Eric Clapton's Clapton debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Neil Young's Le Noise debuted at #14. Santana's Guitar Heaven fell 11 places to #16. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' The Social Network debuted at #20. Ice Cube's I Am The West debuted at #22. Soundgarden's Telephantasm debuted at #24. Robert Plant's Band Of Joy dropped 18 spots to #32. Phil Collins' Going Back debuted at #34. Bad Religion's Dissent Of Man debuted at #35. The Doobie Brothers' World Gone Crazy debuted at #39.

"As She's Walking Away" by the Zac Brown Band featuring Alan Jackson climbed 2 spots to #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Phil Collins' Going Back fell 2 places to #3 on the U.K. Albums chart. Eric Clapton's Clapton debuted at #7. Simply Red's 25 Greatest Hits debuted at #9. Robert Plant's Band Of Joy dropped 11 spots to #16. Santana's Guitar Heaven fell 2 places to #17. Neil Young's Le Noise debuted at #18. Kylie Minogue's Aphrodite retained the #33 spot. Simply Red's Songs Of Love re-entered the chart at #38.

Kylie Minogue's "Get Outta My Way" debuted at #12 on the U.K. Singles chart. Status Quo's "In The Army Now 2010" with the Corps Of Army Choir debuted at #31.

Former Simple Minds members Brian McGee and Derek Forbes have teamed up with Owen Paul ("My Favourite Waste Of Time") for a new project called XSM (or Ex Simple Minds). Their latest single, "The American," will be released via iTunes and Townsend Records on Oct. 16th.

Unruly Child release their new studio album, Worlds Collide, on Oct. 16th via Frontiers Records. The first video, "Very First Time," from the album has also surfaced.

It seems that when a performer passes, there must be a fight over the estate. Son Teddy Pendergrass II and second wife Joan Pendergrass have produced conflicting wills since singer Teddy Pendergrass died from colon cancer in January. Attorneys for both sides met with a judge last week but a compromise was not met.

Arguments were heard in an appeals court on Wednesday by Michael Jackson's father Joe as to whether he should be allowed to challenge the administrators for his son's estate. A previous judge had ruled in November that Jackson didn't have standing to intervene in the case and was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing to contest the administrators John Branca and John McClain.

Huey Lewis And The News release their first new studio album in 9 years, Soulsville, on Nov. 2nd. Rolling Stone are currently previewing their cover of Otis Redding's "Just One More Day" here.

Metropolis Records plans to reissue Clan Of Xymox's 1987 album, Hidden Faces, on Nov. 9th with 3 bonus tracks that weren't on the original album.

Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 release their new studio album, Northern Agression, on Nov. 30th via Yep Roc. Fans can download a free track, "Resolution," from the album here.

Post-industrial act The Young Gods will release, Everybody Knows, their follow-up to 2008's Knock On Wood on Nov. 5th in Europe.

The Hoodoo Gurus have selected "Are You Sleeeping?" as the third single from their Purity Of Essence album. Meanwhile, a special edition of the album will be released and packaged with a 6-part 'mockumentary' called Must Travel On Wheels.

Original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley, according to Amazon.com, will publish his official biography, No Regrets, on April 26, 2011.

Styx's Tommy Shaw has a new bluegrass side-project called The Great Divide with expectations of a release next year. A song from the project, "The Next Right Thing," is up at their Facebook page.

Just a reminder but Rick Springfield's memoir, Late, Late At Night, will be released next week. According to a post on the book's site, he said, "There have been ups and downs in my life, and reaching the milestone of my 60th birthday made me want to tell my story finally and honestly." You might as well order his DVD collection, Video Vault, as well.

Florida death metal act Atheist will release their first new studio album in 17 years, Jupiter, on Nov. 8th.

The new season of VH1 Classic's Behind The Music: Remastered kicks off on Oct. 16th and the updated episodes are expected to focus on Poison, Alice Cooper, Boy George, Hall & Oates, Duran Duran, Lynyrd Skynryd and Fleetwood Mac.

Swedish electronic act Adolphson-Falk release their 4-CD box set, 101010, on Oct. 10th. The set contains remastered versions of all 4 of their albums as well as 20 bonus tracks.

