Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

‘Let It Bleed’ Cover Art Up for Sale

The original cover artwork for 'Let It Bleed,' the Rolling Stones album that has been described as having one of the greatest covers of all time, is for sale at the next Entertainment Memorabilia auction at Bonham’s in London on December 15th. The artwork is estimated to sell for £30,000-40,000, or roughly $47,000 to $62,500.

In 1969, Keith Richards commissioned his close friend Robert Brownjohn to design the cover. It depicts a surreal sculpture made by Mr. Brownjohn, a cake with garish icing in the background and the band itself in the form of wedding cake-style topping figures, which was made by then unknown celebrity chef Delia Smith. Ms. Smith was instructed by Mr. Brownjohn to create a cake that was over-the-top and gaudy.

“We expect there to be a lot of interest from Stones’ fans around the globe,” said Stephanie Connell, Bonham’s head of Entertainment Memorabilia. “Let It Bleed”was one of the first albums I bought – I am a huge fan of the Rolling Stones so it is really exciting to be able to offer the artwork for this iconic design.”

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fantastic read from the uk, where vinyl is doing very well!

Mike keeps on spinning 25 years on!

by Andy Newport, Paisley Daily Express

FOR 25 years, record shop boss Mike Dillon has been hitting the right note with Buddies by flogging them all the latest hits and hard-to-find classics.

From early beginnings in a tiny shop on Johnston Street to his flagship store 100 yards round the corner on Causeyside Street, The Record Factory became a Paisley mecca for the town’s music buffs.

Now his business is proving to be a chart topper with fans from across the world after he launched a successful internet site project that serves customers from Renfrew to Russia and Linwood to Las Vegas.

Read the rest of this interesting story at paisleydailyexpress.co.uk

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and in the united states, one man's obsession with vinyl will be of interest to collectors (can't wait to see what they do next!)

Soul Step Records creator loves the sounds of music recorded on old-fashioned vinyl

By Mark Boxley

For Melvin Dillon there is something about the physical recreation of recorded sound that you can only get from a vinyl record.

Sitting in his Lexington apartment, surrounded by framed record covers and a wall filled with shelves of vinyl, Dillon explained how his love of records resulted in the creation of Soul Step Records, a local company that releases vinyl-only recordings of independent artists.

The idea of finding bands that wouldn’t otherwise be able to release their albums hit him in July and by August Dillon had signed on his first band — Chicago-based Scattered Trees. A musician himself in a different lifetime, something like Soul Step Records is “what I would have liked to happen to me when I was an artist,” he said.

Read the rest at kyforward.com

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cool cover art!

CROM To Release 'Of Love And Death' This Week

"Of Love And Death", the second full-length album from CROM — the German "epic metal" band led by former DARK FORTRESS guitarist Walter "Crom" Grosse — will be released on November 25 via Pure Steel Records. The follow-up to 2008's "Vengeance" was produced by Grosse himself, and engineered by Victor Bullok (a.k.a. V. Santura) at the latter's At The Crypt Studios.

Read more at our friends at Blabbermouth















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Pythia Announces New Album

Pythia have recently revealed the details of the band's second album 'The Serpent's Curse,' which is scheduled to be released on February 27th, 2012 via Golden Axe via Genepool/Universal in the UK. Just in time for Christmas, Pythia will release an advance single, "Betray My Heart," on the 19th of December on an extremely limited edition colored vinyl 7", with a remixed version appearing on the B-side, and as a CD/digital download.

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Preview: Elvis Country: Legacy Edition - Elvis Presley

Artist: Elvis Presley
Title: Elvis Country: Legacy Edition
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Label: RCA/Legacy
Format(s): CD, DD

RCA/Legacy continues their series of releases of music from important phases of Elvis Presley's career with Elvis Country: Legacy Edition. The two-CD set will be available January 3.

