Lou Pearlman: the bigger they are, the harder they fall

This just in: former boy-band mastermind Lou Pearlman (Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, O-Town), already serving a 25-year jail sentence for fraud, has been ordered to repay $300 million in investor funds which he so far seems to be, um, having trouble locating. Anybody check the hot tub?

For sale: one Jimi Hendrix guitar, slightly crispy

When Jimi Hendrix lit his guitar on fire at the end of his legendary live set at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, he changed the meaning of the term "incendiary performance" forever. What fans not steeped in rock history may not realize is that Monterey was actually the second time Hendrix "lit up" on stage. The first time he tried it, at a gig in London earlier the same year, he ended up being rushed to the hospital with burns on his hands.

The guitar Hendrix used in that first nearly disastrous on-stage fire show will be auctioned later this year after recently being rediscovered in the garage of Hendrix' former press spokesman Tony Garland. Considering that the Strat Hendrix used at Woodstock was sold for $1.8 million, it will take some serious coin to pick up this slightly crispy piece of rock history.

Where The Hell Is Matt?

You've probably either seen or heard about this video already, but if not, by all means, give it a click below, or watch the original in higher-def here. It's amazing, as only the simplest and therefore most powerful ideas can be.



Finally, you can learn more about the project this video originated from here.

Rush to appear on The Colbert Report

This just in, courtesy of the Associated Press:

Rush will be appearing on "The Colbert Report," and it's not Limbaugh.

The Canadian band Rush, which hasn't performed on U.S. television in more than three decades, will play their classic "Tom Sawyer" on the Comedy Central show Wednesday (11:30 p.m. EST).

The Geddy Lee-led trio, which is currently on tour, hasn't played on U.S. television since 1975.

Rush is only the latest act to perform on "The Report," which has steadily edged closer to "Ed Sullivan Show" territory. With increasingly frequent musical performances, "The Report" has grown a variety-show impulse, evident in other upcoming bookings.

The rapper Nas will perform on July 23, Toby Keith will return for a second performance on July 28 and Crosby, Stills and Nash will play on July 30.

The Stephen Colbert-hosted comedy show was originally launched as a parody of conservative political punditry — and shows like "The O'Reilly Factor" do not make a habit of hosting music performances.

But "The Report" circus has expanded into musical realms, often with its sonorous host joining in. John Legend, Neil Young, R.E.M., Tony Bennett, Peter Frampton, Willie Nelson, Barry Manilow, John Mellencamp, the Roots and Carole King have all performed on the show.

The Who tour dates announced

Old guys rock. At least, that's this old guy's take on the newly announced tour dates by the remaining 50 percent of The Who.

Old guys, it must also be said, charge ridiculous ticket prices. Still, one can never hear "Won't Get Fooled Again" too many times. Never.

Return of attack of hair bands

Just had to share this item from this morning's USA Today: a then-and-now photo gallery of 80s hair bands. It seems that black is the new hair. Well, you've got to have some kind of strategy when your trademark begins to desert you...

Richard Thompson covers Britney Spears

No, seriously. And it sounds, well, pretty damned good.

The music business: the death of retail

Anyone who persists in believing the fiction that downloading music for free only hurts big corporations and is therefore morally justifiable should really read this piece from last week's Newsweek. There's a Sal -- an independent music retailer / small businessperson -- in every town. I don't want mine to go away. What about you?

Live Nation signs Nickelback (and Madonna and Jay-Z and Shakira...)

Those familiar with the cartoon classic Pinky & The Brain will also recall its trademark catch-phrase, wherein dumb-as-toast Pinky asks Brain what they're going to do tonight and he responds, in full megalomaniacal flower, "The same thing we do every night, Pinky -- try and take over the world! Bwa-ha-ha!"

This naturally comes to mind when reading about the latest move by Live Nation, the already-pseudo-monopoly national concert promoters who have now signed so-called "360" deals -- albums, concert tours, merchandising, the works -- with four majors acts, as well as a less comprehensive deal with U2.

Joining Madonna, Jay-Z and Shakira in the Live Nation ranks is Nickelback, the band that updated 80s corporate rock for the 00s -- like anyone was begging for that to happen. In any case, you couldn't find a more emblematic band for a company that seems to be bent on world domination.

New music from Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen has done charity benefit work throughout his career, but this time it's personal.

