Friday, November 5, 2010

Elton John and Leon Russell's The Union fell 3 places to #6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.  Rod Stewart's Fly Me To The Moon... The Great American Songbook, Vol. 5 dropped 4 spots to #8.  Santana's Guitar Heaven fell 2 places to #33.
"As She's Walking Away" by the Zac Brown Band featuring Alan Jackson climbed a spot to #38 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Barbra Streisand's The Ultimate Collection debuted at #9 on the U.K. Albums chart.  Bryan Ferry's Olympia debuted at #19.  Cliff Richard's Bold As Brass fell 11 places to #22.  Ali Campbell's Greatest British Songs dropped 13 spots to #28.  Phil Collins' Going Back fell 9 places to #29.  Michael Jackson's Number Ones retained the #33 spot.  Robert Plant's Band Of Joy fell 3 places to #35.
Aretha Franklin, 68, has now canceled all of her concert dates for the next 6 months on her doctor's orders after a brief stay at Detroit's Sinai Grace Hospital for an undisclosed health issue.  Franklin previously had to cancel two shows in August after breaking two ribs during a fall.
Genesis P-Orridge sent off two emails late last month to his Throbbing Gristle bandmates and their associated managements stating that he was no longer willing to perform in the band.  He has since returned to his New York home but this has forced a cancellation of their performance in Prague the night before Halloween.  The other members of the band have started to perform live under the name X-TG for further European dates. 
According to Florida state troopers, David Cassidy was pulled over on Wednesday night at about 6pm after his Mercedes was seen driving erratically, crossing the center line and cutting off another driver.  The officer gave him a sobriety test and gave him a test for alcohol level -- which came out at .14 (which is above the legal limit of .08.)  Officers also found a half bottle of bourbon in the back seat.  Cassidy was charged with DUI, driving with an open container of alcohol in his vehicle and failure to maintain a single lane.  He was released on $350 bail after spending 9 hours in jail.  Cassidy's representatives have said that they plan to fight the DUI charge, saying that the two breathalyzer tests didn't accurately measure his blood alcohol level.
Jackie Jackson has released, "We Know What's Going On," his first new song since his 1989 album, Be The One, via iTunes.  The song includes an excerpt from a 2002 speech by his brother Michael, "Together we can change the world.  Together we can help to stop racism.  Together we can help to stop prejudice.  We can help the world live without fear."
Paul Simon plans to release his new studio album, So Beautiful Or So What, early next year.
Keith Richards has released, Vintage Vinos, his first compilation of material from his solo recording career via Mindless Records.  Meanwhile, Richards has told BBC 6 Music that the Rolling Stones plan to begin recording new material in the coming months and hit the road next year.
Englebert Humperdinck has released his new studio album, Released, in Australia.  The album includes covers of songs by James Blunt, Bob Seger and Eric Clapton.
Meat Loaf has released a new digital EP, If I Can't Have You.  The title-track is a duet with former American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi (with House's Hugh Laurie on piano.)  Rocky Horror Picture Show fans will also enjoy the live version of "Hot Patootie Bless My Soul" on the EP.
Jetboy have signed a deal with Demon Doll Records to release a 'best of' collection called Now And Then.  It's available for purchase now at DemondDollRecords.com.
Robin Beck plans to release her new studio album, The Great Escape, on Feb. 11th via Sony/Neo and Cargo Distribution.
Eagle Rock have announced they've raided the Rockpalast vaults for a gem with the release of INXS: Mystify which is out on DVD now.  The concert was filmed on June 21, 1997 at the Loreley Festival in Germany for the Rockpalast television series and captures the band in top form -- 5 months before Michael Hutchence's untimely death.
Slash has withdrawn the petition for divorce that he filed two months ago.  The guitarist and wife Perla seem to have reconciled their irreconcilable differences.
Pretty Boy Floyd have decided to pay tribute to Kiss and have self-released a 15-track ode to the band called Kiss Of Death.  The album can be purchased at http://prettyboyfloydband.com/ and several samples can be heard there as well.
A limited edition 7" vinyl Joy Division box set called +- will be released on Dec. 6th.  The 10 discs contain released and unreleased tracks by the band chosen by journalist John Savage and remastered by Stephen Morris and Frank Arkwright.  Peter Saville has provided new artwork for the collection.  The set will also be available as a digital download at iTunes.
Gregg Allman will release, Low Country Blues, his first new solo album in 14 years on Jan. 18th.  Allman pays tribute to his blues roots on songs by Muddy Waters, Junior Wells and B.B. King but will also include, "Just Another Rider," a song he co-wrote with Allman Brothers bandmate Warren Haynes.
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has a new side-project with Damon Albarn (of Blur and Gorillaz) and Nigerian drummer Tony Allen.
Tim Burton presented Tom Jones with the prestigious Music Industry Trust award for his career-long contributions to British pop music.
Sodom will release their new studio album, In War And Pieces, on Jan. 11th via SPV/Steamhammer.  Europe will get the album a little sooner on Nov. 22nd in several different formats.
Eagle Rock Entertainment has announced the release of the new DVD, An Evening With Frank Zappa During Which... The Torture Never Stops, on Nov. 16th.  The shows were filmed during Zappa's 1981 Halloween concerts in New York at the Palladium and was intended to be one of 3 television specials.
Bon Jovi fans will get to see the band live in the their homes -- get out the Snuggies and ice cream -- on Nov. 10th.  They will even be able to help shape the set-list for the concert.  Check out the promo video below and be sure to tune in at http://www.youtube.com/BonJovi to see the show.

