Search Results for: Alan Day

Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said. He was 90. Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s and sometimes used a wheelchair, died at 1:30 a.m. local time after suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva told The Associated Press. Clarke was regarded as a technological seer as well as a science-fiction writer, and was known as “the godfather of the telecommunications satellite.” His most famous novel, “2001: A… Read more »

You’ll usually find R.E.M. playing arenas and esteemed concert halls. But this week, the rock hall of famers were among the acts trying to catch a break and artists looking to build their audience at the sprawling South by Southwest music festival. The multiplatinum rockers played Stubbs BBQ shortly after midnight Wednesday before an energetic crowd of a couple thousand, marking the first time they’ve played the annual extravaganza in their nearly three-decade career. But it’s hardly a downgrade: Playing a showcase at SXSW has often been a way for a veteran act to make a big splash with a… Read more »

As expected, Nine Inch Nails is utilizing the Internet to disseminate its new instrumental album, “Ghosts I-IV,” which went live at 9 p.m. ET tonight (March 2) via the Trent Reznor-led group’s Web site. “Ghosts” will also see physical release via RED Distribution on April 8, Billboard has learned. Fans can receive the first nine songs from the 36-track project, which was recorded during “an intense 10-week period last fall” and likely to spawn additional volumes, for free, or the entire album can be obtained digitally for $5. “I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for… Read more »

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger only survived an assassination attempt by Hells Angels members nearly 40 years ago because a boat carrying his would-be killers was swamped in a storm, according to a new BBC documentary. The details of a plot to kill the British rocker were revealed by an FBI agent as part of a series, “The FBI at 100,” which is to be aired on BBC Radio 4 on Monday. Tom Mangold, who presents the series, told Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper that Jagger fell out with the Hells Angels after a member of the notorious gang killed a… Read more »

Michael Jackson’s famed Neverland Valley Ranch in California will be foreclosed and sold on March 19 unless the pop star pays a balance of nearly $25 million, property records showed on Tuesday. FoxNews.com celebrity columnist Roger Friedman reported on the Web site that Jackson has been formally apprised of the foreclosure and that legal documents have also been filed with the Santa Barbara County Recorder’s office. “You are in default of a deed of trust …,” Jackson was told in the five-page filing, according to a copy of the document published by FoxNews.com. “Unless you take action to protect your… Read more »

“SIMPLE PLAN,” the long-awaited new album from Lava/Atlantic recording group Simple Plan, has made a triumphant chart debut, both here and around the world. The Montreal-based band’s third studio effort — which features the singles “When I’m Gone” and “Your Love Is A Lie” — was the Billboard 200’s highest-charting debut of the week at #14, while also placing high on a variety of additional tallies, including #3 on “Top Rock Albums,” #4 on “Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums,” and #7 on “Top Digital Albums.” In addition, the album reached the #1 spot on the iTunes Store’s “Top Pop Albums” ranking.… Read more »

A start-up co-founded by famed Norwegian hacker “DVD Jon” is on Tuesday introducing a service that enables users to copy and use copy-protected Apple Inc iTunes songs on many popular non-Apple devices. The San Francisco-based company, doubleTwist, is releasing a service that makes it easy for consumers to share both user-generated and professionally created audio, photos and video clips via computers, certain mobile phones or PSP game players. Beyond computer-to-computer media-sharing, doubleTwist lets users synchronize media sitting on their computers to mobile devices they or their friends own, simply by “dragging and dropping” media files into a desktop folder that… Read more »

What could be better after a hard day’s sightseeing? Visitors to Liverpool, birthplace of the Beatles, can rest their heads in the Lennon or McCartney suites at the Fab Four-themed Hard Days Night Hotel that opened Friday. More than 45 years after John, Paul, George and Ringo emerged from Liverpool’s tiny, sweaty clubs to conquer the world, the Beatles industry is key to this battered-but-proud city’s attempt to transform itself from fading commercial hub to thriving cultural hotbed. The 110-room Hard Days Night Hotel hopes to be its newest attraction. “It’s stunning, spectacular,” said Julia Baird, John Lennon’s half-sister, after… Read more »

One ticket to the Super Bowl: $2,000. Thirty seconds of advertising during the Super Bowl: $2.7 million. Five seconds’ worth of Madonna in a Super Bowl ad: A heck of a lot more than that. Sources tell E! Online that the Material Girl was paid $10 million to appear in a new advertising campaign for Sunsilk hair-care products, including a commercial that will premiere during the the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants (most of whom do not make $10 million in an entire season). In the 30-second spot, old stock footage… Read more »

Qtrax, a new legal online file-sharing service that allows fans to download songs for free, said on Sunday it will launch with 25 million to 30 million copyrighted tracks with backing from major labels. The free service will be funded through advertising revenue that Qtrax will share with the music companies. Qtrax executives said the company’s digital rights management technology will count the number of times each song has been played in order to fairly compensate artists and rights’ holders, without restricting consumer use. The company has focused on ensuring that its network is free of spyware or adware such… Read more »