On July 15 Columbia will release a new digital EP of highlights from the still-underway world tour of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Magic Tour Highlights will be released via all digital download stores and will consist of four audio tracks with four accompanying videos, all recorded live in concert during the current Magic tour.

As fans all over the world know, the E Street Band lost one of its founding members earlier this year when organ and accordion player Danny Federici succumbed to melanoma (skin cancer).

The artists, songwriters, and music publishers are donating all of their royalties, and Columbia Records is donating all of its net profits, from sales of Magic Tour Highlights to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund. The iTunes Store is donating their first year's net profits as well.

Magic Tour Highlights Track Listing:

1. "Always A Friend" (performed with Alejandro Escovedo)
Recording Date: 04/14/2008 (Houston, Texas)

2. "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (performed with Tom Morello)
Recording Date: 04/07/2008 (Anaheim, California)

3. "Turn Turn Turn" (performed with Roger McGuinn)
Recording Date: 04/23/2008 (Orlando, Florida)

4. "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" (Danny Federici's final performance with the E Street Band)
Recording Date: 03/20/2008 (Indianapolis, Indiana)

Visit www.brucespringsteen.net on July 15 for download information. And again, R.I.P. Danny.

George Michael Live at the Forum

Lest we forget, pop-aholic readers may wish to check out Assistant Editor Melanie Love's report from George Michael recent concert stop in LA for his first show there in 25 years. Did the crowd forgive this decidedly un"Faith"ful behavior? Find you for yourself.

Prince vs. Springsteen vs. Neil Young: Who's got the best backing band?

Nice job by Marc Hirsh of MSNBC today rating the best backing bands in the business. The J.B.'s (James Brown), The Attractions (Elvis Costello), the E Street Band (Bruce Springsteen), Crazy Horse (Neil Young) and The Revolution (Prince) are all worthy of consideration for the title. What's truly bizarre is how Hirsh managed to exclude two others who definitely belong in this category. No Heartbreakers (Tom Petty)? And sacrilege of sacrileges, he left out the only backing unit ever to have the nerve to call themselves simply The Band (Bob Dylan, and they lived up to the name)? Can't give this column more than a B with those two glaring exclusions...

Tuesday Roundup

Because we can (and because there's news worth noting):

• David Gilmour Live In Gdańsk is a double live album plus concert DVD to be released on September 16th on Columbia Records. The first solo live album from the Pink Floyd guitarist/vocalist captures the final performance of his critically acclaimed 2006 On An Island tour, held in front of 50,000 in the Gdansk shipyards. The double live album, produced by Gilmour and Phil Manzanera, features Gilmour's six-piece touring band accompanied for the one performance only by the 40-strong string section of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic, conducted by Zbigniew Preisner, orchestral arranger on the On An Island album. It is the first ever live recording with an orchestra of Pink Floyd’s "High Hopes" and "A Great Day For Freedom," the latter performed here as a one-off for this special Solidarity anniversary. The DVD features 113 minutes of concert footage plus a 36-minute documentary which includes Gilmour’s private meeting with former President Lech Walesa, chats with the band and crew, concert rehearsals and other extras.
  
  
• The Subways -- whose dynamic debut Young For Eternity was reviewed on the Vault two years ago -- are back with a new album. Their second disc for Sire Records is called All Of Nothing -- a fair representation of the trio's all-out approach -- and is scheduled for release on September 9. The 12-song album was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth) and promises a fresh blast of youthful energy.
  
  
• R&b icons Labelle -- Patti Labelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash -- will perform at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on Saturday, July 5th at the Louisiana Superdome, leading up to the release of their first full-length studio album in more than 33 years on September 23. The Essence Music Festival show will be the first public concert by Labelle since January 1977 and will showcase a short set including the immortal "Lady Marmalade." The upcoming album will include tracks produced by Lenny Kravitz and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame production team Gamble & Huff. Kitchy-kitchy-kitchy-ya-ya!

The Soundtrack for Change: Obama's iPod

CNN Reports today the contents of Barack Obama’s iPod. Apparently Obama digs Dylan, The Stones, Stevie Wonder, and various jazz artists including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

"I have pretty eclectic tastes," the Democratic presidential contender said in an interview to be published in Friday's issue of Rolling Stone.

Growing up in the '70s, Obama said, he listened to the Rolling Stones, Elton John and Earth, Wind & Fire. Stevie Wonder is his musical hero from the era. The Stones' "Gimme Shelter" tops his favorites from the band.

