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Few music careers begin as dramatically as that of Philadelphia’s bluesy hard rockers Silvertide. By the end of the band’s first gig in February 2001, police had raided the club where they were playing and arrested dozens of crowd members for underage drinking and drug possession. Frontman Walt Lafty was almost hauled off as well. “I had given a bunch of equipment to my friends so they could sneak out the back and say they were carrying gear,” he explained. “Then I noticed all the gear was gone and I wasn’t out yet. So when I tried leaving, this black… Read more »

Washington – Viacom will pay a record $3.5 million to settle dozens of federal investigations into alleged indecency on TV and the radio, and introduce delays in more live programming to help catch troublesome material before it gets on the air. The settlement, announced Tuesday, closes investigations dating back to 2001. One involved shock jock Howard Stern, and two focused on Opie and Anthony, who lost their Viacom-owned New York radio show after it featured a couple purporting to have sex inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Greg “Opie” Hughes and Anthony Cumia went silent after the 2002 show until October, when… Read more »

Los Angeles – U2 has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide and won 14 Grammy Awards during the course of its 26-year career, so you would think that there would be a level of ease that comes with a new release. Not so, says the Irish band’s longtime manager Paul McGuinness. “There is absolutely no resting on our laurels,” he tells Billboard. “I say to people we have to break the band every time we put out a record.” And this is with an album that McGuinness expects to debut at No. 1 in “32 or 33 countries.” “How… Read more »

Paris – Note to readers: Vivendi Universal provided preliminary, unaudited revenue information on a French GAAP basis for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2004 to ‘Balo’ a French official bulletin for publication in accordance with French regulatory requirements. On a comparable basis(1, the revenues for the third quarter 2004 were up 6%, and 7% at constant currency. On a comparable basis(1, the revenues for the first nine months of 2004 were up 5%, and 7% at constant currency. Vivendi Universal’s consolidated revenues for the third quarter of 2004 amounted to EUR 4,703 million. On a comparable… Read more »

Bad Religion bassist Jay Bentley is generally a pretty easy-going guy. Interviewing him is usually like sitting through a comedy routine where any and all taboos are duly mocked. On this occasion, though, Bentley isn’t so laidback – and you can hardly blame him. He’s consumed by the problems within America’s political climate. Fearing the ever-looming November 2 U.S. Presidential Election date (which takes place the day Bad Religion play in Montreal), Bentley doesn’t really want to talk about anything else. “My job right now isn’t to play music,” he grunts. “It’s to get a new president in office. Half… Read more »

When speaking this month to a representative from Soundscan, the company that provides much of the data for the Billboard Top 200 Chart, I learned things that would contradict reported statements by the RIAA. Mainly that US labels have had a significant reduction in sales over the past three years. Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA, responded personally, put his rebuttals on the record and in the process exposed intriguing insight into the way the RIAA calculates “losses.” Soundscan is a service owned by Nielsen, the company that computes TV ratings. Soundscan uses the barcodes on CDs to register sales… Read more »

“At the end of every show we’d grab handfuls of these stickers we made at Kinko’s with our name and website,” says Steriogram frontman Brad Carter. “We’d toss ’em to our fans from the stage, 300 or 400 stickers every night.” Carter laughs at the band’s ultra-humble approach to building fan loyalty. But it’s working. Steriogram’s homemade stickers, website and music videos, together with its enthusiastic courting of street teams and high school kids, helped launch the rock-hiphop group from obscurity in Auckland, NZ, to a major deal with Capitol Records. “Our goal was to play in America because our… Read more »

Child molestation charges against Michael Jackson are being driven by “money and revenge,” said defense attorney Mark Geragos, who vowed to derail the alleged victim’s credibility and fight what he called a prosecutor’s vendetta. For District Attorney Thomas Sneddon, whose similar 1993 case against the pop singer evaporated when the accuser reportedly accepted millions in settlement money, the charges filed Thursday represent a second chance to convict the fading pop star before the prosecutor begins his planned retirement. Unlike the 1993 case, Sneddon says, this time he has a cooperative witness who isn’t interested in a piece of Jackson’s fortune.… Read more »

With the summer of 2003 speeding to a close, the boys of Three Days Grace continue to power their way through North America. After a supporting tour for Theory Of A Deadman earlier this summer, 3DG immediately hooked up with alterna-metal heads Trapt in July and since then have continued to take their music to the masses. Yes, it’s been a busy few months for 3DG, but this suits them just fine, thank you very much. “We kind of have this ‘BRING IT’ approach to whatever we do,” says drummer Neil Sanderson. “At the end of the day, our job… Read more »

Johnny Cash, “The Man in Black” who became a towering figure in American music with such hits as “Folsom Prison Blues,” “I Walk the Line,” and “A Boy Named Sue,” died Friday. He was 71. “Johnny died due to complications from diabetes, which resulted in respiratory failure,” Cash’s manager, Lou Robin, said in a statement issued by Baptist Hospital in Nashville. He said Cash died at the hospital at 1 a.m. EDT. “I hope that friends and fans of Johnny will pray for the Cash family to find comfort during this very difficult time,” Robin said. Cash had been released… Read more »