Elvis Country, originally released in 1971, sees the singer return to his Nashville roots, covering some of country's greatest songs. Writer Stuart Colman calls the original Elvis Country "a pivotal release, in that it served to maintain the momentum generated by the '68 Comeback Special, the breakthrough in Las Vegas and Elvis Presley's long overdue return to touring." Colman, a veteran British rock musician since the '60s, is also a prolific album notes writer and compilation producer, with a special interest in roots rock, rockabilly, and early R&B

Read more at our friends at vintagevinylnews.com

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Thrice Announce Hiatus

Yesterday, in a statement on their official website, Thrice announced they will be taking a break from being a full-time band. With three little girls under the age of 5 at home, singer/guitarist Dustin Kensrue says he is needed at home.

Formed in 1998, Thrice has released eight studio albums with the latest, 'Major/Minor,' hitting stores this past summer. Before the hiatus, the Southern California band will embark on a tour in support of 'Major/Minor' next spring.

Read what Kensrue wrote on the band's website at noisecreep.com

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album cover art of the day:

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's 'American Capitalist' To Be Made Available With New Artwork

Starting this Tuesday, November 22, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH fans will be able to get the brand new cover art for the band's current album, "American Capitalist". It features an illustration of the group's ubiquitous "mascot," Knucklehead, over the backdrop of Times Square in New York City.

"We are the people's band, and a lot of fans really liked this alternative artwork we had on the tour posters," explains guitarist Zoltan Bathory. "So many times we heard, 'THAT should be the album coverm' so we figured we'd make it happen. If you like the original cover, that's cool, too — I guess the original will be somewhat of a limited item from now on, so there you go."

The new Knucklehead illustration will only replace the regular edition album version of "American Capitalist", while the deluxe edition artwork will remain the same.

Read more at our friends at Blabbermouth







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A389 Recordings Founder on Success, Moshing and Vinyl Collectors

by Carlos Ramirez

With almost 100 releases under its belt, A389 Recordings will be celebrating its 8th anniversary in grand fashion. On Jan. 21 at The Sonar Compound in Baltimore, MD, A389 will be throwing itself a birthday concert that will feature performances from the likes of Eyehategod, Integrity, Weekend Nachos, and many more artists. Founded by Pulling Teeth guitarist Domenic Romeo, the A389 is one of the most respected indie labels in the hardcore, punk and underground metal communities.

"I started the label in 2004 to help out my friends' bands out.......

Read the rest at noisecreep.com

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Leonard Cohen to Release New Album - OLD IDEAS - on Columbia Records on Jan. 31, 2012

LAUDED POET'S FIRST STUDIO ALBUM IN EIGHT YEARS IS LATEST IN AN ESTEEMED CAREER SPANNING SIX DECADES

NEW YORK, Nov. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- OLD IDEAS, an album by Leonard Cohen, will be released by Columbia Records on January 31, 2012.

The album's ten songs poetically address some of the most profound quandaries of human existence - the relationship to a transcendent being, love, sexuality, loss and death. Arguably the most overtly spiritual of the revered artist's albums, OLD IDEAS inspires commitment to a greater sense of compassion and decency. OLD IDEAS is available for preorder now at www.LeonardCohen.com where his song, "Show Me The Place" is also streaming. Fans who pre-order will receive an instant download of the new song.

While the recording of OLD IDEAS began in earnest in January 2011, many of the new songs and their lyrics have been in the works for years. Early versions of two album tracks, "Amen" and "Lullaby" were originally recorded in 2007, while early versions of "Lullaby" and " The Darkness" were performed live during Cohen's recently concluded, sold-out world tour.

Fans were given another hint of what to expect when Cohen made remarks as the recipient of the Principe de Asturias Prize for literature in Spain in October.

"As I grew older, I understood that instructions came with this voice. And the instructions were these...Never to lament casually. And if one is to express the great inevitable defeat that awaits us all, it must be done within the strict confines of dignity & beauty."

