Music News… On this day in…

- Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 -

AL GORE DEFENDS LIVE EARTH.
Former Vice President and active environmentalist Al Gore is the man behind the upcoming Live Earth concerts, which will feature some of the biggest names in music and will take place in spots around the world on July 7th. And as hard as it might be to believe, he has come under fire regarding the event. Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof feels the effort lacks goals, to which Gore has responded, saying, “We will have very specific goals that will be very significant and hard-hitting. We will announce those before the concert then emphasize them heavily during the concert.” The U-S leg of the Live Earth concerts will take place at New Jersey’s Giants Stadium and will feature performances by the Smashing Pumpkins, Kelly Clarkson, Fall Out Boy, The Police and more.

Metallica Added to Live Aid
…Metallica have been added to the bill for the London leg of next month’s Live Earth concerts. The band let the cat outta the bag yesterday via their Web site, Metallica.com. Metallica will join the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters and more at the event. The show will take place at London’s Wembley Stadium on July 7th and is completely sold-out, but Metallica will offer their performance for download shortly after the show, with the proceeds going to benefit climate charities. The U-S show will take place at New Jersey’s Giant Stadium on July 7th as well.

JANET RENO PUT TOGETHER A CD
Janet Reno, yup that Janet Reno, has finally finished compiling her Song of America collection. The compilation is designed to tell the history of the country through song, from 1492 to modern times. The former U-S Attorney General began the project two years ago, choosing artists to interpret beloved songs for new versions. John Mellencamp, Blind Boys of Alabama, Martha Wainwright, The Black Crowes, Shortee and Andrew Bird are amongst the genre spanning artists who appear on the disc. The 50-song, three-CD set is scheduled to be released September 18th.

BON JOVI’S WAL-MART SOUNDCHECK.
Bon Jovi’s new album Lost Highway is out now and the band will play a series of dates at the Prudential Center in New Jersey beginning October 25th. But if you can’t get out to New Jersey, the band has the next best thing for ya. The boys performed a Wal-Mart Soundcheck Session and fans can check it out now. The Jersey natives play some old favorites, including ”Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” “Wanted Dead or Alive” and “It’s My Life,” as well as some stuff from the newly released album, like “(You Want To) Make a Memory” and “Lost Highway.” Hit up SoundCheck.WalMart.com to watch.

SLAYER LET MANSON CALL THE SHOTS.
Marilyn Manson and Slayer are set to go out on a co-headlining tour this summer, but it seems that Slayer isn’t so keen on certain aspects of the venture. The trek is set to kick off on July 25th in West Palm Beach, Florida and fans can expect to see Manson close every show. In an interview with MTV News, Slayer guitarist Kerry King says that plan has him a little worried, “It’s definitely going to be weird. My whole thing is, it depends on what Manson plays, whether our kids stay or not. If he comes out and plays ‘Tainted Love,’ half the place is going to leave. No offense to Manson — I’m just saying what’s up. I want him to come out and kick ass, because I’m an old-school fan. He can succeed on this tour, if he chooses the right set.” King also revealed that Slayer hoped to once again name the trek the Unholy Alliance tour, but Manson wasn’t having it, “[This tour has] been in the works for a good part of this year, and the way it started out was, we were looking to do another Unholy Alliance this summer. Then, when we found out we’d probably be touring with Manson, he didn’t want to call it [the Unholy Alliance]. So, we were like, ‘Fine, man. Let’s just go out and do a big tour.’ He basically said [playing festival runs] wasn’t who he is anymore, and we were like, ‘All right.’ It didn’t make much sense to me, but that’s who he is now, I guess.” For better or worse, the tour will begin on July 25th in West Palm Beach, Florida.

THE CRUE WILL SUE.
MTV.com reports Mötley Crüe has filed a 20-million dollar lawsuit on Monday against manager Carl Stubner, who also represents Tommy Lee. The boys claims Stubner “hurt the band’s reputation, diverted revenue and mismanaged Lee’s career.” The lawsuit says Stubner allegedly “promoted Lee’s solo activities to the detriment of the band, and at the same time, mismanaged Lee’s career so as to harm the Mötley Crüe brand and Lee’s reputation as a musician and bandmember.” According to the site, a call to Sanctuary Group, which is also named as a defendant in the suit, was not immediately returned.

KEVIN CRONIN FEELS THE PASSION.
REO Speedwagon recently released Find Your Own Way Home, which is their first new album in about 11 years. And Kevin Cronin is happy with the record’s sound. “You know, when I listen to this record, I feel the passion in not only the songwriting but in the performances.” REO’s single “I Need To Fall” off Find Your Own Way Home is climbing its way up the AC charts. Find Your Own Way Home, is in stores now.

SANTANA’S SON SINGS HIS SONG.
Carlos Santana’s son Salvador recorded “Evil Ways” for an album called Songs for My Father. The record features the musical children of famous musicians paying tribute to their dads by performing one of their songs. Salvador told us that he chose “Evil Ways” because so many people have already redone many of his father’s other songs, like “Black Magic Woman.” He also shared how he molded the infamous song into his own. “To not take it note for note, but just take the best of the best, the best of the retro version and update it so that people maybe closer to our age can relate to it, you know, and also people from my dad’s and the generations before that were into the original version. They’d be like, ‘This is cool. This is 2007 ‘Evil Ways’ not, you know, a remake of it or anything.’” The album is available at Target stores now.

