Kitty Wells or Iron Maiden.

Ramirez said he takes pride in owning a “mom-and-pop” store. He invites shoppers to bring in their own vinyl records to sell or spin on the shop’s record player. He spends much of his time chatting about music with customers and telling stories — like the one about how his copy of Marvin Gaye’s Soulful Mood met an untimely death on the floor of his house. The record was worth $800.

“I can’t compete with volume,” says Ramirez of the large corporate-owned music outlets. “But I can compete with personality.”

Ramirez is also happy a new generation is discovering music through vinyl. He equates vinyl records with the stories and lessons passed on from generation to generation.

“Vinyl records are memories. They were meant to last forever,” Ramirez explains.

VALLEY VINYLS

2201 N. 10th St. Suite I, McAllen (Inside the Petite Mall) | (956) 928-1005

Twenty-one-year-old Bianca Cantu sifts through a crate of records labeled “P” at Valley Vinyls, inside The Petite Mall on 10th Street in McAllen. She pulls out Prince and The Revolution’s Purple Rain album.

“It’s only worth something if you get the double set, which is a regular black vinyl and a purple vinyl,” she said. She goes on to explain the importance of an orange label on a Jimi Hendrix album, and that anything by the Beatles is a good buy.

Bianca has slowly become a connoisseur of vinyl and she’s learned from the best. Her father, Victor Cantu, raised his kids on Kiss, The Beatles, Janis Joplin and most classic rock from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Victor said it was always a dream of his to open a record store, and after partnering up with Tony Ramirez of Frank’s Record Shop in Harlingen, he decided to take the leap last October.

Since then, he’s never looked back. His store, which began with only a handful of crates, is now overflowing with music. Cardboard sleeves filled with classical music lie behind the counter and a sea of 45s hides underneath tables covered with rock, jazz, Spanish language, hip-hop and pop records.

Winter Texan shoppers in search of older fare by the likes of Trini Lopez, Frank Sinatra and Liberace are Victor’s usual clientélè but he’s seeing a larger number of young people who have become interested in record collecting.

“We see 16-year-olds in here buying Janis Joplin and Grand Funk Railroad,” Victor said. “I’m standing there thinking, ‘Do you know who this is?’”

Victor said he doesn’t know the exact number of records in his home collection anymore, but he estimates it’s about 10,000.

“The first record I got was Kiss Alive!” said Victor, wearing a pair of John Lennon-style sunglasses and an AC/DC shirt as he sits on a mall bench just outside the shop. He was just a preteen in the seventh grade. “Ever since then I was hooked.”

Why has he stuck with vinyl all this time?

“There’s nothing like a vinyl record – opening the sleeve up and looking inside,” Victor said. “With a CD, it’s not the same. Digital has a quieter sound. You don’t hear the Rice Krispies you hear on a vinyl when you pick up the volume,” Ramirez said referring to the common crackling sound on a vinyl record. “Vinyl makes you feel like you’re in the room with the band.”

Victor’s love for vinyl and classic musical formats has prevailed over decades of technological developments. He says vinyl can stand the test of time and blames convenience for the downfall of CDs, cassettes and eight-tracks.

“CDs are disposable, and they’re easily damaged because you’re always taking them everywhere. Vinyls you can’t take anywhere,” Victor said. Portable devices allow for more carelessness, like leaving cassettes in hot cars, he added.

“Vinyls are more like keepsakes that you can pass down to your children.”

But he isn’t completely against new technology. He still has an eight-track player in his truck, which he uses regularly.

“I’m old school,” he confesses.

HAVOK RECORDS

416 N. 10th St. Suite 4 (Next to The Gallery) | (956) 627-2742

What do Radiohead’s OK Computer, Lady Gaga’s The Fame and the Twilight Soundtrack have in common? Besides being some of the most popular albums on the planet, they can also be found in vinyl form at Havok Records on 10th Street in McAllen. Apart from a corner of crates with used records of yesteryear, hundreds of newly packaged 12-inch sleeves glisten on the stores’ shelves. Havok Records is filled with the latest punk, rock and even hip-hop and pop records of today.

