Search Results for: Japanese

Sharon Osbourne and a woman with whom she’s had an ongoing feud were involved in a scuffle Thursday night in a West Hollywood restaurant, according to police. Officers arrived at the Japanese restaurant Koi on La Cienega Boulevard at 10:45 p.m., after Osbourne and Renee Tab, an entertainment agent for International Creative Management, were involved in an altercation, an LAPD spokesperson said. No one was arrested, though police took reports and photographed each woman. It’s unclear how the argument started, but it escalated into a physical altercation that found Tab hitting Osbourne in the face, according to the report given… Read more »

The Beastie Boys will perform April 25 at Las Vegas’ House of Blues, in a show that will serve both as a tribute to slain Run-D.M.C. DJ Jam Master Jay and a warm-up for the veteran rap trio’s headlining slot the next night at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Longtime Beasties associate DJ Hurricane will also be on the bill for the all-ages Vegas show, tickets for which are now on sale for $75 and $150. Further details regarding the benefit were unavailable at deadline. It is not known if surviving Run-D.M.C. members Joseph “Reverend… Read more »

Japanese electronics and entertainment giant Sony Corp. promoted the executives who run its entertainment and video-game units Monday. Howard Stringer, chief executive of Sony Corp. of America and head of the entertainment group, will become Sony vice chairman. He retains his position as chairman and CEO of Sony Corp. of America. The entertainment group includes music and film operations. Ken Kutaragi, who made the Sony PlayStation console a major moneymaker for the Tokyo-based company, will become executive deputy president of Sony in addition to his current duties as chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment and as a Sony director. The… Read more »

The long-rumored restructuring at Sony Music is expected to take a hefty bite out of the record giant’s sales staff, with some form of combination of sales forces at flagship Sony labels Epic and Columbia to be part of the deal, sources close to the company said. Exact figures are still being worked out, but the sales cuts will likely be well into the dozens when the smoke clears. Recent reports put the total number of expected layoffs around 1,000 staffers – though Sony insiders insist that number is high. Sales cuts would follow a general trend in the industry… Read more »

Sixty years after his birth, one of the most important artists ever to emerge from Seattle is – at least officially – almost invisible here. There’s no Jimi Hendrix Boulevard, no Hendrix Arena, no Hendrix Elementary School. The only thing the city has done to recognize the man many consider the world’s greatest guitar player is to give him a rock – in the African Savanna exhibit at the Woodland Park Zoo. Biographer Charles Cross of Seattle, who has spent years researching Hendrix for an upcoming book, called the oversight “almost criminal.” “The Seattle city government has never given any… Read more »

Japanese electronic and entertainment giant Sony Corp. will close its Indonesian audio-equipment plant in March and lay off all 1,000 workers, a company official said Tuesday. “The move is part of Sony’s overall effort to reorganize global production,” said Sony spokeswoman Ayako Hashimoto. The production at P.T. Sony Electronics Indonesia will be moved to Sony plants in Malaysia, Mexico, Japan, China and elsewhere, although details are still being worked out, she said. The Indonesian plant in Jakarta produced stereos and other audio equipment valued at about 15 billion yen ($123 million) a year. Since 1999, Sony has been restructuring its… Read more »

Veteran U.K. rock outfit Primal Scream has set a Nov. 26 North American release date for its domestic Epic debut, “Evil Heat.” The album, which features contributions from Robert Plant, Kate Moss, My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields, and the Jesus And Mary Chain’s Jim Reid, was released in August in the group’s homeland. The North American release of “Evil Heat” will be accompanied by a DVD featuring 45 minutes of bonus material. The video clips for “Miss Lucifer” and “Autobahn 66” are included, alongside videos of four songs performed live at August’s V2002 festival: “Rocks,” “Moving on Up,” “Swastika Eyes,”… Read more »

EMI Group emerged on Tuesday from a dismal year of slumping profits confident that things could only get better, but the music giant’s shares spun lower as a glum industry outlook rattled already jangled nerves. EMI, home to artists such as Radiohead and Kylie Minogue, posted a sharp but expected 40 percent fall in adjusted pre-tax profit and said its radical overhaul was going to plan despite an industry ravaged by an economic slowdown and piracy. The world’s third biggest music company saw its battered stock slide almost seven percent as analysts took fright after a post-results meeting, shrugging off… Read more »

England soccer captain David Beckham and his pop singer wife Victoria, also known as “Posh Spice,” threw a celebrity-studded party Sunday to raise money for a children’s charity. Dozens of stars attended the lavish Japanese-themed garden party at the couple’s mansion, nicknamed Beckingham Palace. Guests – asked to dress in “white tie and diamonds” – included many of England’s World Cup soccer squad, Sir Elton John, tennis star Greg Rusedski, designer Vivienne Westwood, actress Joan Collins and Virgin empire billionaire Sir Richard Branson. Harrods owner Mohammad al-Fayed arrived at the mansion north of London in a helicopter. The bash included… Read more »

Local management and a Japanese investment firm have bought the Japanese arm of Tower Records Inc., the country’s third-biggest music retailer, from its U.S.-based parent company for $122 million. The deal signs over Tower Records’ 51 outlets in Japan, including its multi-floor flagship store in downtown Tokyo, to Tower Records’ local management team and to Nikko Principal Investments Japan Ltd., a unit of Nikko Cordial Corp. Nikko spokesman Joichi Ito said his company finalized the buyout Thursday with San Francisco-based MTS Inc., parent company of Tower Records. MTS will retain ownership of its Tower Records stores in seven other countries.… Read more »