Search Results for: Runt

Are the re-formed Smashing Pumpkins set to rock Lollapalooza? Will the long-dormant Police return at Bonnaroo? How about a reunited Nirvana taking the stage at South by Southwest, only with Ben Kweller playing guitar and singing Kurt’s vocals? All three sound too good to be true, little more than the pipe dreams of manic music buffs with way too much free time. But incredibly, they’re all “100 percent confirmed” by sources with intimate knowledge about such things. But don’t go crazy just yet. It’s entirely possible that absolutely none of the above information is true. After all, we’re smack-dab in… Read more »

Despite being a major label band since the get-go (not unlike The Ramones or The Sex Pistols ), Southern California ska freaks Goldfinger really do understand punk rock. Singer/guitarist John Feldmann, drummer Darrin Pfeiffer, bassist Kelly Lemieux and guitarist Brian Arthur have been around the block. And even though their latest album Disconnection Notice takes a decidedly poppier turn this time, they’re sick of being alienated from their colleagues. In fact, that’s part of the reason for the album title. They don’t want to be “disconnected” anymore, hoping that fans will find solace in the band’s understanding of feeling disenfranchised… Read more »

GEORGE, South Africa – Former South African President Nelson Mandela, playing host to his second AIDS awareness concert on Saturday, told a crowd of 20,000 that women bear the brunt of the AIDS pandemic that has infected some 25 million people in Africa. The disease “carries the face of women,” whether through infection or caring for those who are ill with the deadly virus, said the 86-year-old Mandela. Mandela, who lost his eldest son to the disease earlier this year, compared the plight of women coping with AIDS to the isolation he felt when imprisoned for 27 years on Robben… Read more »

Bad Religion bassist Jay Bentley is generally a pretty easy-going guy. Interviewing him is usually like sitting through a comedy routine where any and all taboos are duly mocked. On this occasion, though, Bentley isn’t so laidback – and you can hardly blame him. He’s consumed by the problems within America’s political climate. Fearing the ever-looming November 2 U.S. Presidential Election date (which takes place the day Bad Religion play in Montreal), Bentley doesn’t really want to talk about anything else. “My job right now isn’t to play music,” he grunts. “It’s to get a new president in office. Half… Read more »

Ray Charles, the Grammy-winning crooner who blended gospel and blues in such crowd-pleasers as “What’d I Say” and ballads like “Georgia on My Mind,” died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 73. Charles died at his Beverly Hills home surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney. Charles’ last public appearance was alongside Clint Eastwood on April 30, when the city of Los Angeles designated the singer’s studios, built 40 years ago in central Los Angeles, as a historic landmark. Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, Charles spent his life shattering any notion of musical boundaries… Read more »

After nearly a year of reading scripts, Justin Timberlake has finally decided on his first feature-film role, and it’s not Jimmy Olsen. While rumors had the pop star taking on the role of the superhero’s pal in the upcoming “Superman” flick, that film still has no director or star, leaving Timberlake free to pursue another part. Timberlake has signed on for his big-screen acting debut in the crime drama “Edison,” in which he’ll play Joshua Pollack, “a fresh-out-of-college kid with a counterculture bent” who gets his start by interning at a big-city newspaper, writer/director David Burke said. The character is… Read more »

Michael Jackson Under Seige: Day 43: CBS and Jackson’s camp yesterday denied a published report that the network added $1 million to the license fee it paid the singer for a prime-time music special to get him to talk to “60 Minutes” about the child molestation charges he faces. “Categorically false” is how CBS News, in a statement, labeled the report, and Jackson adviser Charles Koppelman, who first brokered the music special in September, called the New York Times report “nonsense.” In other Weird and Wacky World of Michael Jackson news, the Nation of Islam held a news conference yesterday… Read more »

When Fred Durst led Limp Bizkit off the stage prematurely during a Summer Sanitarium show outside Chicago, it was likely to the pleasure of those who showered the singer with garbage and boos. Bizkit fans, however, felt cheated to such an extent that they’re suing. An attorney representing 172 displeased concertgoers filed a class-action complaint Wednesday (October 8) in Cook County District Court against the band and its corporate arm, Limp Bizness. The frustrated fans want $25 each to cover Limp Bizkit’s portion of a $75 concert ticket that advertised full sets by Bizkit, Linkin Park and headliners Metallica. And… Read more »

You know The Ataris’ current hit “Boys Of Summer?” Those SoCal punkers actually didn’t want you to hear that tune. Ever. Well, at least not their version of it. “That was something we DID NOT want released as a single,” grunts bassist/vocalist Mike Davenport about the Don Henley cover tune. “We didn’t even want it on our album, but the record label pushed for it and it proved to be a good idea. They respected our wishes to not release it as an actual single, but the radio stations decided to play it and it caught on. There’s nothing you… Read more »

When the record industry announced in June that it would begin filing individual lawsuits against hundreds of illegal file-swappers, it was not just a bad PR move, it was a signal that the music business is more desperate than ever. Halfway through 2003, sales continue to slump, down eight percent from the first six months of last year. Three of the ten best-selling albums so far this year were actually released in 2002, and only three artists – 50 Cent, Norah Jones and Linkin Park – managed to sell more than 2 million copies between January and June. 50 Cent,… Read more »