Asked about Rap, he confesses that despite his respect for the strides made my many artists in that genre, he has concerns for some of the content. "I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics," he said, "but I think the genius of the art form has shifted the culture and helped to desegregate music."

No word yet on what John McCain is listening to.

CNN

Rolling Stone

Chris Cubeta covers Neil Young

Wowza. I'm not much of a download surfer, and I generally leave the MP3 blogging to the very best on the Web, Heather Browne, but looky looky what I found. One of the most exciting indie acts in the land, Chris Cubeta and the Liars Club, recently posted their cover of Neil Young's post-Kent State classic "Ohio" on their blog and it is absolutely SMOKING. It's a song that demands total commitment and CC & the LC bring it with authority. Not to be missed!

Metallica: Some Kind of Idiocy

As reported on CNet, Metallica recently invited selected music bloggers to sit with them in the studio for a preview of their upcoming album, playing six tracks.

Said bloggers then blogged what they heard, as bloggers will. Most of the comments were positive based on readers who had a chance to actually read the comments prior to…

… Metallica’s camp ordering all the blogs removed under threat of legal action. Some claims about the music being “rough mixes” were given as an excuse.

The "DUH" factor just went through the roof. If they aren't ready, don't invite anyone to listen.

Shortly thereafter, the band “sort of apologized,” fingering the band's PR firm as the culprit.

First the Napster debacle, then they become the last-band-standing to be drug kicking and screaming into iTunes. Is this a by-product of the band's well-established dislike for the Internet, digital media and anything that doesn’t provide a bricks-and-mortar originated royalty check? Can someone explain the benefit of prohibiting positive reviews?

The blogs were eventually restored, you can read them here: Kerrang, Metal Hammer, The Quietus.

Jeff's Quick Picks -- Elton John

Elton John
Tumbleweed Connection [Deluxe Edition]

I decided to cheat this week with my Quick Picks; instead of a song I’d like to highlight an album. A Deluxe Edition, to be exact. Last week, there were two reissues of two classic Elton John albums released, his self titled work and it’s sequel, Tumbleweed Connection. My choices were limited to one or the other, and in the end Jeff left Best Buy with a tumbleweed in hand.

Tumbleweed Connection ranks quite high on the list of the great Elton John albums; in my book it alternates in the top spot with Captain Fantastic. Thus, I was quite curious to listen to alternate takes/new material from a truly classic album. The results were pleasing enough, although not hugely enlightening.

“There Goes A Well-Known Gun” is presented in a completely different fashion; foreshadow of Captain Fantastic with it’s country rock vibe. I love the original, but this version has it’s moments. “Sisters Of The Cross” is the only 100% new song contained on the album, but it’s intriguing enough to make one ponder what could have been. John demonstrates his amazing command of performance on just a piano once more; in that he is at the top of the heap.

The Deluxe Edition concludes with 4 songs lifted from an unreleased series of BBC Sessions, and are well worth the time to listen to. These are songs that would not be performed live for decades in some cases, and here John and his band infuse them a raw energy of an act trying to make it big (“Ballad Of A Well-Known Gun” and “Burn Down The Mission” in particular).

This is one of Elton’s best albums, and in this format it has received a fresh update with enough bonus material to provide some perspective. For a Deluxe Edition, that is all one can ask for.

PR: The Mother of Invention

British rockers The Get Out Clause, needing a video to promote themselves but lacking funds, ingeniously performed in front of some of the 1000s of government controlled closed circuit surveillance cameras all over Manchester, and then requested copies of the videos under a public information disclosure statute.

"We wanted to produce something that looked good and that wasn't too expensive to do," guitarist Tony Churnside said. "We hit upon the idea of going into Manchester and setting up in front of cameras we knew would be filming”.

Cleverly splicing clips from many locations, they managed to create a pretty decent video, and purely by accident, an interesting look at the state of Big Brotherism and who’s watching who, and where.

