Search Results for: MAX

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 »

It makes sense that Backstreet Boys crooner Nick Carter is releasing his debut solo album Now or Never the week of Halloween. Some Backstreet fans will likely think of it as a delicious treat, while others might view it more as a fiendish trick. On the album, which comes out October 29, Carter leaves behind the glossy harmonies and grandiose production of Backstreet Boys and heads in a more ’80s pop-rock direction that will thrill some and alienate others. Now or Never features 12 songs pared down from 37 written for the disc. Songwriters include Carter, the Matrix, Mark Taylor,… Read more »

Nick Carter is making his acting debut this week in a role as equally “dreamy” as his status in the Backstreet Boys. The singer will play the frontman of Jay & the Americans on NBC’s new “American Dreams,” a drama centering on the legendary music show “American Bandstand” in the late 1960s. Carter will sing Jay & the Americans’ two biggest hits, “Come a Little Bit Closer” and “She Cried,” according to an NBC spokesperson. He’s filming the episode, which will air November 3, in Los Angles this week. The October 6 show will feature Michelle Branch as Lesley Gore,… Read more »

Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler attended the funeral of his ex-wife Cyrinda Foxe-Tyler on Monday (September 9) in New York City. She was known as the inspiration for David Bowie’s 1973 song, “The Jean Genie.” Born Kathleen Hetzekian in Santa Monica, California, Foxe-Tyler died at 51 of a cancerous brain tumor. In the 1970s, she was a legendary scenester, making the in-crowd music and avant garde art rounds with Andy Warhol, turning up at nightspots like Max’s Kansas City. She also became an actress and appeared in Warhol’s movie Bad. She was later romantically linked with both Bowie and his former wife,… Read more »

Sitting in an outdoor cafe for lunch the other day, Richard McDonnell mentioned he was working on just three hours of sleep. The former investment banker, who founded and runs the small, independent record label MAXJAZZ, was up nearly the entire night before in St. Louis, reading up on key buyers at record retail chains. Now he was in Washington for an afternoon meeting at the Kennedy Center, then had plans to go to Chicago the next day to see one of the singers on his roster, Carla Cook, perform at the Chicago Jazz festival. This whirlwind schedule is not… Read more »

Napster’s newly altered Web page said it all Wednesday, one day after its remaining 42 employees were fired and the song-swap company’s doors closed for good. After a Delaware bankruptcy judge blocked the sale of the company’s assets to its chief investor, the company prepared to convert its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization filing into a Chapter 7 liquidation proceeding. There was no eulogy for Shawn Fanning’s innovative software application from the recording industry, which helped kill Napster with its lawsuits. The Recording Industry Association of America has made no comment on Napster’s passing. Record labels, artists and copyright holders all… Read more »

When Justin Timberlake’s solo debut, Justified, drops November 12, it may bring an end to the days when he harmonized with his ‘NSYNC brethren on songs written by Swedish songwriting teams. Although Timberlake isn’t permanently parting company with JC, Lance, Chris and Joey, his first crack at going it alone was nevertheless liberating. Free from his ties to Max Martin, Kristian Lundin and the like, whose songs dominated much of ‘NSYNC’s 1998 eponymous debut and 2000’s No Strings Attached, Timberlake co-wrote all of Justified, including the LP’s first single, “Like I Love You,” a track co-written and produced by the… Read more »

Police in Beverly Hills have issued a warrant for the arrest of Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil, who allegedly attacked a record producer in a nightclub parking lot. The warrant, issued Wednesday, stems from an April 28 incident involving Michael Schuman, who accuses Neil of taunting him outside of a club and then punching him numerous times in the face, knocking him to the ground. Neil faces misdemeanor battery charges, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said. A spokesperson for Schuman said the producer does not know Neil and that the attack was unprovoked. Neil’s management… Read more »

Bruce Springsteen grabbed the top of the U.S. pop charts Wednesday with the debut of his somber, Sept. 11-influenced album, “The Rising,” the first all-new recording with his E Street Band since 1984. The critically hailed LP sold about 525,000 copies in its first week in stores, Springsteen’s best album debut in at least a decade, his publicists said as the veteran rocker and his band prepared to launch a world tour at the Continental Airlines Arena in his native New Jersey. Springsteen’s publicity firm, Shore Fire Media, said “The Rising,” released July 30, also was expected to open at… Read more »

A producer has sued Ozzy Osbourne and the rock musician’s wife, claiming the couple stole the idea for their hit MTV reality series “The Osbournes” from him. Plaintiff Gary Binkow said he met on several occasions with the couple and executives from Miramax TV between 1999 and 2000 to discuss “a real-life docu-sitcom” about their family, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The court papers include what Binkow said was a copy of his original treatment of the proposed series from January 2000, registered with the Writers Guild of America, The Hollywood Reporter reported Friday.… Read more »