Bob Dylan's Together Through Life drops from #1 to #5 on this week's Billboard Album chart in its second week of release with sales of 51,000. The chart is topped by Chrisette Michelle who sold 83,000 copies of her second album. This has nothing to do with veteran artists, but is notable because that is the lowest amount sold by an album premiering at number one in the 18 years that Soundscan has been tracking music sales. The previous title holder belonged to Johnny Cash whose Americana V: A Hundred Highways premiered at number one in 2006 with 88,000 sales.
Cat Stevens' Roadsinger debuts at 41.
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New R.E.M. Music
R.E.M. is back in the studio to start work on their next album. They are currently working on demos of possible songs.
Paste magazine received the following from David Bell:
This past week, Peter Buck and Mike Mills of R.E.M. spent a few days with producer Jacknife Lee in Portland's Jackpot Recording Studio. It is early, early demo days for the next record, which is still a ways away. Also involved last week were longtime confederates Bill Rieflin and Scott McCaughey, as well as noted engineer/producer Tucker Martine.
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ALICE COOPER Performs At ASU Commencement Ceremonies In Phoenix
Legendary rocker Alice Cooper appeared yesterday (Wednesday, May 13) before a crowd of 70,000, including 9,000 Arizona State University graduates, at ASU commencement ceremonies at Sun Devil Stadium in Phoenix. Alice performed the perennial start-of-summer anthem "School's Out", backed by RUNAWAY PHOENIX, the band of which his son Dash Cooper (ASU Class of '10) is part. Also appearing on the program was "top-billed" President Barack Obama who delivered ASU's 2009 commencement address.
Watch fan-filmed video footage of Alice's performance below. (Note: Alice wore his varsity letter sweater [Cortez High, Class of '66] when he performed the classic ode to the start of summer.)
"Of all the people I've ever shared a stage with, Obama is the biggest rock star," said Alice.
"School's Out" always seems to take on a life of its own just about every May and this year is no different. Last week, the song was featured as an "American Idol" group performance with guitar great Slash joining in. The song, which first came to light at the end of the 1972 school year, will be heard in the film "I Love You Beth Cooper" (no relation) directed by Chris Columbus and starring Hayden Panettier with companion soundtrack album to be released by ABKCO Records next month.
Aside from his ongoing role as the de facto harbinger of summer, Alice Cooper hosts, "Nights with Alice Cooper", heard over a network of more than one hundred affiliated stations for which Alice anchors 30 hours per week of original classic rock programming. Produced and distributed by the United Stations Radio Networks, "Nights with Alice Cooper" has 110 affiliates broadcasting a combination of weeknight and weekend programming. Alice's time slot reaches 1.1 million listeners (12+) each week, and his affiliates have a weekly reach of over 6 millions listeners.
Mr. Cooper- you still rock!
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Depeche Mode Cancel Four More Concerts Due to Gahan Illness
David Gahan’s severe bout of gastroenteritis has forced Depeche Mode to cancel four more concerts on their Sounds of the Universe tour, the band announced in a statement. Gahan was rushed to the hospital earlier this week shortly before Depeche Mode were scheduled to perform a show in Athens, Greece. Yesterday’s concert in Istanbul was also canceled. “Dave is currently undergoing further tests,” the band said in the statement. “Depeche Mode apologizes to all their fans for this inconvenience and wish Dave a speedy recovery.”
The nixed shows affect Bucharest, Romania; Sofia, Bulgaria; Belgrade, Serbia; and Zagreb, Croatia and mean the tour is shut down until at least May 21st. Ticket holders for all the shows are advised to hold on to their tickets as announcements regarding rescheduled dates or cancellations will be made shortly.
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Kings Of Leon To Play MTV Movie Awards
Setting the stage for some of this summer's most talked about performances, MTV has announced that rock icons Kings of Leon will perform at the "2009 MTV Movie Awards." The band will perform their rock anthem "Use Somebody" from their hit album "Only By The Night." Hosted by Andy Samberg, the "2009 MTV Movie Awards" will air on Sunday, May 31st at 9PM (Live ET/Tape Delayed PT). The show will also feature a musical performance by Eminem who will perform music from his anticipated new album "Relapse."
Kings of Leon have thrived as one of the most popular artists to hit the music scene in recent years and their latest album "Only By The Night," has sold almost four-million units world-wide. Their infectious single, "Sex On Fire," topped the Modern Rock chart at number one for eight weeks straight and "Use Somebody," the album's second single, stayed at number one on the chart for three weeks straight. "Sex On Fire" also broke the record for biggest selling digital album and digital single of all time in the UK. Just completing their first-ever arena tour of America, following the MTV Movie Awards, Kings of Leon will be playing festivals worldwide all summer long and into the fall, including headlining slots at Lollapalooza and the Austin Limits City Festival.
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