The album by Leonard Cohen was produced with Patrick Leonard, Anjani Thomas, Ed Sanders and Dino Soldo. Complementing Cohen's signature baritone on OLD IDEAS are the exceptional vocalists Dana Glover, Sharon Robinson, The Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley Webb) and Jennifer Warnes. The album's cover design and drawings are Cohen's own.

TRACKLIST:
Going Home
Amen
Show Me The Place
The Darkness
Anyhow
Crazy To Love You
Come Healing
Banjo
Lullaby
Different Sides

OLD IDEAS will be Cohen's twelfth studio album with Columbia Records since 1967.

SOURCE Columbia Records

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Glee: The Music, Volume 7 Available Tuesday, December 6

NEW YORK, Nov. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Records and Twentieth Century Fox Television are pleased to announce the release of Glee: The Music, Volume 7 available on Tuesday, December 6, 2011. Featured on this release is the widely praised mash-up of Adele's "Rumour Has It" and "Someone Like You", which soared to #1 on the iTunes Top Songs Chart with the official video garnering 5.3 million views on Vevo.com. This collection is also filled with memorable tracks from the third season of Glee including Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror," Beyonce's "Run The World (Girls)," and Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" (see below for full track listings). Glee: The Music, Volume 7 will be available both in standard and deluxe versions.

Last week marked the release of Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2, which features the cast's festive renditions of such Christmas staples as "Little Drummer Boy," "Let It Snow" and "All I Want For Christmas Is You," as well as two original tracks "Extraordinary Merry Christmas" and "Christmas Eve With You". Fans will be treated to these Gleeful carols on a special Glee Christmas episode which airs on Tuesday, December 13, at 8:00PM ET/PT on FOX.

To date over 36 million Glee songs have been digitally downloaded, with over 11 million albums sold worldwide. Glee scored three consecutive #1 releases with Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers, Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna and Glee: The Music, Journey To Regionals. The RIAA has certified Glee: The Music, Volume 1 and Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Platinum (sales in excess of 1 million units) as well as Glee: The Music, Volume 2, Glee: The Music, Volume 3 and Glee: The Music, Volume 4 Gold (sales in excess of 500,000 units).

Tracklist:
1. You Can't Stop the Beat
2. It's Not Unusual
3. Somewhere
4. Run The World (Girls)
5. Fix You
6. Last Friday Night
7. Uptown Girl
8. Tonight
9. Hot For Teacher
10. Rumour Has It/Someone Like You
11. Girls Just Want To Have Fun
12. Constant Craving
13. ABC
14. Control
15. Man In The Mirror

SOURCE Columbia Records

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this from our friends at mute.com

VCMG

VINCE CLARKE AND MARTIN L. GORE ANNOUCE DETAILS OF BRAND NEW COLLABORATION

After 30 years working on their respective ongoing music projects, Vince Clarke (Erasure / Yazoo / Depeche Mode) and Martin L. Gore (Depeche Mode) come together for the first time since 1981 as VCMG to release a brand new album preceded by a series of EPs.

VCMG is the fruit of six months of initially tentative discussion and subsequent enthused collaboration where Vince and Martin, both influential as pioneers in electronic music, get to exercise their lifelong love of the genre as the techno inspired VCMG.

The project came about over the summer of 2011. As Vince explains: “I’ve been getting into and listening to a lot of minimal dance music and I got really intrigued by all the sounds… I realised I needed a collaborator… so it occurred to me to talk to Martin.”

Says Gore: "Out of the blue I got an e-mail from Vince just saying, 'I'm interested in making a techno album. Are you interested in collaborating?' This was maybe a year ago. He said, 'No pressure, no deadlines,' so I said, 'OK,' and that's what we've been doing the last six months."

The writing and recording of the album was done in a typically unique way with the pair working alone in their respective studios, communicating only via email, exchanging files until the album was ready. It was in May 2011 that the pair met for the first time to discuss the project when they both performed at Short Circuit presents Mute festival in London.

The album (title to be announced soon) was produced by Vince Clarke and Martin L. Gore and mixed by the influential electronic artist Californian Überzone / Q and will be released in early 2012.

