Search Results for: Andy Black

Sugar Ray lead singer Mark McGrath isn’t sure what all the fuss between the American Music Awards and Grammys is about. “It’s a petty argument and I think it can all be resolved. The people getting hurt at the end of the day are the fans,” he said backstage Wednesday night. “Being down in South Central, can’t we all just get along?” he said, echoing Rodney King’s plea after the 1992 Los Angeles riots. AMA producer Dick Clark sued Michael Greene, president of the Recording Academy, for $10 million in December. Clark alleges that Greene has for years siphoned talent… Read more »

While Dec. 31, 2001, may not rank up there with the millennium celebrations, there’s still plenty of top-notch live music being presented in the clubs and arenas of the U.S. this New Year’s Eve. So, if you’re planning to get off the couch while Dick Clark rings in 2002 in Times Square, rest assured that there are worthwhile options in most major cities. In New York, band of the moment the Strokes will open for perennial indie favorite Guided By Voices at the famed Apollo Theatre. Further downtown, Phish’s Page McConnell will premiere his new band, Vida Blue, which features… Read more »

Though the annual South by Southwest Music Conference is known as a place for up-and-coming bands to get noticed, there’ll be several artists at next year’s 16th annual festival who already have hits under their belts. Hanson, who were discovered at 1994’s SXSW and played at last year’s fest as well, will return again to the music industry schmooze extravaganza in Austin, Texas. They’ll join such other airwave veterans as Marcy Playground (“Sex and Candy”), Girls Against Boys (“Kill the Sexplayer”) and Jesus Jones (“Right Here, Right Now”). Of course, the underground is still represented in full-force, as the lineup… Read more »

With only days to go before the top music companies start selling music online, they appear unwilling, at least initially, to support most of the digital music players currently sold. Analysts have dim expectations for the new ventures because their music will remain largely chained for now to the computer desktop – and only for as long as subscribers pay to “rent” it. “What’s the use if I’m going to have it on my desktop and I can’t take it with me?” says Jackie DeLeon, 26, a student housing coordinator at the University of Illinois-Chicago who uses her portable MP3… Read more »

Carlos Santana is hard at work on the follow-up to his 1999 mega-seller Supernatural, but Matchbox Twenty singer Rob Thomas-who co-wrote and sang on that album’s Grammy-winning single, “Smooth”-says the guitar legend is taking a different path on this outing. Thomas, who’s helping Santana write a couple of songs for the album, said that rather than featuring a bunch of guest singers as Supernatural did, the new album will focus more on the Santana band. “I can’t imagine him doing the exact same thing again,” he says. “He has two unbelievably talented vocalists that are with his band, a guy… Read more »

Columbia Records is releasing “Stoned Raiders,” the eagerly-awaited new album from Cypress Hill, the first full-length studio outing from the group since 2000’s platinum-selling “Skull & Bones” and the group’s first album since last year’s “Live At The Fillmore.” The latest chapter in the ongoing saga of alterna-rap’s best-selling bold marauders, “Stoned Raiders” carries on Cypress Hill’s uncanny patented hip-hop/rock meld. The album is produced, arranged and mixed by Muggs and features guest appearances by Kurupt, MC Ren & King Tee, Redman & Method Man, and Kokane. Also appearing on “Stoned Raiders’ are Fear Factory’s Christian Olde Wolbers, Andy Zambrano… Read more »

The Emmys, television’s highest honors, will be presented belatedly Sunday under the cloud of the Sept. 11 attacks with many stars planning to bypass strutting down the red carpet and to leave their egos and low-cut dresses at home. “It’s an awkward time for everybody, and people are still feeling unsure about whether it’s the right time or not,” said veteran Hollywood publicist Heidi Schaeffer. “People aren’t looking to call attention to themselves right now.” Reflecting the Emmys’ subdued tone this year, many stars have decided to forego the ceremony’s red-carpet arrival, among them nominees Martin Sheen of “The West… Read more »

Why do rock stars have to get old? That’s all I kept thinking Wednesday night (8/15), watching Dave Gahan try to twirl up a storm onstage as Depeche Mode brought the Exciter tour to the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Gahan is game, strutting around stage but sliding up his mic stand, he looks more like a middle-aged stripper, and Martin Gore’s all energy, moving to the music but that guitar looks way too big for his tiny frame. And Andy Fletcher … well, Andy Fletcher’s doing nothing, but it’s cool ’cause its Depeche Mode, right? The answer is a… Read more »

Time was, pop stars who hit it big would ride out the success of an album and then lie low for awhile, presumably restoring their creative energies and also whetting the public’s appetite for the next record. Not any more. Today’s acts – wary of fickle fans and short attention spans – are pumping out albums in quick succession so as not to lose the spotlight to someone else. “Unfortunately right now, you have to just hit while you’re hot,” said teen pop starlet Jessica Simpson, who released her self-titled second album in June, a year and a half after… Read more »

By all accounts, Madonna’s first world tour in eight years kicked off with a roaring success in Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday (June 10). The Material Girl continued the theme of her Scottish Highlands wedding by donning a Jean Paul Gaultier-designed kilt and sleeveless black top for the opening bars of the Drowned World Tour 2001 at the Palau Sant Jordi stadium, according to various media accounts. The 18,000-plus sold-out crowd of Spanish revelers was reportedly so loud throughout the 20-song, two-hour set that the noise drowned out the music itself, clocking in at over 120 decibels at one point, according… Read more »