60's singer ("To Sir Wth Love") Lulu spoke with the London Times on yesterday, lamenting today's music scene:
"I would not want to be launching a career now. Nowadays you have to achieve world domination or you get dropped by the record company. If the first single’s not a hit, you’re out. Today, to be successful, it is not enough to be a good singer, you have to have an army of people all focusing on that goal relentlessly. You don’t just have to have talent and appeal; there has to be a big strategy. You have to be able to hold your head together because the celebrity thing is completely out of whack. I think it’s crazy."
She says that mentoring singers on American Idol last year lit a fire under her.
"People have suggested I manage and there is one young girl I’m keen on. Her name is Jessie and I first saw her in a club. She’s like a dark-haired Cameron Diaz and she just blew me away.”
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Free U2 Show?
For those in New York, there is an ongoing rumor that U2 might play a short free show at Fordham University this Friday. Only Fordham students will be allowed in and all professors have been told to cancel their morning classes for "security" reasons. U2 is in New York all week to play the Late Show with David Letterman.
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Bang A Gong
It's being reported that the British progressive band Gong are reforming for a 40th anniversary tour. Participating in the tour are founder David Allen with former Gong members Steve Hillage, Gilli Smyth, Mike Howlett and Miquette Giraudy, plus Chris Taylor, Theo Travis and John McKenzie.
The group is also working on a new album called 2032 which will add to the long running Gong mythology.
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Jackson Legacy
Michael Jackson biographer Ian Halperin is at it again, drumming up publicity by announcing that Jackson has over 100 tracks that Jackson has recorded and put away for release after his death.
"I was astonished by the number of songs which have been held back," stated Halperin. "I was told that he will not let them come out now but wants to leave them for his kids, a very personal legacy to them."
Halperin reported that Jackson had a deadly disease a couple of months ago, but nothing more has been reported since.
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Beatles' Movie Backbeat to Become Stage Musical
Iain Softley, the man who made the Beatles movie, "Backbeat," is reportedly readying a stage musical version of the story. Backbeat revolves around the early days of the Beatles when Stu Sutcliffe was a member.
Interesting, for a band that has been broken up for almost forty years, the group is still in the news; almost daily it seems.
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Power Shift- Energy Rally
Power Shift is a two-day clean energy rally that kicks off today at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC and runs through March 2. If you care about the future and want to help convince the U.S. government to stop catering to dirty energy, you should head over.
To entice the youth of America to show up, the environmentally conscious NYC record label Green Owl got the Roots and Santigold to perform at the event. Santigold will fight for her right to build wind turbinesalst night; the Roots get down tonight.
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OBITUARY Completes Work On New Album; Artwork Revealed - Mar. 1, 2009
Florida-based death metallers OBITUARY have completed work on their new album for a tentative May/June release via Candlelight Records. Vocalist John Tardy states, "It came out really sick and I cannot wait for you guys to hear it... it is heavy!!" Check out the album artwork below. The band once again worked with artist Andreas Marschall, who previously created the art for "The End Complete", "Frozen in Time", and the group's last record, "Xecutioner's Return".
Guitarist Ralph Santolla previously said about the new material, "The new stuff is HEAVY, some of my favorite OBI riffs yet. Trevor's [Peres] guitar sounds huge and menacing. If you like OBITUARY, you're gonna love this record."
OBITUARY last year released the "Left To Die" EP via Candlelight Records. The CD contains four songs: two new originals, a new 2008 studio recording of "Slowly We Rot", and a cover of "Dethroned Emperior" by CELTIC FROST. The EP also includes the band's popular "Evil Ways" video.
"Xecutioner's Return" was released in the summer of 2007 via Candlelight Records. The CD was mixed at RedRoom Recorders and was mastered at Morrisound Studios in Tampa.
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Show Us (Wired.com) Your Favorite Album Artwork
Up until now, digital music has eroded the album cover's prominence, but recent innovations could be poised to usher in a new era of music packaging.
To celebrate the album cover's second wind, we want to see your favorite album art of all time.
Use the Reddit widget below to submit your favorite album cover and vote among the other submissions. If we like your submission, we'll include it in a gallery on Wired.com.
To submit your favorite album cover go to:
Wired Album Cover Art
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Rock Sneakers Anyone?
Converse is coming out with more sneakers this fall for fans of classic rock groups. Seems to me, they would be a collectible, I would surely save them. Check out the latest styles for AC/DC and Metallica:
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Faces Reunion Still Awaiting Stewart's Response
A Faces reunion may still happen this year -- but probably not a full-scale tour or recording project.
Keyboardist Ian McLagan told Billboard.com that the latest idea, proffered by guitarist Ron Wood at a lunch in London with McLagan and drummer Kenney Jones, is "we do a couple shows and film it. Whether Rod (Stewart) wants to do that...I'm hoping he'll be into that 'cause it'll be such a lot of fun. It's what the three of us would like Rod to agree to."
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Oasis cancels China tour
Concert organizers confirmed that British rock band Oasis have canceled tour dates in Beijing and Shanghai that were supposed to happen in April.
The shows, scheduled for Beijing's Capital Arena on April 3 and the Shanghai Grand Stage on April 5, would have been the first in mainland China for the group, who are currently on a world tour promoting their latest release, "Dig Out Your Soul."
No explanation has been given for the cancellation, said a venue manager who refused to give his name.
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Two New Grateful Dead Live Sets Coming April 7
Rhino/WEA has announced that two new Grateful Dead live sets are set for release on April 7.
The big one is the 9-CD set called "Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings." Just a few weeks after releasing their "Wake of the Flood" album, the legendary psyche-rockers settled in for a three night gig at San Francisco's famed Winterland Theater, one of the group's favorite venues (they had already played it 31 times before). Almost every minute of those three concerts is presented in the set, except for the November 9 encore which wasn't recorded.
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