The first release is an EPentitled Spock. EP1 / SPOCK will feature remixes from Edit-Select, aka Tony Scott, the UK DJ / producer and founder of EditSelect Records whose previous remix credits include Speedy J, Death In Vegas and Gary Beck; Regis, British techno musician Karl O’Connor, member of the Sandwell District collective and co-founder of Downwards Records); DVS1, Brooklyn based producer Derek VanScoten (Radiohead / Sleigh Bells / Emancipator); plus XOQ, the alter ego of Californian Überzone / Q, who mixed the VCMG album.

EP1/SPOCK will be available initially as a global exclusive on Beatport on November 30th, and then on all DSPs December 13th 2011.

TRACKLIST
Spock - Album version
Spock - Edit Select Remix
Spock - Regis Remix
Spock - DVS1 Voyage Home Remix
Spock - XOQ Remix

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this from our friends at vinylcollective.com

Shop Radio Cast Black Friday Week Sales – Tuesday

The Tuesday sales have been launched! Here is the list of what is available on sale for up to 70% off on Shop Radio Cast, TODAY ONLY:

311 – Universal Pulse LP 10.99
Anthrax – Worship Music LP 9.99
Brand New – Daisy LP 12.99
Buck Wild – Beat Me Silly LP 5.99
Cake – Showroom Of Compassion 7″ Vinyl Box Set 27.99
Converge / Drop Dead Split 7″ 4.25
Gregory Attonito – Natural Disaster 10″ 8.99
Hole – Skinny Little Bitch 10″ 6.49
Iron Chic – Not Like This LP (Pink 3rd Pressing) 9.99
Joan of Arc – Life Like LP 14.99
Joshua / Nightmares For A Week Split 7″ 2.99
Joystick – Heavy Chevy LP 5.99
Just Surrender – Burning Up 7″ 0.99
Just Surrender – On My Own 7″ 0.99
Just Surrender – Take Me Home 7″ 0.99
Lemuria – Pebble 12.75
Living With Lions – Honesty, Honestly 7″ 3.5
Mall’d To Death – Can’t Make A Living LP 6.99
Mariachi El Bronx – II LP (Includes Autographed Poster) 11.99
Mastodon – The Hunter 2XLP (Deluxe) 30.99
Neon Trees – Animal 10″ 6.49
Nightmares For A Week – Don’t Die 6.99
Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral (2XLP) 20
No Trigger – Be Honest 7″ 0.99
Rocket From The Crypt – All Systems Go 2 2XLP 8.99
Ryan Adams – Ashes and Fire LP (Includes Free Record Store Day 7″) 22.99
Ryan Adams – Follow The Lights LP 7.99
The Damned Things – We’ve Got A Situation Here 7″ 2.99
The Methadones – The Methadones LP (Exclusive Clear) 4.99
Touche Amore – …To The Beat Of A Dead Horse LP 8.99

Go to shopradiocast.com

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Polyvinyl's Black Friday Sale

Why spend hours waiting outside in line when you can find great Black Friday deals from the comfort of your own home?

And the best part -- they're available now!

Starting today, our E-Store is stocked with rare and out-of-print items! Order quickly because these will go fast.

Once they are gone, they're gone -- and in many cases, we've got less than 20 copies available.

31Knots Talk Like Blood LP (out of print, 7 copies remain)
Busdriver ATM BLUE VINYL 7" (limited edition of 1000)
Deerhoof Deerhoof vs. Evil PINK VINYL LP (limited edition of 2000)
Deerhoof Friend Opportunity CLEAR GREEN VINYL LP (limited edition of 1000)
Japandroids No Singles BLACK VINYL LP (limited edition of 1000)
Japandroids Post-Nothing WHITE VINYL LP (limited edition of 1000)
of Montreal She's a Rejecter YELLOW VINYL 7" (out of print)
Owen New Leaves MIXED COLOR VINYL LP (out of print; limited edition of 700)
Owen/The City on Film Split WHITE VINYL 7" (import; out of print)
Saturday Looks Good to Me Diary CD (out of print; limited edition)
STRFKR Julius BLUE VINYL 7" (out of print; limited edition of 500)
Vivian Girls I Heard You Say 7" (limited edition of 2000)
View all @ Polyvinyl's Black Friday Sale