Owner, Orlie Ozuna, hails from a new generation of record collectors. Unlike most vinyl addicts, The 31-year-old wasn’t around for the first pressing of The Beatles’ Abby Road or Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced. He was, however, born a music lover and his interest in vinyl grew from his love of punk rock. He bought his first album, a seven-inch NOFX record, in his early 20s.

After finding success as a licensed contractor, he saved enough money to open up his own record store with the help of his friend Abel Herrera. The shop sells record players and accessories, T-shirts, skate decks and other novelties. He said business has picked up since the store opened in February.

Punk-wise, the most popular artists customers look for are NOFX, 7 Seconds, Propagandi and Fugazi, while rock lovers seek classic records by The Beach Boys or contemporary artists like Depeche Mode and Radiohead, Ozuna said.

He believes that collecting vinyl is simply more fun than collecting CDs because the LPs offer larger album art and lyric sheets. Ozuna’s home collection is now made up of nearly 600 albums. But Ozuna said they weren’t easy to find. Much of his own catalog was attained from scouring bigger cities like Austin and San Antonio and winning auctions on eBay.

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” Ozuna said. “Many people go giving their records away not knowing what they have. The search in itself is quite exciting.”

The vinyl industry has also evolved to accommodate today’s techno-savvy buyers by offering ways for purchasers to place digital copies of albums on their iPods or CDs. Many newly released LPs offer coupons or download cards to allow buyers to download albums in Mp3 format for free.

“There are (new) record players with USB cables, which are universal that can connect to any desktop or laptop (computer),” Ozuna said. “Software is usually included, and it’s a matter of installing software and having your laptop recognize the record player. You can pretty much convert all your vinyl to mp3s.”



THE MOST VALUABLE VINYL RECORDS

The value of vinyl records will change over time and vary according to what region of the world you’re in, but these three albums are commonly listed as the most valuable.

John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Double Fantasy (Geffen US Album, 1980) - This copy of the album was autographed by Lennon five hours before he was assassinated by Mark David Chapman. It’s valued at $525,000.

The Quarrymen – “That’ll Be the Day”/”In Spite Of All The Danger” (UK 78 RPM, Acetate in plain sleeve, 1958) - There was only one copy pressed of this album by The Quarrymen, a band which would later become The Beatles, and Paul McCartney owns it. Value: $180,000

The Beatles – Yesterday and Today (Capitol, U.S. Album in ‘butcher’ sleeve, 1966) Value: $38,500. The album, which features the Fab Four posing with pieces of meat, fake blood and baby doll parts, was pulled after an outcry from retailers.

Viva ELVIS - The Album To Be Released November 2010

Legacy Recordings Celebrates Elvis' 75th Birthday Year with a New Studio Work Inspired by Viva ELVIS by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas

NEW YORK, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Legacy Recordings, in cooperation with Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. and Viva ELVIS by Cirque du Soleil at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, proudly announces the release of Viva ELVIS - The Album, a 21st century celebration of Elvis and his music, featuring the voice of the King in a whole new context. Viva ELVIS - The Album will be available everywhere this November. For more information, please visit http://www.vivaelvis.com/

The undisputed King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley remains one of the most iconic and powerful forces in popular culture. "Before Elvis," said John Lennon, "there was nothing."

After Elvis, the world looked and sounded different. With a swivel of his hips and the power of his voice, Elvis broke down barriers and shattered the status quo, revolutionizing the worlds of music, film and fashion while signaling a seismic shift in gender, class, race, and generational relationships.

The Elvis revolution continues with Viva ELVIS - The Album.

The postmodern studio masterwork invokes the spirit and essence of Elvis from a contemporary perspective while furthering the revolutionary impulses of Elvis' sound. Viva ELVIS - The Album re-imagines the king's own vocal performances in a broad variety of new musical settings. This new sound echoes Elvis' own versatility and ability to master all music genres, from Delta blues to rockabilly, from raw soul to gospel, from Southern folk to Vegas pop, while incorporating elements of garage rock, punk, urban and hip-hop.

