Search Results for: Alan Day

Do they know it’s Christmas? Maybe, maybe not. The bigger question is: Do we care? Band Aid 20’s new version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” is selling at a record pace-in England, anyway. The story, though, is different on this side of the Pond. The updated take on the 1984 Christmas charity smash features some of Britain’s biggest names, including Dido, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Joss Stone, Paul McCartney and, for good measure, one Irish megastar in the form of U2’s Bono. The performers, checking their egos at the door (in theory, anyway), gathered together to help victims in… Read more »

For the third time in his career, Eminem has a new album debuting atop the Billboard albums chart. Encore, the rapper’s fourth full-length LP, will bow at #1 on next week’s chart with more than 710,000 copies sold, according to SoundScan. What’s more impressive is that Shady pulled off the feat with less than a full first-week’s worth of sales. Because the album leaked online, Encore went on sale Friday, four days before the previously scheduled release of Tuesday. Since SoundScan ends each week’s tally on Sundays at midnight, Em’s 710,000 copies, which is also the year’s fourth-largest first-week total,… Read more »

Where Evanescence were once propelled solely by a pair of songwriters, the creative process has become a lot more democratic since the departure of guitarist Ben Moody. And yet Amy Lee continues to get the ball rolling the way she always has: behind closed doors. “I write by myself initially,” the band’s singer explained. “That’s the way I’ve always written, just working on pure thought by myself. Then I bring it to the table with whoever I’m collaborating with.” After Moody split in late 2003, he was replaced on tour by former Cold guitarist Terry Balsamo, who permanently joined the… Read more »

New York, Ny – Punk superstars Simple Plan saw plenty of action as their new album Still Not Getting Any…soared to the top of the charts. The band’s sophomore album entered the Billboard Top 200 at #3 (trailing closely behind hard core rappers Jay Z/R. Kelly and Trick Daddy.) The album, with sales of 139,928, marks the band’s highest chart position to date and the highest rock debut this week. In addition to their monstrous success stateside, Still Not Getting Any…topped the chart in their native Canada at #2 and was the #3 top selling album in Japan. “Simple Plan… Read more »

The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) today recognizes and congratulates over 21 million young voters 18-35 who participated in yesterday’s national elections. According to an analysis provided to MTV Network’s “Choose Or Lose” campaign by Circle Research, the young adult vote in 2004 shows a sharp increase when compared to the nearly 18 million 18-30 year old votes cast in the 2000 presidential election. Key battleground states saw a marked increase in young voter turnout with one out of every five voters in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin under the age of 30. Today’s New York Daily News, in… Read more »

BURBANK, Calif. – Warner Bros. Pictures has announced plans for a special nationwide sneak preview of “The Polar Express” on Saturday, November 6 at 4:00 p.m. The picture will preview in approximately 500 venues and in specially selected IMAX houses in IMAX 3D. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President, Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures. The highly anticipated film stars two-time Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks and is directed by Academy Award-winner Robert Zemeckis. Combining classic storytelling with cutting-edge filmmaking, “The Polar Express” debuts performance capture, a highly advanced version of motion-capture technology developed and tailored to meet Zemeckis’… Read more »

BURBANK, Calif. – Buena Vista Interactive, a publishing label of Buena Vista Games, Inc., announced today its much-anticipated first person shooter, TRON 2.0: Killer App, has shipped for the Xbox® videogame system from Microsoft to North American retail outlets. TRON 2.0: Killer App is also available at retail for the Game Boy® Advance. “We are pleased to bring the TRON franchise to the Xbox®, and the Xbox(TM) Live gaming community,” said Bob Picunko, director of product marketing for Buena Vista Games. “With an intriguing storyline, innovative and deep multiplayer features, hit music and wide range of Xbox(TM) Live functionality, Killer… Read more »

LONDON – U.S. rapper Ja Rule hit gold on Sunday as his new release “Wonderful,” featuring R&B stars R Kelly and Ashanti, soared to the top of the UK singles chart, figures from the Official UK Charts Company showed. The song from Ja Rule, famous for his gruff voice, knocked Swedish DJ Eric Prydz’s “Call On Me” down to second place. Other new entrants also made their mark, with New Zealand-born Londoner Daniel Bedingfield’s “Nothing Hurts Like Love” debuting at No. 3 and singer-rapper Jay Sean jumping into fourth place with “Stolen.” Further down the list, Robbie Williams slipped from… Read more »

The trophy is a silly Moonman. Treasured memories include girl-on-girl kisses, a flying Fartman and the bobbling of a pasty-covered breast. Where other shows confer honors and respect, this one relishes gaffes, guffaws and giggles. Forget “The envelope, please.” It’s time to push the envelope. MTV’s Video Music Awards is among the most irreverent of awards shows. Which may be precisely why it matters. “It’s pop music; how seriously can you take it?” said MTV news correspondent Kurt Loder. “It’s not Martin Heidegger or something. There’s a lot of empty pomp associated with other shows, like the Oscars and even… Read more »

With the music industry looking to cut costs amid lower profit margins, record companies see fewer incentives to investing in artist-run label projects. Twelve years ago, Madonna decided to apply the business instincts that made her a superstar toward finding and developing new acts for her own music label. Maverick Records flourished early on. It generated hits by the likes of Alanis Morissette and Prodigy, validating the decision by Warner Music to form a partnership with its biggest star. But Maverick’s good fortunes started to turn during the industrywide sales slump that began in 2000. The label-parent relationship soured, landing… Read more »