Ziggy Marley and Steven Tyler have recorded parts for an Alice In Wonderland-themed episode of Nickelodeon's The Wonder Pets. Tyler will portray the Mad Hatter and Marley takes on the Cheshire Cat role.

With the decision to end his Songbook series with Fly Me To The Moon... The Great American Songbook, Volume V (which is due out Oct. 19th), Rod Stewart has plans to talk with a certain guitarist about a new project. No, it's not Slash. He told Billboard, "And I may record with Jeff Beck, and I may have to write a few songs." The two are scheduled to meet up in London and see what kind of spark they have.

Former Coil member Stephen Thrower and current Coil member Ossian Brown revive their Cyclobe project for their new album, Wounded Galaxies Tap At The Window, due out on Nov. 1st.

The Goo Goo Dolls have notched their 14th top 10 single on Billboard's Nielsen BDS-based Adult Top 40 chart (which started in 1996) with their latest single, "Home," giving them the record for most top 10 singles in that chart's history.

Former Rising Signs frontman Frankie Duffy has decided to pursue legal action against Nick Cave over similarities between his 2005 song, "Grey Man," and Grinderman's "Palaces Of Montezuma."

Ozzy Osbourne will celebrate what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday on Saturday by releasing a cover of Lennon's "How?" (off the Imagine album) as an iTunes download with all proceeds going to benefit Amnesty International. A video is available as well.



If that wasn't cool enough, a double-disc set called Double Fantasy Stripped Down is on the way (which contains a newly remastered version of the original and and an alternate one with less production on the vocals). One of the first samples of the 'stripped down' production, "(Just Like) Starting Over," is now available as a free download via iTunes.

Phil Collins' U.K. chart-topper, Going Back, will be his final album according to Billboard.com. The Genesis frontman/drummer plans to work on a book about the Texas Revolution (as he has a large collection of Alamo artifacts) due out in 2012.

Alice Cooper and producer Bob Ezrin have decided to revisit the classic album Welcome To My Nightmare for Cooper's new album. He has recorded 3 new songs with his original bandmates for the album to be titled Welcome II My Nightmare.

Emerson Lake And Palmer keyboardist Keith Emerson recently told his fans via his Facebook account that he is recovering from several surgeries. What started out as a routine medical examination with an endoscopy, MRI and blood tests turned into a discovered polyp, then a removal of almost a foot of his lower colon and then internal bleeding. It's a drama that must be read to understand. He's now recovering in Sussex and has been told by doctors that it'll be some time before he regains his strength. This has forced a cancellation of the An Intimate Evening With Keith Emerson & Greg Lake upcoming tour of Japan and Europe.

Scorpions vocalist Klaus Meine has been diagnosed with acute laryngitis which has forced the postponement of the band's concert on Thursday in Athens, Greece.

New York hardcore act, the Cro-Mags, plan to release their first new studio album since 2000's Revenge next year.

Former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones has signed a deal with Los Angeles radio station KROQ for the return of his acclaimed Jonesy's Jukebox show starting Oct. 10th.

Slash is going the Rob Zombie route as he's teamed up with Scout Productions to create Slasher Films with plans to create horror films inspired by classic thrillers from the 1970s and 80s. Their first film is reportedly titled Nothing To Fear.

Former Pantera and Down frontman Phil Anselmo has a new band called Arson Anthem. Actually, it seems he's had the band for awhile as their entire debut album, Insecurity Notoriety, is streaming online at their MySpace page.

Twisted Sister's Live In Wacken The Reunion will be released on DVD/CD via Eagle Rock Entertainment on Oct. 26th.

Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore will release his solo multimedia package, Silver Rain With A Paper Key, via his Ecstatic Peace Library on Dec. 1st.

Black Francis of the Pixies will be drawing inspiration from the classic 1920 silent film, The Golem, for his new studio album, The Golem Rock Album, due out Nov. 16th. The project came about when he was asked to create a score for the film to be performed for a screening of the film at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2008.

Touchstone, a division of Simon & Schuster, has signed a deal with Billy Idol that will see the rocker pen a memoir entitled Dancing With Myself due out in late 2011 or early 2012.