The music "industry": race to the bottom

A musician friend recently passed on a pitch he’d received from an industry contact. It went like this:

BANDS AND ARTISTS FROM ALL GENRES (but primarily Alt Rock bands or Hip Hop groups) are sought after by a Film/TV Production company currently casting for a new Reality TV show airing on a popular cable network… They're looking for a band/group that has talent and potential, but is struggling with one or more members in terms of moving forward with their career. It could be that a member has an addiction problem, or a less serious (but annoying) responsibility problem, a gambling issue, or an inability to cooperate with the rest of the band in one way or another. The scenarios could be vast, but they really want a band with personality who's not afraid to "show their dirt" to the TV audience. They will be open to using the band's songs on the show, granted that the quality is there. There will be on camera/live performance opportunities, in addition to full promotion of the band and their music.

My friend and I commiserated briefly about what it meant about the state of both our culture and the music industry that artists were being bribed with free promotion to turn their most painful and/or embarrassing moments of personal failure into entertainment for the masses. The word “disturbing” came up frequently in our conversation.

Then I received a pitch from someone obviously affiliated with the same show:

I am a producer for a new reality show featuring promising bands on the **** Network.

This show is a great opportunity for some up and coming bands to get some excellent exposure! Most bands have internal conflicts of some sort that they would like to rectify. This show will help the band work on a problem it has been facing once and for all.

We are currently trying to spread the word about this opportunity and are accepting applicants from all music genres. It would be great if we could post a banner that mentions our casting call your subscribers… I’d love to be able to reach all the artists on your site as this is a great opportunity for them to showcase their music and get attention, on television.

My response:

Sorry ***** – nothing personal – but the premise of your show is offensive to me both as a music lover and as a human being. I don’t care how much “exposure” a band gets out of it, exploiting people’s pain for ratings is just plain wrong.

Discuss.

Alton Kelley 1940 - 2008

Legendary artist Alton Kelley created a graphic style that rocked the world beginning in the psychedelic Sixties. His concert posters, logo designs, LP album covers, and fine art have forevermore defined that time. Kelley, born June 17, 1940, passed away peacefully at home June 1st of complications from a long illness.

He is survived by the true love of his life, Marguerite Trousdale Kelley. He also leaves his mother Annie, sister Kathy, and beloved children Patty, Yossarian, and China, and beautiful grandchildren Life and Lacoda.

Through his mind-expanding creativity and over several decades, Kelley gave rock music new colors, shapes, and themes expressing the optimism and enthusiasm of young people around the globe. His graphics defined youth culture as much as the music itself-in effect his art was a break-through collaboration with musicians and bands such as the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix. As Joel Selvin, rock critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, put it, "Kelley and Mouse drew the first face on rock music."

Kelley and his life-long collaborator Stanley Mouse are best known for their posters for "San Francisco style" dance-concerts at the Fillmore Auditorium, Winterland arena, the Fillmore West, the Avalon Ballroom, and a host of other Bay Area theaters and amphitheaters. They also created world-renowned posters and album covers for the Grateful Dead, Journey, Steve Miller, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, and others.

The two artists historically worked as a team, in their words "riffing off each other's giggle." They joyfully appropriated from historic sources, in one instance re-working an obscure nineteenth-century etching to create their iconic Grateful Dead "skeleton and roses" design. They combined vibrant Sixties color with French poster-making joi de vivre enthusiasm, and their own adapted technique, to generate compelling pieces often issued on a weekly basis, ultimately dazzling millions worldwide. Thus, they changed advertising art forever, as their posters were key examples of what became one of the most important art movements of the latter part of the twentieth century.

When Kelley (a native of Maine) met Mouse (a native of Detroit, MI) in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district in late 1965 (the "Haight" was the epicenter of the hippie movement, culminating in the "Summer of Love" in 1967), they instantly recognized they were kindred spirits in what Mouse describes as "one of the juiciest scenes of all time." Their concert posters, commissioned by Fillmore promoter Bill Graham and Graham's rival, the Avalon's Family Dog collective, were eagerly snapped up by bands and fans alike.

In the decades since, Mouse and Kelley's classics have established even greater popularity, rivaling the interest long shown by collectors of French turn-of-the-century Belle Epoque art made famous by Toulouse-Lautrec and others.

"There is one word for Alton Kelley's lifelong contribution, and that is 'iconic.'" said Dell Furano, CEO of Signatures Network. "Kelley's artwork, designs, posters, album covers, tour logos set a standard of inspired creativity that has remained as influential as the great San Francisco Rock Scene of the 60's, 70's and 80's."

[Thanks to Jennifer Gross of Evolutionary Media Group for sending in this press release. And R.I.P. Alton.]