Believe it or not, Dancing With The Stars is getting a spin-off.  ABC's Skating With The Stars will begin a six-episode run on Nov. 22nd.  Among the celebrity contestants will be Motley Crue's vocalist Vince Neil (who used to skate when he was younger.)
Original Britny Fox singer Dizzy Dean Davidson has announced that he is about to begin work on, Our Unlived Life, the debut album by his new band Dean Davidson & The Bedlam Hearts.  You can hear a few samples at their official MySpace page including a song called "Tequila Hotel".
Wendy Dio recently told BlairingOut.com that her late husband Ronnie James Dio finished about 75% of his autobiography and that she is going to finish it.  A book deal is already set and hopes are to finish it by June with an early 2012 release.
The new Broadway musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark has pushed back previews until later this month with an official opening expected in January.  Meanwhile, Bono has recently said that he and The Edge have been trying to convince the other members of U2 to record an album based on the songs from the musical.
According to a recent interview with Classic Rock, drummer Carl Palmer has said that Emerson, Lake and Palmer's 40th anniversary reunion gig at that High Voltage Festival this summer will be their final appearance together.  It seems that that specific performance was filmed for a DVD and audio CD in the near future.
Pearl Jam plan to release a new live compilation, Live On Ten Legs, on Jan. 18th.  The 18 tracks making up the album will be culled from their 2003-2010 world tours.
Steve Lukather was recently interviewed by Spain's Rock Metal TV about his new solo album, All's Well That Ends Well, when he confirmed that he will not record any more Toto albums.
Patti Smith and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder have recorded guest appearances on R.E.M.'s upcoming album, Collapse Now, due out next year.
Neil Diamond has recorded, Dreams, a new 14-song collection of his interpretations of his favorite songs of other composers from the rock era due out Nov. 2nd.  According to the singer, "You never know how long you've got and a lot of these songs have been waiting for me to record them for 40 years."  The album includes classic songs by The Beatles, Leon Russell, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Bill Withers, the Everly Brothers, Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, Glenn Frey/Don Henley and Leonard Cohen as well as a reinterpretation of his own "I'm A Believer."

A documentary by Burton Chamberlain about former Guns N' Roses and current Velvet Revolver bassist Duff McKagan and his band Loaded is in the works.  The film will be based on their upcoming album and is scheduled for release in March.
Michael, a long-awaited album of newly completed recordings from the late Michael Jackson, will be released on Dec. 14th via Epic Records.  The first full song from the album, "Breaking News," will have its world premiere at MichaelJackson.com and stream for one week only.



Meanwhile, the Estate of Michael Jackson and Cirque du Soleil have announced the official launch of Michael Jackson's The Immortal World Tour. The production combining the choreography of Cirque du Soleil and the music of Michael Jackson will tour internationally before becoming a permanent show at a currently unnamed venue in Las Vegas.
A new BBC documentary is in the works dealing with Robert Plant and the release of his new album, Band Of Joy.
Yes have signed a new worldwide recording deal with Frontiers Records for the release of their first new studio album in a decade due out before the summer.  The line-up of Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White will include newest members keyboardist Oliver Wakeman (Rick's son) and vocalist Benoit David have been performing together since last year.
Canadian bassist Jim Clench, 61, of April Wine and Bachman Turner Overdrive lost his fight with stage 4 lung cancer on Nov. 2nd in a Montreal hospital.  Clench would rejoin April Wine in the 1990s but also performed on Bryan Adams' 1980 self-titled album as well as Four Hundred & Fifty One Degrees' 1981 album, 451 Degrees.
Former Models bassist/vocalist James Freud [born Colin Joseph McGlinchey], 51, was found dead from an apparent suicide in his Hawthorn, Melbourne, Austraila home on Nov. 4th.  The Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame a week earlier and several reasons were named for his not appearing at the ceremony.  Freud released two solo albums (1980's Breaking Silence and 1989's Step Into The Heat) and 3 albums (1983's The Pleasure Of Your Company, 1985's Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight and 1986's Models' Media) with the Models during the decade.  He recorded several albums afterward and published two books (2002's I Am The Voice Left From Drinking and 2007's I Am The Voice Left From Rehab) which detailed his fight with alcoholism.  Freud had told interviewer Richard Fidler in 2007 that he'd attempted to kill himself 3 different times in the past.
Argentine drummer Ruben Basoalto, 64, of Vox Dei lost his battle with lung cancer on Nov. 3rd.  Basoalto was a founding member of the band that formed in the late 60s and would release 1988's Tengo Razones para Seguir (I've Got Reasons To Keep On Going.)  The group's latest studio album was 2005's El Camino (The Road.)
Heading to stores this week:  Charlie Louvin - The Battle Rages On, Nitzer Ebb - Industrial Complex, Reba McEntire - All The Women I Am, Quincy Jones - Q: Soul Bossa Nostra, Atheist - Jupiter, Virgin Steele - The Black Light Bacchanalia, GWAR - Bloody Pit Of Horror, Boz Boorer - Miss Pearl/My Wild Life, Bruce Cockburn - Stealing Fire, Bruce Cockburn - World Of Wonders, Lita Ford - Stiletto, Queensryche - Empire, Robert Wyatt - Old Rottenhat, Depeche Mode - Tour Of The Universe: Barcelona, Tangerine Dream - The Epsilon Journey: Live In Eindhoven, Netherlands 2008, Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe - An Evening Of Yes Music Plus, Albert King/Stevie Ray Vaughan - In Session, Mose Allison - The Collection, Bon Jovi - Greatest Hits and Poison - Nothing But A Good Time Box