"Viva ELVIS is a tantalizing musical experience," said Adam Block, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Legacy Recordings. "It's so creative and so contemporary, it effortlessly places Elvis in a current context that appeals to fans of all ages and all kinds of music. There's a freshness, a newness to these songs that grabs you and shakes you and ultimately testifies to the remarkable artist Elvis remains to this very day."

"What would the songs of Elvis be like if he were doing them for the first time today?" asks the album's producer and arranger Erich van Tourneau, Musical Director and Arranger for Viva ELVIS by Cirque du Soleil. "We set out to evoke the soul and spirit of Elvis Presley while building a bridge between his music and future generations of fans."

When working on the music for Viva ELVIS, van Tourneau -- aided by Hugo Bombardier, Assistant Producer and Assistant Arranger on Viva ELVIS - The Album -- spent more than 3,000 hours reviewing countless albums, films, concert recordings, interviews and home recordings of Elvis. More than 17,000 samples of Elvis' songs – the raw material for the show – were made during the process.

Working with tens of thousands of samples of Elvis' voice, van Tourneau and Bombardier often wove several sequences and sounds into the same songs, sometimes changing details such as the key and tempo. In creating Viva ELVIS - The Album, van Tourneau was looking to accentuate and boost the emotional charge of the songs with the incorporation of ragga, punk or hip-hop elements into classic recordings. In all cases, however, the goal was to respect and understand the essence of the original recordings.

In celebration of all eras of Elvis' musical genius, Viva ELVIS - The Album includes songs from Elvis' rise to fame in the '50s, his movie soundtracks, his triumphant return to the stage in the "'68 Special," and his ground-breaking appearances in Las Vegas. "Burning Love," "Suspicious Minds," "Blue Suede Shoes" and "It's Now or Never" are among the songs that have been re-imagined and transformed for Viva ELVIS - The Album.

The first opportunity to hear a sample from this ground-breaking album will take place during Elvis Week in Memphis on Saturday, August 14, during the event "Conversations on Elvis."

Viva ELVIS by Cirque du Soleil, a harmonious fusion of dance, acrobatics and live music, opened earlier this year in a specially designed 1,800 seat theater at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. A tribute to the life and music of Elvis Presley, Viva ELVIS focuses on the essential humanity of the one superstar whose name will forever be linked with the history of Las Vegas: Elvis Presley. Significant moments in his life – intimate, playful and grandiose – blend with timeless songs that remain as relevant today as when they first hit the top of the charts.

Viva ELVIS - The Album is a 21st century venue for rock's first and biggest superstar. The King's Music Lives!

* * * * *

About Elvis Presley Enterprises

Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. is based in Memphis, with additional offices in Los Angeles. In addition to Graceland and its related attractions in Memphis, including the Heartbreak Hotel, EPE is aggressively involved in a worldwide licensing program, merchandising, music publishing, and television, film, video and Internet projects. For more information on EPE and Graceland, visit www.elvis.com. EPE is a subsidiary of CKX, Inc. (www.ckx.com), a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ Global Market® under the ticker symbol CKXE.

About Cirque du Soleil

From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a major international organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. Since its founding, Cirque du Soleil has thrilled over 100 million spectators in close to 300 cities on five continents. In Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil has a privileged partnership with MGM Resorts International to create and present unique and innovative productions. In addition to Viva ELVIS, these productions include Mystere™ at Treasure Island, "O™" at Bellagio, Zumanity™ the Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil at New York-New York Hotel & Casino™, KA™ at MGM Grand, The Beatles™ LOVE™ and CRISS ANGEL Believe™ at Luxor. For more information, visit the Cirque du Soleil website at www.cirquedusoleil.com/lasvegas.

About Legacy Recordings

The multiple Grammy-winning Legacy Recordings, Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division, produces and maintains the world's foremost catalog of historic reissues, an unparalleled compendium of thousands of digitally re-mastered archival titles representing virtually every musical genre including popular, rock, jazz, blues, R&B, folk, country, gospel, Broadway musicals, movie soundtracks, ethnic, world music, classical, comedy and more.

http://www.vivaelvis.com/

http://www.legacyrecordings.com/


SOURCE Legacy Recordings

Music News & Notes

Billy Corgan Collapses On Stage

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan collapsed on stage during a Florida concert last Thursday night. The singer fell down while performing the bands's hit, "Bullet with Butterfly Wings."