Shop At PolyVinylRecords

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and in music history for today, november 22:

In 1957, the Miles Davis Quintet debuted with a jazz concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

In 1957, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, performing then as Tom & Jerry and singing their new release "Hey, Little Schoolgirl," made their first appearance on ABC-TV's "American Bandstand."

In 1963, the Beatles released their second album, 'With The Beatles' in the UK. The collection featured "All My Loving," "Please Mr. Postman" and "Roll Over Beethoven" and would succeed their first LP in the #1 spot, giving the Fab Four a string of 51 consecutive weeks at the top of the UK album chart.

In 1963, Phil Spector released the album "A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector," containing a number of tracks that became perennial holiday favorites, including "Sleigh Ride" by the Ronettes, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" by the Crystals, and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by Darlene Love.

In 1967, the Elvis Presley film 'Clambake' opens in the US to dismal reviews. Despite the thin plot and weak story line, the movie will still be a box office success.

In 1967, at the Stax Studios in Memphis, Otis Redding laid down the intial track for his biggest hit, "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." Overdubs were added on December 8, two days before his death.

In 1967, Rolling Stone magazine quotes San Francisco disc jockey Tom Donahue: "Top Forty radio, as we know it today and have known it for the last ten years, is dead, and its rotting corpse is stinking up the airwaves."

Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" was released in 1967.

In 1968, the Beatles released their double album called "The Beatles" (a.k.a. "The White Album"). It was recorded between May 30, 1968 and October 14, 1968, largely at Abbey Road Studios, with some sessions at Trident Studios. Among the 29 songs on the double vinyl set is Ringo Starr's first song writing contribution, "Don't Pass Me By", which as a single, made it to number one in Scandinavia.

The album was written and recorded during a period of turmoil for the group, after visiting the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India and having a particularly productive songwriting session in early 1968. The group returned to the studio for recording from May to October 1968, only to have conflict and dissent drive the group members apart. Ringo Starr quit the band for a brief time, leaving Paul McCartney to perform drums on some of the album's songs. Many of the songs were "solo" recordings, or at least by less than the full group, as each individual member began to explore his own talent.

The album received mixed to positive reviews and reached #1 on the charts in the United Kingdom and the United States. The album is notable for the eclectic nature of its songs, which has divided critics in evaluating the album's legacy. The album has sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

Although most of the songs on any given Beatles album are usually credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting team, that description is often misleading, and rarely more so than on The Beatles. With this album, each of the four band members began to showcase the range and depth of his individual songwriting talents, and to display styles that would be carried over to his eventual solo career.

'The Beatles' was the last Beatles album to be released with a unique, alternative mono mix, albeit one issued only in the UK and a few other countries. Twenty-eight of the album's 30 tracks ("Revolution 1" and "Revolution 9" being the only exceptions) exist in official alternative mono mixes. Several of these mono mixes are quite different from the stereo versions, such as "Helter Skelter", where the fade-out and fade-in towards the end is eliminated. In addition, the mono mix of "Yer Blues" has a longer fadeout than that of its stereo counterpart.

The album's sleeve was designed by Richard Hamilton, a notable pop artist who had organised a Marcel Duchamp retrospective at the Tate Gallery the previous year. Hamilton's design was in stark contrast to Peter Blake's vivid cover art for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and consisted of a plain white sleeve. The band's name was discreetly embossed slightly below the middle of the album's right side, and the cover also featured a unique stamped serial number, "to create," in Hamilton's words, "the ironic situation of a numbered edition of something like five million copies." Indeed, the artist intended the cover to resemble the "look" of conceptual art, an emerging movement in contemporary art at the time. Later vinyl record releases in the US showed the title in grey printed (rather than embossed) letters. Early copies on compact disc were also numbered. Later CD releases rendered the album's title in black or grey. The 30th anniversary CD release was done to look like the original album sleeve, with an embossed title and serial number, including a small reproduction of the poster and pictures.

