Search Results for: AVOID

New York – The year began with the Super Bowl halftime show fiasco and ended with aftershocks from Howard Stern flipping his detractors the bird and taunting the Federal Communications Commission with a just-try-and-get-me-now move to satellite radio. Between those two seismic events, the FCC levied a record number of indecency fines, responding to an avalanche of complaints carefully orchestrated by conservative zealots and election year political pressure. The results from the government crackdown were widespread. Top-rated personalities were fired. Zero-tolerance edicts were issued. On-air delays and indecency tutorials became commonplace. Warhorses like Pink Floyd’s “Money,” Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer”… Read more »

MARYSVILLE, Ohio – In a small town where people greet you by name at Maggie’s Restaurant and where the guy who runs the local pawn shop will do what he can with your wife’s wedding ring because he knows you need the cash for Christmas, Nathan Gale was a stranger in plain view. His apartment at 111 1/2 E. Fifth St., half a block from the downtown shopping district’s single stoplight, put him right in the heart of this close-knit community of 16,000 residents. But even though he spent hours every day hanging out at the restaurant and tattoo parlor… Read more »

Los Angeles – Shawn Fanning, once reviled by record labels as the creator of renegade song-swap service Napster, on Thursday launched a new service designed to turn the threat of still popular peer-to-peer services into an opportunity for music companies and artists. The original Napster was eventually shut down in 2001 by copyright litigation and then sold to Roxio Inc, which re-launched it as a paid online service. But despite the proliferation of commercial services like the new Napster, RealNetworks Inc’s Rhapsody and even Apple Computer Inc’s iTunes, Fanning said unauthorized file-sharing was as rampant as ever. In launching the… Read more »

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Paul McCartney will headline the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 6 as the NFL goes mainstream after the controversy over last February’s show. “There’s nothing bigger then being asked to perform at the Super Bowl,” McCartney said. “We’re looking forward to rocking the millions at home and in the stadium.” Last Feb. 1 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium, singer Justin Timberlake ripped off part of singer Janet Jackson’s outfit, exposing her right breast to a TV audience of some 90 million people. CBS is protesting an FCC fine of $550,000 for the halftime show. Clearly, the league… Read more »

Rome – Goth rockers The Cure are enjoying an unexpected revival, but frontman Robert Smith isn’t letting it go to his head. “It’s very flattering,” Smith told Reuters Television late on Thursday after performing at the MTV Europe Music Awards, his first MTV event in 15 years. “But I’m not stupid enough to think it’s an Indian summer. “We realize that this upsurge in media attention is almost entirely due to very good young bands picking up on The Cure,” added Smith, who wore his trademark red lipstick and heavy eyeliner under an unruly mop of hair. When asked whether… Read more »

New York – The bookkeeper for rap label Murder Inc. was indicted on money laundering charges by federal prosecutors who are probing ties between drug dealers and the recording home of such platinum-selling acts as Ja Rule and Ashanti. Cynthia Brent, 39, was arrested at her New Jersey home Monday and was charged with laundering drug proceeds and structuring cash deposits to avoid federal reporting requirements. The laundering charges involve more than $1 million in drug money, according to the indictment against her. Brent pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Monday afternoon and was released on $200,000 bond. Her lawyer… Read more »

Ashlee Simpson started having difficulty with her voice during a dress rehearsal for “Saturday Night Live,” backstage footage recorded for “60 Minutes” shows. A crew from the CBS newsmagazine was on hand for a story about the late-night comedy program’s creative process, and its cameras were rolling as producers expressed concern about the Simpson, who appeared flustered during rehearsals. Simpson rushed backstage following Saturday’s rehearsal, clutching her throat and appearing to be in tears. At that point, correspondent Lesley Stahl asked “SNL” creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels what the problem was. “We’re concerned about her voice,” he told her.… Read more »

The MTV Video Music Awards featured a lot of star power this year, but some fans were left wondering: Where were Britney and Justin? Britney Spears has practically made a tradition of not only appearing at the VMAs, but giving the ceremony some of its most talked about moments. She performed her schoolgirl hit “… Baby One More Time” in 1999, stripped to “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Oops!… I Did It Again” in 2000, became a snake charmer for “I’m a Slave 4 U” in 2001, presented birthday cake to Michael Jackson (who mistook it for an award)… Read more »

Sum 41 have named their third album Chuck as a tribute to United Nations representative Chuck Pelletier, who the band members credit with saving their lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo back in May. The Canadian rockers were shooting a documentary in the war-torn African nation when fighting between a militia and the newly formed national army erupted on May 26th. The band hid in a hotel bathroom to avoid the gunfire. “Chuck Pelletier made an evacuation plan, putting us all in groups to get us into armored tanks,” Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley told Rolling Stone. “He was… Read more »

The board of selectmen in Foxboro has pulled the plug on the Warped Tour alternative rock fest at Gillette Stadium, even though tickets have already gone on sale for the two-day show. Citing noise, safety and other concerns, the Foxboro Board of Selectmen on Tuesday turned down a license request for the Aug. 19 and 20 concert proposed for a parking lot outside the stadium. The decision was the first time in more than 20 years that selectmen had turned down a license for a concert at the stadium, Town Administrator Andrew Gala told the Sun Chronicle of Attleboro. The… Read more »