Bret Michaels has released a new video for the new single, "Riding Against The Wind," off his Custom Built album. The song will also be the theme song to his new VH1 reality series, Life As I Know It, premiering Oct. 18th. He's also scheduled an appearance on the Ellen Degeneres Show on Oct. 13th. Meanwhile, a new Poison double-CD boxed set, Nothin' But A Good Time: The Poison Collection, will be released on Nov. 9th. Yes, your own "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" bandanna is included.

VH1 Classic will premiere Making Of Guitar Heaven... The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time on Oct. 9th (and on Palladia the following night in high definition.) Expect to see several guest appearances as many vocalists worked on the new Santana album.

The assault case filed by Jessica Radowicz against Vince Neil over an incident in a Las Vegas elevator last month has been closed due to insufficient evidence.

Elvis Costello has made his new single, "The Spell That You Cast," available as a free download. The song comes from his new album, National Ransom, due out Oct. 25th via Starbuck's label Hear Music.

Lillian Axe have started the search for a new singer to replace Ronnie Munroe who left due to prior commitments. Plans are to record a new song for immediate download will be used to introduce the new vocalist.

The release of Social Distortion's Epitaph Records debut, Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes, has been postponed until 2011.

A final list of the 3rd Long Island Music Hall of Fame induction class has been announced and includes: Dream Theater, Eric B And Rakim, Al Kooper, Steve Martin, Lou Reed, Teddy Charles, Roy Haynes and John Zorn.

New York singer/songwriter Carolyne Mas has a new compilation, Still Sane: A Retrospective - 1979-1990, available at ZolatoneMusic.com. Meanwhile, production is about to begin on a Mas documentary entitled Still Sane - The Movie.

Anthrax's Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano will see their new side-project, The Damned Things, release their debut album, Ironiclast, on Dec. 14th via Island/Def Jam.

More rumors are surfacing over a possible live return for Van Halen as well as a new album. A little gasoline was thrown on the coals when Live Nation executive chairman Irving Azoff specifically mentioned the band, when talking to analysts, as one of the acts that could help boost ticket sales next year.

Olivia Newton-John releases her new compilation, Christmas Collection, this week. The album is a companion to her 2001 holiday tour and includes performances with Vince Gill, Kenny Loggins and several others. 4 of the songs are sung with Loggins and come from his 1999 TNN television special.

Erasure's Andy Bell will release the title track to his current solo album as a new downloadable single on Oct. 11th.

Gospel singer Albertina Walker, 81, died today (on Friday) in a Chicago hospital after a long struggle with emphysema. Walker began singing in the choir at the age of 4 at the West Point Baptist church. She would become a mentor to Mahalia Jackson and form the legendary gospel act the Caravans. During the 1980s, she released 1988's Best Is Yet To Come and 1989's My Time Is Not Over.

Original Sweet Savage guitarist Trevor Fleming passed away on Oct. 2nd. According to a statement released by his former bandmates, Fleming "had not been well for the whole year" and it "was very sudden and we are shocked and extremely saddened with his departure." He was with the band from 1979 to 1983, returned for a short time in 1996 and came back again in 2008. The band are best known for the 1981 song, "Killing Time," which Metallica would later cover.

New Zealand guitarist/producer/songwriter Ian Morris of Th' Dudes (who recorded solo under the name Tex Pistol) was found dead this week in the seaport city of Napier at the age of 53.

Brazilian rock and gospel singer-songwriter Ed Wilson [born Edson Vieira de Barros], 65, lost his battle with cancer on Oct. 3rd. Wilson began his career as part of what was called the Jovem Guarda movement and would return after a 17-year hiatus with 1983's Chuva de Bênçãos album on which he would move to gospel music. His last release was 2003's Fé E Vitória.

Releases headed to stores this week include: Brian Setzer Orchestra - Christmas Comes Alive!, Indigo Girls - Holly Happy Days, Newsboys - Christmas! A Newsboys Holiday, Olivia Newton-John - Christmas Collection, Shelby Lynne - Merry Christmas, The Orb Featuring David Gilmour - Metallic Spheres, Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction - We Are Volsung, Bruford Levin Upper Extremities - Blue Nights, Dave Brubeck - Time Was, Duran Duran - Notorious, Duran Duran - Big Thing, Deborah Harry - Rockbird/Debravation and Bob Dylan - Playlist: The Very Best Of Bob Dylan: 1980's