Ian MacDonald, in his book Revolution in the Head, argues that The Beatles was the album in which the band's cryptic messages to its fan base became not merely vague but intentionally and perhaps dangerously open-ended, citing oblique passages in songs like "Glass Onion" (e.g., "the walrus was Paul") and "Piggies" ("what they need's a damn good whacking"). These pronouncements, and many others on the album, came to attract extraordinary popular interest at a time when more of the world's youth were using drugs recreationally and looking for spiritual, political, and strategic advice from The Beatles.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America, The Beatles is The Beatles' best-selling album at 19-times platinum and the tenth-best-selling album of all time in the United States.







In 1969, in Ashland, Virginia, Iron Butterfly performed in the 3,500-seat Crenshaw Gymnasium of Randolph-Macon College. Their opening act was a band called Steel Mill, that included Bruce Springsteen.

Also in 1969, Johnny Cash was featured on the cover of LIFE magazine.

In 1975, less than three months after achieving their first number one record, "Get Down Tonight", KC and The Sunshine Band return to the top of the Hot 100 with "That's The Way (I Like It)". It made #4 in the UK. yes, top 40 radio was pitiful in those days......

Also in 1975, Barry Manilow's "I Write the Songs" enters the US chart, on its way to number one. Although Manilow wrote many of his hits, this one was actually written by Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys.

In 1979, Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" was awarded a Platinum disc. The record had a ten week run at the top of the Billboard chart and spent eight weeks leading the Cashbox best sellers list.

In 1981, at the Checkerboard Lounge in Chicago, Muddy Waters was joined on stage by the Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, who were then touring the Midwest.

In 1988, Janet Ertel of The Chordettes died of cancer at the age of 75. The group made the Billboard chart nine times between 1954 and 1961 with songs such as "Mr. Sandman" and "Lollipop".

In 1991, Alice Cooper came to the rescue of fans Patrick and Dee Ann Kelly by signing autographs to help raise money for them after he learned that their California home was about to be re-possessed and that Patrick had painted Cooper's face on the house to help sell the property.

Prince released his 16th studio album 'The Black Album' in 1994.

In 1997, INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence was found dead due to suicide by hanging in his hotel room in the Ritz Carlton in Double Bay, Australia. He was 37 years old.

In 2002, the surviving members of The Doors, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger, announced they would record and tour again with a new line up including ex-Cult singer Ian Astbury and former Police drummer Stewart Copeland. Original drummer John Densmore was not able to take part because he suffers from severe tinnitus, a persistent ringing or buzzing in the ears.

In 2004, 62 year old producer and songwriter Terry Melcher, known for his work with Paul Revere and The Raiders, The Beach Boys, The Mamas and Papas, Glen Campbell and The Byrds, lost his battle with cancer.

In 2004, Ozzy Osbourne struggled with one of two burglars who invaded his home and escaped with jewellery estimated to be worth £2 million. Osbourne told reporters he had the masked raider in a headlock as he tried to stop him, but the burglar broke free, jumped 30 feet from a first floor window and made his escape.

In 2010, after just one week of availability on iTunes, The Beatles' music sold more than 450,000 albums and 2 million individual songs. The Fab Four's debut on the popular download site was accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign.

birthdays today include (among others): Charlie Colin (Train) (45), Karen O (born Karen Orzolek) (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) (33), Ron McClure (Blood, Sweat & Tears) (70), Aston Barrett (Wailers) (65), Steven Van Zandt (E-Street Band) (61), Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club) (61) and Jason Ringenberg (Jason & the Scorchers) (53)