PUMPKINS RETURN TO TV.
The Smashing Pumpkins will be returning to your TV screens early next month for the first time in seven years. The band will be playing The Late Show with David Letterman on Monday, July 9th and Friday, July 13th. Their first album in seven years, Zeitgeist, comes out on July 10th.

SWEDEN TO PAY FOR METAL.
A Swedish heavy metal fan has had his musical preferences officially classified as a disability. According to Sweden’s paper, The Local, “the results of a psychological analysis” will allow the metal lover to have his income supplemented by state benefits. Roger Tullgren from Hässleholm in southern Sweden, recently became a dishwasher at a local restaurant but because heavy metal dominates so many aspects of his life, the Employment Service has agreed to pay part of Tullgren’s salary. Tullgren explained his situation saying, “The fact that I am so into music has affected my work situation to the extent that I have had to quit some jobs.” The Local reports that Tullgren, 42, claims he attended almost three hundred concerts last year.

Heaven and Hell
Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice got back together as and toured the U-S this spring. Things went so well they have decided to continue their reunion with a fall tour of the States. And when we last spoke with him, Dio was very happy about hitting the road. (Actuality #4)"You know the joy of being able to play together is what keeps us young and alive anyway. And so we’re looking forward to it.” This leg of Heaven and Hell’s tour is set to begin September 5th and is scheduled to include sets from Alice Cooper and Queensryche. Tickets for the first 12 dates go on sale this weekend. Check out HeavenAndHell.com for all the details…

BOSTON Tribute
…Plans for a tribute concert in memory of former Boston lead singer Brad Delp are still up in the air. The Boston Globe reports that an announcement was made yesterday saying the concert would be held August 19th and original Boston members Sib Hashian, Barry Goudreau, Fran Sheehan, Fran Cosmo and Tom Scholz would play together at the show. But a second announcement was made shortly after the first excluding Scholz’s name from the line-up. Then Scholz tried to clear things up by saying Boston would play but he didn’t specify which Boston line-up. He also said that Michael Sweet of Stryper, Mickey Thomas of Starship and Sammy Hagar have all offered to sing in Delp’s place. We’ll keep you posted…

ON JUNE 20TH…

In 1964…John Lennon was described as “in a pathetic state of near illiteracy” by one critic after the publication of his book, In His Own Write.
In 1967…Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane performed at San Francisco’s Fillmore.
In 1969…Young David Bowie signed his record deal with Mercury Records. The label had to wait three years for him to produce a successful follow-up to Space Oddity.
In 1969…Jimi Hendrix played the Newport Jazz Festival for a whopping 125-thousand dollars. At the time, it was the largest fee ever for a concert appearance.
In 1973…On American Bandstand’s 20th anniversary show, Dick Clark welcomed Little Richard, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Cheech and Chong and Three Dog Night.
In 1974…Bob Dylan and The Band released their live album Before the Flood.
In 1980…Bob Dylan released Saved, his second collection of Christian material.
In 1981…Guitarist Gerry Cott walked out on The Boomtown Rats.
In 1983…Twang pioneer Duane Eddy embarked on his first U-S concert tour in 15 years in San Francisco.
In 1987…Boston appeared at the 10th annual Texas Jam for their first live performance in eight years.
In 1988…Bobby Brown released his album Don’t Be Cruel.
In 1994…It was reported that Paul, George and Ringo were working on a new song for inclusion on The Beatles’ Anthology box set.
In 1995…The Foo Fighters released their self-titled debut album.
In 1997…Lawrence Payton of The Four Tops died at age 59 from liver cancer.
In 2002…Yoko Ono attended the opening of a retrospective dedicated to her at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
In 2002…Bobby Brown was released from a Virginia hospital where he was being treated for an infection.
In 2003…Lipton, the sponsors of The Dixie Chicks’ summer tour, pulled an ad featuring the trio following singer Natalie Maines’ controversial statements about President George W. Bush.
In 2003…Rap star Lil’ Kim had 250-thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry stolen from her at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport. The haul included her signature “Queen Bee” necklace.
In 2004…In St. Petersburg’s Palace Square, Paul McCartney played his 3000th gig since he first performed with The Quarrymen. 50-thousand Russians turned out to see the ex-Beatle, who, of course, played “Back in the USSR.”
In 2006…Bassist Andy Nicholson left British band Arctic Monkeys.
In 2006…The BBC announced they were axing their flagship music program Top of the Pops. The show debuted in 1964, with The Rolling Stones singing “I Wanna be Your Man.”
In 2006…Clayde “Charles” Smith, lead guitarist and a founding member with Kool & the Gang, died aged 57. He wrote the hits “Joanna” and “Take My Heart.”

Copied and pasted shamelessly from VH1, Rolling Stone, etc. by jyospe@1031jack.com.

Posted on Wednesday, June 20th @ 1:03 pm.

JACK Links

- Friday, June 8th, 2007 -

A Few Sites to Occupy Your Spare Time

Check out JACK’s links on the right side of the page after reading JACK’s Blog. We’ve been having a ton of fun searching the internet. You know there is nothing better, other than listening to JACK. We did, however, learn something in Kindergarten… how to share. So for your searching pleasure we’re providing you with links to some of the sites we’ve had fun with.

If you find a website or two like ours that you’ve had fun with and would like to share send it our way and we may even post it.

Posted on Friday, June 8th @ 2:38 pm.