Corgan explained the fall on Twitter: "That wasn't a stage move or clumsiness. That was me blacking out and wiping out. I have no memory of falling against the drum riser and my guitar cabinet, but I can tell you I've got quite a good bruise [and] am moving slow."

- Andrew Vaughan of Gibson.com

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Gary Numan Box Set

The Vinyl 180 has announced a Gary Numan box set containing "Replicas" and "The Pleasure Principle" as well as the brand new release of the self titled debut album from Tubeway Army and a bonus disc, "The Plan."

If you're thinking "Hang on... I've already bought the other Gary Numan re-issues", don't panic! "Tubeway Army" is available as a special deluxe edition with the presentation box and The Plan so collectors won't find that they have to buy copies of albums they already own. The boxes are very limited however, with only 500 copies being available worldwide.

The Vinyl 180 label produces new vinyl editions of classic 80's post-punk albums, remastered from original analogue tapes and pressed onto 180g heavyweight vinyl to capture the warmth and depth of sound that currently only vinyl can offer... just as they were meant to be heard. All releases are packaged in deluxe gatefold sleeves on heavyweight cardboard stock. The titles are distributed domestically through ADA. - http://www.vinyl180.com/

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KISS – Sings THE BEATLES

TMD unearths a rare audio clip from 1990 of legendary rock act KISS doing an interview in a New York City rehearsal studio right before the start of the band’s infamous “Hot In The Shade” tour. At the start of the clip is Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons trying their hand at some classic songs by THE BEATLES. The first one is “Help!” and the second is “Please Please Me”. In the KISS lineup at this point in time was Bruce Kulick on lead guitar and the late great Eric Carr on drums.



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Official Cover Art and Tracklisting for Usher's 'Versus' Revealed

Aceshowbiz : A month before "Versus" is released, Usher unleashes official cover art and tracklisting.

The artwork features a side-look at him wearing sunglasses, and the tracklisting reveals nine songs, including a remixed version of Justin Bieber's "Somebody to Love".

The lead single is a floor-filler "DJ Got Us Fallin In Love" which features Pitbull. Another song which has been embraced by music fans is titled "Get in My Car" which has Usher teaming with Bun B. Also lending their vocal in this extended play are Jay-Z and Ciara.

Usher will drop "Versus" in United States on August 24, less than 6 months after his new album "Raymond vs. Raymond" was released. There is no particular reason explained on why he rushes another set but it might have something to do with "Raymond" success.



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AC/DC Celebrating 30th Anniversary Of 'Back In Black'

On July 25, 1980, AC/DC released "Back In Black" in the U.S., followed by the album's U.K. release on July 31. It was the band's first album without lead singer Bon Scott, who had died a few months earlier after passing out and choking on his own vomit following a long night of drinking.

The group quickly decided to press on and hired Brian Johnson from the band GEORDIE to take over on vocals, and they headed to the Bahamas for about six weeks to do the album. AC/DC had made some serious headway in America before Scott's death, but no one knew how "Back In Black" would be received. The album took off, and eventually sold over 21 million copies in the U.S.

Johnson told The Pulse of Radio that he didn't have a clue how successful "Back In Black" would turn out to be. "I'd just melted me brain in there, and I didn't know if it was good or bad," he said. "That was the first time I'd been in the Bahamas, anyway, or near America, you know, and you (have to) remember, I was just fascinated by the whole culture and all, and I had no idea what the hell I was doing! And (laughs) lucky, really — I was a bit lucky, I think."

"Back In Black" included the singles "You Shook Me All Night Long", which peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Back In Black", which peaked at No. 37.

Despite its massive success, it never got higher than No. 4 on the album charts. The band's next album, "For Those About To Rock", reached No. 1.

"Back In Black" is tied for fifth place with BILLY JOEL's "Greatest Hits Vols I & II" on the list of the biggest selling albums in the U.S.

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